Game, Environment and Peer Effect on Children on the Digital Gaming Habits in Game Arcades

Game arcades that have turned into an important socialization area forchildren in Turkey, can affect children in many ways. The aim of thestudy is to investigate the factors that affect the digital game habits ofchildren and young people in game arcades. In this context, the effect ofgame, environment and peers on the habits of children that are gamingin game arcades were investigated. Qualitative research method waspreferred in the study. The study group consisted of 50 male and 2female participants randomly selected from four game arcades. Semistructured interview form was developed as a data collection tool andindividual interviews were conducted with the children participatingin the research. The findings show that children prefer digital gamesbecause they find it amusing, fun, enjoyable and exciting. Togetherwith the changing game structure, it has emerged that multi-playeronline games affect the usage of game arcades of children. Childrenstated that they prefer to play in game arcades because they can be withtheir friends and there is no parental supervision. It was determinedthat children knew these environments through their friends andwould not prefer these environments without their friends. Based onthese findings, it was concluded that multi-player online games had aneffect on the habits of children on using game arcades due to its facilityof socialization with friends and playing without any restrictions.