The Psychology of Being Watched

That skin crawling feeling of being under a microscope or being observed can make even the most hardened gamers feel uneasy. Disembodied eyes, masks, and disfigured faces all give us the creeps. But what exactly makes these things..weird? And how can game developers use the perception of being watched to add challenges and atmosphere to their games?

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Games Shown:
Bioshcok (2007) - 2K Games
Kirby’s Canvas Curse (2005) - Hal Laboratory
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2000) Hal Laboratory
Dead Rising 2 (2010) - Capcom
No More Heroes 2 (2010) - Grasshopper Manufacture
Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014) - Scott Cawthon
Luigi’s Mansion (2001) - Nintendo
Celeste (2018) - Matt Makes Games
Rouge Legacy (2013) - Cellar Door Games
Terraria (2011) - Re-Logic
Detroit Become Human (2018) - David Cage
Super Smash Bros Wii U (2014) - Bandai Namco, Nintendo
Super Smash Bros Ultimate (2018) - Nintendo
Guitar Hero II (2006) - Harmonix Music Systems
Silent Hill (1999) - Konami
Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008) - Konami
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (2004) - Intelligent Systems
Dandara (2018) - Long Hat House
Radio the Universe (2012-still in dev) - 6e6e6e
Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1996) - Nintendo
Star Fox 64 (1997) - Nintendo
Star Fox 64 3D (2011) - Nintendo
Dead Space 2 (2011) - Visceral Games
Fatal Frame 3 (2005) - Tecmo
Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006) - Nintendo
Catherine (2011) - Atlus
Foul Play (2013) - Devolver Digital
Darkest Dungeon (2016) - Red Hood Studios
Overwatch (2016)- Blizzard
Pokemon Colosseum (2003) - Genius Sonority

Movie Clips Shown
Batman Begins (2005) - Warner Brothers Pictures
Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) - Warner Brothers Pictures
A Beautiful Mind (2001) Universal Pictures
Music Sources:
Cylender 7 - Chris Zabriskie
Submerged Castle - Pikmin 2 Soundtrack
Celestia - Zelda Twilight Princess Soundtrack
Itasca, It’s Glowing Red Hot - Chris Zabriskie
Dark Room - Luigi’s Mansion Soundtrack

Research Sources:

Social Inhibition
https://www.psychestudy.com/social/so...

Being Watched
https://www.thecut.com/article/the-ps...

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140...

Public Speaking
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

Masks&clowns
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...

Why are things Creepy? Vsauce
   • Why Are Things Creepy?  


Welcome to Daryl Talks Games

Hi! I’m Daryl, and on this channel I explore the intersection between video games, psychology, and real life.

I’ve talked about how Pokemon and the Generation Effect can make you a better student. I’ve made a video on why game developers really should understand functional fixedness. And I’ve interviewed some of the best speedrunners on Earth to find out how exactly they make setting world records look so easy.

Primacy and Recency, subconscious associations, classical conditioning, divergent thinking, amnesia (the disorder not the game), if its psychological concept that relates to games, I’ve probably talked about it before or will in the future. But to be clear, psychology isn’t all I talk about. Every now and then I’ll dabble in a little bit of game design and sometimes I’ll just talk about life and how games really can make it better... and for some people are the best way to relate to the world around us.

So if all that sounds like a good time to you, subscribe to my channel, watch my videos, and if you feel so inclined, show a friend! If you take a look at my videos, I truly hope that you learn something or are entertained and that your day is better after watching!

*All images, graphics, and fonts created or found with postermywall.com, Pexels.com, Videvo.net, and Lightworks v14 editing software.*


#PsychofPlay