Volcanoes in video games: the portrayal of volcanoes in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) video games and their learning potential

McGowan, Edward G.; Scarlett, Jazmin P.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-11-2021

Articles | Volume 4, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-11-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-11-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 4, issue 1

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

04 Feb 2021

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 04 Feb 2021

Volcanoes in video games: the portrayal of volcanoes in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) video games and their learning potential

Edward G. McGowan and Jazmin P. Scarlett

Video supplement

Supplemental video of the paper "The portrayal of volcanoes in Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) video games and their learning potential", Video Supplement 1 (SoT) Edward McGowan and Jazmin Scarlett https://doi.org/10.5446/48881

Supplemental video of the paper "The portrayal of volcanoes in Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) video games and their learning potential", Video Supplement 2 (BotW) Edward McGowan and Jazmin Scarlett https://doi.org/10.5446/50063

Supplemental video of the paper "The portrayal of volcanoes in Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) video games and their learning potential", Video Supplement 3 (SotTR) Edward McGowan and Jazmin Scarlett https://doi.org/10.5446/50064

Short summary

Results from reviewing 15 popular video games demonstrate a combination of accuracies and inaccuracies that could impact on people’s self-learning of volcanoes. Several volcanic features are represented to varying degrees of accuracy (stratovolcanoes and calderas, lava flows, volcanic ash, and lava bombs), whereas health risks are often inaccurate. Suggested applications of the findings for educational environments are given, such as group projects in open-world games.