{"rewrite":{"id":"r_745720fced6e26e11ea65a01","clusterId":"c_808d7562d2897028624a6757","slug":"neuroaesthetics-session-explains-why-bad-endings-move-players","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Neuroaesthetics Session Explains Why Bad Endings Move Players","summary":"At CEDEC2026, Kansai University psychology professor Tomohiro Ishidu presented research on why negative emotions like sadness and fear can inspire audiences. His session, held at Pacifico Yokohama North, examined how neuroaesthetics, a field using brain science and MRI to study art appreciation, explains the value of tragedy, depression endings, and even silence in entertainment design.","whyItMatters":"The session frames sad endings and quiet moments not as flaws but as deliberate design tools with measurable aesthetic value, giving developers a research-based case for emotional risk-taking.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eTomohiro Ishidu, a psychology professor at Kansai University, brought neuroaesthetics to the CEDEC2026 stage to answer a practical design question: why do players seek out stories that make them sad?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis session defined the field as roughly 20 years old, using psychological experiments, MRI, and electroencephalographs to study how the mind responds to art. The research rests on three pillars: physical features, brain-body response features, and psychological features, the last covering effects that appear after leaving the theater.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn negative emotions, Ishidu offered three key concepts: mixed emotions, psychical distance, and fictional emotions. He cited the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene, where the phrase sweet sorrow blends opposing feelings, as a model for how tragedy becomes aesthetic rather than merely painful.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Tomohiro Ishidu's CEDEC2026 session frames sadness and fear as design tools, not failures. Silence and tragedy have measurable value in play, which reframes how studios evaluate player emotion.","twitterPost":"Tomohiro Ishidu's CEDEC2026 talk treats sadness as a design resource, not a flaw. Silence and tragedy carry measurable worth in games.","threadsPost":"Tomohiro Ishidu's CEDEC2026 session uses neuroaesthetics to argue that sadness and fear are functional parts of game design. Silence and bad endings aren't failures; they are measurable tools for moving players. That reframes how studios should evaluate emotional response.","newsletterBlurb":"CEDEC2026 hosted a neuroaesthetics session on why games with bad endings attract players. Kansai University professor Tomohiro Ishidu explained how mixed emotions, psychical distance, and fictional emotions turn sadness into inspiration, and why silence and blank space carry beauty of their own.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"GameBusiness.jp\",\"url\":\"https://www.gamebusiness.jp/article/2026/08/24/27773.html\",\"title\":\"Why Are People Drawn to Games with Bad Endings? Neuroaesthetics Explains How Negative Emotions Turn into Inspiration [CEDEC2026]\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4574,"outputTokens":576,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1787999385,"createdAt":"2026-08-29T10:16:56.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-29T10:21:44.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-29T10:16:56.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_808d7562d2897028624a6757","canonicalTitle":"なぜ人は「バッドエンド」のゲームに惹かれるのか？ 神経美学が紐解く、ネガティブな感情が感動に変わる理由【CEDEC2026】","representativeArticleId":"a_2e2a034bc973ceb37f00c2ae","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"event\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-08-24T09:45:03.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-08-24T09:45:03.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-29T10:21:47.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"GameBusiness.jp","url":"https://www.gamebusiness.jp/article/2026/08/24/27773.html","title":"なぜ人は「バッドエンド」のゲームに惹かれるのか？ 神経美学が紐解く、ネガティブな感情が感動に変わる理由【CEDEC2026】"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"event","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}