"Online games increasingly sell virtual goods to generate real income. As a result, it is
increasingly important to identify factors and theory of consumption values that affect intent to
purchase virtual goods in online games. However, very little research has been devoted to the
topic. This study is an empirical investigation of the factors and theory of consumption values
that affect intent to purchase virtual goods in online games. The study determines the effects of
game type, satisfaction with the game, identification with the character, and theory of
consumption values on intent to purchase virtual goods. The study used a survey to collect
information from 523 virtual game users. Study results showed that game type is a moderating
variable that affects intent to purchase virtual goods. And it demonstrated that role-playing game
users are affected by theory of consumption values: functional quality, playfulness, and social
relationship support. Moreover, war-strategy game users are affected by satisfaction with the
game, identification with the character, and theory of consumption values: price, utility, and
playfulness. The study also presents conclusions, proposes applications, and describes
opportunities for further research."
"we analyze two different trends that have informed technology for learning in cultural institutions during recent years: one more established trend, supporting the information consumption metaphor and the other one, emerging recently, that invites visitors to participate in the process of culture creation. We discuss then game design as an example of participatory activity and we identify its learning dimensions. In particular, we elaborate on the role of technology in providing a scaffold that can help museum audience to construct games which can function as "public artefacts" and can be added to the museum's assets, enhancing audience engagement and community building."
"Smartphone devices are becoming the de facto personal com-
puting platform, rivaling the desktop, as the number of
smartphone users is projected to reach 1.1 billion by 2013.
Unlike the desktop, smartphones have a constrained energy
budget, which is further challenged by increasingly sophisti-
cated applications. Amongst the most popular applications
on smartphone devices are games and virtual environments
that rely on 3D graphics. Due to the computational inten-
sity of geometry and rasterization, as well as the perpetually
illuminated display, these applications are extremely power-
hungry. To prolong the battery life of devices running these
applications, we propose two new energy-aware adaptation
schemes that can be employed in 3D graphics applications:
lighting limitation and textural transformation. Our results
show that we can conserve between 20% and 33% of energy
with acceptable sacrices to a user's visual experience."