Group items tagged

2012 Challenge announced, entries open in Nov. 2011, The Middle School Stream aims to motivate and engage middle school students (grades 5 through 8) in STEM learning, 21st Century Literacy Skills and Systems Thinking by challenging them to design original video games. The High School Stream aims to motivate and engage high school students (grades 9 through 12) in STEM learning, 21st Century Literacy Skills and Systems Thinking by challenging them to design original video games. The Collegiate Stream challenges emerging game developers at the graduate and undergraduate levels to design video games for children (grades pre-K through 8) that teach key STEM concepts and foster an interest in STEM subject areas. The Educator Stream challenges educators to design video games for children (grades pre-K through 12) that teach key STEM concepts and foster an interest in STEM subject areas.

Abstract: "Our study was carried out in order to improve our understanding of the relationship between 3D audio and video, and user experience in video games. In order to determine the best way to attempt to measure these effects, we researched several methods of 3D video and 3D audio delivery. We decided to use two different games to gauge the effectiveness of 3D video, Mario Kart 7 and Crysis 2. Due to a small sample size, we were unable to conclude strongly in either way about many of the factors we believed that 3 D video and audio would effect, but were able to see an increase in enjoyment and perceived ability from our surveys."

Abstract: "Through the use of an online discussion, this study collected the detailed perspectives of 29 'hardcore' and 'casual' gamers, regarding the topic of FPS video games. It investigates what the gamers want in a FPS by means of an online discussion which builds on the benefits of both ethnography and focus group methodologies. Since the study's main goal was exploratory, a qualitative approach was considered the most appropriate; in addition to this, the method used to collect the data was done within a grounded theory framework. This study finds that, though graphics have historically been a major factor in driving the success of a FPS video game, this is no longer the case. Gamers expect there to be a balance between the different components, with a more holistic gaming experience desired, and that too much focus on one component at the expense of another will result in an unsatisfactory video game experience. This can be seen in comments given by the participants indicating too much emphasis of the graphics quality in a FPS and not enough on story or the multiplayer aspects results in a video game which is neither fun nor praiseworthy. The latter is perceived significant as with such an oversaturation in the video game market, developers rely heavily on positive word of mouth to advertise their games. This study's main goal was to develop a better understanding of the expectations of gamers regarding FPS; in doing so, it has laid out the basis for producing a 'magic formula' for a great FPS video game. It has also highlighted several other areas which need further investigation in order to better understand the behavioural motives and actions of gamers from both 'hardcore' and 'casual' communities."

Abstract: Video games are no longer a means of simple entertainment that serve as a form of escapism. They are perceived not simply as free time distractions, but as logic of engagement and platforms of creative thinking. Furthermore, online video games have taken the idea of interaction to a level no any other media has ever achieved. Online video games known as virtual world or MMO (massively multiplayer online) are a mega interaction platform that attract millions of players across the globe. They are the ultimate goal that all architects have ever dreamed of, i.e. to create an interactive space that satis es the needs of users. This thesis research will tend to examine a variety of video games from 3 perspectives: space, structure and interactivity, with a view to understanding and exploring the behaviour of players in video games, as known as, virtual stages. In recognizing and articulating such behaviour, followed by exploring the relationship between architects, users and spaces, the interpretation of architectural languages can then be translated into physical spatial form. This research then questions the possibilities of promoting the gaming industry in South Africa. In the current digital era, the IT (information and technology) industry is a main stream profession that helps with the growth of a country as a whole. The role of the gaming industry therefore cannot be ignored in this instance. The gaming industry is a rapid growing profession that comprises a lot of speci c professionals. SA does not offer nor focus on the video game eld and as a result, we are experiencing a shortage of professionals in this eld. This thesis proposes a facility to facilitate current and future game industry related professionals, on the same time, providing a playful environment that integrates the building and local context, allowing deeper engagement for those who haven t been exposed to the real meaning behind video games.

The director of the Media Psychology Research Center posts a three part series on the value of video games for education and engagement http://www.pamelarutledge.com/2012/08/26/self-efficacy-and-problem-solving-in-video-games-part-i/ http://www.pamelarutledge.com/2012/08/28/the-positive-side-of-video-games-part-ii/ http://www.pamelarutledge.com/2012/08/29/the-positive-side-of-video-games-part-iii/

"Rather than being vilified, video games should be recognised as an art form appreciated for the way they tugged at our emotions and stimulated creativity, Prebble said"A playwright emphasizes skills exercised in video game play.

"Video game accessibility may not seem of significance to some, and it may sound trivial to anyone who does not play video games. This assumption is false. With the digitalization of our culture, video games are an ever increasing part of our life. They contribute to peer to peer interactions, education, music and the arts. A video game can be created by hundreds of musicians and artists, and they can have production budgets that exceed modern blockbuster films. Inaccessible video games are analogous to movie theaters without closed captioning or accessible facilities. The movement to have accessible video games is small, unorganized and misdirected. Just like the other battles to make society accessible were accomplished through legislation and law, the battle for video game accessibility must be focused toward the law and not the market."

Abstract :"This thesis deals with the analysis, design, implementation and testing of a video game prototype , which is intended for practicing lucid dreaming induction . R esearch i ndicates the potential of the video game medium in this end and the experimental game design has been the result of examining various study case s covering both video gam es and dreams , besides multiple lucid dreaming induction techniques . The design approach was more focused on creatively modif yin g existing techniques , in order to take advantage of the potential of the video game medium, than to simply copy them. This has led to establishi ng a set of formal design goals , with an emphasis on creating a game world simulating a dream, in which rehearsing can take place prior to sleep . The video game prototype is inasmuch an interactive training tool as it is an artistic video game experiment . With the aim of also tak ing the player experience into account, a set of aesthetic goals was also established , approached by the use of the MDA framework ( Hunicke , LeBlanc & Zubek, 2004) and the player involvement model - related to the concept of incorporation (Calleja, 2011)"

"07/2012; In proceeding of: The 11th International Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practice (SERP 2012), At Las Vegas, USA ABSTRACT Usability is considered a relevant quality factor in video games. However, usability evaluations are usually performed too late in the game development lifecycle. We present a usability evaluation strategy that can be used in early stages of model-driven video game development approaches. The usability evaluation is based on a Video Game Usability Model, which extends the usability characteristic of the ISO/IEC 25010 (SQuaRE) standard by incorporating measurable attributes and measures related to the video game domain. The traceability established between the models that are produced in a modeldriven development process and the corresponding source code allows performing usability evaluations on these models, facilitating the early detection/correction of usability problems that may appear in the final video game application. To show the feasibility of this approach, we have performed an early usability evaluation of a video game for the XBOX360 platform."

"Abstract Video game developers have a tough road ahead as they try to out-do their competitors and develop the next blockbuster video game. The problem they face is that the cost of developing a video game is rising. The pressure mounts as economic uncertainty has led many consumers to cut spending on lucrative video game titles that publishers are tossing out up to $100 million (in rare cases) to develop, and the publishers are already beginning to feel the heat. Recent years have seen a number of publishers close up shop and even more publishers cutting jobs to save on spending. Despite the need for producing a product more efficiently and within a time restriction, the video game industry bases most of the production phases in-house instead of adopting a 24-hour business model in co-located sites around the world. Implementation of the 24 hour knowledge factory can help to solve some of the problems developers face in the numerous phases of video game development. However, publishers have yet to take advantage of this efficient business model."

"This thesis proposes the development of a video game platform to increase the publics knowledge of required protective actions in the event of a nuclear terrorism attack. Current scientific analyses have identified elementary steps the public should take to increase the likelihood of survival in the event of a nuclear terrorism incident; however, a knowledge gap currently exists with regard to the publics understanding of these required actions. Unfortunately, todays preparedness initiatives do not have the efficacy required to impact significant improvements in this area. Video games, more specifically a sub-genre of games known as serious games, are uniquely postured to address this knowledge gap. Not only do video games provide a motivating, enriching and engaging educational medium, but also they are unique in that they address the emerging educational needs of todays games generation, which desires more interactive educational environments since they have been immersed in technology for the majority of their lives. As such, leveraging this technology can help close the current knowledge gap and increase the nations resilience to nuclear terrorism."

Description in Google Books: "The Video Game Industry provides a platform for the research on the video game industry to draw a coherent and informative picture of this industry. Previously this has been done sparsely through conference papers, research articles, and popular science books. Although the study of this industry is still stigmatized as frivolous and 'only' game oriented, those who grew up with video games are changing things, especially research agendas, the acceptance of studies, and their interpretation. This book describes and defines video games as their own special medium. They are not pinball from which they grew, nor movies which they sometimes resemble. They are a unique form of entertainment based on meaningful interactions between individuals and machine across a growing sector of the population. The Video Game Industry provides a reference foundation for individuals seriously interested in the industry at the academic level. As a result, this book will serve as a reference in curricula associated with video game development for years to come. "

Abstract: "The video game industry is a billion dollar industry with an ever-growing fan base. Massachusetts, along with other states, has begun to take an interest in further developing this dynamic industry. A problem facing many policy makers and economic developers is accurately defining the video game industry, determining the types of workers that form of human capital within its workforce and where these businesses are located. This study helps to solve this problem by converting video game credits, found in all video games, into Standard Occupational Codes to identify the types of workers who comprise the industry and by conducting spatial analysis using Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS). It also uses the Occupational Information Network to evaluate what forms of human capital comprises the video game industry. The results show the video game workforce comprises both creative workers such as artists and musicians, but also computer programmers, engineers, and business management and marketing professionals. This workforce tends to be concentrated not only in larger U.S. metropolitan areas but also in regions with a significant high-technology workforce, college towns, and government laboratories. Also, as this diverse workforce contains a wide variety of skills and abilities, a common theme is being able to work together as a team to develop a product. This study is part of a growing body of research and initiatives to identify and to locate new, creative industries within metropolitan regions. This research will contribute to future research using occupational analysis to identify new and growing industries."

Abstract: "Design techniques can have an important effect on how video games teach and players learn. The ability to harness these techniques in the design of educational video game can impact the motivation and engagement of playing and learning by creating more options for players to connect with game content as well as to other players. This article focuses on the design phase of the game development process and highlights the role of some techniques that can be used to design a successful educational video game (guidelines and design patterns). These techniques provide information on good practice and form a basis for evaluating the educational video game quality, acting as useful tools for developers to enhance video game playability. To this end, we have presented a set of guidelines and design patterns in order to provide an acceptable level of playability and, in this way, a better player experiences and learning achievement."

"About this Project: I love playing video games but I'm regularly disappointed in the limited and limiting ways women are represented. This video project will explore, analyze and deconstruct some of the most common tropes and stereotypes of female characters in games. The series will highlight the larger reoccurring patterns and conventions used within the gaming industry rather than just focusing on the worst offenders. I'm going to need your help to make it happen!"

"Video games are a real revolution in the world of computers, programming and amusement. It all started from a small experiment of a programmer and has exploded into a great unstoppable industry producing even video games addicts. Basics: A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device."

Video games have vastly evolved since their introduction nearly 40 years ago. Some, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, would argue that this creative evolution gives video games the honor of being an art form. From March 16 through September 30, an exhibition titled "The Art of Video Games" will be on view at the museum, Smithsonian Magazine reports.

abstract: "This paper examines video game sales by platform in the North American market from a period spanning 2006 through 2011. As the home video game industry has rapidly matured and become established as a forefront facet of interactive entertainment in the home, we seek to determine what aspects of the video game market seem to most impact sales. This question is particularly poignant as the maturation of the video game industry has witnessed efforts at both vertical integration and horizontal expansion on the part of the top game publishers and developers in hopes of solidly grounding the industry. This study employs a Kruskal-Wallis test to compare eight different gaming platforms. The results indicate Nintendo's Wii and DS are the top selling game platforms, Xbox 360 is in a second tier, multiple Sony PlayStation platforms are in the third tier, personal computer games are in tier four, and the retired sixth generation Nintendo GameCube is the lowest sales tier."

Abstract: "In this paper, we explore the application of Software Product Line (SPL) technology in the video games domain by exploiting differences in various video game platforms to design a variable component - based software product line architecture for a multiplatform vide o game . Our approach consists of constructing a feature dependency model for describing variability in multiplatform video games. We explored variability in the user interface, input devices, output devices, CPU, as well as other variability in various vid eo game platforms. Then, we designed a variable component - based SPL that is tailored to every video game in the product line. We validated our approach by implementing a SPL of a combat flight - simulator game and by deriving two versions of the game: a Win dows desktop version and a Windows Phone version. The derivation process of each version is done by selecting features from the feature dependency model and the corresponding software components and SPL parameters that relate to those features. "

Abstract: "In this paper we introduce a new class of constructionist learning environments: constructionist video games. These games blend constructionist design principles with video game norms in such a way as to remain faithful to both design traditions. Along with presenting a definition for this type of constructionist environment, we propose two principles for designing constructionist video games that we see as central to creating successful games of this genre."