"Valve wants to help. The 17-year-old Bellevue company just launched Pipeline, an experimental project aimed to educate high schoolers about the ins and outs of the video game industry."

From the abstract: "New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Healt h (NYCAMH) has a need for a web-based educational game to educate families on farm saf ety. This project demonstrates a proposed game design that combines the elements of gaming th at enhance learning with the feedback received from NYCAMH. Feedback was solicited th rough a series of prototypes delivered to NYCAMH through an agile software development process. The proposed design follows a constructivist approach to place the learner in a context based on reality. The aspects of the game design that engage and motivate students by blend ing entertainment with learning are discussed."

Using a video game to orient incoming students to college offices and services and improve the game as a result of participant feedback.

Abstract: "Serious Games are increasingly used as a tool for various applications contrary to the traditional enterta inment purpose. Many game engines are available, and Unity3D is another example that presents some features such as rapid prototyping and an easy learning curve. The 3D space where action takes place is sometimes hard to map into a logical memory structure providing flexible access to that information. The problem of tracking players ' path as well as their decision s in 3D environments arises when there is no previous knowledge of the scenario representation and the creation of a memory data structure poses an extra effort for the modeller. The proposed solution in this paper, albeit simple, is a straightforward way to track the location of the video game character and map it when he / she passes certain limits. Th is mechanism proved to represent a key step for ward, addressing the important issue of tracking the decision - making process of players for future analysis and behaviour elicitation."

On educational games and learning outcomes and consideration of games as complements to teacher instruction and collaboration

"Recap from the 10th Games for Change Festival, Part One"

Abstract: "This paper introduces Rank-based Interactive Evo- lution (RIE) which is an alternative to interactive evolution driven by computational models of user preferences to generate personalized content. In RIE, the computational models are adapted to the preferences of users which, in turn, are used as fitness functions for the optimization of the generated content. The preference models are built via ranking-based preference learning, while the content is generated via evolutionary search. The proposed method is evaluated on the creation of strategy game maps, and its performance is tested using artificial agents. Results suggest that RIE is both faster and more robust than standard interactive evolution and outperforms other state-of- the-art interactive evolution approaches"

From the abstract: " this paper, we challenge the assumption that feedback during learning hinders sense of presence. Ac ross three experiments, we examined how an ITS that provided extrinsic feedback during a serious game affected presence. Across different modalities and conditions, we found that feedback and other ITS features do not always affect presence. Our results suggest that it is possible to provide extrinsic feedback in a serious game without detracting from the immersive power of the game itself. "

Data from studies by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and Magid Advisors has implications for the game industry

Abstract: "Location-based mobile gaming combines gameplay with physical ac tivity. We have developed a game, O- Mopsi, based on the concept of orienteering, which can be played on mobile phones with GPS receiver and Internet connection. In order to complete a game, a play er must visit a set of targets that are photos chosen from a user-generated geotagged database. Game crea tion, management and live tracking can be done using a web interface. The game was presented at an annual international festival whic h is aimed at introducing science and technology to school children and the overa ll feedback received from the players was positive. "

Abstract: " wanted to inspect how developing a game from a purely commercial pe rspective a ffect s on the game design. The purpose of this thesis is to define the valid aspects of product marketing for games , how they are perceived in game industry and how those aspects affect to the game design. The question I am asking is how to make marketing a flue nt part of indie game development process. Through m y thesis project, Puzzleplatf orm, I s tudy how the marketing aspects affect the game concept itself and how the se aspects can be implemented in the game concept."

From the introduction::"The main objective of this chapter is focused on how to exploit the evolution of technology to improve user interaction in game environments through digitalized objects with identifi‐ cation technology (such as RFID or Near Field Communication). Digitalized objects are used as interaction resources. They are used in conjunction with mobile devices providing the performance of tasks with a simple and intuitive gesture. In the first place, mobile devices offer sophisticated methods to provide users with services to make use of information and to interact with objects in the real world. In the second place, physical objects are associated with digital information through identification technologies such as RFID. In this context, physical mobile interactions allow users to play games through natural interaction with ob‐ jects in the real world. This chapter has six sections. Section 2 describes some concepts such as: Ubiquitous Computing, the Internet of Things and the types of interaction used in games. Section 3 presents the general infrastructure of RFID systems. In section 4, we de‐ scribe the development of two RFID games. In section 5 their advantages and disadvantages are presented. Finally, conclusions are set out in Section 6."

Abstract: "In this paper, we describe a methodology for capturing player experience while interacting with a game and we present a data-driven approach for modeling this interaction. We believe the best way to adapt games to a specic player is to use quantitative models of player ex- perience derived from the in-game interaction. Therefore, we rely on crowd-sourced data collected about game context, players behavior and players self-reports of dierent aective states. Based on this informa- tion, we construct estimators of player experience using neuroevolution- ary preference learning. We present the experimental setup and the re- sults obtained from a recent case study where accurate estimators were constructed based on information collected from players playing a rst- person shooter game. The framework presented is part of a bigger picture where the generated models are utilized to tailor content generation to particular player's needs and playing characteristics."

Abstract: "We propose a powerful new tool for conducting research on computational intelligence and games. 'PyVGDL' is a simple, high-level description language for 2D video games, and the accompanying software library permits parsing and instantly playing those games. The streamlined design of the language is based on defining locations and dynamics for simple building blocks, and the interaction effects when such objects collide, all of which are provided in a rich ontology. It can be used to quickly design games, without needing to deal with control structures, and the concise language is also accessible to generative approaches. We show how the dynamics of many classical games can be generated from a few lines of PyVGDL."

The author reports data from a 2012 study on the diversity characteristics of students in game programs in the United States and future workforce implications.

Abstract: "Application domains for Computational Creativity projects range from musical composition to recipe design, but despite all of these systems having computational methods in com- mon, we are aware of no projects to date that focus on pro- gram code as the created artefact. We present the Mechanic Miner tool for inventing new concepts for videogame inter- action which works by inspecting, modifying and executing code. We describe the system in detail and report on an eval- uation based on a large survey of people playing games using content it produced. We use this to raise issues regarding the assessment of code as a created artefact and to discuss future directions for Computational Creativity research."

Abstract: "This paper explores the use of modern sensor technologies for physical interaction on educati onal games and interactive spaces. More specifically the thesis studies the potential effect of motion capture and wearable body sensors on educational interactive games, on two aspects: i) on the involvement of human body and motion in the process of lear ning, and recall of knowledge (embodied learning), ii) on assisting the development of basic social emotional competencies, through the enhanced social affordances of embodied games. The paper presents a prototype of an educational game developed using a m otion capture controller and two bio feedback sensors, proposing a generic architecture for multi sensor interactive spaces. Finally the paper provides a review of previously studied modalities for emotion recognition, and examines their application on gam e mechanics and AI game agents."

Abstract: "A number of changes are occurring in the field of computer game development: persistent online games, digital distribution platforms, social and mobile games, and the emer- gence of new business models have pushed game development to put heavier emphasis on the live operation of games. Artificial intelligence has long been an important part of game development practices. The forces of change in the industry present an opportunity for Game AI to have new and profound impact on game development practices. Specifically, Game AI agents should act as "producers" responsible for managing a long-running set of live games, their player communities, and real-world context. We characterize a confluence of four major forces at play in the games industry today, together producing a wealth of data that opens unique research opportunities and challenges for Game AI as producers. We enumerate 12 new research areas spawned by these forces and steps toward how they can be addressed by data-driven Game AI Producers"

Abstract: "A key problem for crowd - sourced systems is motivating contributions from participants and ensuring the quality of these contributions. Games have been suggested as a motivational approach but there are concerns about data quality , particularly when the data are to be used for scientific research . To address these concerns, w e compare the quality of data obtained from two citizen science games, one a "gamified" version of a species classificatio n task and one a fantasy game that used the classification task only as a way to advance in the game play. Surprisingly, though we did observe cheating in the fantasy game, data quality from the two games was not significantly different . As well, the quali ty of data from short - time contributors was at a usable level. These findings suggest that games can be a useful way to motivate contributions to citizen science projects. "