24,195 research outputs found
Serious Game Evaluation as a Meta-game
Purpose â This paper aims to briefly outline the seamless evaluation approach and its application during an evaluation of ORIENT, a serious game aimed at young adults.
Design/methodology/approach â In this paper, the authors detail a unobtrusive, embedded evaluation approach that occurs within the game context, adding value and entertainment to the player experience whilst accumulating useful data for the development team.
Findings â The key result from this study was that during the âseamless evaluationâ approach, users were unaware that they had been participating in an evaluation, with instruments enhancing rather than detracting from the in-role game experience.
Practical implications â This approach, seamless evaluation, was devised in response to player expectations, perspectives and requirements, recognising that in the evaluation of games the whole process of interaction including its evaluation must be enjoyable and fun for the user.
Originality/value â Through using seamless evaluation, the authors created an evaluation completely embedded within the âmagic circleâ of an in-game experience that added value to the user experience whilst also yielding relevant results for the development team
Using gaming paratexts in the literacy classroom
This paper illustrates how digital game paratexts may effectively be used in the high school English to meet a variety of traditional and multimodal literacy outcomes. Paratexts are texts that refer to digital gaming and game cultures, and using them in the classroom enables practitioners to focus on and valorise the considerable literacies and skills that young people develop and deploy in their engagement with digital gaming and game cultures. The effectiveness of valorizing paratexts in this manner is demonstrated through two examples of assessment by students in classes where teachers had designed curriculum and assessment activities using paratexts
The design-by-adaptation approach to universal access: learning from videogame technology
This paper proposes an alternative approach to the design of universally accessible interfaces to that provided by formal design frameworks applied ab initio to the development of new software. This approach, design-byadaptation, involves the transfer of interface technology and/or design principles from one application domain to another, in situations where the recipient domain is similar to the host domain in terms of modelled systems, tasks and users. Using the example of interaction in 3D virtual environments, the paper explores how principles underlying the design of videogame interfaces may be applied to a broad family of visualization and analysis software which handles geographical data (virtual geographic environments, or VGEs). One of the motivations behind the current study is that VGE technology lags some way behind videogame technology in the modelling of 3D environments, and has a less-developed track record in providing the variety of interaction methods needed to undertake varied tasks in 3D virtual worlds by users with varied levels of experience. The current analysis extracted a set of interaction principles from videogames which were used to devise a set of 3D task interfaces that have been implemented in a prototype VGE for formal evaluation
Chronotypology:a comparative method for analyzing game time
This article presents a methodology called âchronotypologyâ which aims to facilitate literary studies approaches to video games by conceptualizing game temporality. The method develops a comparative approach to how video games structure temporal experience, yielding an efficient set of termsââdiachrony,â âsynchrony,â and âunstable signifierââthrough which to analyze gamingâs âheterochroniaâ or temporal complexity. This method also yields an approach to the contentious topic of video game narrative which may particularly recommend it to literary scholars with an interest in the form. Along with some examples from conventional games, a close reading of the âreality-inspiredâ game Bury Me, My Love will serve to demonstrate the use of a chronotypological approach
Heritage Role Playing - History as an Interactive Digital Game
Creating virtual heritage environments that intend to be both engaging and educational is a challenging process. Digital archaeological reconstruction has been concerned with exact replication of facts rather than with understanding, for the latter raises the annoying dilemma of how to present scientific uncertainty. A computer model almost invariably implies certitude, and archaeologists are still not sure how to convey the murky battle of historical interpretation. Yet games are quite happy to allow users to "muddy" historical settings. And while the bulk of computer game design may be justly considered a-cultural or even anti-cultural, the underlying techniques of engaging interactively with the audience offer new ways of increasing the popularity and immersive learning of virtual environments. However there are some serious issues in heritage projects adopting a game-style approach. Would using interactive game techniques and technologies create a more engaging user experience? If we can animate the past in this way, will the entertainment factor help or impede learning, and how will we know how effective the interactivity is? And would our results help bridge the gap between the industry (be it virtual exhibitions or interactive game design) and academia
Collaborative game development with indigenous communities; A theoretical model for ethnocultural empathy
This thesis studies how collaboratively designed games can be used as a means to empathically share cultural perspectives and emotions between unrelated communities. The paper also discusses some of the diversity issues present within the video game industry, especially those dealing with Indigenous cultural content, and to promote the âworld gamesâ movement of inclusive game production.
The project began with an examination of various concepts that make up the current psychological theory of empathy. Academic findings on cultural empathy were specifically explored, and Wang et. alâs (2003) theory of ethnocultural empathy was examined. A literature review continued with further examination of the methods for empathic game design and production. The literature also considered how specific game elements and practices of intercultural sensitivity function within collaborative game design and development, leading to a more in-depth study of co-development with Indigenous communities.
From this, two theoretical models were developed and proposed. The Ethnocultural Empathy Analysis model looked specifically at methods for e-empathic game design, and the Intercultural Sensitivity model presented reflective questions for Indigenous co-development. These models were then applied to three game project case studies. Two of the studies examined the commercial games, Never Alone and Mulaka. The third study, the SĂĄmi Game Jam, included a personal reflection of my first-hand experience in an Indigenous co-development setting.
Finally, the results of this thesis proposed ways that games, as a unique, interactive medium, can be successfully used to both address, and even eliminate, much of the cultural disconnection and ignorance present in todayâs world
Multimedia of the Mind: Digital Rhetoric and Interdisciplinary Acquisition
Multimodal digital narratives are currently in the spotlight for acquisition into the digital humanities. The narrative form is emerging with great research interest, the form having no previously established traditions. This research paper attempts to define the nature of multimodal digital narratives and their implementation into modern society. Specifically, the paper addresses the digital rhetoric appropriated by multimodal digital narratives and how it translates into modifying perceptions of society. This multimodal digital rhetoric is then explored in the context of digital activism and education, formative social discourses the augment societal perceptions. Digital rhetoric is utilized to augment a userâs reality to distort and influence societal perceptions. Audio, visuals, user interface, reading, and text all filter into digital rhetoric, compounding an authorâs ideas with each added element. All aspects of a digital narrative are tended to create user immersion, creating a multi-sensory narrative. The quality of user immersion and variability in narrative navigation, provides a personalized meaning individual to every user. Digital rhetoric is a means in which the author shapes the limits of what a user retains from the narrative itself. Examining instances of multimodal digital narratives reveals the quality of societal distortion. By using my research to create the multimodal digital narrative, âPromise of Paradise,â I explored digital activism though the platform, Twine. Authors model reality through a predetermined system that allows for authorial intent. The system and elements, designed by the author, indicate motivation and display the specific intent an author has in the creation of their multimodal digital narrative. These concepts speak of immense power and capability, filtering into digital activism and modern education
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