141 research outputs found
Towards understanding balancing in exertion games
Playing exertion games with others can be engaging. However, players with different physical skill levels competing against each other can experience reduced engagement because they are either not challenged enough, or challenged too much. Balancing methods can address this; however, there is only limited understanding of balancing in exertion games. In this paper, we identify two distinct dimensional balancing techniques: "internal adjustment" and "external adjustment". We report results from a study where we measured player engagement after applying these adjustments to a digital table tennis game and the traditional table tennis game, finding two disengagement factors: "unexpected physical challenges" and "unacceptable competitive advantage". Based on these factors we derived a set of exertion game design considerations. We conclude that applying digital technology to a physical game can change the required skill level to play the game, and this can affect the impact of these adjustments on player engagement. These results enhances our understanding of balancing in exertion games, supporting the benefits of playing exertion games with others
Match-fixing: working towards an ethical framework
How does match-fixing, or other unfair manipulation of matches, that involves under-performance by players, or refereeing and umpiring that prevents fair competition, be thought of in ethical terms? In this article, I outline the different forms that match-fixing can take and seek to comprehend these disparate scenarios within Kantian, Hegelian and contractualist ethical frameworks. I tentatively suggest that, by developing an ethical opposition to match-fixing in sport, we can give much greater substance to popular phrases such as ârespect for the gameâ, encompassing the value of sport itself and respect for other players, fans, sponsors and organisers. Arguing that match-fixing denies recognition to these âothersâ demonstrates how fundamentally match-fixing âhollows outâ sport because a fixed match is of no worth: the whole value of the game has literally been evacuated
Christianity as Public Religion::A Justification for using a Christian Sociological Approach for Studying the Social Scientific Aspects of Sport
The vast majority of social scientific studies of sport have been secular in nature and/or have tended to ignore the importance of studying the religious aspects of sport. In light of this, Shilling and Mellor (2014) have sought to encourage sociologists of sport not to divorce the âreligiousâ and the âsacredâ from their studies. In response to this call, the goal of the current essay is to explore how the conception of Christianity as âpublic religionâ can be utilised to help justify the use of a Christian sociological approach for studying the social scientific aspects of sport. After making a case for Christianity as public religion, we conclude that many of the sociological issues inherent in modern sport are an indirect result of its increasing secularisation and argue that this justifies the need for a Christian sociological approach. We encourage researchers to use the Bible, the tools of Christian theology and sociological concepts together, so to inform analyses of modern sport from a Christian perspective
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