Nintendo EAD’s scientific contributions

... We created a bespoke 2D side-scrolling platform game for our study (Figure 1), similar to a game used in past work on spaced practice [38]. The game was inspired by games such as Super Mario World [37], SpeedRunners [13], and Super Meat Boy [53]. Our aim was to create a set of mechanics that were easy to understand, but with enough nuance that they would take time to master. ...

Reference:

If at First You Don’t Succeed: Helping Players Make Progress in Games with Breaks and Checkpoints

... Among games that field opposing human players, some employ match-making to assign players to opponents ranked at similar skill level, or skill assistance for weaker players [44]. Other ways of game balancing focus on disadvantaging stronger players (i.e., handicaps), and favouring weaker ones (i.e., boosts)-a common technique in racing games known as rubber-banding [33], specifically in the Mario Kart series [16] and has thus been called the Mario Kart effect [31]. Players sometimes also enforce handicaps on themselves in social settings; when playing against children or less experienced opponents, they "artificially construct a sense of equality" to increase enjoyment for all parties [45]. ...

Reference:

KickAR: Exploring Game Balancing Through Boosts and Handicaps in Augmented Reality Table Football