Game Studies - Science topic

When classifying video games, you can consider different approaches: Content Rating Systems: These systems evaluate games based on age suitability. Examples include the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in the US and Canada, and the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) system in Europe. Ratings include “E” (Everyone), “T” (Teen), and “M” (Mature). Genre-Based Classification: Categorize games by gameplay characteristics: Action: Fast-paced combat or challenges. Adventure: Story-driven exploration. Simulation: Realistic scenarios. Puzzle: Logic-based challenges. Other Approaches: Broader categories: Simulations: Reflecting reality. Abstract Games: Focused on gameplay. Sports: Self-explanatory.

Mohammad Ali Mousavi AR and VR have brought about a transformation in the globe, particularly in the gaming industry. These technologies aid in the creation of a realistic image, as well as sound and other sensations, in order to provide an imaginative setting that stimulates a gamer's physical presence in the environment.

Using the same subject as control and experimental group will depend on the study design. If it is a crossover study, then it may be fine as different groups would undergo different interventions or control at various time points. However, if you have only one group and use it as control and experimental group, then it may lead to issues regarding the confounding factors. The groups may not be of the same age when treated as control and experimental. Furthermore, growth may play a role in giving you different outcomes which may not necessarily be due to treatment or experiment. The upside is that the control and experimental groups would be matched perfectly as they are the same group.

Uses in games beyond NPCs

Georgios N. Yannakakis suggests that academic AI developments may play roles in-game AI beyond the traditional paradigm of AI controlling NPC behavior. He highlights four other potential application areas:

Rather than a procedural generation, some researchers have used generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create new content. In 2018 researchers at Cornwall University trained a GAN on a thousand human-created levels for DOOM (1993); following training, the neural net prototype was able to design new playable levels on its own. Similarly, researchers at the University of California prototyped a GAN to generate levels for Super Mario. In 2020 Nvidia displayed a GAN-created clone of Pac-Man; the GAN learned how to recreate the game by watching 50,000 (mostly bot-generated) playthroughs.

innovating in the railway sector using gaming … van den Hoogen, J. (2019). The Gaming of Systemic Innovations: innovating in the railway sector using gaming simulation (Doctoral dissertation, Delft University of Technology).

...Nowadays, students are significantly influenced by the digital era and are constantly handling digital information. As a result, they form their personalities in the light of flexible communities, pursue to be directly connected, require prompt responses and social interaction and prefer learning based on experiences. Undoubtedly, modern students are not fully keen on and attracted by conventional education methods and thus they are seeking for more interesting, fun, motivating and engaging learning experiences.... The increasing popularity of digital games has led to their being broadly utilized and applied. In education, digital games are mostly applied in the form of serious games which focus more on primary purposes. Serious games offer motivating and engaging experiences, interactive learning environments and collaborative learning activities. Hence, they are considered as a proper educational tool which enhances learning procedures and satisfies and fulfills students’ needs and requirements. The pedagogical approach of utilizing digital educational games is called digital game-based learning and can be described as the “coming together” of interactive entertainment and serious learning through digital games. Game-based learning is the act of designing interactive learning activities that can gradually convey concepts and guide students towards an end goal. Furthermore, it promotes a student-centered learning environment in which students’ wellbeing and soft skills are cultivated in a dynamic, enjoyable and playful way... Anastasiadis, T., Lampropoulos, G., & Siakas, K. (2018). Digital Game-based Learning and Serious Games in Education. International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering, 4(12), 139-144.

I would consider adding Racing the Beam by Montfort and Bogost because of its focus on the technical aspects of games that are often overlooked. It also illustrates the importance of considering sociocultural contexts of development in in-depth analyses.

Thank you very much for the reference. I'll make sure to get that text.

Hi Cesar. Thank you for the references. Indeed, there aren't many studies bridging the gap between the two forms of worldbuilding you mention in your comment. Dan Hassler-Forest has tried to do this in his 2016 book titled "Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Politics: transmedia world-building beyond capitalism". My question seeks to identify other authors that might have explored the articulation between the two forms of worldbuilding you highlight in your answer.

Thank you Patrick

That's the one! Thanks Joseph!

We compared novice 'performances' (what they do) in serious games using expert performance as a baseline. Don't know if this fits what you are working on. But you can check out the papers on my page (start with papers by Loh & Sheng, 2013 & 2014).

I used to hear such types of statement from one of my high school mathematics teachers that playing chess helps in developing strong analytical brain. However, I never took is seriously as I find it a boring game because of negligible physical activity. I prefer to a play game in the ground rather than playing any indoor game. However, I have some friends how are really good in playing chess, but I do not find something really interesting among them which may have been because of playing chess.

According to me, playing chess may a brain storming game, but may not be able to develop strong analytical ability in solving some science/engineering problem. Your opinion may differ from mine in this matter as I not a good player of chess.

Regards

MN Alam

Even though this game does not represent a real museum Beyond Perception is an experimental puzzle game based upon observation, perception and space understanding.

Hi Andreas, I am interested in the interaction between play and emotions myself. The current focus is gamification rather than "real" games, but still the attached paper might provide a few hints.

We used facial recognition to get a more objective view on a person's emotions than the usual questionnaire can provide. However, I feel that this is just a starting point. Multiple sensors are required to consolidate this kind of physiological research. I also got the impression that current systems (like the SHORE-kit for facial recognition we used) have been developed for lab conditions and are often difficult to use in the field.

Maybe we can work together on this topic. I'll soon start a new project on measuring emotions in the context of (gamified) learning processes.

Hi Adam, for a more algorithmic take on collaborative decision-making, have a look at:

Wierzbicki, A. P. (1985). Negotiation and Mediation in Conflicts, II: Plural Rationality and Interactive Decision Processes. In M. Grauer, M. Thompson, & A. P. Wierzbicki (Ed.), Sopron 1984 (pp. 114-131). Springer Verlag.

I applied Wierzbicki's work to a group decision-making scenario relating to electronic boardrooms in a 'game play scenario' situation. The approach was aimed at getting virtual and real entities to come to group decisions without a specific leadership decision. In Wierzbicki's work (note in the 80s) he speculated that this type of algorithm could be used in diplomatic situations to reach a decision (i.e. imagine potentially tense negotiations between the US and USSR) based on the concept of tolerances: An "Electronic Mediator".

This might not be what you're looking for, but might help with making an interesting compare / contrast - especially if integrating AI/bots into a multiplayer scenario. You might also want to check out some of the publications done related to defining a collaborative process within which this group decision-making algorithm was applied.

Cheers!

-- Dan

P. S. Not in the games domain, but have you thought of looking at research around distributed teams in business - this might provide another contrast to gaming?

And maybe https://www.academia.edu/15906612/_Youre_Getting_to_be_a_Habit_with_Me_Diegetic_Music_Narrative_and_Discourse_in_Bioshock_

I am not game analytical but i like warcraft. When i was child that warcraft is good strategy game. It is related to next and previous game of warcraft.Name has a typical of character avatar.

Yes. It can, because game is one factor to make people fun.

Roman culture had spread widely in Europe by the Middle Ages and the Roman numeral system was commonly used for arithmetic. While addition and subtraction are relatively easy with the system, anything more advanced even multiplication or division is difficult; the lack of zero poses a particular problem.

I am not sure this is what you are looking for, and it is very likely that you already know about these, but here are a few resources:

THis is the study about possible negative effect of D&D (found on ResearchGate): 

Hawkes-Robinson, W. A. Analysis of the report ALIENATION AND THE GAME DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS.

Chicago

Tychsen, A. (2006, December). Role playing games: comparative analysis across two media platforms. In Proceedings of the 3rd Australasian conference on Interactive entertainment (pp. 75-82). Murdoch University.

Bowman, S. L. (2010). The functions of role-playing games: How participants create community, solve problems and explore identity. McFarland.

Walton, W. J. (1995). Role-playing games: The Stigmas and Benefits.

It's always hard to find studies that follow participants over a long period of time, because it's hard to run a study like this.

But only by logical thinking, one may conclude that it's hard to keep someone playing the same game over and over again, unless the game is capable of adding something new for the player over time. No one wants to do the same thing over and over game. Even with entertainment games, players usually play them for a time, after that they become bored and switch to another game. Unless the game is capable of adding new content over time.

For serious games, it is necessary to study what are the objectives of each specific game and consider if it's really desirable that the players keep playing the same game over time. For example, for learning games, specific games to teach specific knowledge would be better suited. After the student learned that piece of knowledge, they would eventually switch to other games to learn different things.

However, if you find a situation where keeping engagement with the same game over an extended period is necessary, employing extrinsic motivation, like external rewards, usually work for a brief period. The use of intrinsic motivation is necessary to keep engagement for a longer period. You can study about Self-Determination Theory to understand more about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (http://www.selfdeterminationtheory.org/).

You can find extensive information about games and intrinsic motivation on the book "Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound" by Scott Rigby and Richard Ryan. They talk about games in general, but it's easy to understand that the same principles can be applied specifically to serious games.

Dear @Ahmad, I am not an expert, but some resource might be helpful! Ancient Board Games in Perspective. Papers from the 1990 are attached and some other resources, so you can trace the author, even here at Research Gate. Good luck!

I am still doing a lot of consultancy in this area. If you need some help, send an email to toni@ivergard.com (i am doing work in Scandinavia, SEA incl. Singapore and eg Thailand), I will keep the fee low as this is a very important health issue! Toni Ivergard (Docent at KTH in Sthlm)

On creating content for video games, you might take a look at this recent survey: A Survey on Procedural Modeling for Virtual Worlds (at CGForum). 

Specifically regarding dungeon generation: Procedural Generation of Dungeons (at IEEE TCIAIG)

You might as well take a look at the PCG Book in the make: http://pcgbook.com/

For evolutionary and search-based methods, J Togelius is indeed the best starting point.

First, you should decide what UX aspect is important, e.g. utility, usability, aesthetics. A serious game should have a very good usability and stimulation, right? Then, the question is, when in the product life cycle UX assessment methods can be applied? If the product development is finished already, then you might use the classic techniques like heuristic evaluation, observation and eye tracking. Thinking aloud is sometimes difficult to apply during games (dynamics, real-time interaction etc.). Eye tracking is quite interesting in this context.

Thanks