Video Game

Here be Dragons: voorgeschiedenis en ontstaan van adventure games

by Connie Veugen

Here be Dragons: Advent and Prehistory of the Adventure Game'

by Connie Veugen

published in Blom, I.L., & Veugen, J.I.L. (eds.) Tijdschrift voor Mediageschiedenis : Games, 7 (2004-2), 77-99

The article traces the history of adventure games from the birth of the fantasy genre in William Morris' work and the... more The article traces the history of adventure games from the birth of the fantasy genre in William Morris' work and the origins of the Kriegspiel, through Tolkien's fantasy world and Dungeons and Dragons to the early text adventures and the first graphical adventures.

Learning can’t be fun, can it

by Connie Veugen

published in K. Siebenhandl, M. Wagner, & S. Zauchner (Eds.), Gender in E-learning and Educational Games (pp. 239-260). Innsbruck/Wien/Bosen: Studienverlag.

Inspired by research by Carrie Heeter et al. and the MIT Games-to-Teach project we set up a small scale empirical... more Inspired by research by Carrie Heeter et al. and the MIT Games-to-Teach project we set up a small scale empirical study on two educational games on Art aimed at primary school children. We found that both boys and girls liked to play these games; that one game scored better on our ‘fun-index’ and that girls had less mouse skills and lacked certain game skills. This did not, however, affect their test-score, on the contrary, the girls improved more than the boys. To our amazement, we also found that the girls especially anticipated to have learned less from the more entertaining game, which might suggest that even at this early age they think that learning can not be fun.

Thinking out of the box (and back in the plane). Concepts of space and spatial representation in two classic adventure games

by Connie Veugen

published in Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture Vol 2, No 2, 215-239

In this article we examine location, space and spatial representation in two classic adventure games belonging to the... more In this article we examine location, space and spatial representation in two classic adventure games belonging to the same game series: Gabriel Knight Sins of the Fathers, a one screen at a time point-and-click adventure and Gabriel Knight Blood of the Sacred Blood of the Damned, a 3D game. Our aim was to see if the changes in the audiovisual representation of the gamespace in the 3D game would affect gameplay or whether gameplay and representation are independent entities, as some researches have proposed. What we found was that location and space are experienced differently in the 3D game. Furthermore we found that players of the game series had to learn a new visual grammar to bring the 3D game to a successful end. We will therefore propose that gameplay and the representation of gamespace are linked; perhaps even to such an extent that some types of games benefit from a particular audiovisual representation.

Computer Games as a Comparative Medium: a few cautionary remarks.

by Connie Veugen

to be published in 2012

So-called games of progression are often film adaptations or are adapted themselves into other media. Computer games... more So-called games of progression are often film adaptations or are adapted themselves into other media. Computer games are also used in transmedia storytelling. As these games use (visual) narrative techniques, it is natural to use research methodologies from literary and film studies to analyse them, especially when the game is compared to its filmic or literary counterpart. In this article, focussing on the terms genre and mise-en-scène, I point out some of the problems such comparisons can elicit. I will show that genre, in itself already a contested term, is used differently in literary-, film-, and gamestudies. In addition, the changing game demographics have prompted a rethinking of the term for computer games. In mise-en-scène the way a game visualizes setting and props depends on the technical capabilities of the system the game is played on. In newer games film style cinematography is possible but not all gamers are versed in film cues. Furthermore, modern style games increasingly put the camera in the hands of the gamer. Therefore, a comparatist should always be aware of the specificities of the particular medium.

Mobile Gaming: An Engineer Puts an Arcade Cabinet on Wheels (Popular Science)

by Garnet Hertz

Popular Science (February 2012). Story by Gregory Mone. Photographs by Jeff Newton. Edited by Doug Cantor.

In the late 1980s, millions of arcade-addicted kids sat in the faux racing seats of Sega's OutRun videogame, grabbed... more In the late 1980s, millions of arcade-addicted kids sat in the faux racing seats of Sega's OutRun videogame, grabbed the rubber-covered wheel of the imitation Ferrari Testarossa, pressed down on the pedals, and imagined they were roaring down the street. Twenty-five years later, one of those kids, Garnet Hertz, has realized that fantasy, modding an 1,100-pound arcade machine to ride on pavement.

Identification and Classification of Structural Elements in Computer Games

by Duncan Blair

Mechanic/Aesthetic Videogame Genres: Adventure and Adventure

by Veli-Matti Karhulahti

NOTES BEFORE READING.
Not all games are genre games. A term that refers to a group of games does not necessarily make a genre – a "facebook game," for instance, is only a term that can be used to imply that the particular game is played on Facebook. This approach is not a comprehensive theory of videogame genres. It examines videogames from a limited aesthetic point of view to employ the concept of genre into a tool for understanding the aesthetic evolution of videogame art. Eventually, the goal of this paper comes close to how Grant Tavinor (Art of Videogames, 2009) describes his nominalist definition of video games: to "allow us to understand something very important about games, that is their continuity with other cultural forms." There is more than one approach to videogame genres. This is one of them.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without... more Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee.
MindTrek’11, September 28-30, 2011, Tampere, Finland. Copyright 2011 ACM 978-1-4503-0816-8/11/09....$10.00.

Griffiths, M.D. (2005). Video games and health. British Medical Journal, 331, 122-123.

by Mark Griffiths

Although playing video games is one of the most popular leisure activities in the world, research into its effects on... more Although playing video games is one of the most popular leisure activities in the world, research into its effects on players, both positive and negative, is often trivialised. Some of this research deserves to be taken seriously, not least because video game playing has implications for health.

Gamers’ Personality and Their Gaming Preferences

by Veronica Zammitto

Zammitto, V. “Gamers’ Personality and Their Gaming Preferences“. MSc Thesis, Simon Fraser University, 2010.

This thesis work researches the hypothesis that people with certain personality traits would prefer certain video game... more This thesis work researches the hypothesis that people with certain personality traits would prefer certain video game genres. The motivation is to contribute to demographic game design by identifying gamers’ personality profiles in order to better satisfy their needs and enjoyment. A Gaming Preferences Questionnaire was developed and validated to identify gamers’ preferences. The NEO-FFI questionnaire based on the Five Factor model was selected for measuring gamers’ personality traits.
Data from 545 participants was analyzed by multiple linear regression. Eight game genre models were found statistically significant, and accounted for 2.6% to 7.5% of gamers’ preferences for game genres based on personality factors. The relevant personality traits of the models matched game elements of the genre. This work shows that a refined itemization helps to begin to understand the psychological human complexity that drives players’ preferences.

Keywords: personality; game elements; game preference; genre; demographic game design.

"Exploring Quantitative Methods for Evaluating Sports Games"

by Veronica Zammitto

Zammitto, V., Seif El-Nasr, M, Newton, P. “Exploring Quantitative Methods for Evaluating Sports Games“. CHI 2010 Workshop on Brain, Body and Bytes: Psychophysiological User Interaction, 2010

The evaluation of Game User Experience is an
emergent and important field in game and HCI research
due to... more The evaluation of Game User Experience is an
emergent and important field in game and HCI research
due to its direct impact on the multi-billion dollar
interactive entertainment industry. Special attention
has been given to the shooter genre. This paper
focuses on evaluation of sports games. In particular, it
presents an ongoing project that aims to assess the
utility of triangulating several quantitative methods,
including eye-tracking, psycho-physiological data and
game telemetry. This research is an on-going
collaboration between Simon Fraser University and
Electronic Arts. Results of research including the
triangulation of this data for the evaluation of the NBA
Live 10 title and evaluation of these methods by EA’s
production team will be discussed.

Divergencias y convergencias sobre los videojuegos: una revisión de la literatura reciente

by Ancor Mesa Méndez

Co-authored with César J. Burgos Dávila. Published in Notas: Boletín Electrónico de Investigación de la Asociación Oaxaqueña de Psicología A.C. Volumen 6. Número 2. 2010. Pág. 209-239

RESUMEN:
La inquietud psicosocial sobre los videojuegos, pero sobre todo, la preocupación acerca de sus posibles... more RESUMEN:
La inquietud psicosocial sobre los videojuegos, pero sobre todo, la preocupación acerca de sus posibles efectos sobre las personas ha crecido velozmente desde el comienzo de la rápida extensión de las prácticas con estos artefactos allá por los años setenta del pasado siglo XX. Multitud de estudios se han centrado en demostrar sus posibles efectos, tanto negativos, como es el caso de la presunta relación entre videjuegos violentos y conductas agresivas, o su influencia en rendimientos escolares bajos; como positivos, principalmente su utilización como herramienta didáctica y como plataforma para las relaciones sociales. Desde otras perspectivas, se ha abordado el videojuego intentando difuminar las fronteras entre tecnología y sociedad, fundamentalmente, a través de perspectivas narrativas y lúdicas. Desde estas perspectivas, estudiar los posibles efectos no tiene sentido, pues considerando la tecnología como una cosa y la sociedad como otra, dejamos sin tener en cuenta un universo interactivo entre jugadores, mundo del videojuego, sistemas y soportes informáticos, actuantes y avatares, y una multitud de herramientas que transgreden las fronteras entre las personas y las pantallas.

ABSTRACT:
The pychosocial interest on the videgames, but above all, the worry about its possible effects on people has grown fast from the beginning of the fast area of practices with these artefacts there for the seventies of last century 20TH. Multitude of studies are had concentrating on demonstrate its possible effects, so much negatives, as it is the case of the alleged relationship between violent videogames and aggressive behaviour, or its influence in low academic achievements; such as positives, mostly the use as didactic tool and as a platform for social relations. From other perspectives, the videogame has been tackled trying to blur the borders between technology and society, basically, via narrative and ludologic perspectives. From these perspectives, to study possible effects does not make sense, then considering the technology as a thing and the society as another, leave without taking into account an interactive universe between players, world of videogame, systems and technical supports, automatic actors and avatars, and a multitude of tools that transgress borders among people and screens.