Abstracts
Bennerstedt, Ulrika
Berg, Lars-Erik
Björk,Staffan; Mor, Yishay; Winters, Niall & Pratt, David
Corneliussen, Hilde
Enevold, Jessica
Glas, René
Hagen, Ulf
Heath, Carl & Alfredsson, Karl
Janson, Ola
Karlsen, Faltin
Kearney, Paul & Pivec, Maja
Kirjavainen, Antti
Kjørstad, Ingrid
Lauteren, Georg
Lundin, Anette
Lybæk, Tina & Witkowski, Emma
Madden, Louise
Manker, Jon
Mitgutsch, Konstantin
Ortiz, Angelica
Pareto, Lena
Peterson, Louise
Rambusch, Jana & Susi, Tarja
Rinman, Marie-Louise
Rosenstingl, Herbert & Wagner, Michael
Rossi, Luca
Sjöblom, Björn
Storm-Mathisen, Ardis & Helle-Valle, Jo
Storm-Mathisen, Ardis
Surman, David
Svingby, Gunilla & Jönsson, Rune
Tronstad, Ragnhild
Yatim, Maizatul H.M. & Masuch, Maic
Åresund, Maria & Björk, Staffan
Avatars & interaction in gaming: Dysfunctional Interaction or a Practice of Players
Bennerstedt, Ulrika
University of Gothenburg
One approach to analyze digital media is to compare digital systems with the "real-world" to enhance human made digital-artifacts. In this study I take another departure. Instead, the aim is to discuss how detailed insights of computer game activity open up questions that are missed with a design focus or comparisons with a "real-world". Hence, I will argue that the activity done in game worlds must foremost be seen as a domain in it self. Gaming is then understood as an activity where the game artifact is used by humans to mediate interaction in different ways.
The paper will take departure from how avatar-interaction is represented and mediated in game worlds. Moore, Ducheneaut and Nickell (2006) have, with a design focus, done detailed analyses of virtual environments and concluded that they have insufficient social-interaction-systems when compared to real-life face-to-face interaction which leads to social interaction difficulties. From a design perspective this is a highly interesting and valued approach, but from the background I come from – the interesting questions arise from within the activities that online game environment creates and uphold. To put it simply, a technical understanding of real-life face-to-face is not enough to help us understand what is going on in virtual-life in a game world. Though, it can outline aspects of imperfections in virtual life (a taken for granted due to the real world will always be more detailed and complex). My point is to direct attention to look at the virtual game world on its own rules, i.e. avatar-interaction in gaming practices as a community of practice or affinity group (cf. Gee, 2003; Ducheneaut & Moore, 2005; Steinkuehler, 2005). The activity done in MMORPGs will always be in a virtual world with its own social practices and evolving life that is not easy to foresee.
By drawing on role play examples from WoW, I will discuss how this standpoint gives opportunity to look at detailed interaction between avatars. By looking at how, in a technical sense, virtual-life avatar-to-avatar mediates interaction within specific game practices (as for role-play) you could say something about how a role play event is created and the demands of role players in such activity. Therefore, the attention is on the social-interaction that sustains or destroys game activity between avatars. The focus will be on how players create role-play event and socializes into role-play activities. Approaching online games in this way, design criticism concerning avatar-interaction as behaving as text-based MUD where visual gesture gets neglected (Moore et al., 2006) becomes less of a significant research question. Instead, the view of players (avatars) practices can give accounts of game activity domains. Practices where specific knowledge and skills has been developed, as for role-playing in RP realms.
Stages in Identification in Computer Gaming
Berg, Lars-Erik
University of Skövde
Objective (and possible hypotheses): to develop theoretical tools for analyzing the relation between computer gaming and identity. The latter is analyzed in many different dimensions, which demands a conceptual work where the main concept identity is broken down into several aspects. This work starts up in the recognition of different stages in the human act, taken from the sketch of G. H. Mead.
I propose the concept of functional and anticipatory identification for understanding the relation between the (1) fascination in gaming, by the primary or (2) elementary mechanical neurological skills necessary in certain games in relation to the later parts of gaming where (3) consummatory and sophisticated cognitive aspects of the (gaming) act dominate.
There is a narrow link between the early phases of the act and the later ones, allowing a swift connection between the two. This gives three essential traits to gaming: 1) The step from functional to existential identification is short. This enhances fascination, I suggest. 2) Also involved in the same way is the process of meaning creation: It is a short step from an incipient act/meaning to a completed complex meaning system. 3) I gaming on the screen the area of fantasy and virtuality is as great as it is easy to promote. This depends on the independence from material reality here and now.
Further I propose, for understanding the fascinating effects of computer gaming, firstly to regard it from the point of view of building (illusory) identity, the distinctions in this endeavor of the concept pairs concrete/abstract identification, unconscious/conscious identification and elementary/sophisticated character of the calculating aspects involved in the gaming act.
In a similar way there is only a short step from the evidently abstract world of gaming, to the concrete help that it offers in many ways to handicapped persons. Pilot interviews tell that the computer enhances the motivation, to the point where life changes from grey depression to paradise.
All these examples of shortcuts between first tendency to act and the mature act illustrate in fact that meaning creation is the centre of (abstract) virtuality; the latter thus emerges directly from (concrete) social materiality where meaning systems are created.
Finally I refer to the potentiality for emotional life in front of the computer: Concepts like Interface, and experience based virtual systems can be used as a virtual counterpart to the concepts from D. W. Winnicott: the play area (area for creating basic trust), the third space (where the meeting between adult and infant takes place) or the intermediate area. The interface is normally a very safe place; if I act clumsily there, the consequences will not in the first place be catastrophic. This gives good plausibility for a continual "basic trust", given that the original one has been sufficiently strong.
Method: Conceptual analysis and synthesis into theoretical integration of 1) acting, 2) identity and 3) computer gaming. Pilot observations and interviews are used as illustration of argument.
Tools and collaborative processes for developing design patterns for games
Björk,Staffan; Mor, Yishay; Winters, Niall & Pratt, David
Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg, University of London
Over the last few years have witnessed a growing recognition of the educational potential of computer games. However, it is generally agreed that the process of designing and deploying digital games for learning generally is a difficult task. The Kaleidoscope project "Learning patterns for the design and deployment of mathematical games" aimed to investigate this problem from the premise that designing and deploying games for mathematical learning requires the assimilation and integration of design knowledge from diverse domains of expertise including mathematics, games development, software engineering, learning and teaching. As an approach to support this interdisciplinary activity we promote the use of design patterns that describe specific ways of designing or adapting games as well as how to deploy these into learning environments.
This paper reports on over 100 identified design patterns and provides a detailed description of the methodology involved in producing these. We report on how our pattern language was iteratively and collaboratively developed by the project team. The original template of design patterns by Alexander et al. to support the participatory design in architecture was modified to suit the context of mathematical games to be used in learning environments. Each pattern is introduced through a Problem/Intent in a vein similar to the Alexanderian model but to support the various domains each pattern is described in how it applies to mathematical content, learning and instruction, educational context, games, interface and interaction, and software design.
Due to the distributed nature of the team, we developed a suite of on-line tools for facilitating our process. We discuss how these tools were developed in parallel with the language, as our understanding of the process in which we were engaged evolved. Furthermore, we describe how they supported our collaborative development. Our main tool is a mechanism for collaborative editing of patterns and their organization in a pattern language. This tool allows authors to capture patterns during discussion, develop and refine them using a template-based visual editor, discuss them on-line with peers, promote them through states of maturity and web them into hierarchical and lateral structures. This tool includes a form for submitting new patterns, an on-line visual editor for elaborating them, and aids for organizing and navigating the language. The navigation views include a sortable table, a tree and a concept map.
Pattern languages are useful as communication schemes in communities engaged in collaborative design. However, as the language becomes richer, the entry cost for new participants - the effort required to master the language - becomes higher. To address this issue we provide a video course on our methodology and developed a set of trails, leading newcomers through a sub-set of the language oriented to a particular aspect of the development and deployment process.
The tools and patterns collection is available to the public from http://lp.noe-kaleidoscope.org
World of Warcraft as a Playground for Feminism
Corneliussen, Hilde
University of Bergen
In 1789, during the French revolution, women fought to be included in the category of citizens—the 'brotherhood'—for which the revolution was claiming equal rights (Scott 1996). Since then, feminists have fought—and won—many battles, and have been a major driving force in changing women's position throughout the Western world. However, one of the recurring challenges of feminist projects in their various facets is the dilemma of 'equality vs. difference': should women's equal rights to men be based upon their similarity to men, a standpoint posing a threat to the category of women, or should women claim their rights based upon difference from men, risking to reinforce the inequality? The feminists of the French revolution are often mentioned as pioneers in a first wave feminism fighting for women's equal rights to men. In the modern western world, it is however not primarily rights, but rather representation or access to traditionally male dominated subject positions, that is at stake. A more recent feminist movement in France, the Parité movement, working for equal representation of men and women in elective political positions in the 1990s, suggests a new solution to the dilemma of equality vs. difference by insisting that both men and women have to be conceived of as gendered. Thus, the paritarists rejected the masculine norm, and claimed equality based on the always present, but "essential meaninglessness, of sexed bodies" (Scott 2005:56).
One of the seemingly recurring characteristics of gender is its ability to split into a dualism of men-women, male-female, masculine-feminine, in which one part of the dualism is defined through what it is not; men are men because they are not women. Thus and important aspect of our understanding of gender is the relation between the genders. Gender as a relational category is a premise in all the three feminist positions mentioned above, and their suggestions for how to organise gender in a society will help us explore the gender constructions of the universe of World of Warcraft.
Even though inequalities still prevail, women in the Western world have gained a lot of ground in terms of equal rights, in politics, economy and in the workforce, and the uterus is no longer an argument against women's ability to enter higher education, as it was in the 19th century. Salen and Zimmerman claim that games reflect the offline culture in which they are played (Salen and Zimmerman 2004:516). They refer to this as “cultural rhetoric¿, which points to the persuasiveness of the meaning produced by a game and how players are invited to enter the discourse of the game, to accept it as the meaningful framework to play with (ibid.:517). Computer games have received a large amount of feminist critique for being made by and for boys. But computer games have also developed during the last decade, from being dominated by male protagonists to including more female protagonists. This might reflect the feminist critics, but, if we accept Salen and Zimmerman's claim, it can also be seen as reflecting an ongoing change in society.
A crafted world that can be “anything we want it to be¿ (Castronova 2005:7), can also be a perfect cultural playground for perceptions of gender in our modern world. Although World of Warcraft represents a fantasy world, it is also a place where gender is being constructed, represented and negotiated, and even though meaning is not created solely by designers in a MMOG like World of Warcraft, it is important to consider how the game itself opens for some, ignores some and excludes other possible meanings of gender.
Thus, the object of study in this paper is the construction of gender in the design of the World of Warcraft, the analytical tool is a feminist lens, which will help us explore how discourses of gender are woven into the game design. The main findings of analysis of gender constructions in the game history, player characters, NPCs and activities will be presented.
Representations of Mobility in World of WarCraft:
or: Transportation and Traveling in Video Games
Enevold, Jessica
If focusing on mobility and transportation in video games seems an odd venture, then consider the recent BBCNews report that declared that “Games make drivers go faster¿ (2007) or the statement by a transport spokesman in New Zealand who blames Playstations and X-boxes for teen road deaths ( New Zealand Herald 2006). The influence of games (and new media in general) on particularly young people’s behavior is nothing new, but the focus have perhaps rather been on violence than traffic manners.
The current paper is a first and tentative exploration laying the empirical foundations for a larger study of representations of mobility in terms of the modes and uses of transportation and traveling enabled and configured in a number of selected video games (mainly pc-games).
I originally conceived the study as part of a large project on sustainable mobility put together by researchers from the MACS-group at Göteborg University (Man Automobility, Culture, and Society); a project that now receives funding from MISTRA (SUMOCO). One of the main foci was to identify potential barriers to policy making that would counteract the negative environmental effects of ever-increasing mobility that, historically, is associated with positive social and economic progress. Simply put, man’s generally positive attitude to mobility is such a barrier. It has a tendency to generate resistance to structural changes aimed at reducing individual mobility; even when a reduction would entail a decrease in the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse-gas emissions. Our transport ideologies make us inclined to choose individual freedom at environmental costs, and together with our socio-cultural (gendered) roles these inform our mobility behavior. One way to investigate attitudes to mobility/transportation is to interview transport users (Polk 1998; Thynell 2003; Andreasson 2000), another is to study representations of transportation and mobility, for example in novels, commercials, movies, magazines (Enevold 2003, Hagman 2000, Beckmann 2002,) and other media.
Given the commonplace that video games now are socio-cultural revenue-generating phenomena whose impact deserves studying, it is feasible to include them as important sources of information as regards choices and representations of transportation systems, and values and attitudes associated with mobility. They may also be assumed to contribute to disseminations of such values and attitudes – whether these be conservative, traditional views or innovative and visionary alternatives, the latter a field of growing interest in the face of global warming. On the one hand, I draw on transport research (see e.g. above), and, on the other, the type of literary studies that subscribe to the view of representations put forth by for example visual culture/literary critic W.J.T. Mitchell, as containing both aesthetic/semiotic and political aspects. It is a project in the vein of Cultural and (New) Media Studies, where it sees an appropriate role model in the game research of Dovey and Kennedy (2006)
To begin with, the project, which builds on my previous research on gender, mobility and travel narratives (focusing on representations of female mobile subjects), focuses on the MMOG World of WarCraft (WoW). WoW is the world’s number one on-line game. The researcher currently plays the game, participates in guild, group and individual activities – including trying out its various transportation modes - observes and speaks with its users, collects screenshots and complements her in-game research with studies of other WoW-web-resources; the method is a version of Virtual Ethnography as modeled by Hine (2000). The WoW-community has already made an excellent inventory of available in-game movement and transportation, its rules, routes, and vehicles (WoWWiki).The task of this paper would be to briefly report on and illustrate my and my co-players actual in-game use and interaction with these transport modalities and to critically comment and link them to my previous studies and other current research on mobility.
Playing Another Game: Twinking in World of Warcraft
Glas, René
University of Amsterdam
Since its dawn in the early seventies the role-playing game has evolved with leaps and bounds into many different forms, today the most visible being the massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG. The most successful of these types of games, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraf, recently surpassing the 8,5 million mark of subscribed players. This MMORPG was not designed as a sociological simulation like Second Life, but as a true game, limiting player freedom by focusing on instrumental play above free play. Individual, casual play is more popular here, with group oriented, social play being compulsory only for the ‘hardcore’ players. Naturally, many unexpected forms of socially structured practices – like friend guilds or role-playing communities – came into existence within or around World of Warcraft as a supplement to the rules and structures offered by the game. This paper does not discuss such practices. Instead, it investigates a form of play often not considered to be part of or even directly opposing social play: twinking. According to wikipedia, ‘In its most basic definition, a twink is a character with better gear than they could have gotten on their own’. This gear is collected by using the accumulated wealth or power of higher level characters – often if not always from the same player – and creates potential forms of unbalanced competition between twinks and other characters during the early stages of game-character’s life-spans. World of Warcraft presents an even more controversial kind of twink, the battleground twink, who is used for nothing more then to dominate the player-vs-player (PvP) scene within the game, with non-twinks having no chance at all to beat them unless in groups. Using participatory ethnographic observations of play within World of Warcraft, in which I created and fought with a twink for several months, as well as the many guides and discussion forums devoted to (or arguing against) twinking I will attempt to explain twinking as a practice not only negotiating social norms and rules but the structure of the game itself. Four different interpretations are recognized and discussed: twinking as a form of luxury play (redistributing virtual wealth), twinking as a form of dominance play (with ‘griefing’as a desired form of fun), as a form of transformative play (driving an intrinsically open-ended game into closure) and finally, twinking as a form of standardized play (changing a MMORPG’s never-ending variety of play styles and gear options into limiting ‘ultimate’ standards). My aim is not to claim or pretend that these practices totally change the way twinkers experience their game. As a form of luxury play, a battleground twink is rarely a player’s main character. Having a battleground twink is like having an expensive hobby, while the meat of the game experience for these players lies elsewhere. What I can say is that twinking points to the fact that a considerable number of players chooses this form of play as a diversion from their high level activities, presenting an activity far from the often extolled social nature of MMORPG’s. Twinking does provide an entirely new way of approaching play within a MMORPG as most of the intended design led by variation - doing a lot of quests while leveling up - is replaced by a very limited form of play aiming for a clear, quantifiable outcome. As such, twinkers do seem to play another game.
I solved notp0n
An Online Puzzle Game and Digital Literacy
Hagen, Ulf
Södertörns högskola
In this study a so called online puzzle (or riddle) game called notpron is examined, with the intention to see what kind of learning abilities it has, and how the learning occurs in it's gaming and social context.
An online puzzle game (OPG) can be described as a chain of puzzles, where the reward for solving one puzzle (called a "level") is that you get access to the next one. OPG:s have similarities with traditional puzzles like brain teasers, logic riddles, spot the differences-pictures, crosswords etc. and one can also notice a kinship with adventure games. One important difference is that OPG:s typically are created as hobby projects by amateurs in close interaction with the users of the game. Furthermore the OPG:s are spread through the digital grapevine in social net cultures like forums and blogs. Another important difference compared to adventure games is that the information and tools needed to solve the puzzles in adventure games typically is hidden inside the game, while in OPG:s (as in ARG:s) one have to seek information and tools outside the game itself, mostly on the Internet.
Notpron is probably one of the earliest and most famous OPG:s, and it has generated a lot of very similar "clones", wherefore one could say it is a sub-genre of its own. It was started in July 2004 by a then 22 years old German, David Münnich. A couple of months later he opened a forum connected to the game, where he started threads for each one of the first levels.. In these threads he gave additional hints for the solution of the levels. Soon players started to post in the threads and also started new threads by themself. The forum quickly became a very active community, with 252 threads and almost 90.000 posts in March 2007. One can argue that this "connected forum" could be seen as a part of the game itself.
The research methods and materials of the study is:
• an analysis of the game itself and of the connected forum,
• a close reading of David Münnich's "pdf-book" about the game,
• email interviews with David Münnich,
• participatory observations while playing the game and being active in the connected forum between February 2005 and May 2006.
The study will show that notpron and its context (its connected forum, the search engines and the information available on the Internet) works as a learning environment, that improve the players "digital literacy".
Using introductory exercises and debrief sessions in pedagogical role playing games
Heath, Carl & Alfredsson, Karl
GR Utbildning
Over the past decade games and simulations have become more commonplace within the Swedish upper secondary schools (Hansson 2004). Simulations and role playing games have been translated from English and adapted for a Swedish setting, although most games used today have been designed in Sweden for a Swedish audience. As the use pedagogical games and simulations have spread throughout the school system, the need for investigating the use of shorter exercises and debrief sessions that are used prior and after a pedagogical role playing session has become important. Is there any value of shorter exercises and a debrief session, and if so, what are the pedagogical values of them? How shall they be structured to enhance the learning objectives and outcomes of the role playing session from a pedagogical perspective? The focus of this paper is to investigate these questions, and to provide insights into how to implement pedagogical role playing games as part of the syllabus in upper secondary schools.
When using a pedagogical game in a school context, teachers often use icebreakers or other short methods before actually starting out with the game, in order to create an atmosphere in the classroom which is suitable for playing the game. These exercises also help strengthening group dynamics which lays the foundation for the pedagogical issues deemed important to bring forth in the debrief session (Hansson 2004). The reasons for the exercises are not transparent to the student, only for the teacher. On some occasions this is not done due to issues of time or other reasons. Many teachers also conduct a debrief session after having played the game, although the way to facilitate this varies a lot (Jones 1995). There can be several purposes of a debrief, such as bridging the in-game context with the real world issues, settling issues which might have been raised through the game and to relate facts and other pedagogical material to the played game (Alfredsson & Heath 2006). Although many teachers provide for a debrief session after having carried out a pedagogical role playing game, the way in which this is done, as well as what is included in the debrief session seems to vary.
In order to answer the questions previously posed, a survey was conducted during the use of pedagogical games in upper secondary schools. Between September and November 2006 GRUL carried out 26 role playing sessions on European Union issues, using two different kinds of pedagogical games. The target group of the project was students in upper secondary schools throughout Sweden, with a focus on vocational and education training programs. The survey was conducted in direct connection to the 26 role playing sessions and included answers from 462 students.
Preliminary findings of the survey indicates that players find the use of smaller exercises valuable before playing a pedagogical role playing game, based on individual roles for players, since they start to form and define the group of players. Debrief sessions are valuable mainly in the context of connecting the in game experience with the topic of the game. The pedagogical aspects of a debrief session seems to be the main reason for conducting it. As the players find the shorter exercises valuable, these should be conducted prior to playing a pedagogical role playing game. The debrief session provide for a possibility to reflect upon what happened during the game, as well as giving time to introduce new facts and aspects of the game topic, thus making it possible to generalize the experience of the in game context with issues relating to topic.
Learning Games 2.0: What Web 2.0 Might Mean for Educational Games
Janson, Ola
Academedia Masters
The gaming industry is slowly realizing the potential of user generated content (King 2006, Van Zelfden 2007). The industry is attempting to integrate user generated content into their products and servces in different ways: new online games have built-in community features, gamers are now included in the creative process of level design for many games etc.
Making user content a core value of the business model springs from another phenomenon: Web 2.0. Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2005 (O’Reilly 2005), refers to a perceived second generation of web-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. In the period immediately following O’Reilly’s pronouncements in 2005, the discussion of Web 2.0 mainly focused on technical issues and for the most part took place within the web developers’ community. The big mass media breakthrough for Web 2.0 came in 2006; Time Magazine naming "You" the person of the year would be a typical example of this mainstream media attention to Web 2.0.
Critics of the term ‘Web 2.0’ consider it to be part of a general media hype and lacking in terms of formally defined characteristcs – or even just a marketing slogan for O’Reilly Media. Despite these criticisms, it is hard to ignore the growing role of user-generated content on the Web. The blogosphere widens every day, wikipedia is becoming an established institution of knowledge and many of the top downloaded video clips on YouTube are user generated.
The main question this paper is this: If "2.0 Games" are indeed the wave of the future, then what does that mean for learning games and serious games? Related questions also addressed in this paper include: Is "Web 2.0" too big and messy a concept to be useful for pedagogic/learning/educational games? Web 2.0 is supposedly based on requests and desires of customers, but are gamers interested in 2.0 games? In particular, are 2.0 games interesting for potential student-gamers?
The object of the paper is to present a practitioner’s view of how Web 2.0 ‘core values' apply to learning/educational games. How do you make learning games in the Web 2.0 era? What is a 2.0 game? This paper will try to establish what a ‘2. 0 game’ could be. What kind of qualities would it have, and what kind of play values would it create? The paper concludes by presenting some important considerations when designing learning 2.0 games.
The paper is based on analysis of secondary materials (including academic literature, industry research reports, blogs and video interviews).
Emergence, game rules and players
Karlsen, Faltin
University of Oslo
This paper will investigate the concept of emergence in relation to computer game studies. Emergence is a concept that in its broadest sense describes how various kinds of systems work, including solar systems, biological organisms and cities. A computer game can be analysed as a system on at least two levels. First, as a game system comprised of rules, and secondly, as a system that regulates social interaction. These two systems are often intertwined and can be difficult to separate analytically. This is an issue that has not been fully addressed within computer game studies, especially within the field that is now labelled ludology. With the ludological approach, the concept user often plays a subordinate role. This can obstruct analysis, as the actual use of games and the games' social and cultural context, might warp and transform the rules that are structurally embedded in them. The aim of this paper is to single out some of the aspects of games in which these two levels of analysis often get blurred, especially in terms of the concept of rules and game goal. The paper will focus particularly on multiuser games, where the social aspect is highly significant. My discussion of the concept emergence will rely mainly on theoretical reflections and vocabulary from complexity theory and social theory. Jesper Juul's use of the concept of emergence and his definition of games and rules will be the point of departure with regard to computer game
theory.
Immersed and how? That is the question
Kearney, Paul & Pivec, Maja
Unitec New Zealand
Beazzant (1999) suggests that commercial computer games create an environment where players are compelled to play and Oblinger (2004) states that it is this immersive environment that leads to the deep learning. Gee (2004) writes that many of the educational games found in today’s schools, often written by educators, have very few learning attributes and do not deliver what is expected, but that recreational computer games, including commercial first-person shooters that students spend much of their time at home immersed in, do possess all the learning principles. Garris, Ahlers, & Driskell (2002) suggest that learning from these games only occurs after reflection and debriefing, and the game characteristics and instructional content are paramount in allowing this to happen. Shaffer (2006) partially agrees and suggests that the virtual worlds created by such games allow students to take action within the game and then reflect on this action, both during and after play. Many of these views differ, however they all suggest that learning outcomes are enhanced through the immersive characteristics of some computer games that focus the attention of the player. They also state that when this immersion occurs, the game motivates the player to repeatedly engage in play. This type of motivation has been described as flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). The concept of flow can be used to identify which computer games foster the persistent re-engagement of the player, by analyzing computer games with a game-flow analysis model (Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005).
Research Methodology
For this research, computer games that have the potential to stimulate player immersion will be identified through using an adapted extended matrix of Sweetser & Wyeth’s game-flow model. One of the categories assessed with this matrix is immersion. Results from this category will be compared with the user behavior observed through the use of eye-tracking hardware. Research suggests that the less eye movement on a screen, the more immersed the player usually is (Kearney & Pivec, 2006) and the greater the absorption of the information (Zambarbieri, 2005). For this study, a Tobii ET-1750 eye-tracking monitor will be employed to record the eye movements.
Main results of the research - empirical
Green and Bavelier (2003) found that computer games such as Counter-Strike lead to a greater visual performance than other games, and Kearney (2006) found that unlike many other games, Counter-Strike provides an immersive environment, which can lead to increased cognitive skills. In an early study by the authors (Kearney & Pivec, 2006), eye movements were recorded and analyzed in both the 2 dimensional puzzle games, and the 3 dimensional game Counter-Strike. As with similar studies by Kenny et al (2005) and Sennersten (2004), in a first-person shooter game such as Counter-Strike, the player’s eyes spend the majority of the time focused with the centre of the screen, however this does not hold true with immersive 2D games such as Tetris. This research will correlate results recorded using eye-tracking hardware with results from the same games using the adapted extended matrix of the game-flow model. Based on these results, we hope to be able to validate both methodologies for testing player immersion. At the same time findings can be applied to design criteria for immersive game and learning environments.
A Framework for Development Process of Games for Learning
Kirjavainen, Antti
University of Jyväskylä
This paper examines the factors related to the construction of a quality development process of digital games for learning. The focus of the study is on the tasks performed during the development and the relationships of these tasks. This study is part of the research project Human-Centered Design of Game-Based Learning Environments. The overall aim of the project is to construct a multidisciplinary and user-driven process for the development of digital games for learning.
The development of motivating and inspiring digital learning games is a complex and multifaceted task. At its best, the quality development of learning games is a multi-disciplinary and user-driven process, which thoroughly combines the expertise of fields such as educational sciences, software engineering, user-centered design, game design and development, and the content disciplines of a specific game.
The tasks and the structure of the development process have not been widely examined in the earlier research on game-based learning environments. However, there are several principles in other related areas, especially in the development research and design of learning environments, which can be applied for composing a multifaceted game development team.
Design of game-based learning environments is a conjunction of game development, design of learning environments or learning interventions and software engineering disciplines. In addition to these, the involvement of the future users is essential in order to develop a product that meets the users’ actual needs by being engaging, educationally effective, and viable in real contexts.
This study is part of the research project Human-Centered Design of Game-Based Learning Environments. The overall aim of the project is to construct a multidisciplinary and user-driven process for the development of digital learning games. The design process is explored through the development of several game prototypes. This study addresses three research tasks: 1) identifying and describing different tasks in the development of games for learning, 2) the identification of those tasks essential to the success of the development, and 3) identifying characteristics of a quality development process where the individual tasks are scheduled in the project timetable and their relationships are described.
This study was conducted according to the principles of development research and action research. The study focused on the games-for-learning development process. The development process is the sum of all actions, events, resources and external conditions involved in a creation of a product (in this case, a game for learning). The literature review provided a working theory for the tasks and process of a quality development project. Different development projects were consequent cycles in the study and the developments and experiences in their implementation formed the results of the study. After the projects the working theory was modified according to the findings of the case project. The action research cycles consisted of four game design projects. The general role of the researcher was that of an active participator.
The results indicate that tasks identified in the literature review from related disciplines are in practice in so close relation that the division of tasks to those of different disciplines (for example, division to learning design and game design tasks) is not advantageous to the development. The essential tasks were identified to be the game usage and use context definition with users and instructional as well as learning experts in the team, game concept generation as a collaborative effort with game design and learning design goals and continuing user involvement, including gameplay testing, from the concept stage onwards. The results also present a framework for planning and scheduling a games-for-learning development from the tasks point-of-view.
Computer gaming in context
Kjørstad, Ingrid
The National Institute for Consumer Research - SIFO
Objective
The new sociology of childhood view children as actors and interpreters of their everyday life, including media consumption. Computer games analysts point towards the need to include the gaming context as well as the different elements of the games into gaming analysis. The paper will focus on this gaming context – which can be seen as a meeting point between game analysis and analysis of the digital childhood – and practices.
Methodology
Different elements constituting gaming contexts were discussed with ten 11-year olds (2004) in qualitative interviews, with the aim of identifying if and why some gaming experiences were scarier than others. The children were interviewed at home, mostly in pairs, in front of their gaming equipment, in and out of the game. The children’s perspective is central, as their understandings of computer games and perceptions of the gaming context are the main focus of the analysis.
Main results
The analysis concludes that the gaming context is of great importance to the children’s gaming experience, especially concerning scary and violent games – or game elements. The social aspects of the gaming context seem most important (regarding fear in particular) and any kind of sociality is appreciated (in general and regardless of game type). Results from this study show that children actively manipulate the gaming context as a means of reducing fear factor. This paper will elaborate on the importance and use children make of the gaming context, especially focusing on the social and communicative elements.
Silverstone (1994) agues that audiences are individual, social and cultural entities: always present and in the present. This is why it is crucial to recognise the context in which the audience is positioned, in order to understand the role of media in everyday life. Audience studies have to a large extent failed to recognise the audience as embedded in complex social and cultural relations, and Silverstone (1994) claims that one need to consider both the social and the individual dimensions related to media use. It is important to note that different viewers create different meanings, as they construct their own meanings from their individual experiences of common texts. Most children prefer to play computer games together with other children, which indicate the importance of considering the social context of such gaming.
Helle-Valle (2007) suggests that if one person can understand a given media content in different ways, depending on the communicative context in which the consumption takes place, then logically it will be fruitful to understand individuals as dividuals. When the subject enters a new context he also enter a new perspective, and hence in some way personality. It is this context dependent variation, or inconsistency, “dividual¿ is meant to capture. It will be analytically fruitful to see a person as an endless tension between individual and dividual aspects, especially regarding media consumption. The paper aims to broaden the somewhat black and white debate on children’s media consumption by sidestepping the problems of "media effects" and rather place focus on gaming contexts and practices.
No Work, all Play: Social Values and the ‘Magic Circle’
Lauteren, Georg
University of Applied Arts Vienna
In today’s western society, play and games are commonly seen in antogonism to work and the seriousness of daily life - they are widely regarded as to be free of purpose, productivity and material interest. In social sciences this perception manifests itself most clearly in Huizinga’s notion of games taking place in a ‘magic circle’, a social construct setting games apart from real life through clear and unambiguous spatial and temporal borders.
The concept has been elaborated on by classic authors of the field - among them Roger Caillois, who stresses that the magic circle’s importance in protecting players from real-life consequences of a playing a game. It has been further adapted to the field of digital games in numerous papers, stressing its usefulness for our particular subject of investigation – the computer game.
Recent phenomena have however lead reasearchers to cautiously question the hermetic nature of the magic circle’s boundaries: Pervasive and Alternate-Reality Games reach out across channels of our real life communication, MMOGs are often closely tied to real world economies and the fields of sports and gambling have turned into multi-billion-dollar industries over the past decades.
By using historical sources and methods of cultural sociology this paper examines the border regions of the ‘magic circle’: How games are and have been linked to the daily life of gamers through practical use and through structural similarities to the social reality they are supposed to be separated from. Consulting sources such as ‘gaming almanacs’ from the 18th and 19th century we can trace the impact of industrial society and the corresponding shifts of social values on prevailing gaming practices, thereby disciplining and structuring the use of games, transforming their rules and leading to the disappearance of certain games alltogether.
By investigating these shifts in cultural values and their strategies towards games – prohibiting, functionalising, didacticising and aestheticising their practices - it becomes evident that Huizinga’s understanding of games itself can be contextualised and seen as a child of its time: Not only by distancing games from daily life through the proclamation of a ‘magic circle’, but also by excluding certain gaming practices such as gambling from his study does Huizinga’s perspective on games coincide with the cultural values of his period.
Observing these shifts in gaming practices over time bears immediate relevance to the field of computer game studies: It leads us to asume that the localisation of games in social reality is not predetermined by a perpetual and inherent nature of games themselves, but rather in constant flux, strongly connected to the reality of social norms and the enforcement of cultural values. The immense popularity of gaming phenomena on the fringe of classical game definitions – e.g. The Sims, World of Warcraft, Second Life, online gambling or even the mimikry aspect of myspace - can be seen not as exceptions to the hermetic nature of games but as symptoms of the changing role of games in an increasingly ludic society.
Computer gamers’ identity construction
Lundin, Anette
University of Skövde
Objective of the study
The aim of the study was to enhance the understanding of why young adults (age 20-25) engage in computer gaming. Is it possible to understand computer gaming as a subculture in it’s own? As a subculture, which impact does computer gaming have on gamers’ identity construction? How can computer gaming, as a subculture, relate to the postmodern culture of our time? Can computer gaming be understood as a lifestyle?
Identity is understood as personal as well as social with emphasis on the constructing factors of social interaction.
Chosen methodology
The methodology chosen is semi-structured interviews (Kvale, 1997) with a phenomenological interpretation. To reach the aim of this study, eight interviews were conducted. The participants were in the age of 20-25 years old. Seven of the participants were male and one was female. Though, gender was not considered as a variable in this study. All of the participants study computer games’ design in a higher education.
The purpose of the interviews was to reach the gamers’ experiences and conceptions of why they engage in computer gaming and which impact this activity might have.
Main results
The main results of this study indicate that computer gaming indeed is a foundation for lifestyles as well as a subculture in it’s own. The lives of the young adults circle around computer gaming in both their professional as well as their every day life discourse. Four of the participants explicitly express a relief about having their leisure activity accepted as they began their three years of studying computer game design at the university. Over all, the participants have few friends who are not computer gamers and those who are not have to accept that computer gaming is the participants’ way of recreation.
It is also concluded that computer gaming is a natural development of recreational activity, as well as a way of life which identities are constructed around, in the postmodern culture of today.
Negotiating Game Cultures: Reflections on Women's Gaming Experiences
Lybæk, Tina & Witkowski, Emma
The Letzplay Association
Objective
Positive attributes of computer gaming are repeatedly voiced as; enjoyable, as activities where flow is induced, as learning spaces, and as a medium for experiencing something different or physically unachievable (Csikszentmihalyi; Steinkuehler, as cited in Bedigian; Taylor, 2003). Yet, in spite of such positive affordances, numerous barriers exist that play a part in discouraging girls and women from playing and developing an interest in computer games (Højrup & Witkowski; Jenkins; Kerr; Lybæk; Schott; Taylor, 2006).
The purpose of this ongoing research is to gain a better understanding of how women experience computer gaming as a leisure activity, looking specifically at how women are introduced to, enter, and negotiate the activity of computer gaming.
Research methodology
This study follows the work of Letzplay, a computer gaming initiative that is dedicated to the creation of gaming opportunities for women. We look at the pathways into play, through the accounts of women who have managed to inhabit the activity, and through the experiences of women new to computer gaming. The target group have responded to questionnaires, have been interviewed and observed, and furthermore, the researchers’ have accompanied the target group through participatory observations. The ethnographic account of the target group is a long-term and continual report that has been accumulated over time and experience through verbal, visual, observed, and bodily experiences of the activity (de Garis, 1999, as cited in Bolin and Granskog, 2003).
The study has been running for two years, and has covered several gaming events for women, LAN tournaments, game expositions, and casual to organized Internet café gaming nights for women. The researchers’ have participated in the events as; spectators, "coaches", team members, or as lone gamers. In addition, as coordinators of Letzplay’s computer lab, the researchers’ have performed as "intermediators" between the gaming industry (including computer- game developers, game shops, game events and Internet cafés) and women as customer/consumer. This has contributed to the study with impromptu discussions and a transparency to some of the more multifaceted situations that affect women’s exposure and entrance into gaming today. The girls and women who have participated in this study have varying gaming histories, and are represented from 8 – 55 years of age.
Results
From this study, it can be understood that many women are consistently sidelined from computer gaming as a leisure activity. The participants revealed that women’s access to and interest in computer gaming is frequently influenced by; game marketing, exposure to first-hand gaming experiences, a "culture cleft" between stereotypical depictions of gamers and hegemonic femininity, the absence of a network to enjoy the activity with, a scarcity of entry points to "get into" gaming, and the lack of knowledge of where to begin. Considering these issues, we suggest that there is a need for more actions, activities, visibility, and attention towards women and gaming – targeting women as potential gamers in addition to targeting the women who are already playing computer games. Providing additional "ways in" to computer gaming, along with highlighting the fact that there are women who game, might aid in the deconstruction of the various barriers, tangible and intangible, which play a part in keeping many women sidelined or imperceptible from computer game cultures.
Online Gaming and Feminine Subjectivities
Madden, Louise
Cardiff School of Social Sciences
Objective
This paper takes a stance on the activity of gaming inherited from the discipline of critical psychology, and drawing on Walkerdine's (2007) recent work. This stance allows us to see women's gaming as a profoundly social practice and as a site of production of identity and the self.
Two concepts encapsulate what is particular about this approach. The first is it's emphasis on subjectivities, that is, on the self as a site of struggle over meaning which can never become fixed, and must be constantly renegotiated and accomplished in the moment. This suggests questions about games such as which subject positions are available to what kind of subjects at what times. Methodologically, it suggests the individual and the everyday practices of their social world as the focus of study, with gaming as an activity always seen in and through this rich social context.
The second important concept is that of relationality (Walkerdine, 2007), which takes us a further theoretical step, by displacing subjectivity itself from the centre of analysis. So that rather than concerning ourselves with a world of discrete subjects acting on and among objects, instead we become concerned with the relations between them. So that subjectivities comes to be seen as an effect of webs of relations they exist within, and gamer subjectivities are constituted out of the relations of playing.
This suggests not only that we need to explore the range of social practices around participants as they play, but that the relationships must be foregrounded so that our enquiry becomes how games come to be played and what is at stake for women as they become constituted as (non)players. Overall these concepts are used to explore how online games are experienced, and the complex of relations that operate to constitute female gamers and the act of gaming.
Research Methodology
This case study comes from a corpus of data investigating women's use of the internet. It follows Faith, a high user in the endgame of a small MMORPG, and examines in detail how gaming fits into her overall internet use, but also the physical space of her home, her family and education and career trajectories, and how her subjectivities are accomplished through this network of relations.
A range of data collection methods were used to bring together narratives and attempts to capture action and experience as she moves through the game, the web and wider life. These include audio-diaries of internet usage to document the range of online technology used and the significance of time. Loosely structured interviews to deepen diary findings on gaming practices and their integration into wider internet use and other practices and projects day-to-day. Online interviews/tours using instant messaging and in-game chat to chart Faith's paths through the internet and the game world. Observation of her computer and other internet hardware and the space gaming takes in the geography of the home, and how the body is implicated in gaming practices. Finally, the researcher's fieldnotes noting her experiences, and the spaces online and offline that she passes through.
Main Results
This approach allows us to look at the possibilities for a feminine subject to be accomplished, in relation to games and gaming, as also a gaming subject. This wide view on gaming practices in the social world gives insight into elements of women's gaming that might otherwise be obscured.
This paper picks out three elements of gaming as activity that emerge from this approach. The first is the place of guilt, pain and other emotionality in the experience of internet use and online games in particular. The second is the role of significant others and links between on and offline relationships, particularly how online relationships figure in offline identities and projects. Finally, I foreground the significance of break-down and interruption in how games are experienced, in terms of crashing machines, inadequate internet connections and availability of games and game-time.
Machinima Storytelling Using Constituents
Manker, Jon
Södertörns högskola
This paper will present work aiming to break down a film- or machinima production process into constituents in order to simplify the process and make it more intuitive.
Machinima, filmmaking within a real-time, 3D virtual environment, often using 3D videogame technologies, is a growing technique for film production. Machinima is made using games and therefore it has, so far, mostly attracted gamers. One can assume this to be due to the fact that games are used as production platform. But it may also be due to that the knowledge needed and the software used is still quite advanced.
Film making is a costly and complicated endeavor. Before digital film technology entered the field it was impossible for the individual to produce films. Enter digital, transforming film production from something unthinkably unaffordable to something affordable for all. The transformation has taken place in three steps, where machinima represents an example of the third and final step.
1. Capturing of images and sound went from, the resolution-wise, nowhere in distribution channels accepted, VHS and 8mm to the everywhere accepted DV including computer based sound and video editing.
2. Distributing film was, before digitalization, solely a high cost industry including movie theatre- and TV-networks. Digitalization has cut the costs dramatically for copies and also opened a channel free for all: the Internet.
3. Set, lights, actors, film workers and various other production specific resources usually needed to complete a film is what really drives the film budgets to its heights. This is now available through various, more and more photorealistic, 3D-animation solutions on computers. Computer games are one of these.
Film production is in itself still complicated, but the user friendliness of DV-cameras or the Internet has made the technology of it comprehensible for many. These two areas widel outshines 3Danimation software in this aspect. Machinima is a step in the user friendly direction, but still far from DV or Internet and niched towards the gaming community. Machinimamattan is a project in which a play mat is to be used as interface to a computer on which it controls a machinima production platform. The goal is to study how kids can make machinima movies by playing with the mat. On the surface of the mat different cards is to be used to represent different parts of the production. How the cards are placed, on the mat and in relation to each other, defines how the machinima should be created.
If such a set up is going to work, a substantial amount of planning and categorization of the
content in film generally need to done in order to obtain a functional balance between creative
freedom and level of abstraction. Presented in this paper is a model of how this can be achieved. With
respect to the different parts of the production, spatial and temporal, a number of constituents is created, explained and exemplified. Later in the Machinimamattan project, these can be transformed into cards in the ubiquitous mat-interface.
Digital play-based learning
A philosophical-pedagogical perspective on learning anew in computer games
Mitgutsch Konstantin
University of Vienna
It was only in the last few years, that the potentials of computer games for learning and teaching have increasingly become a focus in scientific research and the computer industry. Thus, only little research has been done in examining the role of irritations, errors and disillusionments in learning with the help of and from computer games. This contribution focuses on new insights into educational theories of learning with computer games and on consequences for a new understanding of digital play-based learning. It will be shown that learning anew through experiences of resistive knowledge, of unexpected structures and unknown perspectives is essential for human learning and consequently for game-based learning, or, play-based learning, as I will call it. In this sense, digital play-based learning does not only refer to early childhood playing, but to the general aspect of play in computer games, as the dimension of inordinate, creative, innovative and free playing within the strict structures of games (cp. Frasca 2003, Caillois 1982, Adamowsky 2005).
Following James Paul Jee’s (2003) embedded learning principles in computer games, it will be shown that learning within the dimension of play is mainly conceived as a “process in which one’s experience of one’s own knowledge and ignorance, ability and inability plays a central role¿ (Benner/English 2004, 412). Some of Jee’s principles show that irritations and resistive knowledge challenge the process of learning and take the learner to the outer limits of his or her abilities and knowledge. While most of the (to date very limited) research about the key role of errors in learning with computers focus on the identification, prediction and elimination of these errors (cp. Johnson, 1999; Hollnagel 2000), the potentials and impacts of the so-called negative dimension of learning will be analyzed and reflected in the planned contribution. Not only the importance of errors for transferring knowledge and abilities will be reconsidered (cp. Kay, in press), but the essential role of the negative experiences in learning, playing and thinking will be reflected. Because a linear connection between instruction and learning has essentially changed within the window of opportunity computer games offer, a new understanding of media pedagogic is in need, as Henry Jenkins claims (Jenkins 2006). Learning through the negativity implicates the confrontation with negative instances and learning anew about an object, about the limitation of the prior anticipation, about the limitations of one’s own consciousness and about the horizon of expectations as an experiencing subject (Gadamer 1975, Buck 1989, Benner/English 2004, Burgos 2004). This dimension of learning has hardly been reconsidered and should be a topic of media pedagogy and new media literacy.
Furthermore, a generative transdisciplinary symbiosis of a philosophical-pedagogical theory on learning and computer game studies will be examined. The main goal of this contribution is a theoretical foundation of the so-called negative dimension of learning (cp. Gadamer 1975, Buck 1989) within the new educational game studies. It will be shown, that Günther Bucks theory of learning, as learning anew through experiences of irritations and resistive knowledge, is of great relevance for a new understanding of media literacy and should be considered in theories of learning and computer games. Aside from that, an new access to learning and computer games will be given that focuses on a phenomenological perspective of the learning and playing process. This anthropological and phenomenological perspective has a long tradition in the European Philosophy of Education but (until now) has only rarely been introduced in the academic discussion on computer games. Therefore, it will be shown what a hermeneutic and philosophical-pedagogical perspective can offer a theory of learning anew with computer games in a “global learning society¿ (Mitgutsch/Budin/Swertz 2006).
Psychosocial Implications of Online Video Games
Ortiz Angelica
Objective
Online video games have important characteristics which do not exist in the traditional offline gaming experience. These elements provide powerful psychological reinforcement that connect the emotions of the gamer with the game and are found in a wide spectrum of online games.
The promotion of healthy and moderate gaming requires careful identification and analysis of such attributes. In this paper I examine and discuss the structural characteristics and design elements of online video games (e.g. telepresence, storyline, permanent community, virtual money). I also analyze the psychological impact and associated phenomenon which accompany all online gaming (e.g. virtual ownership, activity of status, disinhibition effect), in contrast to any specific mechanisms intentionally embedded by game designers. I include a classification of different types of video games that center on winning, betting and/or making virtual money and real money (e.g. Second Life, Entropia Universe, Lineage II, Quake for Cash, Counter Strike).
Furthermore, I have analyze whether the characteristics found exclusively in online games can promote or accelerate pathological behavior in individuals with either pre-existing disorders (e.g. social phobia, narcissist disorder, depression) or those with some specific predisposition or vulnerability (e.g. physical disability, life events, geographic location). Since the determination of excessive use is highly individual, I examine the factors which can play a central role in the development of gaming related problems (e.g. idealization of others, emotional state fluctuation, abstinence symptoms).
Methodology
The research methodology applied in this study is an exploratory qualitative approach. Due to the emerging and rapidly changing nature of online gaming, there is very little research incorporating all factors relevant to understanding its current and future psychosocial impact. Although research has been conducted within specific domains relating to video game use, there is insufficient investigation from a systems inquiry approach, where an attempt to interpret and analyze online gaming phenomenon is made from a holistic perspective. I take a multidisciplinary approach using various types of primary and secondary sources. Such sources were obtained through internet search engines such as Google Scholar™ and Copernic. Other articles were obtained through PubMed via boolean keyword searches (video games AND structure, video games AND psychology, video games AND classification, virtuality, gameplay and psychology, online games, cyberspace).
Conceptual Results
Video games have become an important element in the lifestyle of children, adolescents and even adults, yet the line between online gaming and gambling is rapidly disappearing. Many online games now involve some form of earning virtual or real money, a trend and definitive indicator that as a society we are crossing a new economic and societal threshold into a frontier which at times is too young to comprehend.
Video games are interactive tools that emotionally bond players together by manipulating dreams and fantastic storylines through the use of artificial intelligence simulation and extremely vivid sensory experience, all of this opening a window to a world of fantasy and imagination.
Although we can assert that the massive social and competitive interactivity, as well as the advances in 3D technology and artificial intelligence, have a significant potential to both increase and decrease health risk factors, we have yet to consistently establish valid modalities for such factors and their effective treatment.
Utility Gaming
Pareto, Lena
University West
The objective of this study is to introduce the concept of utility games and utility gaming, and to develop a characterization of such a game category. By utility games, we refer to artefacts with a primary utility purpose for the user, rather than for others purposes as in Ahn. (2006). The gaming aspect is secondary and represents the mean of achieving the primary goal rather than as the goal itself (as for pure entertainment games). We use the concept in a similar way as Kangas & Cavén (2004) and educational games are examples of utility games. In this paper we will take the perspective of viewing games as a design strategy to meet the requirements of the utility activity.
The purpose of this characterization is to understand particularities of utility games, with respect to design and usage. This characterization will be used (in future work) for developing design guidelines as well as tailored design and evaluation methods for utility games.
Method
We base our analysis on four different prototype utility games, of which the author has been involved in the design. The games belong to different utility classes, and vary with respect to utility domain, game environment and type, as well as purpose and user groups. Case 1 is an educational game based on a graphical model of arithmetic (Pareto, 2004), case 2 an auditory adventure game for a museum (Pareto & Snis, 2006), case 3 a social simulation game for children with autism (Andersson, Josefsson & Pareto, 2006), and case 4 is a virtual reality system for stroke rehabilitation (Goude, Björk & Rydmark, 2007). The games are characterized as follows:
/... please see table 1 in full paper/
Result
The cases have been analysed with respect to development as well as usage, to distinguish characteristics typical for the category of utility games. The development analysis includes requirements, design methods and evaluation. The usage analysis includes user groups, type of use and use situations. The characteristics particular for developing utility games are as follows:
There are two kinds of requirements: utility requirements and game requirements. However, these two sets of requirements must be integrated, which often put additional requirements on the game due to the utility goals. For instance, the arithmetic game must comply with mathematical meaning, or the games used for stroke rehabilitation must yield appropriate hand movements.
Designing utility games involves combining design methods from game and experience design as well as from usability and interaction design. Domain knowledge as well as game innovation is needed.
Utility games should be evaluated from two perspectives: from the viewpoint of game experience and entertaining value, as well as from the utility effect. These are interrelated, since normally the utility effect depends on the amount of usage, which is affected by the entertainment value. The overall value is a combination of entertainment value and utility fulfilment.
Utility gaming means gaming as an exercise (for training, learning, habilitation, or rehabilitation), instead of using other methods of exercising the utility. Because of this, non-typical gamers can be attracted by these games. Use situations of utility gaming can be organised assignments as well as voluntarily in leisure time.
To conclude, as Dickey (2005) we argue that game design is a powerful strategy, and is appropriate for developing utility artefacts.
The avatar is not me: Roledistance in game play
Peterson, Louise
University of Gothenburg
This study examines what happens upon young people’s encounter while playing The Sims 2, in groups of two, during the course of one hour. It has been suggested elsewhere (Atkins, 2006) that The Sims can be considered as a software toy instead of a game. Either way, game play is a much diversified practice and how it is experienced depends on how the experience is organized or framed using Goffmans’ (1974/1981) notion. Building on the Goffman line of reasoning, Linderoth (2005) is focusing on computer game play and explores the avatar-player relation. Drawing on empirical observation Linderoth (2005) shows that the meanings of avatars depend upon how they are framed by the player, and identifies at least three functions:
- A fictive character that you can pretend to be, a role
- A piece of equipment, a tool which extends the player’s agency in the game activity
- A part of the players setting, props which can be used as a part of the players’ presentation of self
Taking this as a starting point, the excerpts chosen in this paper aim at showing how culture, socialization and norms become a part of how the gaming is framed and how it changes during the course of play. The game-activity in The Sims2 is constituted of a planning phase and a playing phase. The planning phase is characterized of activities as design of avatars which is created as the playing agent and design of the house that these avatars will move in to.
In this study two boys, aged 14, are using the planning phase within the game as a safe arena where they act on attributes to create their two avatars — a homosexual couple. The boys have full control of the game activity and they are laughing and playing with the cultural material and symbols in the game to fulfil their commitment. The boys’ mission is to have their avatars to be married in the playing phase, a game activity where the players have to act on their avatars performing and they lose some of the previous control. The empirical data shows a divergence between the commitment of letting their avatars take the role as a homosexual couple and their avatars performing in the playing phase. This can be described by using the notion of role-distance coined by Goffman (1961). The two boys try to follow their goal to get their two avatars to marry when the players act in ways to show each other that they distance themselves from the roles they have given their avatars. Role-distance becomes a way for the boys to show each other their player-avatar relation and their presentation of selves as heterosexual.
The Challenge of Managing Real and Virtual
Affordances In Computer Game Play
Rambusch, Jana & Susi, Tarja
University of Skövde
With a background in cognitive science, we would like to argue that game play in many respects is a socially embodied and situated activity that is distributed across players, game interface(s) and the surrounding environment (cf. Clark, 1997). The embodied and situated nature of human thinking needs to be taken into consideration when studying game play in terms of activity and cognition. It is not enough to study the player and the game (environment) separately since neither can be fully understood without the other. The game environment alone, even though it plays an important part in the game, would not tell us much about the ongoing gaming activity. The player’s actions need, nonetheless, also to be studied with regard to the game environment which not only holds and distributes information but also affords certain actions in relation to, e.g., the tools and artefacts used in game play. This paper aims to discuss the concept of affordance (Gibson, 1986; Hartson, 2003)
with respect to games and game play activity.1 The game environment with its complex and multiple affordances presents something of a challenge for people since it consists of two worlds, a virtual one and a "real" one, i.e., the affordances of both worlds need to be combined for a game to be played successfully. As players are engaged in game play, they face the challenge of perceiving and acting upon affordances in both the "real" world and the virtual world. The real challenge here is not to perceive the different affordances, but to a greater extent, to integrate the different kinds of them, which means, to understand how real world actions affect and relate to actions in the virtual world. To make things even more complicated, players also have to cope with sequential affordances, which refer to "situations
in which acting on a perceptible affordance leads to information indicating new affordances" (Gaver, 1991). Importantly, from an embodied/situated cognition perspective, affordances need also to be considered in relation to the player’s context-dependent actions. In this context, we need to account not only for properties of an object itself and a player’s (bodily) properties (Hirose, 2001), but also his/her participation in a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Objects, artefacts, tools – whichever term we use – constitute part of a culture’s (community’s) intellectual history, that is, the appropriation of knowledge about an object’s affordance and its use in games turns a seemingly individual activity into a social process (cf., Gee, 2004).
The grounding of game play activities in the affordance concept provides further insights on people’s game play experiences since a discussion from this perspective illustrates an essential part of the close, mutual relation between player and game environment – a relation in which players constantly escape their virtual confines and mingle with the physical and social environment. This provides not only a better understanding of learning processes in game play but also illustrates how affordances embedded in the game environment (can) affect the game play experience. In sum, our discussion should not just be of interest for researchers in areas such as digital game-based learning and serious games but also for game research in general, given the noticeable lack of studies on game play with focus on how and
why people play games and what gaming environments are like (Squire, 2002).
Ghost of Phoenix
Rinman, Marie-Louise
University of East London
Background
The aim of my research is to investigate the intrinsic qualities of games and their fields of application. The so-called Ghost games are multi-modal location-based games involving groups of people. My hypothesis is that the game format per se have certain properties, which make it useful as a means for enhancing social interaction, supporting collaboration and encouraging selfexpression. In 2003 the location-based game Ghost in the Cave using sound recognition and motion tracking was realised. It is tested by approximately a thousand people over a period of four years. A multiplayer 3D world is projected onto two screens and two teams, 25-35 participants in all, interact with each other as well as with a virtual world using non-verbal emotional expressions. The participants, two players and two teams, execute a number of tasks. Two players lead their teams using expressive gestures in body movements to control two avatars. The two teams assist the players by generating speed and music through performing movements captured by a webcamera. Studies of people participating in the Ghost in the Cave support the assumption that the game format enhances social interaction and support collaboration provided that certain conditions are fulfilled as explained below. Music and motion elements encourage people to participate as well as driving teams and players on in the activity.
End Discussion
Ghost of Phoenix is a location-based game performed in an open space. As opposed to the anonymous existence in communities and online games people are exposed to one another. This vulnerable position has to be taken into consideration in the physical set-up as well as in the game design not least bearing the special group of teenagers in mind. The basis for the construction of the competitive and collaborative elements are influenced by Goffman’s ideas concerning embarrassment. To avoid causing embarrassment the competitive elements are closely connected to the collaborative ones. There is no simple "win or lose", an either-or, instead all parts are intertwined with the unfolding story. No individual, or team, is singled out as a "loser" in front of the others. A rhythm session for instance, is rather meant to encourage participants to express themselves rather then prove they can imitate correctly - and "win". On the one hand movements and music drive people on, on the other collaboration and competition make them reflect and communicate. Finally all is tied together by a story in a game format that serves as a common platform.
Towards a Positive Assessment Policy for Computer and Console Games
Rosenstingl, Herbert & Wagner, Michael
Federal Ministry of Social Security & Danube University Krems
The dramatic rise in popularity of digital games in the form of computer or console games challenges policy makers worldwide. The key issue is to develop and implement strategies for protecting children from problematic content while supporting the positive potential of computer games and digital media in general. Unfortunately, most countries decided to approach the subject purely from a legislative perspective based on a negative assessment policy, e.g. by regulating the distribution of digital games based on rigid rating systems. In a time where children have access to digital distribution channels outside governmental control, however, such strategies appear counterproductive as they motivate children to bypass the legal system.
The Austrian government has therefore decided to focus on the positive assessment of digital games as its core strategy. Instead of passing rigid laws to black-list specific games, it funded initiatives maintaining "white lists" of recommended games based on a national quality seal. These initiatives are managed by the Austrian "Federal Office for the Positive Assessment of Computer and Console Games" (in short: BuPP). In this paper we present the current status of the implementation of this governmental strategy and discuss experiences made at the BuPP.
Initially, the BuPP had to evaluate whether the development of an institutional "quality seal" would be feasible for the small Austrian game market. For this purpose, a feasibility study, carried out by Jürgen Maaß (2003), was commissioned. This feasibility study was based on a series of expert interviews with representatives of publishers as well as vendors and described various possible scenarios for the organisational and structural implementation of the proposed strategy. As a second step, the acceptance of the proposed positive assessment strategy within the main target group – the adults who actually buy games for minors – was evaluated. For this purpose, field interviews at the point of sale in several major Austrian stores and game vendors were conducted an analysed (Hofer 2003). In addition, appropriate quality criteria were developed, tested, and refined. Since November 21, 2005, a list of evaluated and recommended games is publicly available at the website of the BuPP (www.bupp.at).
In addition to refining evaluation procedures and popularizing its white list strategy, the BuPP is currently developing strategies for consulting parents and teachers as well as designing methods for media pedagogic intervention. For this purpose, a part of the "elf18"-study, a representative face-to-face multi topic survey of young people in Austria (aged 11 to 18 years) was dedicated to this issue. Pre-tests for a similar study among parents are about to start. First results indicate a massive lack of communication within families on the use of games resulting in a fundamental lack of knowledge of parents on what and how their children play. Unfortunately, positive assessment will not have the desired effect as long as children and youngsters are left alone. Getting parents to learn about their children’s activities therefore is of fundamental importance in the future strategy of the BuPP.
Property practices in World of Warcraft
Rossi, Luca
University of Urbino "Carlo Bo"
Observing how property practices occur in the online world of World of Warcraft means deal with a complex reality that involve al least two layer of analysis. On a first layer we should ask ourselves what does it mean to own something inside World of Warcraft. Answering to this question is less simple as is could seem on a first sight because of the peculiar nature of objects in this online world. Objects here are not only digital entities with no reference with physical objects but they are described by a unique set of properties that can’t be find anywhere else. The fact that something can bind itself to the character when it’s picked up, for example, denies the possibility to set up trade practices with most of the game objects (at least with some of the most powerful). Within the online world property practices have to develop themselves trying to continue their primary function to avoid conflict on limited resources but this has to be obtained handling with a far more complex scenario. In the online world of World of Warcraft objects can be traded at the AH, but some can be traded only if they haven’t been used (BoE objects) and others can’t be traded at all (BoP objects). If inside the online world property seems to develop original pattern of existence researchers can’t ignore that outside the digital world there is an ongoing trade of gold and characters that can be used in World of Warcraft. This is the second layer of our analysis that aims to describe the gold-selling practices starting from the observation of how the property can be inside the game. The economic system usually tries to reproduce itself producing value by a traditional definition of property as something that can easily be traded, sold and exchanged. How is it possible to produce value within a specific digital context where objects are defined by a whole new set of properties? The growing economical value of goldselling practices shows that this value creation is possible but can’t explain the deep connection between what is traded offline and what happens inside the online world.
The paper will answer to the following questions: how can property practices inside World of Warcraft be described? How the set of properties used in the game to describe good forge an emerging kind of property? Does this property work? How can the external economic system deal with this unique kind of property?
In order to investigate this topic the paper will present a both a theoretical framework and a research methodology. The theoretical framework, based on Social System Theory (Luhmann 1976), will observe the function of property inside a social system and inside an online world. The research methodology has been constructed starting from the virtual ethnographic approach (Hine 2000) and from the Ludological thoughts (Juul 2000, Arseth 2003) on videogames. The ethnographic research has been conducted on a European server of World of Warcraft during the last year and uses several in-game observations and game diaries.
Main results from the research can be identified in a specific definition of online property practices described as an emerging form of property directly linked to the digital nature of goods.
The body as a resource for collaborative gaming
Sjöblom, Björn
University of Linköping
The body has long been an overlooked aspect of gaming, in that both developers and game-scholars have neglected the importance of including the body in game design and in the analysis of gaming. With new types of hardware being available, such as Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 as well as games where the body is used for interaction, both in arcades and homes (e.g. Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero and the Eye Toy-games), developers have taken the step from seeing games as disembodied to the inclusion of bodily movement in gameplay. In academic work on gaming, the body has been discussed in relation to the development of dance and camera-based interfaces, avatars in online games, and pervasive gaming (as well as the ubiquitous discussions on relationships between obesity and overuse of computer games). This study takes a different approach in that it examines the use of the body in people playing standard, PC-based, desktop games such as World of Warcraft, Counter Strike and Warcraft III. From an ethnomethodological and interaction analytical approach, the research presented here documents the role of bodily action in achieving the gaming situation as a collaborative activity.
The study has been conducted during a short-term fieldwork at a combined internet café and gaming centre in Stockholm. The methods used are video recording of interaction in and around games using multiple video cameras and microphones, as well as field notes. Video has been used to record young people (ages 10-21) playing on PCs in a variety of player constellations and game-types. Video recordings allow for detailed analysis of a multitude of interactions in the gaming situation, involving the game, the players and any bystanders. It permits an analysis of body-movements, gestures, embodied orientations and postures in conjunction with talk and in-game actions. The recordings were logged and episodes of interest were transcribed using conventional notations of conversation analysis, as well as other transcriptional formats for demonstrating bodily and in-game behavior.
The resulting analyses display ways in which the participating players’ bodies are used as resources for structuring the situation as one of collaborative gaming, even in situations where the game set-up does not demand cooperation from the players (such as two players playing WoW on different servers, disallowing any in-game cooperation). Using the body as a resource for achieving collaboration is done in a multitude of ways, such as gazing and pointing, used for establishing certain aspects of the gaming as relevant for the ongoing interaction, but also posture and ambulatory moves, such as leaning, walking and rising, moves that participants use for monitoring and collaborating in gaming located in other parts of the setting. This is done while playing the game itself and in conjunction with the use of other semiotic resources, such as talk. The gaming as an intersubjective, mutual and concerted activity is accomplished in a variety of conversational and interactional game contexts, such as co-op games, match-type games, parallel play (two persons playing the same game on different computers) and single player games. These include episodes of instructing someone how to play, invitations and rejections for setting up and playing a certain game, comments on in-game events, as well as continuous monitoring of other players’ in-game progress. In the case of competition-type games, using the body to monitor the competitors’ screens can be used to frame the situation as one of playfulness and cooperativeness. In the examination of embodied conduct, notions of place and spatial organization will be of importance for understanding the participants' activities.
These findings point to a discussion of the idea of computer gaming as an embodied enterprise, and to a reflection on using methods for adequately capturing details of the interactions between players, in and around games. By only examining in-game behavior, many analyses of gaming tend to miss out on the rich semiotic resources that p