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Börje Karlsson, Fernandes Felipe

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ISSUES AND APPROACHES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MIDDLEWARE DEVELOPMENT FOR DIGITAL GAMES AND ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTS

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Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666
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This work presents issues and approaches regarding the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) middleware to aid the development of digital games and entertainment products in general. It starts with a discussion of the concept and context of an AI middleware (emphasizing the relations of traditional AI areas with computer games). Then, some approaches to the problem of creating an AI middleware are presented, followed by a taxonomy regarding design methods and componentization, and related research. Finally, we discuss the impact of such middleware, open issues to be addressed and future directions.

 

Beth E. Kolko, Alex Thayer

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GAMES AS TECHNOLOGICAL ENTRY POINT: A CASE STUDY OF UZBEKISTAN

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Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666
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Abstract:
This paper considers cross-cultural patterns of game-playing activities. The paper is part of an overall argument regarding computer games as a possible technological entry point for novice users. In particular, increasing use of games in educational settings has drawn attention to the fact that computer games can be a way for young people to gain an initial exposure to computer technology. The paper discusses game-playing patterns in the US and South Korea in order to demonstrate that such patterns vary based on country. The paper then considers survey work conducted in March 2003 in Uzbekistan that presents a snapshot of game-playing activity in a country that is in early stages of computer technology adoption. This paper is part of a larger study that seeks to argue that game-playing, if fostered correctly, can serve as an effective point of entry to computer technology for youth in developing countries and in areas where computer penetration is relatively low.

 

Eva Kingsepp

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Apocalypse the Spielberg Way: Representations of Death and Ethics in Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and the Videogame Medal of Honor: Frontline

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Kingsepp Eva
Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666
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“Authenticity” is an issue central to Steven Spielberg in his re-creations of World War II. But while the films are (hyper)realistic also in their representation of death, this is not the case in the videogames. Does this suggest anything about contemporary society’s view of killing, dying and death? In my paper I study death and ethics in Saving Private Ryan, the TV series Band of Brothers, and the video game Medal of Honor: Frontline (2002), all sharing the same topic: the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. The differences indicate an ambiguity in the notion of authenticity as well as different strategies of handling ethical questions.

 

 

 

Jeffrey E. Brand, Scott Knight, Jakub Majewski

B, K, M , , , ,

The Diverse Worlds of Computer Games: A Content Analysis of Spaces, Populations, Styles and Narratives

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Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666
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The Diverse Worlds Project analysed 130 computer and video games (CVGs) to understand their textual landscape. Titles were sampled from the five gaming platforms dominant in 2002. Blending the quantitative content analytic tradition and the Bordwellian approach to formal film analysis, characters, settings, narrative and stylistic factors were studied in four units of analysis including box, handbook, opening cinematic sequences, and game-play. “Diverse Worlds” contradicts the popular stereotypes about CVGs presenting exaggerated, violent characters in simplistic, formulaic, worlds lacking in aesthetic nuance and texture. Games are painted using a vast array of visible features and locations. Narrative structure and progression varies depending on genre and goes beyond “shoot the bad guy.” Graphic stylisation tends toward a mid-point between animation and photo-realism with the latter more often used for rendering environments and the former for characters. Limitations of character representation include the use of stereotypes found in traditional mainstream media. An earlier version of this work was presented at the International Ratings Conference in Sydney, Australia, September 2003.

 

Elina M.I. Koivisto

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Supporting Communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games by Game Design

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Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666
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Communities get formed almost automatically in multiplayer games, but in some games they seem to be stronger and more active than in others. In order to find out why it is so, We study in this paper what kind of game design makes game community formation and maintenance easier in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). Three MMORPGs are used as examples: Ultima Online, Anarchy Online and Toontown Online. The communication methods, game mechanics and environments of the three MMORPGs are compared and their effects on the game community are analyzed. Communities do not exist without communication. Game mechanics affects how important it is for the players to co-operate and compete with others and how useful it is to form different kinds of sub-communities, such as guilds. If the game supports player created content it typically strengthens the game community. The game environment provides settings for player-to-player interaction and can encourage collaboration and inspire the players to create their own stories around the sub-communities.

 

John Kirriemuir, Angela McFarlane

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USE OF COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES IN THE CLASSROOM

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Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666

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This paper examines the use of “pure” computer and video games in classrooms. It reports the findings of an ongoing informal survey of how and why such games are used as an integrated part of formal classroom learning. The paper presents a number of examples of the use of such games, and tries to determine likely trends in their use in such an environment. Of significance is an examination of the obstacles that teaching staff encounter in attempting to use such software during lesson times, and how some staff have overcome these obstacles.

 

A. Fleming Seay, William J. Jerome, Kevin Sang Lee, Robert Kraut

J, K, S, W , , , , , , , ,

PROJECT MASSIVE 1.0: ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, SOCIABILITY AND EXTRAVERSION IN MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GAMES

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Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666

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Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMPs) continue to be a popular and lucrative sector of the gaming market. Project Massive was created to survey MMP players about their play experience, social experience, and communication tool usage both inside and outside of their gaming environments. 1852 MMP players have completed the online Project Massive survey, reporting on their play patterns, commitment to their player organizations, and personality traits like sociability and extraversion. The primary focus of Project Massive has been on the player groups that form in MMPs. Most MMPs support and attempt to foster group formation of some kind or another among their players. These formal player groups, often called guilds, can be as persistent as the digital worlds in which they exist. We have found that players who are highly committed to their guilds spend significantly more time in-game than do moderately committed guild members and solo (non-guild) players. Enhancing a player’s commitment to their guild can translate into extending their commitment to the game world. In turn, this may result in longer subscriptions and increased revenue for the game’s creators. This research is important because there has not been substantial research into the traits and practices of the more successful player organizations that are able to sustain committed bodies of members. Project Massive has investigated how these groups develop, organize, communicate, and operate across a number of independent game worlds. Here we report on our findings and describe our future longitudinal work as we track players and their organizations across the evolving landscape of the MMP product space.

 

Jan H.G. Klabbers

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THE GAMING LANDSCAPE: A TAXONOMY FOR CLASSIFYING GAMES AND SIMULATIONS
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Klabbers 
DiGRA ’03 – Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up, 2014 Volume: 2 ISBN / ISNN: ISSN 2342-9666
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Following Huizinga’s view, the play element of culture is emphasized. While playing, by means of rules, the participants in a game interact with one another to impact on the reference system. Thousands of simulation games are available that depict many different areas and purposes of use. The variety of the gaming landscape is illustrated by linking the various foci and areas of interest in one scheme. To see the wood for the trees, the generic model of games is presented, based on the three interconnected building blocks: actors, rules, and resources. I will point out that even if games have similar forms, their purpose, subject matter, content, context of use, and intended audience(s), may be very different. A framework for constructing, deconstructing and classifying games emerges, based on the combination of the three building blocks with elements of a semiotic theory of gaming: syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

Tomi Kujanpää & Tony Manninen

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SUPPORTING VISUAL ELEMENTS OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN COMPUTER GAME AVATARS
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Communication between players in networked computer games is often inadequately implemented. The games do not exploit the full potential of using different forms of communication possibilities between players, and therefore result in problems in sending and receiving messages. This paper introduces a model that describes how visual aspects of non-verbal communication (NVC) in avatars could be systematically designed. The model can be used as a guideline in the design process of more communicative avatars. The study was conducted using a variety of research methods. The topic has been approached from both the constructive and theoretic-conceptual viewpoints. Nonverbal communication theories have been used as the framework to construct avatars for game environments and to form a model that supports the design of NVC elements into avatars. The primary result of the work is a model that describes how to design more communicative avatars. The model introduces the aspects required when considering the designing of the visual elements of NVC. As an empirical result, the avatars based on the model determine how different elements of NVC work, and how NVC could be used in the avatar context. The results can be applied for design and construction purposes, as well as for further research into the diverse areas of avatar design. The model describes three layers that can be used to guide the work of avatar designers and creators in supporting the visual elements of communication in computer game avatars. The model shows that designers and creators should search for the required elements of the NVC, vary these elements to form a rich set of ways to use them, and finally, personalise the avatars by selecting varied elements for separate avatars to support natural communication.

Lisbeth Klastrup

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“YOU CAN’T HELP SHOUTING AND YELLING”: FUN AND SOCIAL INTERACTION IN SUPER MONKEY BALL
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This paper examines the relation between social interaction and fun in multi-player console gaming contexts. It points to the fruitfullness of integrating game studies and game sociology with cultural studies of television and video use in order to explain both the framing and (social) use of console games and the fun of playing them. A prestudy of the relation between social interaction and fun in the playing of the game Super Monkey Ball reveals that there is a close relation between gaming skills, the gaming situation as a pleasurable and relieving social activity and the experience of fun.
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