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Games User Research: A Case Study Approach
by Miguel Angel Garcia-Ruiz"Fundamentally, making games is designing with others, everyone contributing from different angles towards the best possible product. Conclusively, Garcia-Ruiz has chosen a collection of chapters that demonstrates several different aspects of working in gaming and working with others that stands to raise the level of expertise in the field."—Veronica Zammitto, Senior Lead Games User Research, Electronic Arts, Inc., from the Foreword Usability is about making a product easy to use while meeting the requirements of target users. Applied to video games, this means making the game accessible and enjoyable to the player. Video games with high usability are generally played efficiently and frequently while enjoying higher sales volumes. The case studies in this book present the latest interdisciplinary research and applications of games user research in determining and developing usability to improve the video game user experience at the human–computer interface level. Some of the areas examined include practical and ethical concerns in conducting usability testing with children, audio experiences in games, tangible and graphical game interfaces, controller testing, and business models in mobile gaming. Games User Research: A Case Study Approach provides a highly useful resource for researchers, practitioners, lecturers, and students in developing and applying methods for testing player usability as well as for conducting games user research. It gives the necessary theoretical and practical background for designing and conducting a test for usability with an eye toward modifying software interfaces to improve human–computer interaction between the player and the game.
GameSalad Beginner’s Guide
by Miguel DequadrosThis book is a step-by-step, tutorial-driven guide to game development using GameSalad. You will learn through first-hand experience how a GameSalad developer goes from literally nothing to a finished game. Along the way there are illustrations to explain anything that could be difficult and to display screenshots of the games. In addition, every art and audio asset required by the tutorials is provided, so you can start building your game right away. If you are a game enthusiast, who is looking to build games with GameSalad quickly, then this book is for you. You need not know any programming. The book does not deal with GameSalad's installation and basic set up. The ideal reader would know how to install and set up GameSalad.
GameSalad Essentials
by Miguel DequadrosIf you want to create your own game, but don't know where to start, this is the book for you. Whether you've used GameSalad before, or have prior game development experience or not you are sure to learn! Imaging software experience, such as Photoshop, is good to have, but art and assets are provided in the book's resources.
Gamestar Mechanic For Dummies
by CordeiroLevel up from gamer to creator with Gamestar MechanicDo you think you can design the ultimate video game? It's more than just flashy effects and cool graphics. Gamestar Mechanic helps you build the skills you need to become a master designer. Go on Quests, collect your Sprites and design your very own game that you can publish instantly and receive feedback from other users. You can also take an online game design course where an expert instructor is right there to help you. Gamestar Mechanic For Dummies will show you how to get the most out of the site and build your very best game. Author Jacob Cordeiro, author of Minecraft For Dummies and a former Gamestar Mechanic teacher, shows you all the tips and tricks and teaches you the principles behind your design.Go through all of the phases of game designPlan, design and build your own video gameTake a more active role in your gamingShare your game with others and get feedbackLearn the principles of good game designGamestar Mechanic offers an online community for collaboration, support and sharing, and makes learning valuable skills feel like gameplay. Gamestar Mechanic For Dummies will help you get the most out of your game creation experience.
Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers (O'reilly Ser.)
by James Macanufo Sunni Brown Dave GrayGreat things don't happen in a vacuum. But creating an environment for creative thinking and innovation can be a daunting challenge. How can you make it happen at your company? The answer may surprise you: gamestorming. This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. The authors have identified tools and techniques from some of the world's most innovative professionals, whose teams collaborate and make great things happen. This book is the result: a unique collection of games that encourage engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace. Find out why -- and how -- with Gamestorming. Overcome conflict and increase engagement with team-oriented games Improve collaboration and communication in cross-disciplinary teams with visual-thinking techniques Improve understanding by role-playing customer and user experiences Generate better ideas and more of them, faster than ever before Shorten meetings and make them more productive Simulate and explore complex systems, interactions, and dynamics Identify a problem's root cause, and find the paths that point toward a solution
Gametek: The Math and Science of Gaming
by Geoff Engelstein2017 marks the ten-year anniversary of the GameTek segment on the Dice Tower podcast. Connecting games to math, science, and psychology, GameTek has grown to be one of the most popular parts of the show. This volume commemorates the anniversary with a collection of over seventy of the best segments, many with annotations and illustrations. <p><p> With chapters on everything from Rock, Paper, Scissors to the Prisoner's Dilemma to Player Engagement to Quasicrystals to Buddha's Forbidden Games, GameTek is sure to delight not just game designers and players, but anyone who wants to learn about the world from a new perspective.
Gameworld Interfaces
by Kristine JorgensenAn investigation into computer game interfaces, both naturalistic and symbolic, and the distinction between gameworlds and other kinds of fictional worlds. Computer games usually take one of two approaches to presenting game information to players. A game might offer information naturalistically, as part of the game's imaginary universe; or it might augment the world of the game with overlays, symbols, and menus. In this book, Kristine Jørgensen investigates both kinds of gameworld interfaces. She shows that although the naturalistic approach may appear more integral to the imaginary world of the game, both the invisible and visible interfaces effectively present information that players need in order to interact with the game and its rules. The symbolic, less naturalistic approach would seem to conflict with the idea of a coherent, autonomous fictional universe; but, Jørgensen argues, gameworlds are not governed by the pursuit of fictional coherence but by the logics of game mechanics. This is characteristic of gameworlds and distinguishes them from other traditional fictional worlds. Jørgensen investigates gameworld interfaces from the perspectives of both game designers and players. She draws on interviews with the design teams of Harmonix Music (producer of Rock Band and other music games) and Turbine Inc. (producer of such massively multiplayer online games as Lord of the Rings Online), many hours of gameplay, and extensive interviews and observations of players. The player studies focus on four games representing different genres: Crysis, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberian Wars, The Sims 2, and Diablo 2. Finally, she presents a theory of game user interfaces and considers the implications of this theory for game design.
Gameworld Interfaces
by Kristine JørgensenComputer games usually take one of two approaches to presenting game information to players. A game might offer information naturalistically, as part of the game's imaginary universe; or it might augment the world of the game with overlays, symbols, and menus. In this book, Kristine Jørgensen investigates both kinds of gameworld interfaces. She shows that although the naturalistic approach may appear more integral to the imaginary world of the game, both the invisible and visible interfaces effectively present information that players need in order to interact with the game and its rules. The symbolic, less naturalistic approach would seem to conflict with the idea of a coherent, autonomous fictional universe; but, Jørgensen argues, gameworlds are not governed by the pursuit of fictional coherence but by the logics of game mechanics. This is characteristic of gameworlds and distinguishes them from other traditional fictional worlds. Jørgensen investigates gameworld interfaces from the perspectives of both game designers and players. She draws on interviews with the design teams of Harmonix Music (producer of Rock Band and other music games) and Turbine Inc. (producer of such massively multiplayer online games as Lord of the Rings Online), many hours of gameplay, and extensive interviews and observations of players. The player studies focus on four games representing different genres: Crysis, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberian Wars, The Sims 2, and Diablo 2. Finally, she presents a theory of game user interfaces and considers the implications of this theory for game design.
Gamification and Design Thinking in Higher Education: Case Studies for Instructional Innovation in the Economics Classroom (Routledge Research in Higher Education)
by Carmen Bueno Muñoz Núria Hernández Nanclares Luis R. Murillo Zamorano José Ángel López SánchezThis book analyzes the use of gamification and design thinking in higher education, examining how both techniques can be combined and used together to promote motivation, engagement, and participation among students. Using two in-depth examples, the authors show that the introduction of a gamified design in a design thinking activity can be a powerful tool to enhance the experiences of students in the teaching-learning process of a subject; motivate participants in a design thinking activity in the university environment; and enhance skills such as creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving, and collaboration, widely demanded in the labor market. Further, they examine how gamification and design thinking in the educational field can enable both the motivation and engagement of students and promote behavioral changes that materialize as a boost in learning outcomes and academic performance. Providing valuable recommendations and insights into the analysis, design and development, and implementation and evaluation of gamified design thinking activities to be carried out in higher education, as well as examining relevant ethical issues, the book will appeal to scholars, researchers, academic faculty, and educators working in the field of higher education, and with interests in educational psychology and theories of learning.
Gamification Design for Educational Contexts: Theoretical and Practical Contributions
by Armando Toda Alexandra I. Cristea Seiji IsotaniHave you ever wondered how to best add game-like elements to your (online) courses? What makes some game features desirable, and others boring? This book covers gamification design in educational domains. It is aimed at practitioners, researchers and academics alike. Gamification design is a recent and relevant topic in many domains; however, it is not well explored in the domain of education, with only a few frameworks available and most of these being only academic (e.g., theoretical) and not addressing practical issues related to education practitioners (e.g., teachers and instructors). The book is divided into 3 parts, in part 1 we explain some basic concepts related to gamification and gamification design, its importance for the education domain, possible negative effects if gamification design is neglected, and aspects that are still not encompassed by this field. Following, part 2 focus on explaining data-driven gamification design concepts as well as a research framework on how to use data mining algorithms to analyze and interpret data to generate strategies that can be used in education domain. It also presents a conceptual framework on how to apply those strategies in the education domain, focusing on the teacher and instructor; Finally, part 3 presents discussions regarding the concepts covered in the book, as well as possible research directions
Gamification, Digitalisierung und Industrie 4.0: Transformation und Disruption verstehen und erfolgreich managen (essentials)
by Lutz AnderieIn diesem essential wird erl#65533;utert, wie Gamification, Digitalisierung und die vierte industrielle Revolution Gesellschaft, Unternehmensf#65533;hrung und Management ver#65533;ndern. Anhand zahlreicher Grafiken und Abbildungen werden unter anderem die aktuellen Branchenentwicklungen im Hinblick auf Virtual, Augmented und Mixed Reality aufgezeigt. Zukunftstechnologien werden dargelegt, die in der Games Industry entwickelt wurden und Einfluss auf andere Branchen wie beispielsweise die KFZ-Industrie oder das Gesundheitswesen haben. Wertsch#65533;pfungsprozesse f#65533;r Kultur- und Wirtschaftsg#65533;ter werden dokumentiert.
Gamification for Resilience: Resilient Informed Decision Making
by Adrian V. Gheorghe Polinpapilinho F. KatinaGamification for Resilience Enable resilience informed decision-making with an insightful combination of systems engineering concepts In Gamification for Resilience: Resilient Informed Decision-Making, a team of distinguished researchers deliver an insightful and exciting integration of game theory, design, and applications that explains how to create a resilient city that promotes sustainable development, well-being, and inclusive growth. The authors combine several concepts and techniques taken from serious gaming and integrate them into decision-making theory, demonstrating how to enable Resilience Informed Decision-Making. The book addresses critical infrastructure systems and how to ensure these systems are supported against manmade, natural threats and hazards. It includes thought-provoking research questions and case applications that will engage and challenge readers and create an active and memorable learning experience. Readers will also find: A thorough introduction to systems theory as the basis for bridging science and the practice of engineering systems Comprehensive explorations of gamification and its application to the resilience informed decision-making process Practical discussions of the analysis and assessment of risk and vulnerability via serious gaming Fulsome treatments of the representation of system complexity using object-oriented programming Perfect for professionals and researchers working in the areas of decision making, gamification, resilience, risk assessments, and critical infrastructures, Gamification for Resilience: Resilient Informed Decision-Making will also benefit undergraduate and graduate students studying urban planning, smart cities, and related subjects.
Gamification in Education and Business
by Torsten Reiners Lincoln C. WoodThis book is dedicated to applied gamification in the areas of education and business, while also covering pitfalls to avoid and guidelines needed to successfully implement for a project. Using different theoretical backgrounds from various areas including behavioral economics, game theory, and complex adaptive systems, the contributors aim to help readers avoid common problems and difficulties that they could face with poor implementation. The book's contributors are scholars and academics from the many areas where the key theory of gamification typically comes from. Ultimately, the book's goal is to help bring together the theories from these different disciplines to the field of practice in education and business. The book is divided into four parts: Theory, Education, Business, and Use Cases. Part I provides a foundation on the theory of gamification and offers insight into some of the outstanding questions that have yet to be addressed. In Part II, the application and value that gamification can bring within the education sector is examined. The book then changes focus in Part III to spotlight the use of gamification within business environments. The topics also cover educational aspects like improved learning outcomes, motivation, and learning retention at the workplace. Finally Part IV concentrates on the applications and use of gamification through a series of case studies and key elements that are used in real situations to drive real results.
Gamification Marketing For Dummies
by Zarrar ChishtiGrow your customer base with games! Gamification is the practice of adding elements of gameplay into marketing materials to better engage customers. In Gamification Marketing For Dummies, you’ll learn to use this proven strategy to capture the attention of your target markets and boost your results using valuable gamification data. Games are fun! That’s why gamification is so successful—customers will jump at the chance to play and win your custom-developed marketing game. You’ll connect with your customers and create lasting memories. Whether or not you are digitally savvy, this book will teach you the basics of gamification, from choosing the right game to capturing the user behavior data that the game generates. Use games to increase customer engagement and marketing results Learn how to choose or commission the right games for your market Plan and execute a successful gamification strategy Learn from data generated inside your game for valuable market insights From simple strategies like customer loyalty programs to complex, branded, social game apps, this book will point in the direction of gamification that works for you.
Gamification Mindset (Human–Computer Interaction Series)
by Ole GoetheThis book explores how gamification techniques are used to leverage users’ natural desires for achievement, competition, collaboration, learning and more. Compared to other books on this topic, it gives more than just an introduction and develops the readers understanding through frameworks and models, based on research to make it easier to develop gamified systems. The concept of gamification achieved increased popularity in 2010 when a number of softwares and services started explaining their products as a ‘gamification’ design. Gamification Mindset explains how game elements and mechanics are important, how video games are learning systems and examines how video game aesthetics are vital in the development of gamification. The book will challenge some common beliefs when it comes to gamifications’ abilities to immerse and change the user’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Gamification Mindset aims to develop new models in gamification to enable easier gamification scenarios. It is a comprehensive analysis and discussion about gamification and serves as a useful tool, since it acquaints readers with gamification and how to use it, through illustrated practical theoretical models. Academic researchers, students, educators and professional game and gamification designers will find this book invaluable.
The Gamification of Higher Education
by Neil B. NimanInstead of thinking about education as the mastery of a body of knowledge where the subject matter becomes the focus of our attention, The Gamification of Higher Education encourages us to think of it as a process that draws out the best in individuals and prepares them for happy, productive, and successful lives.
Gamification with Moodle
by Natalie DenmeadeUse game elements in Moodle courses to build learner resilience and motivationAbout This BookFormulate a Moodle course that acts as a flexible framework ready for your own contentKeep learners engrossed and create opportunities for motivation through the concepts of status, access, and powerA resourceful guide to innovative learning using automatic reports, assessments, and conditional release of activitiesWho This Book Is ForThis book has been designed for teachers who to use technology to create more engaging learning experiences for both online learning and in face-to-face sessions. This book will especially appeal to people who are interested in the underlying mechanics of play and games and want to know more about applying these concepts in an educational context. It is assumed that you are a teacher and expert in your field, have basic computer skills, and have access to the Internet.What You Will LearnSet up a scoring system using Moodle GradebookEnable communication and collaboration in your class as a Learning Community using forumsAssess your learners' abilities by setting up challenges and questsConfigure gateways to check and ensure progress before new content or activities are releasedCreate Moodle assignments to provide effective feedback through a comment bank and custom scaleIssue Open Badges to recognize achievements and set up an online backpack to share digital badgesReduce anxiety for learners by using the game-like concept of "Levelling Up"In DetailThis book describes how teachers can use Gamification design within the Moodle Learning Management System. Game elements can be included in course design by using, badges, rubrics, custom grading scales, forums, and conditional activities. Moodle courses do not have to be solo-learning experiences that replicate Distance Education models.The Gamification design process starts by profiling players and creating levels of achievement towards meeting learning outcomes. Each task is defined, valued, and sequenced. Motivation loops are devised to keep the momentum going. In a gaming studio, this approach would require a team of specialists with a large budget and time frames. Preparing for a class rarely has these optimal conditions. The approach used in this book is to introduce game elements into the course design gradually. First, apply gamification to just one lesson and then build up to gamifying a series of lessons over a term. Each example will indicate the difficulty level and time investment. Try it out to see what is most effective with your learners and choose wisely in your use of technology.By the end of the book, you will be able to create gripping Moodle courses for effective and efficient learning.Style and approachAn easy-to-follow guide full of screenshots and step-by-step instructions with estimated time frames required to accomplish numerous tasks. Tips are offered for new Moodlers and plugin extensions are suggested for advanced Moodlers. The focus of the book is on why you would want to use each activity rather than detailed technical descriptions.
Gamification with Unity 5.x
by Lauren S. FerroBuild exhilarating gaming experiences using a wide range of game elements in Unity 5.x About This Book * Achieve your goals in a fun-filled way by creating gamification projects from scratch * Leverage the Unity 5.X toolkit to create stunning and appealing projects * Make your transition towards a pro project manager/ developer by learning tricks and techniques Who This Book Is For If you are a project manager, game developer, or programmer who wants to create successful end-to-end gamification projects from scratch, then this is the book for you. You do not need any previous experience of working with Unity 5.X. All the details required to make the most of gamifying your projects are provided in the book. What You Will Learn * Assess your learners' abilities by setting up challenges and quests * Implement the game elements that relate to the project into Unity * Publish your own task management application to better engage readers * Improve your design using methods of playtesting and iteration * Issue OpenBadges to recognize achievements and set up an online database to store your users achievements. In Detail Are you looking at implementing gamification techniques for your business and wondering where to get a complete rundown of all the tricks and techniques? Well, you have come to the right place! This book will start right from the basics such as gameplay elements and their functionalities before gradually moving onto creating your first gamification project from scratch. You'll be given the tools and shown how to perform various techniques for creating gamified applications in different contexts. Finally, you will implement various game elements into Unity, publish your own task management application, and get to know the best practices and approaches when designing gamified experiences. Style and approach This book takes a real-world case studies approach, moving ahead in a step-by-step tutorial manner. You will create your own project from scratch, and the practical examples will help you create a successful gamification project.
Gaming and the Divine: A New Systematic Theology of Video Games (Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies)
by Frank G. BosmanThis book formulates a new theological approach to the study of religion in gaming. Video games have become one of the most important cultural artifacts of modern society, both as mediators of cultural, social, and religious values and in terms of commercial success. This has led to a significant increase in the critical analysis of this relatively new medium, but theology as an academic discipline is noticeably behind the other humanities on this subject. The book first covers the fundamentals of cultural theology and video games. It then moves on to set out a Christian systematic theology of gaming, focusing on creational theology, Christology, anthropology, evil, moral theology, and thanatology. Each chapter introduces case studies from video games connected to the specific theme. In contrast to many studies which focus on online multiplayer games, the examples considered are largely single player games with distinct narratives and ‘end of game’ moments. The book concludes by synthesizing these themes into a new theology of video games. This study addresses a significant aspect of contemporary society that has yet to be discussed in any depth by theologians. It is, therefore, a fantastic resource for any scholar engaging with the religious aspects of digital and popular culture.
Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture
by Adrienne ShawVideo games have long been seen as the exclusive territory of young, heterosexual white males. In a media landscape dominated by such gamers, players who do not fit this mold, including women, people of color, and LGBT people, are often brutalized in forums and in public channels in online play. Discussion of representation of such groups in games has frequently been limited and cursory. In contrast, Gaming at the Edge builds on feminist, queer, and postcolonial theories of identity and draws on qualitative audience research methods to make sense of how representation comes to matter. In Gaming at the Edge, Adrienne Shaw argues that video game players experience race, gender, and sexuality concurrently. She asks: How do players identify with characters? How do they separate identification and interactivity? What is the role of fantasy in representation? What is the importance of understanding market logic? In addressing these questions Shaw reveals how representation comes to matter to participants and offers a perceptive consideration of the high stakes in politics of representation debates. Putting forth a framework for talking about representation, difference, and diversity in an era in which user-generated content, individualized media consumption, and the blurring of producer/consumer roles has lessened the utility of traditional models of media representation analysis, Shaw finds new insight on the edge of media consumption with the invisible, marginalized gamers who are surprising in both their numbers and their influence in mainstream gamer culture.
Gaming Culture(s) in India: Digital Play in Everyday Life
by Aditya DeshbandhuThis volume critically analyzes the multiple lives of the "gamer" in India. It explores the "everyday" of the gaming life from the player’s perspective, not just to understand how the games are consumed but also to analyze how the gamer influences the products’ many (virtual) lives. Using an intensive ethnographic approach and in-depth interviews, this volume situates the practice of gaming under a broader umbrella of digital leisure activities and foregrounds the proliferation of gaming as a new media form and cultural artifact; critically questions the term gamer and the many debates surrounding the gamer tag to expand on how the gaming identity is constructed and expressed; details participants’ gaming habits, practices and contexts from a cultural perspective and analyzes the participants’ responses to emerging industry trends, reflections on playing practices and their relationships to friends, communities and networks in gaming spaces; and examines the offline and online spaces of gaming as sites of contestation between developers of games and the players. A holistic study covering one of the largest video game bases in the world, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of cultural studies, media and communication studies and science and technology studies, as well as be of great appeal to the general reader.
Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific (Routledge Studies in New Media and Cyberculture)
by Larissa Hjorth Dean ChanThis collection explores the relationship between digital gaming and its cultural context by focusing on the burgeoning Asia-Pacific region. Encompassing key locations for global gaming production and consumption such as Japan, China, and South Korea, as well as increasingly significant sites including Australia and Singapore, the region provides a wealth of divergent examples of the role of gaming as a socio-cultural phenomenon. Drawing from micro ethnographic studies of specific games and gaming locales to macro political economy analyses of techno-nationalisms and trans-cultural flows, this collection provides an interdisciplinary model for thinking through the politics of gaming production, representation, and consumption in the region.
Gaming Disability: Disability Perspectives on Contemporary Video Games (Routledge Research in Disability and Media Studies)
by Katie Ellis Tama Leaver Mike KentThis book explores the opportunities and challenges people with disabilities experience in the context of digital games from the perspective of three related areas: representation, access and inclusion, and community. Drawing on key concerns in disability media studies, the book brings together scholars from disability studies and game studies, alongside game developers, educators, and disability rights activists, to reflect upon the increasing visibility of disabled characters in digital games. Chapters explore the contemporary gaming environment as it relates to disability on platforms such as Twitch, Minecraft, and Tingyou, while also addressing future possibilities and pitfalls for people with disabilities within gaming given the rise of virtual reality applications, and augmented games such as Pokémon Go. The book asks how game developers can attempt to represent diverse abilities, taking games such as BlindSide and Overwatch as examples. A significant collection for scholars and students interested in the critical analysis of digital games, this volume will be of interest across several disciplines including game studies, game design and development, internet, visual, cultural, communication and media studies, as well as disability studies.
Gaming Hacks
by Simon CarlessIt doesn't take long for an avid or just wickedly clever gamer to be chafed by the limitations of videogame software or hardware. If you want to go far beyond the obvious, there's an awful lot of free fun you can have, using the creative exploits of the gaming gurus. Gaming Hacks is the indispensable guide to cool things gamers can do to create, modify, and hack videogame hardware and software.
The Gaming Mind: A New Psychology of Videogames and the Power of Play
by Alexander KrissEven as the popularity of videogames has skyrocketed, a dark cloud continues to hang over them. Many people who play games feel embarrassed to admit as much, and many who don't worry about the long-term effects of a medium often portrayed as dangerous and corruptive.Drawing on years of experience working directly with people who play games, clinical psychologist Alexander Kriss steers the discourse away from extreme and factually inaccurate claims around the role of games in addiction, violence and mental illness, instead focusing on the importance of understanding the unique relationship that forms between a game and its player.Through vivid psychotherapy case illustrations, autobiographical memoir, and a wide range of psychological theory and research, The Gaming Mind lays out an honest and humanistic vision of games, their potentials and risks, and how they can teach us more about who we are and who we could be.