Play
The Neurobiology of Play
Tue, 10/08/2010 - 22:00 | 
acagamic
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
A large volume of neurobiological research has been conducted in recent years, almost all of which has been considered solely from the perspective of biology. However, most of the insights gained through this research are also valuable for the game research field. This paper discusses the implications of existing research in neurobiology to the play of games (including, but not restricted to digital games), and connects neurobiological perspectives with models of play aiming to construct superior player satisfaction models built upon biological foundations. Connections are presented between already recognized patterns of play and recent research on the brain (in particular, the limbic system). By providing a framework for understanding how the brain responds to recurrent patterns inherent to play, we aim to provide a platform for future experimental player-game interaction research (for which possible directions are briefly explored), and a propaedeutic to biologically-grounded player satisfaction models.
75 reads | 
Tags: Academia, Biology, brain, brainhex, Education, Game studies, gamer brain, gaming, literature review, ludology, neurobiology, Neuroscience, Play, player, player type, playing, Science, Vancouver
Students’ Use of Social and Cognitive Affordances in Video Game Play within Educational Contexts: Implications for Learning.
Fri, 04/06/2010 - 21:22 | sharritt
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Extensive literature has shown that games can provide an engaging, dynamic, and authentic learning context. Many of the studies on the use of games in education indicate that games can support teaching standards and outcomes; however, they do not describe actual uses of video games for learning. Through the analysis of affordances employed by student gamers, an understanding of how learning takes place can inform the design of effective educational games and aid their integration into contemporary classrooms. Informed by ethnomethodology, this study used methods of grounded theory provided a detailed description of the use of video games for learning in educational contexts. Results demonstrate that learning occurs across multiple levels: the mastery of the computer interface, followed by the mastery of the game interface and upon which students can achieve advanced strategy aimed at goal achievement. Learning also occurs across multiple granularities: occurring either in short episodes, sequences of episodes, or trends. Learning can be triggered by multiple cues, such as failure, game visualizations or specific representations, as well as by peers or teachers in the social environment. Students used affordances provided by the game interface and learning environment, specifically: the visual representations of games afford particular actions; the persistent display of historical context as well as present and future potentials motivates learning; specific cues can grab attention, helping to focus efforts on new or underutilized game tasks; consistent and well organized visualizations encourage learning; and information presented in a plurality of channels is most effective for learning. The use of social peers in collaborative learning had several effects on the learning process: peers disclosed information to achieve shared meaning of objects’ purposes, and negotiated to collaboratively choose game strategies. Peer teams served cooperative roles as information sources and competitively as a performance gauge. Implications for students, educators, and game designers are offered to better play, implement, and design games for learning. A brief comparison of findings with existing theory discusses similarities among collaborative learning and activity theory, and suggests opportunities for future work. Overall, findings indicate a great potential for the use of games in education for learning.
125 reads | Tags: Affordances, cognitive, Collaborative learning, E-Learning, Education, Education, Educational Contexts, Educational game, Educational psychology, high school, Honolulu, Learning, Learning games, Matthew J
Source, Mobile Assisted Language Learning, Play, Psychology, Situated cognition, Social, Students, Technology, Technology, University of Hawaii, Video Game
Designing Wonder: Complexity Made Simple or the Wii-Mote's Galilean Edge
Wed, 21/04/2010 - 13:55 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
This article considers the Nintendo Wii console's negotiation of tensions accruing in contemporary developments around "nice work,""affective labor," and "hyperindustrialism." Learning and play have long been considered to "begin in wonder." Observing that appliances made for us to "enjoy labor," as one adversary in a recent Nintendo Wii title puts it, have a history, I show that hyperindustrial recreational appliances like the Wii design wonder for learning and play by deploying gestural-technical stylistics first prototyped in human-computer interaction design research. I apply ten stylistics of gestural interaction design to the Wii in order to articulate its differences from other interactive educational, recreational, and health devices. I conclude that the Wii increases bandwidth for player action with two distinct effects. First, it orients "wonder" as gestural-technical conduct, making an ethical claim to differentiate contemporary play and work, while, second, projecting an unprogrammed "signature effect" extended in a range of modifications by researchers and amateurs alike.
289 reads | Tags: Affect, Game controllers, gaming, Gesture, interaction design, James
Source, labor, Light guns, Nintendo, Nintendo, Play, stylistics, Technology, Technology, Touch! Generations, wii, Wii, Wii Remote
Toward a Ludic Architecture: The Space of Play and Games
Fri, 26/02/2010 - 10:34 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Whether we think of a board game, an athletic competition in a stadium, a videogame, playful social networking on the World Wide Web, an Alternate Reality Game, a location-based mobile game, or any combination thereof: Ludic activities are, have, and take place in or at, spaces. “Toward a Ludic Architecture” is a pioneering publication, architecturally framing play and games as human practices in and of space. Filling the gap in literature, Steffen P. Walz considers game design theory and practice alongside architectural theory and practice, asking: how are play and games architected? What kind of architecture do they produce and in what way does architecture program play and games? What kind of architecture could be produced by playing and gameplaying? “Toward a Ludic Architecture” is a must-read for analyzing and designing play and games from an architectural standpoint. Such a contribution is particularly applicable in an era when games extend into physical, designed space that is increasingly permeated by devices, sensors, and information networks, allowing for rules and fictions to superimpose our everyday environments. Including a maze-like, episodic, and critical discussion of interweaving “play-grounds,” “Toward a Ludic Architecture” is a playful look at the conceptual space of play and games.
251 reads | Tags: Academia, Alternate reality game, Architectural history, Architectural theory, architecture, Architecture, Ludic, Philosophy, place, Play, Science, space, Steffen P. Walz
Source, Steffen P. Walz, Technology, Technology, Video Games
Young children’s play in online virtual worlds
Tue, 23/02/2010 - 11:20 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Virtual worlds for children are becoming increasingly popular, and yet there are few accounts of children’s use of these worlds. Young children are spending increasing amounts of time online as technology continues to create significant changes in social and cultural practices in the 21st century. Some of children's online interactions can be categorized as playful in nature; however, play and technology are frequently positioned as oppositional. In this article, I explore the tensions surrounding the relationship between play and technology and relate it to similar discourses concerning the concepts of ‘real’ and ‘virtual’. I then move on to consider the growing popularity of virtual worlds with young children and examine the way in which the worlds have been marketed to children and parents/carers on the basis of their propensity to offer online play in a safe environment. The article provides an overview of two virtual worlds currently targeted at young children and draws on a survey of primary children’s use of virtual worlds in order to identify the nature of play in these environments. One hundred and seventy-five children aged 5—11 completed an online survey and 15 took part in group interviews in which their use of virtual worlds was explored. This article focuses on the data relating to 17 children aged from five to seven years who used virtual worlds. Findings indicate that virtual worlds offered these young children a wide range of opportunities for play and that the types of play in which they engaged relate closely to ‘offline’ play. The implications for early years educators are considered.
284 reads | Tags: Business, Business, Education, Education, Jackie Marsh Source, Play, Reality, Virtual, Virtual reality, Virtual world, virtual worlds
Do you believe in magic? Computer games in everyday life
Thu, 18/02/2010 - 12:44 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Huizinga's concept of a 'magic circle' has been used to depict computer games and gaming activities as something separate from ordinary life. In this view, games are special (magical) and they only come to life within temporal and spatial borders that are enacted and performed by the participants. This article discusses the concept of a 'magic circle' and finds that it lacks specificity. Attempts to use the concept of a magic circle create a number of anomalies that are problematic. This is not, as has been suggested earlier, primarily a matter of the genre of the game, or a discussion of what an appropriate definition of a 'game' might be. Rather, in this study with hardcore gamers, playing computer games is a routine and mundane activity, making the boundary between play and non-play tenuous to say the least. This article presents an alternative theoretical framework which should be explored further.
Add new comment | 143 reads | Tags: AMP Energy, definitions of games, magic circle, place, Play, rhetorics, routine, Time
Games for Learning: Does Gender Make a Difference?
Thu, 11/02/2010 - 19:04 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
An important factor to consider in developing educational computer games concerns whether there are any differences between learners in their acceptance of games for learning. In particular there is concern that the strong male preference found in playing games for leisure might also extend to games-based learning, making males more accepting of games in learning than females.There is clear evidence that the violent content and competitive structure of many games, gender stereotyping of female characters, the lack of opportunities for meaningful social interaction between game characters and the visual skills required to succeed in many games are features of games that make them less appealing to females than to males. Games manufacturers have responded to criticisms that games are male-oriented by developing games which aim to appeal to both males and females. However they have also acknowledged that boys and girls essentially prefer different types of game and they have also developed games specifically targeted at girls. These preferences in computer games have helped to confirm that males and females have different interests and preferences which are very deep rooted and emerge in infancy. Woudheusen has argued that these preferences are resistant to change as they probably reflect biologically influenced inclinations which are crystallised by socialisation processes.While it is acceptable to develop different games for leisure for boys and girls, with games for learning the situation is more complex. Schools and universities need to be inclusive and new learning methods and materials should aim to be gender neutral. However games for learning are being introduced into a prevailing motivational climate in schools which suits the more committed and methodical approach of girls. Many boys subscribe to the "Not cool to study" view and this has led to a culture of underachievement and "laddishness" amongst boys. It is tempting to argue that the easy engagement and the active, competitive style of interaction required in many computer games provides an ideal opportunity to re-engage many disengaged young men in learning.Ultimately it seems likely that the way forward is to develop a range of games for learning which are competitive or not and which include social interaction or not and to guide students in selecting games which are most congruent with their own individual preferences. As with any other educational intervention, games for learning will need to be evaluated to ensure that they help learning and that they do so in a way that as far as possible does not favour one group over another.
Add new comment | 147 reads | Tags: Academia, Amp, AMP Energy, Attitudes, Behavior, Behavior, boys, challenge, competition, Computer games, Gender Differences, Gender role, Girls, Hostility, Play, Psychology, Punctuation, Quotation mark, SENSATION SEEKING, Skills, Students, Technology, Technology, Typography, Video game, Video Games, Violence
Little Big Difference: Gender Aspects and Gender-Based Adaptation in Educational Games
Tue, 26/01/2010 - 11:32 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Computer games are tremendously successful and this is why the potential of using this medium for educational purposes is increasingly recognized and researched. However, as new learning technologies need to be appropriate for all students and ensure equal learning opportunities, it is important to take into account evidences on gender differences in the context of computer games. This paper reviews relevant research results on gender aspects. Aiming for the realization of gender-based adaptation in digital educational games, a model incorporating research evidences on gender aspects is elaborated and implications for adaptation are derived. Adaptation principles and game design are illustrated by means of the 80Days project.
Add new comment | 108 reads | Tags: adaptation, Educational game, game design, game-based learning, gender difference, Performance, Play, SENSATION SEEKING, Sex, Video
Computer game development as a literacy activity
Tue, 19/01/2010 - 15:53 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
This study examined computer game development as a pedagogical activity to motivate and engage students in curriculum-related literacy activities. We hypothesized that as a consequence, students would improve their traditional reading and writing skills as well as develop new digital literacy skills. Eighteen classes of grade 4 students were assigned to either an experimental or control group. Both groups studied the same curriculum unit over a 10 week period, however, in addition the experimental group developed computer games related to the unit using a game development shell. An analysis of pre- and post-unit scores on two standardized literacy test batteries revealed that the experimental students performed significantly better on one of the subtests, a measure of logical sentence construction (p = .002). Field notes and teacher interview data indicated that game development helped improve student content retention, ability to compare and contrast information presented, utilize more and different kinds of research materials including digital resources, editing skills, and develop an insight into questioning skills. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Exploring user experiences as predictors of MMORPG addiction
Wed, 13/01/2010 - 10:40 | Jason Rutter
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
The overuse of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) is becoming a significant problem worldwide, especially among college students. Similar to Internet addiction, the pathological use of MMORPG is a kind of modern addiction that can affect students' lives on both a physical and a psychological level. The purpose of this study is to understand MMORPG addiction from a user experience design approach. We first developed a complete model that includes eleven factors (challenge, fantasy, curiosity, control, reward, cooperation, competition, recognition, belonging, obligation and role-playing) to represent users' experience in MMORPGs. After that, we design a questionnaire to measure student' gaming experience and level of addiction. Students' demography information, including gender and game playing habits, was also collected. Four hundred and eighteen Taiwanese college students aged 18-25 years old took part in this online survey. Regression analysis was then conducted to evaluate the relative explanatory power of each variable, with addiction score as the dependent variable and the eleven user experience factors as the independent variables. The results of regression analysis reveal five critical factors (curiosity, role-playing, belonging, obligation and reward) that can be used to predict MMORPG addiction. In addition, this study also infers possible casual mechanisms for increasing college students' level of addiction. The implications of our findings for both design and educational practitioners were also discussed.
Add new comment | 287 reads | Tags: Addiction, Behavior, Computer games, environments, exploration, human factors, Internet, internet addiction, Internet addiction disorder, Massively multiplayer online game, Massively multiplayer online role-playing game, online games, Personal computer game, Play, Psychology, taiwanese adolescents, Technology, Technology, usage, Video game genres, virtual reality
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