Changes in user experience and satisfaction as media technology evolves: The reciprocal relationship between video games and video game-related media

2022 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 121219
Author(s):  
Jiyoon Chang ◽  
Daeho Lee
Author(s):  
Carmen Van Ommen ◽  
Barbara S. Chaparro

According to a survey conducted by the CDC, it is estimated that 26% of Americans are living with a disability. Of those with disabilities in the United States, it is estimated that 33 million play video games. People with disabilities face many barriers in gaming, which is likely to impact game satisfaction. Measuring game satisfaction among this population can be problematic if the scale is not adapted to their needs, which can vary significantly based on the disability. To understand how best to assess game satisfaction among these populations, we discuss the issues people with cognitive, sensory, and/or motor disabilities may face when completing assessment scales and then use the validated Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) as a framework for understanding the game design issues that may impact satisfaction.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismael Edrein Espinosa-Curiel ◽  
Edgar Efrén Pozas-Bogarin ◽  
Juan Martínez-Miranda ◽  
Humberto Pérez-Espinosa

BACKGROUND The design and use of serious video games for children have increased in recent years. To maximize the effects of these games, it is essential to understand the children’s experiences through playing. Previous studies identified that enjoyment and user experience satisfaction of the players are principal factors that can influence the success of serious video games and the learning of their players. However, research about the relationship between enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with learning in children 8 to 10 years old is sparse. OBJECTIVE We examined the relationship of enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with the learning of children aged 8 to 10 years while playing a serious video game for health, FoodRateMaster. This serious video game teaches children about the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy foods and how to identify them in their environment. METHODS Children aged 8 to 10 years were recruited from a primary school in Mexico. Participants completed 12 individual gaming sessions with FoodRateMaster in 6 weeks. A food knowledge questionnaire was administered before and after game play to assess the players’ food knowledge. In addition, after the gaming sessions, the children’s enjoyment and user experience satisfaction were evaluated using the EGameFlow questionnaire and the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) questionnaire. RESULTS We found significant positive associations for children’s (n=60) posttest knowledge with enjoyment (r<sub>58</sub>=0.36, <i>P</i>=.005) and user experience satisfaction (r<sub>58</sub>=0.27, <i>P</i>=.04). The children’s posttest knowledge scores were also positively correlated with challenge (r<sub>58</sub>=0.38, <i>P</i>=.003), knowledge improvement (r<sub>58</sub>=0.38, <i>P</i>=.003), and goal clarity (r<sub>58</sub>=0.29, <i>P</i>=.02) EGameFlow subscales and with narrative (r<sub>58</sub>=0.35, <i>P</i>=.006), creative freedom (r<sub>58</sub>=0.26, <i>P</i>=.04), and visual esthetics (r<sub>58</sub>=0.32, <i>P</i>=.01) GUESS subscales. Regression analysis indicated that the EGameFlow (F<sub>7,52</sub>=2.74, <i>P</i>=.02, R<sup>2</sup>=0.27) and the GUESS (F<sub>8,51</sub>=2.20, <i>P</i>=.04, R<sup>2</sup>=0.26) ratings significantly predicted the children’s posttest knowledge scores. EGameFlow challenge (β=0.40, <i>t</i><sub>52</sub>=2.17, <i>P</i>=.04) and knowledge improvement (β=0.29, <i>t</i><sub>52</sub>=2.06, <i>P</i>=.04) subscales significantly contributed to predicting children’s learning. None of the GUESS subscales significantly contributed to predicting children’s learning. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study suggest that both enjoyment and user experience satisfaction for children aged 8 to 10 years were positively correlated with their learning and that were significant predictors of it. Challenge, knowledge improvement, narrative, creative freedom, and visual esthetics subscales correlated positively with children’s learning. In addition, challenge and knowledge improvement contributed to predicting their learning. These results are relevant to consider during the design stages of serious games developed for young children’s learning purposes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Harya Bima Dirgantara ◽  
Henri Septanto

This study aims to design an action-arcade web-based picture card matching video game for memory improvement. Picture cards to be matched are animals that usually exist in zoos and farms, like monkey, cow, dog, pig, chicken, zebra, elephant, owl, and mouse. This research uses the prototyping process model with the communication stage, quick planning, modeling, construction, and launching. The results of this study are web-based video games for memory improvement training. From the results of the user experience testing, 68% of respondents informed that they felt it was easier to remember. Index Terms—video game; action-arcade; picture cards matching; prototyping; memory improvement training


Author(s):  
Mikki H. Phan ◽  
Joseph R. Keebler ◽  
Barbara S. Chaparro

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically validate a new instrument that comprehensively measures video game satisfaction based on key factors. Background: Playtesting is often conducted in the video game industry to help game developers build better games by providing insight into the players’ attitudes and preferences. However, quality feedback is difficult to obtain from playtesting sessions without a quality gaming assessment tool. There is a need for a psychometrically validated and comprehensive gaming scale that is appropriate for playtesting and game evaluation purposes. Method: The process of developing and validating this new scale followed current best practices of scale development and validation. As a result, a mixed-method design that consisted of item pool generation, expert review, questionnaire pilot study, exploratory factor analysis ( N = 629), and confirmatory factor analysis ( N = 729) was implemented. Results: A new instrument measuring video game satisfaction, called the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS), with nine subscales emerged. The GUESS was demonstrated to have content validity, internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusion: The GUESS was developed and validated based on the assessments of over 450 unique video game titles across many popular genres. Thus, it can be applied across many types of video games in the industry both as a way to assess what aspects of a game contribute to user satisfaction and as a tool to aid in debriefing users on their gaming experience. Application: The GUESS can be administered to evaluate user satisfaction of different types of video games by a variety of users.


Author(s):  
William J. Shelstad ◽  
Barbara S. Chaparro ◽  
Joseph R. Keebler

With so many video games being released, there is strong competition among developers to create the most successful games. Questionnaires are one tool that can be used to measure aspects of a video game like perceived flow, presence, engagement, and controls. The current study investigated the relationship between several user experience scales and their subscales: UEQ-S, GUESS-24, and the ENJOY for six popular video games. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and a university online research pool. Scale reliability analysis was conducted to ensure for internal consistency of the scales with Cronbach’s α. The relationships between the scales and subscales were analyzed using Pearson’s product correlations. Overall, the analysis showed a number of significant correlations between the UEQ-S, GUESS-24, and ENJOY. Evidence of uniqueness with each scale was also shown. Recommendations on which scale to use are discussed.


10.2196/21813 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e21813
Author(s):  
Ismael Edrein Espinosa-Curiel ◽  
Edgar Efrén Pozas-Bogarin ◽  
Juan Martínez-Miranda ◽  
Humberto Pérez-Espinosa

Background The design and use of serious video games for children have increased in recent years. To maximize the effects of these games, it is essential to understand the children’s experiences through playing. Previous studies identified that enjoyment and user experience satisfaction of the players are principal factors that can influence the success of serious video games and the learning of their players. However, research about the relationship between enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with learning in children 8 to 10 years old is sparse. Objective We examined the relationship of enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with the learning of children aged 8 to 10 years while playing a serious video game for health, FoodRateMaster. This serious video game teaches children about the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy foods and how to identify them in their environment. Methods Children aged 8 to 10 years were recruited from a primary school in Mexico. Participants completed 12 individual gaming sessions with FoodRateMaster in 6 weeks. A food knowledge questionnaire was administered before and after game play to assess the players’ food knowledge. In addition, after the gaming sessions, the children’s enjoyment and user experience satisfaction were evaluated using the EGameFlow questionnaire and the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) questionnaire. Results We found significant positive associations for children’s (n=60) posttest knowledge with enjoyment (r58=0.36, P=.005) and user experience satisfaction (r58=0.27, P=.04). The children’s posttest knowledge scores were also positively correlated with challenge (r58=0.38, P=.003), knowledge improvement (r58=0.38, P=.003), and goal clarity (r58=0.29, P=.02) EGameFlow subscales and with narrative (r58=0.35, P=.006), creative freedom (r58=0.26, P=.04), and visual esthetics (r58=0.32, P=.01) GUESS subscales. Regression analysis indicated that the EGameFlow (F7,52=2.74, P=.02, R2=0.27) and the GUESS (F8,51=2.20, P=.04, R2=0.26) ratings significantly predicted the children’s posttest knowledge scores. EGameFlow challenge (β=0.40, t52=2.17, P=.04) and knowledge improvement (β=0.29, t52=2.06, P=.04) subscales significantly contributed to predicting children’s learning. None of the GUESS subscales significantly contributed to predicting children’s learning. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that both enjoyment and user experience satisfaction for children aged 8 to 10 years were positively correlated with their learning and that were significant predictors of it. Challenge, knowledge improvement, narrative, creative freedom, and visual esthetics subscales correlated positively with children’s learning. In addition, challenge and knowledge improvement contributed to predicting their learning. These results are relevant to consider during the design stages of serious games developed for young children’s learning purposes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be paid for with real-world money, but which contain randomised contents. There is a reliable correlation between loot box spending and problem gambling severity: The more money gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling tends to be. However, it is unclear whether this link represents a case in which loot box spending causes problem gambling; a case in which the gambling-like nature of loot boxes cause problem gamblers to spend more money; or whether it simply represents a case in which there is a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, nonspecific to loot boxes.The multiplayer video game Heroes of the Storm recently removed loot boxes. In order to better understand links between loot boxes and problem gambling, we conducted an analysis of players of Heroes of the Storm (n=112) both before and after the removal of loot boxes.There were a complex pattern of results. In general, when loot boxes were removed from Heroes of the Storm, problem gamblers appeared to spend significantly less money in-game in contrast to other groups. These results suggest that the presence of loot boxes in a game may lead to problem gamblers spending more money in-game. It therefore seems possible that links between loot box spending and problem gambling are not due to a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, but rather are to do with specific features of loot boxes themselves.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

A variety of practices have recently emerged which are related to both video games and gambling. Most prominent of these are loot boxes. However, a broad range of other activities have recently emerged which are also related to both gambling and video games: esports betting, real-money video gaming, token wagering, social casino play, and watching videos of both loot box opening and gambling on game streaming services like Twitch.Whilst a nascent body of research has established the robust existence of a relationship between loot box spending and both problem gambling and disordered gaming, little research exists which examines whether similar links may exist for the diverse practices outlined above. Furthermore, no research has thus far attempted to estimate the prevalence of these activities.A large-scale survey of a representative sample of UK adults (n=1081) was therefore conducted in order to investigate these issues. Engagement in all measured forms of gambling-like video game practices were significantly associated with both problem gambling and disordered gaming. An aggregate measure of engagement was associated with both these outcomes to a clinically significant degree (r=0.23 and r=0.43). Engagement in gambling-like video game practices appeared widespread, with a 95% confidence interval estimating that 16.3% – 20.9% of the population engaged in these activities at least once in the last year. Engagement in these practices was highly inter-correlated: Individuals who engaged in one practice were likely to engage in several more.Overall, these results suggest that the potential effects of the blurring of lines between video games and gambling should not primarily be understood to be due to the presence of loot boxes in video games. They suggest the existence of a convergent ecosystem of gambling-like video game practices, whose causal relationships with problem gambling and disordered gaming are currently unclear but must urgently be investigated.


Author(s):  
Anders Drachen ◽  
Pejman Mirza-Babaei ◽  
Lennart E. Nacke

This chapter provides an introduction to the field of Games User Research (GUR) and to the present book. GUR is an interdisciplinary field of practice and research concerned with ensuring the optimal quality of usability and user experience in digital games. GUR inevitably involves any aspect of a video game that players interface with, directly or indirectly. This book aims to provide the foundational, accessible, go-to resource for people interested in GUR. It is a community-driven effort—it is written by passionate professionals and researchers in the GUR community as a handbook and guide for everyone interested in user research and games. We aim to provide the most comprehensive overview from an applied perspective, for a person new to GUR, but which is also useful for experienced user researchers.


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