Introduction to Games User Research

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.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-138
Author(s):  
Nayana Thércia Carneiro ◽  
Ticianne Darin ◽  
Mateus Pinheiro ◽  
Windson Viana

Games User Research (GUR) is an interdisciplinary field of study that aims to measure, analyze, and understand the interaction and experience of players with digital games. Joining efforts to the advances in GUR, this work focuses on the evaluation of player interaction with Location-Based Games (LBGs), seeking to understand which aspects of this interaction can be explored through interviews and how researchers and practitioners have been using this method. We analyzed 23 studies that applied interviews to this end and conducted an expert opinion survey with the authors of these studies. As a result, we presented lessons and research challenges for the use of interviews in this type of evaluation, in hopes to encourage the conscious and systematic application of this method, in addition to guiding practitioners and researchers, especially beginners.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Petrovskaya ◽  
David Zendle

Video game monetisation has changed rapidly in recent decades: not long ago, upfront payment was the only time a transaction was needed to guarantee a full gameplay experience. However, in recent years, technological shifts have facilitated rapid remote payments, enabling many games to evolve into platforms for repeated expenditure, rather than products in and of themselves. Monetising a game as a service is challenging, and there is concern that some monetisation strategies may constitute unfair or exploitative marketplace practices. However, thus far, no piece of academic research has asked for a stakeholder perspective on what these practices might be by surveying gamers. In the current work, we asked 1104 gamers to describe a time when they had been exposed to transactions which were perceived to be misleading, aggressive or unfair, using the lens of the UK Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. We found 35 separate techniques that players perceived to be misleading, aggressive, or unfair over 8 broad domains: intentional design to drive spending, product not meeting expectations, monetisation of basic quality of life, advertising, in-game currency, pay to win, general presence of microtransactions and other. Notably, several of these transactions seem to be in discord with existing UK consumer protection regulations. We discuss these potential contraventions, and offer recommendations for future steps towards consumer protection within the games industry.


Author(s):  
Stephen Verderber

The interdisciplinary field of person-environment relations has, from its origins, addressed the transactional relationship between human behavior and the built environment. This body of knowledge has been based upon qualitative and quantitative assessment of phenomena in the “real world.” This knowledge base has been instrumental in advancing the quality of real, physical environments globally at various scales of inquiry and with myriad user/client constituencies. By contrast, scant attention has been devoted to using simulation as a means to examine and represent person-environment transactions and how what is learned can be applied. The present discussion posits that press-competency theory, with related aspects drawn from functionalist-evolutionary theory, can together function to help us learn of how the medium of film can yield further insights to person-environment (P-E) transactions in the real world. Sampling, combined with extemporary behavior setting analysis, provide the basis for this analysis of healthcare settings as expressed throughout the history of cinema. This method can be of significant aid in examining P-E transactions across diverse historical periods, building types and places, healthcare and otherwise, otherwise logistically, geographically, or temporally unattainable in real time and space.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabnam Mohebbi ◽  
Mojtaba Nasiri Nezhad ◽  
Payam Zarrintaj ◽  
Seyed Hassan Jafari ◽  
Saman Seyed Gholizadeh ◽  
...  

Biomedical engineering seeks to enhance the quality of life by developing advanced materials and technologies. Chitosan-based biomaterials have attracted significant attention because of having unique chemical structures with desired biocompatibility and biodegradability, which play different roles in membranes, sponges and scaffolds, along with promising biological properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity. Therefore, chitosan derivatives have been widely used in a vast variety of uses, chiefly pharmaceuticals and biomedical engineering. It is attempted here to draw a comprehensive overview of chitosan emerging applications in medicine, tissue engineering, drug delivery, gene therapy, cancer therapy, ophthalmology, dentistry, bio-imaging, bio-sensing and diagnosis. The use of Stem Cells (SCs) has given an interesting feature to the use of chitosan so that regenerative medicine and therapeutic methods have benefited from chitosan-based platforms. Plenty of the most recent discussions with stimulating ideas in this field are covered that could hopefully serve as hints for more developed works in biomedical engineering.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Oana-Mihaela Plotogea ◽  
Madalina Ilie ◽  
Simona Bungau ◽  
Alexandru Laurentiu Chiotoroiu ◽  
Ana Maria Alexandra Stanescu ◽  
...  

The impact of sleep disorders (SDs) on patients with chronic liver diseases (CLD) is tremendous. SDs are frequently encountered among these patients and interfere with their quality of life. This review aims to present the data available so far about the prevalence, phenotypes, and proposed pathophysiological mechanisms of SDs in CLD. Moreover, we proposed to search the literature regarding the most reliable methods to assess SDs and the possible therapeutic options in patients with CLD. The main results of this review show that when it comes to prevalence, the percentages reported vary widely between studies performed among populations from the USA or Europe and those coming from Asian countries. Furthermore, it has been proven that SDs may also be present in the absence of neurocognitive disorders attributable to hepatic encephalopathy (HE), which contradicts traditional suppositions where SDs were considered part of the clinical scenario of HE. Currently, there are no specific recommendations or protocols to assess SDs in CLD patients and data about the therapeutic management are limited. Taking into consideration their impact, a protocol for diagnosing and managing SDs should be developed and included in the daily practice of hepatologists.


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

The current study investigated three user experience scales, the GUESS-24, the ENJOY, and the UEQ-S scale, as well as their relationship to gameplay continuance and purchasing intention for six popular online games. Results indicated that each of the three scales (GUESS-24, ENJOY, UEQ-S) could be used to predict continuance and purchase intention in the games of interest. The ENJOY and GUESS-24 performed better in predicting continuance intention than the UEQ-S. The GUESS-24 performed the best in terms of predicting purchase intention.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1387
Author(s):  
Oswaldo Sebastian Peñaherrera-Pulla ◽  
Carlos Baena ◽  
Sergio Fortes ◽  
Eduardo Baena ◽  
Raquel Barco

Cloud Gaming is a cutting-edge paradigm in the video game provision where the graphics rendering and logic are computed in the cloud. This allows a user’s thin client systems with much more limited capabilities to offer a comparable experience with traditional local and online gaming but using reduced hardware requirements. In contrast, this approach stresses the communication networks between the client and the cloud. In this context, it is necessary to know how to configure the network in order to provide service with the best quality. To that end, the present work defines a novel framework for Cloud Gaming performance evaluation. This system is implemented in a real testbed and evaluates the Cloud Gaming approach for different transport networks (Ethernet, WiFi, and LTE (Long Term Evolution)) and scenarios, automating the acquisition of the gaming metrics. From this, the impact on the overall gaming experience is analyzed identifying the main parameters involved in its performance. Hence, the future lines for Cloud Gaming QoE-based (Quality of Experience) optimization are established, this way being of configuration, a trendy paradigm in the new-generation networks, such as 4G and 5G (Fourth and Fifth Generation of Mobile Networks).


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