Multichannel Gaming and the Aesthetics of Interactive Surround

Author(s):  
Mark Kerins

This article appears in theOxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aestheticsedited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. This chapter examines multichannel sound—specifically 5.1-channel surround sound—in video games, using gaming genres to explore the varying ways that games structure the three-way relationship among a multichannel sound track, onscreen visuals, and the game play itself. This approach uncovers distinct strategies of multichannel usage in platformers, first-person shooters, third-person 3D games, and rhythm games, and shows how these differ from traditional cinematic multichannel uses, especially in the way they problematize the relationship between image and sound. These differing approaches to game aesthetics illustrate different ways of conceiving the relationship among players, their in-game avatars, and the game world, with the sound mixing “rules” programmed into a game revealing the type of immersion and interactivity the game can promote. For example, some strategies reinforce the player–avatar connection, whereas others increase the distance between them. The chapter concludes by considering how industrial and technical factors unique to gaming impact multichannel sound usage.

Author(s):  
В.Р. Аминева

На материале произведений современной татарской писательницы Р. Габдулхаковой выявляются конститутивные черты жанра парча в современной татарской литературе. Охарактеризованы жанровые разновидности парчи в творчестве Р. Габдулхаковой, которые соответствуют двум направлениям сюжетного движения: от внешнего к внутреннему или от единичного к универсальному и двум типам повествования - от 1-го или от 3-го лица. Художественное завершение в парчах первого типа определяется постижением некой нравственной истины, вытекающей из лично пережитой лирическим субъектом ситуации, в парчах второго типа оно создается переходом от отдельных явлений к их суммирующему итогу. Сделан вывод о том, что внутреннюю меру жанра определяет характер соотношения повествовательной фабулы и обобщающей ее «концовки». Описаны свойственные этому жанру пространственно-временные отношения и принципы организации субъектной сферы. Структурообразующая роль в парчах Р. Габдулхаковой отводится субъективно-лирическому началу в повествовании. В произведениях писательницы проявились как особенности ее творческой индивидуальности, так и типологические черты женской прозы в целом с ее повышенной эмоциональностью, автобиографичностью и проникновенностью. Большинство миниатюр Р. Габдулхаковой написаны от первого лица и представляют сознание женщины, сосредоточенной на переживании своего одиночества и «холода жизни», безответной любви и позднего раскаяния, боли утраты, преследующей каждого человека после ухода матери. Парчи, написанные от третьего лица, раскрывают сознание человека, знающего о существовании объективных закономерностей и пытающегося найти личный выход из безнадежных ситуаций. В творчестве Р. Габдулхаковой парча функционирует как синтетический жанр, вбирающий в себя элементы других жанровых форм. On the material of works of the modern Tatar writer R. Gabdulhakova the constitutive features of the genre of the parcha are revealed. Genre varieties of parcha in the work of R. Gabdulkhakova are characterized, which correspond to two directions of plot movement: from the external to the internal or from the individual to the universal, and two types of narrative-from 1 or 3 persons. Artistic completion in the parcha of the first type is determined by the realization of a certain moral truth arising from the situation personally experienced by the lyrical subject, in the parcha of the second type it is created by the transition from individual phenomena to their summing result. It is concluded that the internal measure of the genre determines the nature of the relationship between the narrative plot and its generalizing "ending". Space-time relations and principles of organization of the subject sphere peculiar to this genre are described. The structure-forming role in the parcha of R. Gabdulkhakova is assigned to the subjective-lyrical beginning in the narrative. The works of the writer manifested both the features of her creative individuality and the typological features of female prose in general with its increased emotionality, autobiography and penetration. Most of R. Gabdulhakova’s miniatures are written in the first person and represent the consciousness of a woman focused on experiencing her loneliness and “cold life”, unrequited love and late repentance, the pain of loss that haunts every person after leaving her mother. Рarcha written in the third person reveal the consciousness of a person who knows about the existence of objective laws and tries to find a personal way out of hopeless situations. Allegorical or symbolic imagery at the same time turns a personal scenario - into a typical, universal human one. In the work of R. Gabdulhakova parcha functions as a synthetic genre, incorporating elements of other genre forms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 927-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Huang ◽  
Stefanus Jasin ◽  
Puneet Manchanda

We propose a novel two-stage data-analytic modeling approach to gamer matching for multiplayer video games. In the first stage, we build a hidden Markov model to capture how gamers' latent engagement state evolves as a function of their game-play experience and outcome and the relationship between their engagement state and game-play behavior. We estimate the model using a data set containing detailed information on 1,309 randomly sampled gamers' playing histories over 29 months. We find that high-, medium-, and low-engagement-state gamers respond differently to motivations, such as feelings of achievement and need for challenge. For example, a higher per-period total score (achievement) increases the engagement of gamers in a low or high engagement state but not those in a medium engagement state; gamers in a low or medium engagement state enjoy within-period score variation (challenge), but those in a high engagement state do not. In the second stage, we develop a matching algorithm that learns (predicts) the gamer's current engagement state on the fly and exploits that learning to match the gamer to a round to maximize game-play. Our algorithm increases gamer game-play volume and frequency by 4%–8% conservatively, leading to economically significant revenue gains for the company.


Author(s):  
Juan-José Igartua ◽  
Laura Rodríguez-Contreras

Narrative messages are increasingly being used in the field of tobacco prevention. Our study is based on narrative persuasion and aims to analyze the psychological mechanisms that explain why the narrative voice is relevant to promote persuasive impact. An online experiment with a 2 (narrative voice) × 2 (message) factorial design was carried out. Participants (525 adult smokers) were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions (first-person versus third-person narrative message). To increase the external validity of the study, two different messages were used within each condition. After reading the narrative message the mediating and dependent variables were evaluated. Participants who read the narrative in the first person experienced greater identification. Moreover, mediational analysis showed that both counterarguing and cognitive elaboration played a significant role in the relationship between narrative voice, identification, and persuasive impact. This study confirm that narrative voice is not only an anecdotal formal choice but that it indirectly affects variables related to tobacco prevention, due to the fact that first-person messages activate a mechanism of affective connection with the message (increasing the identification with the protagonist) that decreases resistance to prevention (the counterarguing process) while simultaneously stimulating reflection or cognitive elaboration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-136
Author(s):  
Sarah Lewis ◽  
Robb Lindgren ◽  
Shuai Wang ◽  
Roy D. Pea

Abstract. Digital media, such as interactive video, games, and immersive worlds, offer rich visual perspectives, often allowing one to experience events through another’s eyes. While prior research indicates that considering alternative perspectives facilitates understanding, little is known about how media-enhanced perspectives affect learning processes for higher-order concepts that require synthesis of ideas and making inferences such as reasoning about problems in science. Two experiments used digital video of a science instructional event to investigate features of visual perspective on engagement and knowledge construction. Study 1 showed that an embodied first-person viewpoint achieved using a head-mounted camera better supported learning than a traditional third-person view of the same event. In Study 2, applying a motion algorithm to both a first-person and third-person video allowed us to isolate the effects of viewpoint and camera motion. While the addition of artificial motion benefited learning for third-person viewers, only motion that is aligned with the actor’s actions and affect enhances first-person viewing. Findings are considered in terms of how certain media position learners in relation to educational content. Specifically, we argue that media features such as viewpoint and motion can be configured in ways to create “fields of potential action” that engage viewers and optimize conditions for learning.


2020 ◽  
pp. 104225872091450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimo Dimov ◽  
Reiner Schaefer ◽  
Joseph Pistrui

This paper explores the relationship between the study of entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurs we study. While scholars typically adopt a detached, third-person stance for the purpose of explaining and predicting entrepreneurial action, entrepreneurs instead operate in a first-person stance of deciding what to do. The two stances cannot be reduced to one another. We argue that an engaged dialog—a second-person stance—can bring scholars and entrepreneurs together into a unifying practical decision-making perspective. By working to develop this integrative voice in scholarship, we can collapse the dualism of rigor and relevance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Gazzard ◽  
Alan Peacock

By moving away from a model of ritual that focuses on magic and fantasy worlds, this article seeks to broaden the discussion of ritual actions, performances, and objects in first- and third-person video games. Ritual will be understood through the idea of a “ritual logic” that enables the wider associations of ritual in the virtual as opposed to the real world to be analyzed, and through the key element of repetition in game play. In part derived from the intertextuality of video game genres and associated popular culture artifacts such as films and novels, ritual logic contributes to the players’ knowledge and understanding of what ritual is and what ritual does in the game, and how ritual can be used to progress its narrative and play trajectories.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Sevin ◽  
Whitney Decamp

Research on the effects of playing video games has been limited by a preoccupation with possible negative repercussions. Nevertheless, research has shown that video games can have positive effects on young players’ social lives. The existing body of research, however, has largely ignored the more computer-related aspects of video game play and its effects. This study provides empirical evidence to support theoretical arguments about the relationship between playing video games and computers. The type of scientific thinking encouraged by video games and the technological abilities needed to play video games is suggested to result in an increase in players’ confidence with computers and interest in computer science. These potential relationships are examined using data from over 1,000 undergraduate students to empirically assess the relationship between video game play and: 1) confidence with computers, and 2) interest in computer science. The results indicate that game play is statistically significant as a predictor of confidence and interest. In comparison to the other predictors in the model, the strength of the effect from playing video games is relatively very strong. The findings suggest that exposure to video games as a recreational technology help inform players’ abilities with non-recreational technology and build an interest in technology in general.


Author(s):  
Meredith DiPietro

There is current interest from the field of education into the value of video games to support learning. Research investigating outcomes associated with video game play has just begun to scratch the surface of their educational potential. Further exploration needs to focus on the internal processes of the play, specifically the relationship between the utilization of cognitive skills, the learning process, and a player’s experience with playing video games. Drawing support from the field of expertise, the research presented in this chapter looks at this relationship by comparing the processes used by video game players based on their level of experience. Results from this study add to the understanding of the relationship between experience, cognition, and learning from video game play. The results of this research also have implications for educational game design and the pedagogical techniques used to make effective learning opportunities available to all learners.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1096-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yemaya J. Halbrook ◽  
Aisling T. O’Donnell ◽  
Rachel M. Msetfi

Video games are a source of entertainment for a wide population and have varied effects on well-being. The purpose of this article is to comprehensively examine game-play research to identify the factors that contribute to these disparate well-being outcomes and to highlight the potential positive effects. On the basis of existing literature, we argue that the effects of gaming on well-being are moderated by other variables, such as motivations for gaming and video-game characteristics. Specifically, the inclusion of social activity can benefit prosocial behaviors and affect the relationship between violent video games and aggression that some studies have demonstrated. Moreover, the research on the relationship between violent video games and aggression depends greatly on individual and sociocontextual variables outside of game play. The inclusion of physical activity in games can provide an improvement in physical health with high levels of enjoyment, potentially increasing adherence rates. Overall, following our review, we determined that the effects of gaming on well-being are moderated by and depend on the motivation for gaming, outside variables, the presence of violence, social interaction, and physical activity. Thus, we argue that there is potential for an “optimal gaming profile” that can be used in the future for both academic- and industry-related research.


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