Disability and Video Games Journalism: A Discourse Analysis of Accessibility and Gaming Culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 155541202110210
Author(s):  
Sky LaRell Anderson ◽  
Karen (Kat) Schrier
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Gaming Culture

In this article, we conduct a discourse analysis of 60 articles to reveal themes that describe how games journalism reflects and constitutes understandings of disability and accessibility in gaming. First, we map prior research on media’s relationship to disability, as well as approaches to disability in game studies, including the introduction of two primary paradigms for addressing issues of accessibility in gaming. Second, the project reveals six thematic categories that describe how game journalism reflects and constitutes understandings of disability and accessibility in gaming: gamers with disabilities, portraying disability, game design, game controllers, discussing accessibility, and advocacy. Further comparison of the categories reveals four additional themes of discourses, namely, self-congratulations, fetishization, awareness as advocacy, and problem-solving. The article concludes with implications for the games industry, for theory, and for how the field of game studies can investigate disability.

scholarly journals Design and Development of a Video Game to Assess Problem-Solving Competence in Chemistry Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amany Annaggar ◽  
Rüdiger Tiemann
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
3D Game ◽  
Problem Solving Model

<p>The aim of this study is to present how to implement the constructive learning theory and self-determination theory into a video game. This video game is designed as a new kind of teaching tool for chemistry concepts and as an assessment tool for domain-specific problem-solving competence, by applying a problem-solving model and the factors of self-determination theory through game elements. These types of video games are designed not only to have fun and motivate students, but also to help the teachers and educators to assess their students according to their weaknesses and strengths in each particular phase of the competence. Thus, educators could improve their teaching strategy or use the tools to improve weak areas. Based on this idea, we developed ALCHEMIST. ALCHEMIST targeted the 9th-grade students in the German chemistry curriculum. The scientific content is about acids, bases, and indicators, and is designed and based on the problem-solving model to access this competence of the students. The 3D game framework was chosen for this game since it makes the game efficient, interactive and drives it into more virtual reality. The designing process was complicated, as it includes multidisciplinary work across psychology, design, scientific content, development and programming, which makes it challenging. To cover these points, we followed a game design model, adding some steps to cover the educational needs and the aim of the game.</p><p>In order to make the game more effective and interactive, and to drive it into a more virtual world, the 3D game framework was chosen for this game since for this age group a 3D educational game is expected to be more effective (Gunter et al, 2008; Terzidou et al, 2012) . Moreover, the use of avatars in the 3D virtual environment establishes non-verbal communication (NVC) features, which can foster collaboration interactions, and enhance the student’s ability to apply abstract knowledge later in reality (Dede, 1992; Tsiatsos and Terzidou, 2010). The log file provided shows the player points and gameplay path which indicates the performance levels for each problem set. Also, it can help teachers to evaluate each particular phase of problem-solving competence. After the success of the development of our game-based theoretical background, it will be tested and validated by experts in chemistry education. This validation process should examine if the problem-solving model is correctly applied and test the significance of the game design, scientific content and the game’s objective.</p><p>It may also be of interest to develop such video games with scientific content and educational background in other fields. It also would be a success for the scientist to apply the scientific content through a fantasy 3D video game to the students at different ages to have fun, to learn, and to assess their competencies.</p>

Playing with meaning: Productive frictions between gaming and dancing in Bound

2020 ◽  
pp. 135485652093319
Author(s):  
Kate Mattingly
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Dance Studies ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Creativity Research ◽  
Dance Dance Revolution

Research into gaming and dancing has tended to highlight educational benefits, such as positive effects on problem-solving, creativity, and motivation (Hutton E and Sundar S, 2010. Can video games enhance creativity? Effects of emotion generated by Dance Dance Revolution. Creativity Research Journal 22(3): 294–303.). This article focuses on a game called Bound (2016), developed by Plastic Studios for PlayStation 4 and VR, to show how dancing can be defined as an embodied epistemology and a form of creative exploration that contributes to emotional intelligence. Using methodologies generated by Brendan Keogh, I show how and why dominant understandings of gameplay are insufficient to analyze the experience and meaning produced by playing Bound. Keogh’s theories are relevant to both game studies and dance studies and allow us to examine the fruitful intersections of game studies and screendance. Ultimately I introduce ‘choreographic thinking’ as a mode of engagement that is activated by gameplay and that resonates with Keogh’s theories: by calling attention to the choreographic potential of Bound, I demonstrate the value of noncompetitive gaming models for producing embodied knowledge.

scholarly journals The expressive power of the Possible Worlds Theory in video games: when narratives become interactive and fictional spaces

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 289-302
Author(s):  
Antonio José Planells de la Maza
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Expressive Power ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Fictional World ◽  
Philosophical Concept ◽  
Interactive Nature ◽  
The Relationship

The philosophical concept of possible worlds (Lenzen, 2004; Lewis, 1986) has been used in literary studies and narratology (Dolezel, 1998; Eco, 1979) to define the way in which we conceive different narrative possibilities inside the fictional world. In Game Studies, some authors have used this concept to explore the relationship between game design and game experience (Kücklich, 2003; Maietti, 2004; Ryan, 2006), while Jesper Juul (2005) has studied the fictional world evoked by the connection between rules and fiction. In this paper we propose a new approach to video games as ludofictional worlds - a set of possible worlds which generates a game space based on the relationship between fiction and game rules. In accordance with the concepts of minimal departure (Ryan, 1991) and indexical term (Lewis, 1986), the position of the player character determines his/her actual world and the next possible or necessary world. Lastly, we use this model to analyse the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and show that the possible worlds perspective provides a useful, flexible and modular framework for describing the internal connections between ludofictional worlds and the interactive nature of playable game spaces.

scholarly journals Drawing Video Game Mental Maps: From Emotional Games to Emotions of Play

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hovig Ter Minassian
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Mental Maps ◽  
Emotional Meaning ◽  
Video Game Studies

By exploring emotions at play in video game experiences, we sought to analyze how people interact with digital spaces in everyday life. Taking a somewhat different view than much of the literature in the field of video game studies, we examined emotions that were created from users’ experience of games, rather than focusing on game design and gameplay. To that end, we based our analysis on 38 video game mental maps drawn by 26 people. We successively analyzed the topic, the structure, and the experiential and emotional meaning of each of the mental maps. Thus, we explored the diversity of emotions that participants linked to video games, and examined the mental maps in relation to what the respondents said about how and why they chose to draw a particular video game. Our work shows the importance of looking beyond the analysis of affects and gameplay, and of examining the emotions produced by the video game experience, along with what they can tell us about the role of games in individual and collective spatial experiences and sociability. Everything doesn’t happen on the screen, and what is lived within the game also depends on what is lived in the physical space of the player. In other words, video games aren’t emotional in themselves, but there are significant video game experiences that contribute to the structuration of individuals. 

scholarly journals Games in the age of empire

Kultura ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 224-245
Author(s):  
Vitford Dajer ◽  
Pojter de
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Global Order ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Gaming Culture ◽  
The Media ◽  
Antonio Negri

This is a part of the introductory essay of the now already canonical study on gaming culture, written by Nick Dyer-Witheford & Greig de Peuter - Games o f Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games (University of Minnesota Press, 2009). Regardless of the year of publishing, it still represents an extremely useful review that is not without serious critical insights. Placing the culture of video games in the epistemological passe partout determined by the Empire theorists Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, the authors had laid one of the key foundations for critical game studies, based on a deep understanding of the logic of virtual games, as well as their teleology and reception. The authors' cultural-political analysis of the media illustrates how central video games have become the very structure of our contemporary global order: both as a means of governing and as a (virtual) space of struggle and resistance.

scholarly journals Design and Development of a Video Game to Assess Problem-Solving Competence in Chemistry Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amany Annaggar ◽  
Rüdiger Tiemann
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
3D Game ◽  
Problem Solving Model

<p>The aim of this study is to present how to implement the constructive learning theory and self-determination theory into a video game. This video game is designed as a new kind of teaching tool for chemistry concepts and as an assessment tool for domain-specific problem-solving competence, by applying a problem-solving model and the factors of self-determination theory through game elements. These types of video games are designed not only to have fun and motivate students, but also to help the teachers and educators to assess their students according to their weaknesses and strengths in each particular phase of the competence. Thus, educators could improve their teaching strategy or use the tools to improve weak areas. Based on this idea, we developed ALCHEMIST. ALCHEMIST targeted the 9th-grade students in the German chemistry curriculum. The scientific content is about acids, bases, and indicators, and is designed and based on the problem-solving model to access this competence of the students. The 3D game framework was chosen for this game since it makes the game efficient, interactive and drives it into more virtual reality. The designing process was complicated, as it includes multidisciplinary work across psychology, design, scientific content, development and programming, which makes it challenging. To cover these points, we followed a game design model, adding some steps to cover the educational needs and the aim of the game.</p><p>In order to make the game more effective and interactive, and to drive it into a more virtual world, the 3D game framework was chosen for this game since for this age group a 3D educational game is expected to be more effective (Gunter et al, 2008; Terzidou et al, 2012) . Moreover, the use of avatars in the 3D virtual environment establishes non-verbal communication (NVC) features, which can foster collaboration interactions, and enhance the student’s ability to apply abstract knowledge later in reality (Dede, 1992; Tsiatsos and Terzidou, 2010). The log file provided shows the player points and gameplay path which indicates the performance levels for each problem set. Also, it can help teachers to evaluate each particular phase of problem-solving competence. After the success of the development of our game-based theoretical background, it will be tested and validated by experts in chemistry education. This validation process should examine if the problem-solving model is correctly applied and test the significance of the game design, scientific content and the game’s objective.</p><p>It may also be of interest to develop such video games with scientific content and educational background in other fields. It also would be a success for the scientist to apply the scientific content through a fantasy 3D video game to the students at different ages to have fun, to learn, and to assess their competencies.</p>

scholarly journals Feasibility and Enjoyment of Exercise Video Games in Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 559-559
Author(s):  
Sara Freed ◽  
Briana Sprague ◽  
Lesley Ross
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Xbox Kinect ◽  
Game Developers

Abstract Interventions using exercise video games, or exergames, have shown short-term cognitive and physical benefits to older adults, though long-term effects are less promising. Enjoyment of exergames may promote exergame use after the intervention period, though little work has examined older adults’ views of exergames before and after gameplay experience. We invited 20 older adults between 65 and 84 years of age (M=73.30, SD=5.95) to play two Xbox Kinect games, Just Dance and Kinect Sports Rivals, for twenty minutes. In our presentation, we will present qualitative and quantitative findings of this pilot study, including findings that older adults reported that they were not likely to play similar exergames in the future and that they did not find the exergames to be more fun compared to other ways of exercising. We will discuss implications for game design and research relevant to game developers, manufacturers, and researchers. Part of a symposium sponsored by Technology and Aging Interest Group.

Gaming the gamer? – The ethics of exploiting psychological research in video games

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Hartz Søraker
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ethical implications of video game companies employing psychologists and using psychological research in game design. Design/methodology/approach The author first argues that exploiting psychology in video games may be more ethically problematic than familiar application domains like advertising, gambling and political rhetoric. Then an overview of the effects particular types of game design may have on user behavior is provided, taking into account various findings and phenomena from behavioral psychology and behavioral economics. Findings Finally, the author concludes that the corresponding ethical problems cannot – and should not – be addressed by means of regulation or rating systems. The author argues instead that a more promising countermeasure lies in using the same psychological research to educate gamers (children in particular) and thereby increase their capacity for meta-cognition. Originality/value The importance of this lies in the tremendous effect these behavior-modifying technologies may have upon our self-determination, well-being and social relations, as well as corresponding implications for the society.

scholarly journals The economics of free

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 563-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Evans
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Gaming Industry ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Simpsons ◽  
The Social ◽  
Casual Games ◽  
Branding Strategies

The gaming industry has seen dramatic change and expansion with the emergence of ‘casual’ games that promote shorter periods of gameplay. Free to download, but structured around micropayments, these games raise the complex relationship between game design and commercial strategies. Although offering a free gameplay experience in line with open access philosophies, these games also create systems that offer control over the temporal dynamics of that experience to monetize player attention and inattention. This article will examine three ‘freemium’ games, Snoopy Street Fair, The Simpsons’ Tapped Out and Dragonvale, to explore how they combine established branding strategies with gameplay methods that monetize player impatience. In examining these games, this article will ultimately indicate the need for game studies to interrogate the intersection between commercial motivations and game design and a broader need for media and cultural studies to consider the social, cultural, economic and political implications of impatience.

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