scholarly journals Video games as a screen-interactive platform of historical media education: educational potential and risks of politicization

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-491
Author(s):  
Dmitriy A. Belyaev ◽  
◽  
Ulyana P. Belyaeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Media Education ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Cultural Aesthetics ◽  
Comparative Political Science ◽  
Traditional Grammar ◽  
Educational Potential

Screen culture today, absorbing verbal-narrative and written culture, is the dominant memorial-representative format for the reproduction, preservation and broadcast of cultural information. Among the varieties of screen culture, since the beginning of the 21st century, video games have become especially popular and widespread. They possess unique interactive-procedural qualities, which, together with the traditional grammar of screen narrative, create an original complex of rhetorical techniques that effectively influence the mass public consciousness. In turn, the plot and visual design of video games is often based on historical narratives, becoming a platform for virtual interactive reconstruction of history. The study is devoted to the up-to-date topic of analyzing the on-screen phenomenon of video games as an innovative platform for historical media education, identifying its educational potential and the risks of political distortion of history. The methodological basis of the study is cultural-civilizational, dialectical and historical approaches, as well as structural-functional analysis, comparative-political science approach and systemic method. The study made it possible to identify a wide range of historical video games and classify the modalities of the implementation of historical topics in them with its general educational potential. In addition, the fundamental deconstructive nature of the actualization of the historical metanarrative in the procedural-interactive architectonics of video games has been determined. Finally, three main strategies for distorting and falsifying history in video games have been revealed. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that almost every significant cultural and historical era, with an emphasis on military battle plots, is reflected in the video game format. These game projects have serious educational potential, procedurally immersing the gamer in the context of the main historical facts, cultural aesthetics of the era and internal determinants of historical dynamics. At the same time, the postmodern essence of video games has been established, which poses a threat to the invariance of the perception of history, latently encouraging the intentions to rewrite it. Other risks are contained in the identified examples of politicization of the historical narrative of video games, which are concretized in the tendency to belittle the role of Russia in the international arena and the Eurocentric value accentuation.

scholarly journals A browser-based advergame as communication catalyst: types of communication in video games

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 75-94
Author(s):  
Heinrich Söbke ◽  
Thomas Bröker
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Interactive Media ◽  
Abstract Model ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Basic Definition ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Community Identification ◽  
Definition Of

Video games are a comprehensive, interactive media. Online games foster communication and extend the range of communication types considerably. We examine prevailing types of communication in video games using the browser-based advergame Fliplife. This game provides all a clear, delimited structure, an unpretentious user interface and the characteristics of a multiplayer online game. Thus Fliplife is an excellent frame to demonstrate the wide range of communication initiated in a video game. Among contained types of communication are verbal and non-verbal communications using graphics and actions/non-actions. Found communication typically serves controlling and coordination of the game play, however private discussions and social banter exist also besides demonstration of player status and community identification. In our work we draw on the basic definition of communication as conveying information from a sender to a recipient. We categorize the found types of communication according to an abstract model of communication derived from common definitions. The compiled enumeration of communication elements and possible manifestations represents a draft of categorization for communication in video games in general. Although it still needs extended validation, this enumeration demonstrates that video games provide frameworks which host and initiate a wide variety of communication. As a significant difference compared to other media, video games and their notion of interactivity allow players to communicate through action and to change roles of sender and receiver.

scholarly journals Video games in the context of screen technoculture and media education: new rhetorical strategies and educational potential

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 23-36
Author(s):  
Dmitriy A. Belyaev ◽  
◽  
Ulyana P. Belyaeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Media Education ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Educational Potential ◽  
Social Management

Video games have become a prominent part of on-screen technoculture today, breaking the purely entertaining social labelling framework. They contribute to the generation of new social activities, and also become an innovative media space for the explication of artistic and aesthetic values, political meanings and educational practices. The aim of the study is the reconstruction and analysis of the cultural constitution of video games, revealing the features of their screen rhetorical capabilities, as well as revealing the educational potential of gamification practices and Digital Game Based Learning strategies. This is intended to form the competence-thematic framework of video games as a platform for modern media education. The methodological basis of the work is the cultural-historical and dialectical approaches, as well as the methods of systemic and structural-functional analysis. The study made it possible to trace the genesis of the cultural formation of video games, which demonstrated many strategies for their integration into the space of mass media culture. The main rhetorical models implemented in video games are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the comprehensive consideration of procedural rhetoric as an original way of convincing the user through gameplay, interactive involvement in virtual practices. The foundations of the practice of gamification and the strategy of Digital Game Based Learning in education are considered. It identifies the possibilities of gamification as an innovative methodology for organizing incentives and rewards, and also identifies the range of difficulties and risks of total gamification of the educational process. Based on the results of the study, it was determined that video games use an original complex of rhetorical techniques that combine both traditional audiovisual formats of narrative, characteristic of other on-screen media, and procedural-interactive techniques. They made it possible to directly integrate the user into virtual narratives, turning them from a passive recipient into an actor. The importance of gamification as a tool for building strategies of internal stimulation with elements of entertaining practices in the dynamics of learning is also revealed, which increases the effectiveness of education. It has been revealed the significant educational potential of video games as a promising media platform in the framework of the implementation of the Digital Game Based Learning strategy. They can act both as carriers of knowledge and as a virtual environment for the formation of competencies in the field of history, economics, literature and social management. Procedural and rhetorical tools allow a person to become a part of an interactive scenario, which greatly increases the likelihood of assimilating information and developing professional skills.

scholarly journals The The Application of Video Games in Education:

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1 (19)) ◽  
pp. 139-157
Author(s):  
Diego Rodríguez-Ponga Albalá
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
New Type ◽  
Educational Potential ◽  
Video Games In Education

There is a lack of motivation in high schools that is difficult to ignore. This is even worse in the case of history courses, which are perceived by students as “useless.” Many would cite video games and mobile phones as some of the technological changes that explain how teenagers are less interested in such subjects. However, there is an enormous educational potential in video games that should not be ignored. This work is an explanation of how history can be translated not only through audio-visual language, but also in the form of a new type of word: ludic language. Moreover, an educational activity is proposed in order to find a solution to this lack of motivation. For this activity, the Early Modern period simulator Europa Universalis IV has been chosen as the video game to be implemented in a history class for 14-year-olds.

scholarly journals Increasing Player Performance and Game Experience in High Latency Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (CHI PLAY) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
David Halbhuber ◽  
Niels Henze ◽  
Valentin Schwind
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Artificial Neural Networks ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Video Game ◽  
User Study ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Player Performance

Cloud gaming services and remote play offer a wide range of advantages but can inherent a considerable delay between input and action also known as latency. Previous work indicates that deep learning algorithms such as artificial neural networks (ANN) are able to compensate for latency. As high latency in video games significantly reduces player performance and game experience, this work investigates if latency can be compensated using ANNs within a live first-person action game. We developed a 3D video game and coupled it with the prediction of an ANN. We trained our network on data of 24 participants who played the game in a first study. We evaluated our system in a second user study with 96 participants. To simulate latency in cloud game streaming services, we added 180 ms latency to the game by buffering user inputs. In the study we predicted latency values of 60 ms, 120 ms and 180 ms. Our results show that players achieve significantly higher scores, substantially more hits per shot and associate the game significantly stronger with a positive affect when supported by our ANN. This work illustrates that high latency systems, such as game streaming services, benefit from utilizing a predictive system.

scholarly journals Behavioural and neuro-electrical correlates of cognitive performance in young mobile gamers of endless runner and match three genres

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sekhar Jiwal ◽  
Preeti Jain ◽  
Ajay Kumar Jain
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Current Data ◽  
P300 Latency ◽  
Mobile Game ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Game Players ◽  
The Impact

AbstractVideo game players have been shown to significantly out-perform non-video game players on a wide range of cognitive tasks. Exposure to specific genres of video games may also have a significant bearing in impacting certain task-specific domains of cognition. However, there is limited availability of scientific literature exploring the role of mobile game sub-genres on the cognitive abilities of an individual. The present study was therefore conducted to assess and compare the impact of playing either endless running video games (ERGs) or match three video games (MTGs) on behavioral and neuro-electrical correlates of cognitive performance in young adults, by using reaction time (RT) and P300, respectively. The ERG group included 45 male:female (M:F) ratio = 38:7 and the MTG group included 39 (M:F = 21:18) subjects who played ≥5 h/week of each respective video game genre in past 6 months. The ERG group had better behavioral performance in comparison to the MTG group, as indexed by their significantly faster visual reaction time (VRT). The ERG subjects also had significantly lower P300 amplitudes as compared to MTG subjects. However, no difference in either auditory reaction time (ART) or P300 latency could be ascertained between the two groups. These results suggest that not only were ERG players able to make faster decisions and performed better in visuo-motor tasks but, also had better optimization of neural resources in them as compared to the MTG players. The current data supports the notion that not only exposure to video games but also the nature (i.e. genre) of mobile game play determines the extent to which neural processes concerned with attentional orientation, information processing and cognitive control are influenced.

Computer Games as a New Arena for IST Research

2011 ◽  
pp. 395-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Marquis
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Instructional Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Instructional Use ◽  
Game Industry

Since the introduction of popular video games such as Space Invaders and Pac Man, in the 1980’s the video game industry has grown to immense proportions. However, unlike film or television in their early years, there has been very little research into the instructional applications of computer games. What is most surprising about the lack of research into the instructional use of computer games, particularly by instructional systems technology (IST) professionals, is the fact that this is traditionally a field that has always embraced cutting edge technology and pursued a wide range of research interests. It is proposed here that the IST field to give serious consideration to the educational use of computer games and establish a research agenda to provide support to those practitioners in the field attempting to utilize this new technology.

scholarly journals The educational potential of video games in the deconstruction of hegemonic masculinity through the VIGLIAM method (Video Games Literacy From Alternative Masculinities)

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 339-355
Author(s):  
Laura Triviño Cabrera ◽  
Alejandro Muñoz-Guerado ◽  
Asunción Bernárdez-Rodal
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
Masculine Identity ◽  
Male Privilege ◽  
Patriarchal System ◽  
Alternative Masculinities ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Educational Potential

Generally, male video game characters represent a hegemonic masculinity based on a patriarchal system that shows as a protagonist and dominant a white, western, heterosexual, wealthy male, disabled man and anti-ecologist.  Videogames are one of the most consumed entertainment industry products worldwide. For students, video games are spaces where to find their masculine identity. Therefore, education must include video games. Video games are used as an educational resource for the improvement of the teaching-learning process of students. However, the aim of this study is to propose a didactic method untitled VIGLIAM (acronym for Video Games Literacy from Alternative Masculinities). From this method, firstly, students deconstruct critically the hegemonic masculinity of the characters in video games. Secondly, students build critically and creatively alternative masculinities that promote a fairer and more equal society. From this way, students develop empowering and empathetic skills from categories as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, body and nature. In short, this research is part of masculinities studies in the area of education and it is fundamental in the light of the emergence of posmachism that arises given the possibility of the loss of male privilege.

Frustration and Violence in Mobile Video Games

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Mobile Video ◽  
Violent Content ◽  
Before And After

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.

Only problem gamblers spend less money when loot boxes are removed from a game: A before and after study of Heroes of the Storm

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
Complex Pattern ◽  
Problem Gamblers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Gambling Severity ◽  
Reliable Correlation ◽  
Before And After Study

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.

Gambling-like video game practices: A cross-sectional study of links with problem gambling and disordered gaming

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Clinically Significant

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.

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