scholarly journals Performing as video game players in Let's Plays

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Playing ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Game Players ◽  
The Way

This article examines the fan practice of Let's Plays—video recordings that video game players create of themselves playing that include live commentary or riffing. I argue that the riffing accompanying game play footage in Let's Plays highlights how players play idiosyncratically by constructing and performing game-playing personalities. These videos emphasize the performative nature of video game players as fans who actively negotiate with the video games that they play through presentations of individual playing styles and experiences. I show that in accounting for how and why they play the way that they do, Let's Players demonstrate what I suggest are various modes of playing in which players can engage with video games generally. Consequently, creating, sharing, and discussing Let's Plays can render visible a wider diversity of game-playing identities, experiences, and styles.

Beyond the Call of Duty: why shouldn't video game players face the same dilemmas as real soldiers?

2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (886) ◽  
pp. 711-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Clarke ◽  
Christian Rouffaer ◽  
François Sénéchaud
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Extrajudicial Killing ◽  
Game Players ◽  
The Way

AbstractVideo games are influencing users' perceptions about what soldiers are permitted to do during war. They may also be influencing the way combatants actually behave during today's armed conflicts. While highly entertaining escapism for millions of players, some video games create the impression that prohibited acts, such as torture and extrajudicial killing are standard behaviour. The authors argue that further integration of international humanitarian law (IHL) can improve knowledge of the rules of war among millions of players, including aspiring recruits and deployed soldiers. This, in turn, offers the promise of greater respect for IHL on tomorrow's battlefields.

Non-religious Players Asking Big Questions: Video Game Worlds Affording Affinities of Meaningful Encounters

2021 ◽  
pp. e20200012
Author(s):  
Heidi Rautalahti
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Qualitative Interview ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Interview Method ◽  
Search For Self ◽  
Game Players

The article examines player narratives on meaningful encounters with video games by using an argumentative qualitative interview method. Data gathered among Finnish adult video game players represents narratives of important connections in personal lives, affinities that the article analyzes as further producing three distinctive themes on meaningful encounters. Utilizing a study-of-religion framework, the article discusses meaning making and emerging ways of meaningfulness connected to the larger discussion on the “big questions” that are asked, explored, and answered in popular culture today. Non-religious players talk about intricate and profound contemplations in relation to game memories, highlighting how accidental self-reflections in mundane game worlds frame a continuing search for self.

scholarly journals Considerations for comparing video-game AI agents with humans

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R Madan
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Complex Action ◽  
Potential Approach ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Game Ai ◽  
Strategy Games ◽  
Action Sequences

Video games are sometimes used as environments to evaluate AI agents' ability to develop and execute complex action sequences to maximize a defined reward. However, humans cannot match the fine precision of timed actions of AI agents--in games such as StarCraft, build orders take the place of chess opening gambits. However, unlike strategy games, such as chess and go, video games also rely heavily on sensorimotor precision. If the `finding' was merely that AI agents have superhuman reaction times and precision, none would be surprised. The goal is rather to look at adaptive reasoning and strategies produced by AI agents that may replicate human approaches or even result in strategies not previously produced by humans.Here I will provide: (1) an overview of observations where AI agents are perhaps not being fairly evaluated relative to humans, (2) a potential approach for making this comparison more appropriate, and (3) highlight some important recent advances in video-game play provided by AI agents.

The Way Ahead for Serious Games

2010 ◽  
pp. 305-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Cannon-Bowers
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
End Users ◽  
Design Features ◽  
Rigorous Evaluation ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Community Of Researchers ◽  
Video Game Technology ◽  
The Way

Despite the fact that people have been playing games since before recorded history, the field of Serious Games—as a scientifically valid and viable area of investigation and application—is really in its infancy. In fact, the rise in availability and popularity of video games is a relatively recent phenomenon and actual applications of video game technology to serious pursuits are relatively rare. That said, I believe that Serious Games are coming into their own, and predict that the next few years will witness an explosion of new games, design features and guidelines, success stories, and scientific findings regarding their effectiveness. How quickly and fruitfully this happens depends, in part, on how well the community of researchers, designers, developers, evaluators, and end users can come together to systematically conceive of, and deploy games for serious purposes. Haphazard attempts—i.e., those that do not build on the findings of others’ experiences—will retard the speed at which viable games are consistently produced. Likewise, rigorous evaluation of those games that are developed cannot be neglected or future developers will likely fall prey to the same problems and pitfalls as their predecessors.

Exploring Complex Intertextual Interactions in Video Games

2016 ◽  
pp. 108-128
Author(s):  
Kathy Sanford ◽  
Timothy Frank Hopper ◽  
Jamie Burren
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Class A ◽  
Video Gamers ◽  
Grade 11

This chapter explores the intertextual nature of video games. Video games are inherently intertextual and have utilized intertextuality in profound ways to engage players and make meaning. Youth who play video games demonstrate complex intertextual literacies that enable them to construct and share understandings across game genres. However, video game literacy is noticeably absent from formal education. This chapter draws from bi-monthly meetings with a group of youth video gamers. Video game sessions focused on exploring aspect of video game play such as learning and civic engagements. Each session was video recorded and coded using You Tube annotation tools. Focusing on intertextuality as an organizing construct, the chapter reports on five themes that emerged that were then used to help explore the use of video games as teaching tool in a grade 11 Language Arts class. A critical concept that emerged was the idea of complex intertextual literacy that frames and enables adolescents' engagement with video games.

scholarly journals Considerations for Comparing Video Game AI Agents with Humans

Challenges ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Madan
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Complex Action ◽  
Potential Approach ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Game Ai ◽  
Strategy Games ◽  
Action Sequences

Video games are sometimes used as environments to evaluate AI agents’ ability to develop and execute complex action sequences to maximize a defined reward. However, humans cannot match the fine precision of the timed actions of AI agents; in games such as StarCraft, build orders take the place of chess opening gambits. However, unlike strategy games, such as chess and Go, video games also rely heavily on sensorimotor precision. If the “finding” was merely that AI agents have superhuman reaction times and precision, none would be surprised. The goal is rather to look at adaptive reasoning and strategies produced by AI agents that may replicate human approaches or even result in strategies not previously produced by humans. Here, I will provide: (1) an overview of observations where AI agents are perhaps not being fairly evaluated relative to humans, (2) a potential approach for making this comparison more appropriate, and (3) highlight some important recent advances in video game play provided by AI agents.

The Atari VCS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth B. McAlpine
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Hardware Design ◽  
Living Room ◽  
Home Video ◽  
Video Game Music ◽  
Sound Chip ◽  
The Way

This chapter explores the Atari VCS, the machine that took video games out of the arcades and into the living room and established Atari as the dominant player in the home video games industry, at least for a time. It examines the context that surrounded the birth of the Atari VCS and how that influenced its hardware design, in turn shaping both the sound and people’s expectations of video game music. The Atari’s sound chip, the Television Interface Adaptor, gave the Atari VCS what might charitably be described as a ‘characterful’ voice. By reviewing the hardware, this chapter explores how and why the Atari VCS sounded just the way it did, and by exploring some of the games that were released for the platform the chapter shows how, while sound games did indeed sound dreadful, with a little musical ingenuity they could work wonderfully as game soundtracks.

Exploring the Effects of Violent Video Games on Healthcare Trainees

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 653-665
Author(s):  
Karlie A. Krause ◽  
Chelsie Smyth ◽  
Kate L. Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Distress Scale

Background. The prevalence of video game play has continued to increase. Previous literature has suggested negative emotional consequences related to violent video game play, such as an increase in aggression and decrease in empathy. Healthcare providers require high levels of empathy to effectively work with patients. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of video games on empathy on a sample of graduate-level healthcare trainees. Methods. A sample of 81 students on a healthcare campus completed a 30-item survey assessing video game habits and empathy levels. Participants were then placed into two groups (violent and non-violent) based on the amount of video game violence they are exposed to. Results. The results revealed no differences between healthcare trainees on overall empathy. A follow-up analysis examining individual subscales that comprise the overall empathy score, indicated the violent video game players had lower scores on the Personal Distress scale. Conclusion. Findings suggest that healthcare trainees who play violent video games do not experience decreased Empathic Concern or Perspective Taking, compared to individuals who do not play violent games. However, healthcare trainees who play violent video games indicated lower levels of Personal Distress. Given the intensity in healthcare settings, findings suggest violent video game play may be adaptive to healthcare trainees, as lower personal distress can lead to better decision-making and potentially prevent burnout. Further research is necessary to determine the role of video game play in healthcare professionals.

Video Game Players: Personality Characteristics and Demographic Variables

1984 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. McClure ◽  
F. Gary Mears
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Video Game Playing ◽  
Game Players ◽  
Competitive Activities

This study examined some personality characteristics and demographic variables of frequent video game users. A survey of video-game-playing attitudes, personality characteristics, and entertainment choices of high school teenagers was made. Frequent video-game players were young, male, and liked competitive activities, such as playing sports. They were bright and liked challenges and science fiction movies. Infrequent players tended to be older, female, not as bright and to like noncompetitive activities. These infrequent players did not like video games, were anxious about computers, and did not read very many books.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document