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Gamer Nation: Video Games and American Culture
by John WillsExplores how games actively influence the ways people interpret and relate to American life.In 1975, design engineer Dave Nutting completed work on a new arcade machine. A version of Taito's Western Gun, a recent Japanese arcade machine, Nutting's Gun Fight depicted a classic showdown between gunfighters. Rich in Western folklore, the game seemed perfect for the American market; players easily adapted to the new technology, becoming pistol-wielding pixel cowboys. One of the first successful early arcade titles, Gun Fight helped introduce an entire nation to video-gaming and sold more than 8,000 units.In Gamer Nation, John Wills examines how video games co-opt national landscapes, livelihoods, and legends. Arguing that video games toy with Americans' mass cultural and historical understanding, Wills show how games reprogram the American experience as a simulated reality. Blockbuster games such as Civilization, Call of Duty, and Red Dead Redemption repackage the past, refashioning history into novel and immersive digital states of America. Controversial titles such as Custer's Revenge and 08.46 recode past tragedies. Meanwhile, online worlds such as Second Life cater to a desire to inhabit alternate versions of America, while Paperboy and The Sims transform the mundane tasks of everyday suburbia into fun and addictive challenges.Working with a range of popular and influential games, from Pong, Civilization, and The Oregon Trail to Grand Theft Auto, Silent Hill, and Fortnite, Wills critically explores these gamic depictions of America. Touching on organized crime, nuclear fallout, environmental degradation, and the War on Terror, Wills uncovers a world where players casually massacre Native Americans and Cold War soldiers alike, a world where neo-colonialism, naive patriotism, disassociated violence, and racial conflict abound, and a world where the boundaries of fantasy and reality are increasingly blurred. Ultimately, Gamer Nation reveals not only how video games are a key aspect of contemporary American culture, but also how games affect how people relate to America itself.
Gamer Psychology and Behavior
by Barbaros BostanThis book provides an introduction and overview of the increasingly important topic of gamer psychology and behavior by presenting a range of theoretic perspectives and empirical evidence casting new light on understanding gamer behavior and designing interactive gaming experiences that maximize fun. This book aims to provide a snapshot on research approaches/advances in player psychology and behavior, discuss issues, solutions, challenges, and needs for player behavior research, and report gameplay experience and lessons as well as industry case studies from both social sciences and engineering perspectives. The nine chapters in this book, which are divided into three sections: Neuro-Psychology and Gaming; Player Behavior and Gameplay; Player Psychology and Motivations, do not represent all the topics in the psychology of gaming, however, they include a variety of topics in this field: the effects of violent video games on cognitive processes, the reward systems in the human brain and the concept of 'fun', goal-directed player behavior and game choices, psychological player profiling techniques, game design requirements and player psychology, motivational gamer profiles, and many more. This book is suitable for students and professionals with different disciplinary backgrounds such as computer science, design, software engineering, psychology, interactive media, and information systems. Students will be interested in the theory of gamer psychology and its impact on game design. Professionals will be interested in the fundamentals of gamer behavior and how interactive virtual environments can improve user experience.
Gamer Theory
by Mckenzie WarkListen to a short interview with McKenzie WarkHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane Ever get the feeling that life's a game with changing rules and no clear sides, one you are compelled to play yet cannot win? Welcome to gamespace. Gamespace is where and how we live today. It is everywhere and nowhere: the main chance, the best shot, the big leagues, the only game in town. In a world thus configured, McKenzie Wark contends, digital computer games are the emergent cultural form of the times. Where others argue obsessively over violence in games, Wark approaches them as a utopian version of the world in which we actually live. Playing against the machine on a game console, we enjoy the only truly level playing field--where we get ahead on our strengths or not at all. Gamer Theory uncovers the significance of games in the gap between the near-perfection of actual games and the highly imperfect gamespace of everyday life in the rat race of free-market society. The book depicts a world becoming an inescapable series of less and less perfect games. This world gives rise to a new persona. In place of the subject or citizen stands the gamer. As all previous such personae had their breviaries and manuals, Gamer Theory seeks to offer guidance for thinking within this new character. Neither a strategy guide nor a cheat sheet for improving one's score or skills, the book is instead a primer in thinking about a world made over as a gamespace, recast as an imperfect copy of the game.
The Gamer's Brain: How Neuroscience and UX Can Impact Video Game Design
by Celia HodentMaking a successful video game is hard. Even games that are well-received at launch may fail to engage players in the long term due to issues with the user experience (UX) that they are delivering. That’s why makers of successful video games like Fortnite and Assassin’s Creed invest both time and money perfecting their UX strategy. These top video game creators know that a bad user experience can ruin the prospects for any game, regardless of its budget, scope, or ambition. The game UX accounts for the whole experience players have with a video game, from first hearing about it to navigating menus and progressing in the game. UX as a discipline offers guidelines to assist developers in creating the optimal experience they want to deliver, including shipping higher quality games (whether indie, triple-A or "serious" games) and meeting business goals -- all while staying true to design vision and artistic intent. At its core, UX is about understanding the gamer’s brain: understanding human capabilities and limitations to anticipate how a game will be perceived, the emotions it will elicit, how players will interact with it, and how engaging the experience will be. This book is designed to equip readers of all levels, from student to professional, with cognitive science knowledge and user experience guidelines and methodologies. These insights will help readers identify the ingredients for successful and engaging video games, empowering them to develop their own unique game recipe more efficiently, while providing a better experience for their audience. "The Gamer's Brain: How Neuroscience and UX Can Impact Video Game Design" Is written by Celia Hodent -- a UX expert with a PhD in psychology who has been working in the entertainment industry for over 10 years, including at prominent companies such as Epic Games (Fortnite), Ubisoft, and LucasArts. Major themes explored in this book: Provides an overview of how the brain learns and processes information by distilling research findings from cognitive science and psychology research in a very accessible way. Topics covered include: "neuromyths", perception, memory, attention, motivation, emotion, and learning. Includes numerous examples from released games of how scientific knowledge translates into game design, and how to use a UX framework in game development. Describes how UX can guide developers to improve the usability and the level of engagement a game provides to its target audience by using cognitive psychology knowledge, implementing human-computer interaction principles, and applying the scientific method (user research). Provides a practical definition of UX specifically applied to games, with a unique framework. Defines the most relevant pillars for good usability (ease of use) and good "engage-ability" (the ability of the game to be fun and engaging), translated into a practical checklist. Covers design thinking, game user research, game analytics, and UX strategy at both a project and studio level. This book is a practical tool that any professional game developer or student can use right away and includes the most complete overview of UX in games existing today.
The Gamer's Bucket List: The 50 Video Games to Play Before You Die
by Chris WattersWhich games are worth playing?---------- From pixelated pioneer adventures to stunning space odysseys, the boundaries of the video game world are expanding every day. Grand epics and gritty mysteries. Fierce competition and friendly cooperation. Powerful emotions and uproarious laughter. Video games are fantastically diverse and wonderfully creative, but not all games are created equal. With so many games out there on so many different consoles, computers, and devices, how do you decide which games are worth playing? Backed by years of writing about games professionally and decades spent playing them, Chris Watters lays out a list of 50 games to entertain and enlighten you. Whether you’re trying to learn more about the world of gaming or strengthening your claim to true gaming fluency, these are the games you’ll want to play, and why you’ll want to play them.
The Gamer's Guide to Getting the Girl
by Kristine ScarrowStrategy is everything when it comes to gaming — and girls. Zach is used to living in a world of legendary battles, epic journeys, and life-or-death situations. As a gamer, he is hard-wired for adventure, even though it’s from the comfort of his parents’ couch. But nothing has prepared him for battling the biggest storm in Saskatchewan’s history while trapped in the local mall. On top of everything, Zach has finally met the girl of his dreams, but he finds himself helping everyone else stay safe while his best friend spends time with her. What Zach doesn’t realize is that love always finds its way when you’ve found the right person and are ready to risk it all to save the day.
Games and Ethics: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to Ethical Questions in Digital Game Cultures (Digitale Kultur und Kommunikation #7)
by Maike Groen Nina Kiel Angela Tillmann André WeßelThe number of digital gamers is increasing worldwide, but public debates about digital games commonly focus on questionable game content or problematic gaming behavior. This book offers a broader ethical perspective on digital game cultures, presenting theoretical and empirical work on the ethical dimensions of the development, production and distribution of digital games, as well as issues relating to responsible gaming and the pedagogical use of digital games. Questions of the communicative-cultural change in game cultures are linked with questions of media education and media ethics. With such a comprehensive approach, the volume promotes ethical discourse on digital game cultures.
Games and Learning Alliance
by Rosa Bottino Johan Jeuring Remco C. VeltkampThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2016, held in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in December 2016. The 27 revised regular papers presented together with 14 poster papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 55 submissions. The papers cover topics such as games and sustainability; games for math and programming; games and health; games and soft skills; games and management; games and learning; game development and assessment; and mobile games.
Games and Learning Alliance
by João Dias Remco C. Veltkamp Pedro A. SantosThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2017, held in Lisbon, Portugal, in December 2017. The 16 revised regular papers presented together with 6 poster papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 45 submissions. The papers cover topics such as games in education and training; games for health and special children; augmented and virtual reality; methods and tools (for desing and development); and poster abstracts.
Games and Learning Alliance: 12th International Conference, GALA 2023, Dublin, Ireland, November 29 – December 1, 2023, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14475)
by Pierpaolo Dondio Mariana Rocha Attracta Brennan Avo Schönbohm Francesca De Rosa Antti Koskinen Francesco BellottiThis LNCS volume constitutes the proceedings of 12th International Conference, GALA 2023, in Dublin, Ireland, held during November/December 2023. The 36 full papers and 13 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 88 submissions. The papers contained in this book have been organized into six categories, reflecting the variety of theoretical approaches and application domains of research into serious games: 1. The Serious Games and Game Design2. User experience, User Evaluation and User Analysis in Serious Games3. Serious Games for Instruction4. Serious Games for Health, Wellbeing and Social Change5. Evaluating and Assessing Serious Games Elements6. Posters
Games and Learning Alliance: 7th International Conference, GALA 2018, Palermo, Italy, December 5–7, 2018, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #11385)
by Manuel Gentile Mario Allegra Heinrich SöbkeThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2018, held in Palermo, Italy, in December 2018.The 38 revised regular papers presented together with 9 poster papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 68 submissions. The papers cover the following topics: games for skills training; game design; methods and tools; gamification and innovative game approaches.
Games and Learning Alliance
by Alessandro De GloriaThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2014, held in Bucharest, Romania, in July 2014. The 15 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 26 submissions. The papers presented cover a variety of aspects and knowledge fields. They are grouped into four sessions: pedagogy, technology, design, and applications.
Games and Learning Alliance
by Alessandro De Gloria Remco VeltkampThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2015, held in Rome, Italy, in December 2015. The 33 revised full papers and 15 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 102 submissions. The papers presented cover a variety of aspects and knowledge fields. They are grouped around the following topics: games for health, games for mobility, pervasive gaming and urban mobility.
Games and Learning Alliance: 11th International Conference, GALA 2022, Tampere, Finland, November 30 – December 2, 2022, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13647)
by Michael Kickmeier-Rust Francesco Bellotti Francesca De Rosa Kristian Kiili Koskinen Antti Muhterem DindarThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2022, held in Tampere, Finland, in November/December 2022. The 27 full papers and 9 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 61 submissions. The papers cover a broad spectrum of topics: Serious Games and Game Design; Serious Games for Instruction; Serious Game for Digital Literacy and Numeracy; Novel Approaches and Application Domains; Taxonomies and Evaluation Frameworks.
Games and Learning Alliance: 8th International Conference, GALA 2019, Athens, Greece, November 27–29, 2019, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #11899)
by Antonios Liapis Georgios N. Yannakakis Manuel Gentile Manuel NinausThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2019, held in Athens, Greece, in November 2019. The 38 regular papers presented together with 19 poster papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 76 submissions. The papers cover the following topics: serious game design and pedagogical foundations; AI and technology for SG; gamification; applications and case studies; and posters.The chapter "Cyber Chronix, Participatory Research Approach to Develop and Evaluate a Storytelling Game on Personal Data Protection Rights and Privacy Risks" is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.
Games and Learning Alliance: 9th International Conference, GALA 2020, Laval, France, December 9–10, 2020, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #12517)
by Iza Marfisi-Schottman Francesco Bellotti Ludovic Hamon Roland KlemkeThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2020, held in Laval, France, in December 2020. The 35 full papers and 10 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 77 submissions. The papers cover a broad spectrum of topics: Serious Game Design; Serious Game Analytics; Virtual and Mixed Reality Applications; Gamification Theory; Gamification Applications; Serious Games for Instruction; and Serious Game Applications and Studies.
Games and Learning Alliance: 10th International Conference, GALA 2021, La Spezia, Italy, December 1–2, 2021, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13134)
by Margarida Romero Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge Francesco Bellotti Francesca De Rosa Iza Marfisi Schottman Pierpaolo DondioThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance, GALA 2021, held in La Spezia, Italy, in December 2021. The 21 full papers and 10 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 50 submissions. The papers cover a broad spectrum of topics: Serious Games Applications; Serious Game to Improve Literacy; Technology used for Serious Games; Serious Game Usage; Serious Games Design.
Games and Narrative: Theory and Practice (International Series on Computer Entertainment and Media Technology)
by Barbaros BostanThis book provides an introduction and overview of the rapidly evolving topic of game narratives, presenting the new perspectives employed by researchers and the industry, highlighting the recent empirical findings that illustrate the nature of it. The first section deals with narrative design and theory, the second section includes social and cultural studies on game narrative, the third section focuses on new technologies and approaches for the topic, the fourth section presents practices and case studies, and the final section provides industry cases from professionals.
Games and Simulations in Teacher Education (Advances in Game-Based Learning)
by Elizabeth BradleyThis book includes more than twenty computer games and simulations for use in teacher training. Each of these simulations is innovative and presents an opportunity for pre-service teachers to have hands-on experience in an area of need prior to teaching in the classroom. Information on the simulation origins, including theoretical underpinnings, goals, characteristics, relevant research/program evaluation results, discussion of benefits and limitations as well as dissemination, recommended use, scope of practice, etc. of each game or simulation are included. Pre-service and new teachers will gain a number of useful skills through completion of these simulations and higher education faculty and administrators will gain a plethora of research-based and effective training tools for use in their teacher training programs.
Games As A Service: How Free to Play Design Can Make Better Games
by Oscar ClarkThe games industry is serious business and the role of a games designer has dramatically changed over just the last few years. Developers now have to rethink everything they know about the creative, technical and business challenges to adapt to the transition to games as a service. <P><P> Games as a Service: How Free to Play Design Can Make Better Games has been written to help designers overcome many of the fears and misconceptions surrounding freemium and social games. It provides a framework to deliver better games rather than the ‘evil’ or ‘manipulative’ experiences some designers fear with the move away from wasteful Products to sustainable, trustworthy Services. <P><P> Oscar Clark is a consultant and Evangelist for Everyplay from Applifier. He has been a pioneer in online, mobile and console social games services since 1998 including Wireplay (British Telecom), Hutchison Whampoa (3UK) and PlayStation®Home. He is a regular columnist on PocketGamer.Biz and is an outspoken speaker and moderator at countless games conferences on Games Design, Discovery, and Monetisation. He is also a notorious hat wearer.
Games as Texts: A Practical Application of Textual Analysis to Games
by Alayna Cole Dakoda BarkerGames as Texts provides an overview and practical steps for analysing games in terms of their representations of social structures, class, power, race, sexuality, gender, animals, nature, and ability. Each chapter applies a traditional literary theory to the narrative and mechanics of games and explores the social commentary the games encourage. This approach demonstrates to players, researchers, games media, and non-gamers how they can engage with these cultural artefacts through both critical reading and theoretical interpretations. Key Features: Explores games through various literary and theoretical lenses Provides exemplar analysis and guiding questions to help readers think critically about games Highlights the social commentary that all texts can reveal—including games—and how this impacts narrative and mechanics
Games as Transformative Experiences for Critical Thinking, Cultural Awareness, and Deep Learning: Strategies & Resources
by David SeelowAll games are potentially transformative experiences because they engage the player in dynamic action. When repurposed in an educational context, even highly popular casual games played online to pass the time can engage players in a way that deepens learning. Games as Transformative Experiences for Critical Thinking, Cultural Awareness, and Deep Learning: Strategies & Resources examines the learning value of a wide variety of games across multiple disciplines. Organized just like a well-made game, the book is divided into four parts highlighting classroom experiences, community and culture, virtual learning, and interdisciplinary instruction. The author crosses between the high school and college classroom and addresses a range of disciplines, both online and classroom practice, the design of curriculum, and the transformation of assessment practices. In addition to a wealth of practical exercises, resources, and lesson ideas, the book explains how to use a wide and diverse range of games from casual to massively multiplayer online games for self-improvement as well as classroom situations.
Games, Diversions & Perl Culture: Best of the Perl Journal (Best of the Perl Journal)
by Jon OrwantThe Perl Journal (TPJ) did something most print journals aspire to, but few succeed. Within a remarkable short time, TPJ acquired a cult-following and became the voice of the Perl community. Every serious Perl programmer subscribed to it, and every notable Perl guru jumped at the opportunity to write for it. Back issues were swapped like trading cards. No longer in print format, TPJ remains the quintessential spirit of Perl--a publication for and by Perl programmers who see fun and beauty in an admittedly quirky little language. Games, Diversions, and Perl Culture is the third volume of The Best of the Perl Journal, compiled and re-edited by the original editor and publisher of The Perl Journal, Jon Orwant. In this series, we've taken the very best (and still relevant) articles published in TPJ over its 5 years of publication and immortalized them into three volumes. The 47 articles included in this volume are simply some of the best Perl articles ever written on the subjects of games, diversions, and the unique culture of this close-knit community, by some of the best Perl authors and coders. Games, Diversions & Perl Culture focuses on entertaining topics that make Perl users such fanatics about the language. You'll find all of the playful features TPJ offered over the years, including the Obfuscated Perl Contests, Perl Quiz Shows, humor articles, and renowned one-line recipes. The book also contains a panoply of quirky applications of Perl, including genetic algorithms, home automation, music programming, and an entire section on natural language processing. This anthology is an unmatched compendium of Perl lore.
Games for Your Mind: The History and Future of Logic Puzzles
by Jason RosenhouseA lively and engaging look at logic puzzles and their role in recreation, mathematics, and philosophyLogic puzzles were first introduced to the public by Lewis Carroll in the late nineteenth century and have been popular ever since. Games like Sudoku and Mastermind are fun and engrossing recreational activities, but they also share deep foundations in mathematical logic and are worthy of serious intellectual inquiry. Games for Your Mind explores the history and future of logic puzzles while enabling you to test your skill against a variety of puzzles yourself.In this informative and entertaining book, Jason Rosenhouse begins by introducing readers to logic and logic puzzles and goes on to reveal the rich history of these puzzles. He shows how Carroll's puzzles presented Aristotelian logic as a game for children, yet also informed his scholarly work on logic. He reveals how another pioneer of logic puzzles, Raymond Smullyan, drew on classic puzzles about liars and truthtellers to illustrate Kurt Gödel's theorems and illuminate profound questions in mathematical logic. Rosenhouse then presents a new vision for the future of logic puzzles based on nonclassical logic, which is used today in computer science and automated reasoning to manipulate large and sometimes contradictory sets of data.Featuring a wealth of sample puzzles ranging from simple to extremely challenging, this lively and engaging book brings together many of the most ingenious puzzles ever devised, including the "Hardest Logic Puzzle Ever," metapuzzles, paradoxes, and the logic puzzles in detective stories.
Games Industry Management: Gründung, Strategie und Leadership – Theoretische Grundlagen
by Lutz AnderieDieses Buch dokumentiert und analysiert die marktorientierte Unternehmensführung in der Games-Branche sowie die damit einhergehenden Managementprozesse. Unternehmensgründungen werden unter branchenrelevanten Aspekten dargestellt, die Erstellung von Businessplänen, das Gewinnen von Pitches sowie die Möglichkeiten der Unternehmensfinanzierung, auch durch Förderprogramme, werden aufgezeigt und durch konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen abgerundet. Die Zusammenstellung von Teams einschließlich der Aspekte des Female Managements und Diversity sowie die erfolgsorientierte Unternehmensführung werden praxisnah erläutert. Zahlreiche strategische und taktisch-operative Analysen, die für die erfolgreiche Vermarktung von Videogames entscheidend sind, werden anhand von über 100 Fallbeispielen dokumentiert. Managemententscheidungen, einschließlich der Games-Unternehmen Tencent, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Crytek, Plaion, Deck 13 und Microsoft, werden im Kontext des unternehmerischen Erfolgs beleuchtet. Künstliche Intelligenz, Neuronale Netzwerke, Bilderkennung, Spracherkennung und Chatbots in Computerspielen werden verständlich erklärt. Monetarisierungsmodelle, Spielökonomien, Blockchain und Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) werden ebenso erläutert wie KI-basierte Planung & Prognosemodelle für In-Game Items. Die Vertriebskanäle und Businessopportunitäten für Online- und Mobile Games sowie E-Sports und Serious Games werden aufgezeigt. Aktuelle Entwicklungen im Game Design, bei Game-Engines, dem Game Hacking und bei Gamification werden dokumentiert. Ein einzigartiges Fachbuch, der bereits in der 2. Auflage veröffentlicht wird, für Studierende mit Schwerpunkt Games Management, aber auch für Unternehmensgründer, Manager und Investoren der Games-Branche.