Game Studies Download 2009 - Top 10 Research Findings

Game Studies Download 4.0 Ian Bogost, PhD Mia Consalvo, PhD Jane McGonigal, PhD

Today, right now , YOU will create the official TOP 10 LIST.* * post-GDC Slideshare readers: skip to final slide for the results

Like a study? POWER IT UP the top 10 list! Send us your answer to this Q: What game title – past, present, or future – might be improved by applying the findings of this study?

Fear of failing: The many meanings of difficulty in video games Jesper Juul, MIT

What is the role of failure in video games?

Do players prefer games where they do not feel responsible for failing?

Preliminary test offline with 9 players

(5 men, 4 women)

Second stage online with 85 players

(73 men 12 women)

Those who failed some liked the game the best

Failure adds content, by making players see new nuances in a game

Players want to feel somewhat responsible for failing in a game

How can you show players the nuances of your game through failing at it?

How can you show players the nuances of your game through failing at it? Friday, 10:30-10:50 AM

Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design

Karen Collins, University of Waterloo

Generativity

10 approaches to variability in games

1. Variable tempo 2. Variable pitch 3. Variable rhythm/meter 4. Variable volume/dynamics 5. Variable DSP/timbres 6. Variable melodies 7. Variable harmony 8. Variable mixing 9. Variable form (open) 10. Variable form (transitional)

How can you use musical dynamism to construct ambience through audio?

Relating the pleasures of violent game texts Gareth Schott, U of Waikato, New Zealand

2 year project in New Zealand

Alternative to effects studies, social science approach

Weekly game clubs, players 14-18, 61 students

Group & individual interviews

Is it appropriate to categorize what happens in games as ‘violence’?

How do players of violent games make sense of those experiences?

preservation rather than malice or cruelty

War games the most preferable way of engaging with violence

Agency and forward movement were primary drivers

How might building in time for reflection change a player’s perception of a gameplay experience?

Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds Michael Nitsche, The Georgia Institute of Technology

rule-based mediated fictional play social spaces created computationally space on the image plane; cinematic space the space imagined by the player the space of play itself, including the player and the videogame hardware the space of interaction with other players/people

How can you design for the space of play between player and machine/monitor?

Play to win or win to play? The material culture of gaming Charlie Breindahl, IT University-Copenhagen

Jonas Heide Smith: Do Players Seek to win?

The basic control scheme of FIFA (Xbox) looks like this: Left Stick: LS -Controls your player’s basic movement. Right Stick: RS -Controls your player’s First Touch Control. Left Trigger: LT -Secondary input. Calls in another defender when defending. Right Trigger: RT -Sprint. X- Lobbed Pass/Cross (hold LT and press X for Early Cross, double tap for Low Hard Cross) A- Regular Pass (hold LT and press A for a Manual Pass) B- Shoot (hold LT and press B for a Chip Shot) Y- Through Pass (hold LT and press Y for a Lobbed Through Pass)

The gaming circle The interface The game circle

So was the question wrong? Or the approach?

Hypothesis: the motivation for participating transcends the players’ in-game goal of winning

Xbox 360 player communities for racing games

Modding subculture

Classic car culture

Organized motor sport culture

Material car culture

Players race to win  to earn credits  to modify their cars  to stand out. Rather than playing to win, they win to play.

How can you broaden the ways players can differentiate themselves in your game?

Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games

Jose Zagal, DePaul University Amy Bruckman, The Georgia Institute of Technology

Students are less able to talk about videogames critically

Recontextualizing

Game journaling Explicit theoretical frameworks Writing about the same game more than once

Players may not have the tools necessary to experience games critically, without assistance.

But perhaps we haven't given players the tools or invitations to grasp them at deeper levels. “ Andy, I saw your mail a while back and have not ignored it, just been trying to find the time to answer it. I've avoided getting too deep into Rand in interviews, because PC Gamer isn't exactly the best forum for an Objectivist discussion...” — Ken Levine, responding to an Objectivist Center forum member

The industry benefits from people able to talk about how games matter.

The introduction of background information and (perhaps more importantly) its repetition.

How can you introduce players to the subject matter of your game to help them reflect on it effectively?

‘ Because it just looks cool!’ Fashion as character performance—the case of WoW Susana Tosca & Lisbeth Klastrup, IT University-Copenhagen

The hypothesis: appearance always plays a role in the social fabric of a multi-player game

4 month in game observation; online survey (n=201); key informant interviews (2)

Survey Questions

Status awareness and anxiety

Channel for playful personal expression

Inspirational fashion

Fashion as

collector activity

Fashion trends

How can you be more intentional about developing a fashion culture in your game?

How’s the Weather: Simulating Weather in Virtual Environments

Matt Barton, St. Cloud University

ambiance

decoration

most games don’t depict weather's effects on the world and objects in it.

Weather = slippery

Weather is a force humans can't control = opportunity to offer realism beyond graphical verisimilitude offering instead a less predictable and more textured set of everyday experiences

How can you use weather as a tool for immersion and interest?

(Play) Ground rules: The social contract and the magic circle Stewart Woods, Curtin U, Australia

How do players see their role in a game as constrained by the implicit norms of a competitive game encounter?

800 surveys of players of modern strategy board games

“Victory is tertiary to socializing”

There are key times when players

play to lose

When playing against new or inexperienced players

To further the enjoyment of others

When victory appears impossible

When learning the game

How could you make winning one of several goals of your game?

Learning in Context: Digital Games and Young Black Men

Betsy James DiSalvo, Georgia Institute of Technology

Kevin Crowley, Roy Norwood, University of Pittsburgh

cultural context for young black men playing games in economically disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods

(how differences in game play affect interest in science technology, engineering math)

offline social aspect

Game Talk Instructional, casual But especially competitive: “ smart talk” or “trash talk” was the most prevalent kind of talk

Trash talk grew more important as gamers grew older

How could you add layers of player talk to enhance the social interaction among players?

And finally…

THE RESULTS from our real-time Game Developers Conference rankings are in…

Which game title – past, present, or future – could be improved by applying the findings of this research?

You suggested…

10. “(Play)Ground Rules: The social contract and the magic circle”

Counter-Strike

Scrabble

Boom Blox

Puzzle Arcade

Rayman’s Raving Rabbits

Street Fighter 4

9. "Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games”

The Marriage

Fallout 3

Metacritic (it’s a game, right?)

Metal Gear Solid 4

Braid

Gravitation

8. Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design

Rock Band Sudoku

World of Warcraft FEAR

Settlers of Catan

Shadow of the Colossus

GTA4

Wii Sports (seriously)

Coil

Knights of the Old Republic

7. “Play to win or win to play: The material culture of gaming”

Spore

Magic the Gathering

Any coop Wii game

WoW (especially PvP)

Call of Duty 4

Every MMO

Street Fighter 4

Oblivion

6. “Language-GAME-Players: Relating the pleasures of ‘violent’ game texts”

EVE Online

GTA

Prince of Persia

Serious Sam

No More Heroes

Mirror’s Edge

Call of Duty

ALL GAMES

5. “Fear of failing: The many meanings of difficulty in video games,”

Prince of Persia God of War series

Braid

Disgaea Any educational game

Magic the Gathering Prey Call of Duty

Peggle

MGS4

Puzzle Quest

4. "How’s the Weather: Simulating Weather in Virtual Environments"

Rock Band

Guitar Hero

WoW

Oblivion

Go way back… Midwinter

Wii Tennis

Counter-Strike

Any RTS game

Legend of Zelda

Battlefield Series

3. "Learning in Context: Digital Games and Young Black Men"

Mario Party

Any sports game

The Sims

Wario Ware

Civilization

Halo 3

Animal Crossing

2. Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds

Any iPhone game Spore

Cooking Mama Fallout 3

Rayman Raving Rabits Robotech Arcades

Endwar Nobi Nobi Boy

Left 4 Dead

Resident Evil 5

Rez

Any mobile game

1. “Because it just looks cool!” - Fashion as character performance: The Case of WoW.”

Rock Band

The Mii System

Xbox Live Avatars

Sony Home

Castle Crashers

Left 4 Dead. Zombies need fashion too!!

WoW – how long until Armani proper opens up a virtual shop in Azeroth or the like

Any FPS

We need a runway walk-off game

Team Fortress 2

Steven Madden

Bioshock

Animal Crossing

2009 Top 10 Game Studies Research Findings

10. Stewart Woods, “(Play)Ground Rules: The social contract and the magic circle” Observatorio Journal, 8, 2009. http:// obs.obercom.pt .

9. Jose Zagal and Amy Bruckman, "Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games," Game Studies 8:2, http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/zagal_bruckman .

8. Karen Collins, Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design ( Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008).

7. Charlie Breindahl, “Play to win or win to play: The material culture of gaming,” Association of Internet Researchers annual conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.

6. Gareth Schott, “Language-GAME-Players: Relating the pleasures of ‘violent’ game texts,” Screen and Media Studies Research Forum, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

5. Jesper Juul, “Fear of failing: The many meanings of difficulty in video games,” in Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, eds., The Video Game Reader 2 (New York: Routledge, 2008).

4. Matt Barton, "How’s the Weather: Simulating Weather in Virtual Environments" Game Studies 8:1, http://gamestudies.org/0801/articles/barton .

3. Betsy James DiSalvo, Kevin Crowley, and Roy Norwood. "Learning in Context: Digital Games and Young Black Men," Games and Culture 2008:3.

2. Michael Nitsche, Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008).

1. Susana Tosca, Lisbeth Klastrup, “Because it just looks cool!” - Fashion as character performance: The Case of WoW.” Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 1:3, 2009. www.jvwresearch.org .