Stratford Campus for Digital Media

Researching experiential phenomena is a challenging undertaking, given the sheer variety of experiences that are described by gamers and missing a formal taxonomy: flow, immersion, boredom, excitement, challenge, and fun. These informal terms require scientific explanation, which amounts to providing measurable criteria for different experiential states. This paper reports the results of an experimental psychophysiological study investigating different traits of gameplay experience using subjective and objective measures. Participants played three Half-Life 2 game modifications while being measured with electroencephalography, electrocardiography, electromyography, galvanic skin response and eye tracking equipment. In addition, questionnaire responses were collected after each play session. A level designed for combat-oriented flow experience demonstrated measurable high-arousal positive affect emotions. The positive correlation between subjective and objective indicators of gameplay experience shows the great potential of the method presented here for providing real-time emotional profiles of gameplay that may be correlated with self-reported subjective descriptions.

Player immersion is the holy grail of computer game designers particularly in environments such as those found in first-person shooters. However, little is understood about the processes of immersion and much is assumed. This is certainly the case with sound and its immersive potential. Some theoretical work explores this sonic relationship but little experimental data exist to either confirm or invalidate existing theories and assumptions.

This paper summarizes and reports on the results of a preliminary psychophysiological experiment to measure human arousal and valence in the context of sound and immersion in first-person shooter computer games. It is conducted in the context of a larger set of psychophysiological investigations assessing the nature of the player experience and is the first in a series of systematic experiments investigating the player's relationship to sound in the genre.

In addition to answering questionnaires, participants were required to play a bespoke Half-Life 2 level whilst being measured with electroencephalography, electrocardiography, electromyography, galvanic skin response and eye tracking equipment. We hypothesize that subjective responses correlated with objective measurements provide a more accurate assessment of the player's physical arousal and emotional valence and that changes in these factors may be mapped to subjective states of immersion in first-person shooter computer games.

This paper presents a brief review of current playability and game usability models. This leads to the conception of a high-level game usability framework model that integrates current usability approaches in game industry and game research.

This thesis focuses on game development and educational benefits gained from teaching games to university students. First, it sketches the complex pipeline of tasks inherent in game development with focus on used tools. Classifying the many diverse tools used by different kinds of game developers helps to identify areas of employment within game development.

A discussion of educational facilities and the specific niches of game development that they focus on, allows the conclusion that many games created there only reach up to a prototypic level. Thus, requirements for a game prototyping tool are derived.

The author then provides estimated solutions for these needs with an extraordinary focus on the usefulness for computer science students.
This leads to an implementation of a game prototyping tool, which brings the applications of the multimedia environment SQUEAK into play. After showing the educational benefits of Squeak, one can find out about some examples of educational game development with its help. This brings further information on the game engine that was used as an essential part of the prototyping tool created for this thesis.

Finally, an analysis of advantages and disadvantages of using Squeak for educational game development is done. Also, prospects and possibilities for extending the prototyping tool are discussed

Gameplay research about experiential phenomena is a challenging undertaking, given the variety of experiences that gamers encounter when playing and which currently do not have a formal taxonomy, such as flow, immersion, boredom, and fun. These informal terms require a scientific explanation. Ludologists also acknowledge the need to understand cognition, emotion, and goal- oriented behavior of players from a psychological perspective by establishing rigorous methodologies. This paper builds upon and extends prior work in an area for which we would like to coin the term “affective ludology.” The area is concerned with the affective measurement of player-game interaction. The experimental study reported here investigated different traits of gameplay experience using subjective (i.e., questionnaires) and objective (i.e., psychophysiological) measures. Participants played three Half-Life 2 game level design modifications while measures such as electromyography (EMG), electrodermal activity (EDA) were taken and questionnaire responses were collected. A level designed for combat-oriented flow experience demonstrated significant high-arousal positive affect emotions. This method shows that emotional patterns emerge from different level designs, which has great potential for providing real-time emotional profiles of gameplay that may be generated together with self- reported subjective player experience descriptions.

As the game industry matures and games become more and more complex, there is an increasing need to develop scientific methodologies for analyzing and measuring player experience, in order to develop a better understanding of the relationship and interactions between players and games. This panel gathers distinguished European playability and user experience experts to discuss current findings and methodological advancements within player experience and playability research.

Assessing gameplay experience for gaze interaction games is a challenging task. For this study, a gaze interaction Half-Life 2 game modification was created that allowed eye tracking control. The mod was deployed during an experiment at Dreamhack 2007, where participants had to play with gaze navigation and afterwards rate their gameplay experience. The results show low tension and negative affects scores on the gameplay experience questionnaire as well as high positive challenge, immersion and flow ratings. The correlation between spatial presence and immersion for gaze interaction was high and yields further investigation. It is concluded that gameplay experience can be correctly assessed with the methodology presented in this paper.

There is a call in industry and research for objective evaluation of player experience in games. With recent technological advancements, it is possible to automatically log numerical information on in-game player behavior and put this into temporal, spatial, and psychophysiological context. The latter is done using biometric evaluation techniques, like electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), and eye tracking. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss experimental results in academia and best practices in industry. This panel brings together experts from both worlds sharing their knowledge using conventional and experimental, qualitative and quantitative methods of player experience in games.

In recent years, an aging demographic majority in the Western world has come to the attention of the game industry. The recently released “brain-training” games target this population, and research investigating gameplay experience of the elderly using this game form is lacking. This study employs a 2×2 mixed factorial design (age group: young and old×game form: paper and Nintendo DS) to investigate effects of age and game form on usability, self-assessment, and gameplay experience in a supervised field study. Effectiveness was evaluated in task completion time, efficiency as error rate, together with self-assessment measures (arousal, pleasure, dominance) and game experience (challenge, flow, competence, tension, positive and negative affect). Results indicate players, regardless of age, are more effective and efficient using pen-and-paper than using a Nintendo DS console. However, the game is more arousing and induces a heightened sense of flow in digital form for gamers of all ages. Logic problem–solving challenges within digital games may be associated with positive feelings for the elderly but with negative feelings for the young. Thus, digital logic-training games may provide positive gameplay experience for an aging Western civilization.

Psychophysiological methods provide covert and reliable measurements of affective user experience (UX). The nature of affective UX in interactive entertainment, such as digital games, is currently not well understood. With the dawn of new gaming consoles, scientific methodologies for studying user interaction in an immersive entertainment context are needed. This paper reports a study on the influence of interaction modes (Playstation 2 game controller vs. Wii remote and Nunchuk) on subjective experience assessment and brain activity measured with electroencephalography (EEG). Results indicate that EEG alpha and delta power correlate with negative affect and tension when using regular game controller input. EEG beta and gamma power seem to be related to the feeling of possible action in spatial presence with a PS2 game controller. Delta as well as theta power correlate with self-location using a Wii remote and Nunchuk.

All games are cognitive learning environments. A cognitive approach to understanding games and gameplay emphasises the analysis and understanding of these learning functions and how game design features facilitate them. The experience of gameplay is one of interacting with a game design in the performance of cognitive tasks, with a variety of emotions arising from or associated with different elements of motivation, task performance and completion. Psychophysiological techniques provide empirical methods for investigating play that provide a foundation for developing plausible models of what those cognitive decision processes are, how they relate to design features and how emotions integrated with task performance lead to rewards of play, creating an experience of 'fun'.

Gaze visualizations represent an effective way for gaining fast insights into eye tracking data. Current approaches do not adequately support eye tracking studies for three-dimensional (3D) virtual environments. Hence, we propose a set of advanced gaze visualization techniques for supporting gaze behavior analysis in such environments. Similar to commonly used gaze visualizations for two-dimensional stimuli (e.g., images and websites), we contribute advanced 3D scan paths and 3D attentional maps. In addition, we introduce a models-of-interest timeline depicting viewed models, which can be used for displaying scan paths in a selected time segment. A prototype toolkit is also discussed which combines an implementation of our proposed techniques. Their potential for facilitating eye tracking studies in virtual environments was supported by a user study among eye tracking and visualization experts.

A large volume of neurobiological research has been conducted in recent years, almost all of which has been considered solely from the perspective of biology. However, most of the insights gained through this research are also valuable for the game research field. This paper discusses the implications of existing research in neurobiology to the play of games (including, but not restricted to digital games), and connects neurobiological perspectives with models of play aiming to construct superior player satisfaction models built upon biological foundations. Connections are presented between already recognized patterns of play and recent research on the brain (in particular, the limbic system). By providing a framework for understanding how the brain responds to recurrent patterns inherent to play, we aim to provide a platform for future experimental player-game interaction research (for which possible directions are briefly explored), and a propaedeutic to biologically-grounded player satisfaction models.

We are addressing game designers as the driving creative forces behind computer games. Thus, we will outline an overview of the gaming situation both in game development and gameplay and how it currently affects women. Following these facts is an outline of the current employment situation for women in the games industry and a look at their reasons for playing. Also, the cognitive reasoning of women and how female behavior and culture is shaped during early childhood will be analyzed. We will then draw a conclusion from the current situation of the industry and the cognitive facts from research. By understanding these differences between the genders, the game industry will hopefully understand and apply this
knowledge to the established traditional genres for games and change design paradigms towards better games and a broader game market.

Visualizing gaze data is an effective way for the quick interpretation of eye tracking results. This paper presents a study investigation benefits and limitations of visual gaze analysis among eye tracking professionals and researchers. The results were used to create a tool for visual gaze analysis within a Master's project.

Gaze visualizations hold the potential to facilitate usability studies of interactive systems. However, visual gaze analysis in three-dimensional virtual environments still lacks methods and techniques for aggregating attentional representations. We propose three novel gaze visualizations for the application in such environments: projected, object-based, and surface-based attentional maps. These techniques provide an overview of how visual attention is distributed across a scene, among different models, and across a model's surface. Two user studies conducted among eye tracking and visualization experts approve the high value of these techniques for the fast evaluation of eye tracking studies in virtual environments.