Arcade Game Research Articles

Effect of stress on oesophageal motor function in normal subjects and in patients with the irritable bowel syndrome.

Stress can modulate the motor function of the stomach, small bowel, and colon in healthy subjects, and of the small bowel and colon in patients with the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The effect of stress on oesophageal motility in eight healthy subjects and in eight IBS patients was studied, using two pressure transducers positioned just above the lower oesophageal sphincter and 5 cm proximally. Stressors were: a video arcade game, delayed audio feedback, and hand immersion in cold water. Each stress period was followed by five swallows of water. Frequency and amplitude of oesophageal contractions and the number of simultaneous and multipeaked contractions were manually counted for each stress period and compared to the preceding rest period. Frequency of contractions (per minute) tended to decrease during stress periods, but achieved significance only with the video arcade game in the control group (2.0 (0.6) v 1.2 (0.4); p less than 0.01). No other trend was evident in either control or IBS patients. No abnormalities of oesophageal body function were recorded in IBS patients either in basal conditions, or under stress. Unlike the more complex motor programmes elsewhere in the gut, the preprogrammed nature of oesophageal peristalsis is not modulated by stress.

Preferences for Individual Video Games as a Function of Their Emotional Effects on Players

Video games vary in terms of the emotional states they elicit from players. These differences in emotional reactions, in turn, help account for differential preferences of individual games. The three independent dimensions of pleasure‐displeasure, arousal‐nonarousal, and dominance‐submissiveness were used to assess emotional impacts of individual games. In addition, a preference measure was constructed to evaluate attraction toward, versus avoidance of, specific games. In Study One, a group of subjects provided data on emotional responses to 22 common arcade video games and a different group rated their preferences for the same games. The emotional impact of video games was highly unpleasant, moderately arousing, and moderately dominance‐inducing; thus, the predominant emotional response to these games was aggression, anger, or hostility. I n Study Two, subjects visiting a video game arcade were recruited and assigned to play two games each and to report their reactions to each game immediately after playing the game. Results showed that greater feelings of pleasure, and separately of arousal, while playing video games resulted in higher preferences for the games and that greater dominance (significant only for males) also led to higher preferences. It may be beneficial, therefore, to experiment with more arousing and more dominance‐inducing game designs which are not necessarily unpleasant or which definitely yield high pleasure.

Interactive databases for leisure learning

An interactive database, with the database information provided by an expert, and presented so that it can easily be “questioned”, can be described as a simplified form of expert system. Such mini-expert systems are within the memory capacity of small home microcomputers and can serve as an introduction to microcomputing for inexperienced or even reluctant users. By supplying tailor-made and personalised information and advice, such programs are not only educative but useful, providing one answer to the question “What can I do with a micro besides playing arcade games?” In 1984, Ebury Software began developing a series of practical software titles for launch in 1985. Titles planned included gardening and cookery advice, home decorating and health and beauty care. The choice of subjects reflected our position within the National Magazine Company, whose other imprints include the magazines Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and Harper's and Queen, as well as Ebury Press. Designing such a series so that it would be genuinely educational, practical, flexible and easy for inexperienced micro owners to use required some careful thought. Using the gardening project as a model, the process of our self-education, and the principles we developed as we went along, will be described in the paper.

Selected Correlates of Computer Arcade Game Play

Empirical research on correlates of computer arcade game play has been extremely limited, notwithstanding social and legal controversy regarding these games. The present study employed speeded cognitive measures and personality measures to determine selected correlates of game play. Although one cognitive variable had noteworthy predictive power, the personality variables had more appreciable explanatory power in both reported analyses.

Determining Factors in Choice of Arcade Games and their Consequences upon Young Male Players

Two experiments, one conducted with male university students and the other with male high school and junior high school students, investigated (a) determinants of preferences for driving‐type games widely available in public game arcades, and (b) the effects of extended play upon mood and motivation to continue playing. Four games were investigated: these were Death Race and Demolition Derby, which simulate violent, antisocial driving behavior; and Night Driver and Le Mans, which simulate skilled prosocial driving behavior. Preference for arcade games simulating aggressive behavior was found to be independent of personality and mood. However, preferences were closely related to the performers' c]apabilities. Players who exhibited higher levels of skill preferred the more skilldemanding games and those who showed less skill preferred aggression games, suggesting the operation of competency motivation in that the players preferred games appropriate to their level of skill. Subjects reported that the games were exciting, but extended play produced discomfort or an increase in negatively toned moods (fatigue, anxiety, and depression) and a decrease in positively toned moods (social affection, surgency, skepticism, concentration and vigor). However, these effects were not found to be a function of the anti‐ or prosocial content in the specific games studied and may well be effects accompanying activities that are subjectively fatiguing.

Bytes for Brights: Six Arithmetic Programs

If kids are going to spend hours playing video games, they should be learning something. Enter “zap-zap” math games. That's what I call them. They transfer the excitement of the video game arcade to the home or classroom computer. Do kids like them? Yep, you bet they do. Are they good? Yes, but they do not replace a teacher. A gifted child has as much right to a teacher as any other child. Five of the six arithmetic games (all for 48K Apple II, II+, IIe) reviewed here have some arcade quality. Space Math and Math Blaster are the more obvious examples. In writing Fractions, EduWare abandoned the game format for a more formal approach that is smoothly and logically well executed. As with shoes, children are likely to outgrow some of these games quickly. Stickybear numbers will have the shortest useful life, although, children will also quickly outgrow Fractions, the best educational program in this report. In part that is testimony to how well it is written. Those programs would be a better investment for a school than a home unless your friend down the street will buy them from you when you are finished with them. Space Math and Math Blaster have enough built-in flexibility to last a child several years. You can get your money's worth out of all six of these programs. Math Blaster, Space Math, Fractions, and Knowing Numbers are Best Buys. If you are looking for a program for arithmetic fact drills for your limited budget, Math Blaster is the best investment.

PILOT-SPION: A Computer Game for German Students

Exploiting for educational purposes the motivational possibilities of games has been a goal of teachers since Classical times.2 In our own day, the marriage of computers and games seems, if anything, likely to heighten the fascination humans feel for games. There are a number of reasons why this should be so, aside from the novelty of the machines. Computers are an always-patient, accurate partner to their human users; can play their games at varying speeds according to the wish of the designer and player; never forget or change rules; and will play as often and for as long as the human likes. In addition they can nowbe programmed to mimic intelligence; to repond to, and answer in, ordinary language; and altogether to offer a most satisfying illusion that one is playing with another human. Paradoxically, the satisfaction may come more from the knowledge that it is an illusion than from any possible belief that the illusion is reality. Computer games are especially clear illustrations of how the unique capabilities of computers can be used to create motivating environments, writes Thomas W. Malone in a study of computer games used in education.3 While the arcade games involving fast-moving visuals seem of slight interest to the foreign-language teaching profession,4 adventure games,5 in which words and situations are the currency, seem a promising avenue for educational application. The SPION project, in which I am involved as part of a research group, has been described in detail elsewhere.6 Briefly, SPION is the first game in a computer game system we are designing and implementing for learners of German. It uses techniques of artificial intelligence to create a model of language understanding by computer in an adventure game set in Berlin. We have chosen games as our research vehicle because a game offers a conveniently delimited world with a manageable number of words and contexts. A game structure can be enlarged incrementally by adding language structures and situations, thus enabling us to enlarge our language analysis incrementally also. Applied in foreign language teaching, games offer the possibility of testing the language understanding model concretely, as well as the possibility of being a useful, because highly motivating, learning mode.

Noise levels of electronic arcade games: a potential hearing hazard to children.

A measurement of noise exposure levels of players of electronic games was made in two small arcades using a noise dosimeter. Two different measurements were made, at normal operating levels and maximum possible levels. The results showed that excessive exposure levels were possible on arcade games and that these levels were mainly the result of certain procedures performed by the arcade operators. It was recommended that these procedures be avoided by operators to reduce the risk of noise-induced hearing loss of their patrons.

Arcade Games, Mindstorms, and Art Education

(1983). Arcade Games, Mindstorms, and Art Education. Art Education: Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 18-20.

Microprocessors: Design case history: The Atari Video Computer System: By omitting lots of hardware, designers added flexibility and gave video-game programmers room to be creative

Discusses the development of the Atari Video Computer System for playing games. It is microprocessor based and consists of ROM in cartridges, 128 bytes of RAM and a television interface adapter. The flexible design allows the playing of games such as chess, baseball, Space Invaders, Pac-Man and other arcade games.

ARC-ED Curriculum: The Application of Video Game Formats to Educational Software

This article explores the applicability of video arcade game formats to educational microcomputer software. Four variables are discussed as being potentially important to the motivational appeal of video arcade games and several established educational practices are examined in relation to the motivational features of arcade games. Also, guidelines for educational curriculum based on arcade game formats are proposed and the term Arc-Ed Curriculum is offered to describe such software. The content for this article is based on established learning theory and the authors' experience in the development and field testing of six math games based on video game formats.

Intuition and computer models

Models of pattern-generating cellular sheets were devised to gain insight into the origin of patterns in embryogenesis. Students, many of whom had no previous experience with computers, worked with these models to test the effect of various assumptions. A number of discoveries of possible biological importance were made, but an unexpected discovery was the usefulness of human intuition. When the computer and its program made user interaction easy, the user “played” the model as one might play an arcade game. The model's capabilities and limits were grasped intuitively. Later, analysis led us to new assumptions and new models. Thus the work progressed quite effectively with alternating intuition and cerebration. Microcomputers are particularly effective in this method of research.

Territorial marking in a game arcade.

Territorial marking in a game arcade.

What can be learned from arcade games and home computer applications? (A Panel Discussion)

The presentation deals with two questions:1) What makes games so captivating?2) How can the same features (that make computer games captivating) be used to make other user interfaces more interesting and enjoyable to use?First, three empirical studies are described. These studies analyze which features of several computer games are most important in making the games enjoyable. Then a set of heuristics for incorporating these features in other user interfaces will be outlined. The heuristics are organized in three categories: challenge, fantasy and curiosity.

Direct manipulation

Direct manipulation is a style of interaction which has been used by implementers of widely varying systems. Direct manipulation permits novice users access to powerful facilities without the burden of learning to use a complex syntax and lengthy list of commands. Display editors use direct manipulation more than line editors. Form-fill-in is more direct than tag fields and delimiters. Spatial data management is more direct than query-by-example, which is more direct than SEQUEL. Computer arcade games and Visicalc are further examples.Direct manipulation involves three interrelated techniques:1. Provide a physically direct way of moving a cursor or manipulating the objects of interest.2. Present a concrete visual representation of the objects of interest and immediately change the view to reflect operations.3. Avoid using a command language and depend? on operations applied to the cognitive model which is shown on the display.

What makes computer games fun? (abstract only)

One can't deny the effectiveness of video arcade games in reachipg users! Just loop at the number of quarters pushed into the slots, the time spent by people of widely differing abilities, and the number of repeat encounters with the systems. At least part of the success is due to the ease of getting started (the first play of the game gets one comfortable with the procedures), the high degree of visualization of controls and results, and the responsiveness overall. Other factors will be taken up by the panelists.Review of the home computer market shows what can be accomplished by an easy-to-use accounting aid through advertising store demonstrations, and word of mouth. Visicalc has sold over a million dollars! Attendees will have an opportunity to try some of these impressive applications before and after the session.

Territorial marking in a game arcade.

Territorial marking in a game arcade.