Authentic Games Research Articles

EFEITO DO TREINAMENTO DE PESO SOBRE O TREINAMENTO DE ATLETAS DE BADMINTON

ABSTRACT Introduction: The proportion of tactical activities athletes perform through explosive strength is relatively high in the authentic game of badminton. And weight training has the effect of improving the explosive power of players. Objective: Study the effects of weight training incorporated with explosive strength training on badminton players. Methods: The article adopts a controlled experiment, in which the control group practices standardized explosive strength training in training activities. In contrast, the experimental group has the addition of weightlifting exercises using sandbags in its protocol. The experiment was performed completely according to the dedicated badminton teaching plan for freshmen, lasting eight weeks. Results: Before the intervention, the wrist joint speed in the experimental group was 11.76 km/h, and the final speed was 162.30 km/h. After the experiment, the joint velocity increased to 12.35 km/h, and the final velocity to 177.50 km/h. Conclusion: The addition of 10% weight training showed statistical benefits to explosive strength training, and its implementation in usual protocols is indicated to improve the indicators of explosive strength in athletes. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

Early community recommendations for sustainable mega-events: evidence from the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games

Recommendations are a high form of community consultation, but rarely solicited in surveys of resident attitudes despite their potential to better inform planning and foster stronger event loyalty in an era of mega-event crisis. This paper innovates by identifying and structuring open-ended recommendations for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games from host region residents 10 years prior to that mega-event. From an online survey of 897 respondents, 946 discrete recommendations for event “success” were organised through thematic analysis into high level “event,” “community” and “organiser” themes. In the emergent community vision for the Games derived from these themes, host city residents aspire for efficient, affordable, and authentic Games that benefit and involve the host community and learn from the past. The vision’s focus on resident self-interest is unsurprising but challenges event organisers to accommodate the interests of multiple stakeholders. The aspiration for a sustainable community, nevertheless, is conducive to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and complements recent IOC reforms and the official 2032 Games Vision which call for greater responsiveness to host community interests. Under a framework of soft transformative governance, facilitating micro-transformations should ensure that marginalised groups are heard and their aspirations integrated into early mega-event planning.

Portrayals of gender and identity in the soundtrack of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red, 2019) is an award-winning role-playing video game (RPG); the third instalment of The Witcher game series inspired by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels. Centring upon the protagonist Geralt of Rivia, The Witcher 3 has been praised for developing a complex, authentic, and immersive game environment that combines magic and fantasy elements within a broadly medieval setting. A central aspect of the game’s success is its soundtrack – the fusion of music, sound, and voice – which further contributes to building the game’s overall narrative and the complex construction of its central characters. This paper explores how The Witcher 3’s soundtrack constructs identity, focusing in particular on its use of neo-medievalist signifiers and its contrasting representations of masculinity and femininity. Neo-medievalist sounds are a central concept in building the game’s identity; these sounds draw on folkloristic elements surrounding the choice of instrumentation and the recurrence of folk music throughout the game’s narrative, thus increasing the player’s immersion within The Witcher 3’s world. Regarding gender, female vocalisations are used within the soundtrack to add depth and emotion to male characters – particularly Geralt of Rivia, who due to his mutations lacks in conventional emotional capabilities. Despite the inclusion and emphasis of female voices on the soundtrack, the placement of women in influential roles is limited through other musical scoring techniques, which effectively reduces the agency of these characters, thus suggesting an imbalanced treatment oftowards gender. Through exploring these aspects, I argue that the soundtrack is a crucial part of how gender and identity are constructed throughout The Witcher 3, further exploring how these elements affect the player’s overall in-game immersion.  

Enhancing child protection practice through experience-based simulation learning: the social work big day in

ABSTRACT Adequately preparing social work students for the realities of child wellbeing and protection practice is an important and often challenging task for educators. This paper provides a description of an experience-based simulation experience, The Social Work Big Day In (BDI), which has been undertaken by social work students at the University of Newcastle since 2012. This is followed by findings from a qualitative analysis of student reports (n = 54), which offer rich insights into the benefits and challenges of the BDI experience across theoretical, interpersonal, ethical and interdisciplinary domains. Four core themes emerged: (i) Child protection knowledge and power, (ii) Authentic engagement or game playing? (iii) Interpersonal skills are important (in direct practice), and (iv) Reflection consolidates learning. These are discussed in relation to simulation in social work education and the BDI more specifically.

Accumulating subcultural capital through sport event participation: The AFL International Cup

In this study, the authors use participant interviews to examine how participating in an international event enabled the accumulation of subcultural capital. The authors conducted interviews with players (N=9) in the Australian Football League (AFL) International Cup from Canada, USA, New Zealand, and Ireland. The AFL International Cup created a liminal state offering individuals with opportunities for: (a) national representation; (b) international competition and comparison; (c) cross-cultural learning and interaction; (d) sport subcultural engagement; and, (d) authentic game experiences. The resulting experience enabled participants a deeper connection with the sport subculture, which created the potential for sport advocacy in their home countries. Results will assist international sport event hosts in creating meaningful participant experiences that facilitate deeper personal attachments to the sporting subculture.

Game Theoretic Study on Channel-Based Authentication in MIMO Systems

In this paper, we investigate the authentication based on radio channel information in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and formulate the interactions between a receiver with multiple antennas and a spoofing node as a zero-sum physical (PHY)-layer authentication game. In this game, the receiver chooses the test threshold of the hypothesis test to maximize its Bayesian risk-based utility in the spoofing detection, while the adversary chooses its attack rate, i.e., how often a spoofing signal is sent. We derive the Nash equilibrium (NE) of the static PHY-layer authentication game and present the condition that the NE exists, showing that both the spoofing detection error rates and the spoofing rate decrease with the number of transmit and receive antennas. We propose a PHY-layer spoofing detection algorithm for MIMO systems based on Q-learning, in which the receiver applies the reinforcement learning technique to achieve the optimal test threshold via trials in a dynamic game without knowing the system parameters, such as the channel time variation and spoofing cost. We also use Dyna architecture and prioritized sweeping (Dyna-PS) to improve the spoofing detection in time-variant radio environments. The proposed authentication algorithms are implemented over universal software radio peripherals and evaluated via experiments in an indoor environment. Experimental results show that the Dyna-PS-based spoofing detection algorithm further reduces the spoofing detection error rates and increases the utility of the receiver compared with the Q-learning-based algorithm, and both performances improve with more number of transmit or receive antennas.

PHY-Layer Spoofing Detection With Reinforcement Learning in Wireless Networks

In this paper, we investigate the PHY-layer authentication that exploits radio channel information (such as received signal strength indicators) to detect spoofing attacks in wireless networks. The interactions between a legitimate receiver and spoofers are formulated as a zero-sum authentication game. The receiver chooses the test threshold in the hypothesis test to maximize its utility based on the Bayesian risk in the spoofing detection, whereas the spoofers determine their attack frequencies to minimize the utility of the receiver. The Nash equilibrium of the static authentication game is derived, and its uniqueness is discussed. We also investigate a repeated PHY-layer authentication game for a dynamic radio environment. As it is challenging for the radio nodes to obtain the exact channel parameters in advance, we propose spoofing detection schemes based on Q-learning and Dyna-Q, which achieve the optimal test threshold in the spoofing detection via reinforcement learning. We implement the PHY-layer spoofing detectors over universal software radio peripherals and evaluate their performance via experiments in indoor environments. Both simulation and experimental results have validated the efficiency of the proposed strategies.

Active authentication with reinforcement learning based on ambient radio signals

Active authentication of mobile devices such as smartphones and ipads is promising to enhance security to access confidential data or systems. In this paper, we propose an active authentication scheme, which exploits the physical-layer properties of ambient radio signals to identify mobile devices in indoor environments. More specifically, we discriminate mobile devices in different locations by analyzing the ambient radio sources, because the received signal strength indicator set of the ambient signals measured by a smartphone is usually different from that observed by its spoofer located in another area. We formulate the interactions between the legitimate mobile device and its spoofer as an active authentication game, in which the receiver chooses its test threshold in the hypothesis test in the spoofing detection, while the spoofer chooses its attack strength. In a dynamic radio environment with unknown attack parameters, we propose a learning-based authentication algorithm based on the physical-layer properties of the ambient radio environments. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme accurately detects spoofers in typical indoor environments.

Authentic game-based learning and teachers’ dilemmas in reconstructing professional practice

Teachers who attempt pedagogical innovation with authentic digital games face significant challenges because such games instantiate open systems of learner activity, inviting enquiry learning rather than knowledge acquisition. However, school environments are normatively sanctioned cultural spaces where direct instruction and high-stakes tests are de riguer. In this paper, we draw on the conceptual frame of dilemmatic spaces to illuminate the dilemmas teachers encounter when attempting to reconstruct professional practice in the classroom. We worked with nine teachers who enacted the Statecraft X social studies curriculum. Drawing on coded interview data, our findings suggest that teachers are forced to wrestle with tensions engendered by misalignments that emerge from the innovation's tacit requirement for change and the system's inherent gravitation towards maintaining the status quo. A school culture that cultivates innovative practice based on greater teacher agency is needed for authentic game-based learning to find traction in the classroom.

Three Different Paths for Tabletop Gaming in School Libraries

Three school library staff members explore how they have used tabletop games in different school library settings. Teresa Copeland (Tesseract School, Paradise Valley, Arizona, USA) explores how tabletop and role-playing games have been integrated into the curriculum across a wide variety of grade levels. Brenda Henderson (Trinity High School Learning Resources Centre, Redditch, UK) discusses how a board game club has made a difference in a high school library in the United Kingdom. Brian Mayer (School Library System, Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, LeRoy, New York, USA) supports multiple school libraries in finding matches between the curriculum and authentic games and runs game design workshops.

Fostering 21st Century Skill Development by Engaging Students in Authentic Game Design Projects in a High School Computer Programming Class

This study used technology-rich ethnography (TRE) to examine the use of game development in a high school computer programming class for the development of 21st century skills. High school students created games for elementary school students while obtaining formative feedback from their younger clients. Our experience suggests that in the teaching of computer science in high schools, the development of games that include common game features such as dynamic feedback systems, backstory, levels, cheats, and compelling graphics challenges students and engages them in learning. Incorporating real client feedback is also useful for improving their work and connecting it to the “real” world. This article reports findings from the second year of a research project with a high school computer programming class. The authors argue that such approaches that leverage video games, design, programming, authenticity, and cooperation mobilize multiple 21st century skills that must be nurtured among contemporary young people so that they may grow to be part of a productive citizenry.

From pioneer pastime to international status: Jukskei as South Africa's only white indiginous sport

Although the South African sporting tradition is predominently British in origin, there is one sport that can lay claim to being invented by Afrikaner nationalists. Jukskei is the gem of Afrikaner folk games, and as such it forms part of the Afrikaner folk character, tradition and customs. Jukskei originated in the pioneering days of South African history and reflects a way of life that is closely intertwined with the Afrikaner's trailblazer spirit. Although the precise origin is vague, it is claimed to have been played by the transport riders in the Cape during the first half of the 18th century. On their long trek to the Cape they would play jukskei whenever they paused to let their oxen rest. On such occasions they would draw the long yoke-skey (“jukskei”) from the foremost yoke and plant it upright in the soft soil. Each player would then try and score a point by hitting this target with one of the smaller skeys. It is similar to the horseshoe pitching played by the Americans.Jukskei became such an everyday activity that one may safely presume it to have been a daily pastime among the Voortrekker pioneers during the period 1838 to 1854 on their lengthy trek east, and later northwards, to escape from British jurisdiction. With the coming of railroads, after the Industrial Revolution, ox-wagons and the concomitant culture gradually died out. The 1930s and 1940s were years when the Afrikaner awakened to sport. Jukskei's evolution from a pioneering pastime to holiday recreation and finally competitive sport culminated in this period. Although the first matches were played in Paarl at the end of 1939, it was during the symbolic ox-wagon trek of 1938, which formed part of the nation-wide commemoration of the centenary of the Great Trek, that this authentic Boer game rapidly won its way back to national popularity. Today it is played not only in South Africa, but also in Zimbabwe, Namibia and the United States of America. In presenting this historic pastime activity, primary sources including souvenir programmes of the South African Jukskei Council, personal memoirs, and newspapers were used. Secondary sources were books and articles. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation & Dance Vol. 13 (2) 2007: pp. 162-172