Commercial Video Games Research Articles

Video game accessibility in the top-level genres

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the relationship between top-level game genres, release dates, game modes, and accessibility features in commercial video games. For this goal, datasets were created that included 25 games in 11 top-level genres except for experimental games. G-tests were used to examine differences in the proportions of accessibility features between genres, focusing on sensory, motor, and cognitive disabilities. Additionally, regression analyses were performed to assess the effect of genres, release dates, and single-player/multiplayer modes on the number of accessibility features. The results showed significant differences between the top-level genres and the number of all three types of accessibility features. Regression analyses showed significant effects of the top-level genres on the number of accessibility features, while release dates showed no significant influence. Game modes only had a significant effect on accessibility features regarding motor disabilities. In conclusion, the results of this study present genre-specific numbers of accessibility features in commercial video games. In other words, game developers create accessibility features differently depending on the genre. These findings have practical implications for both developers and players to enhance the inclusivity of the gaming experience. The results can also be used to increase awareness and commitment to the importance of accessibility features in the gaming industry, ultimately creating more inclusive commercial video games.

A scoping review about the portrayal of mental illness in commercial video games

Current research is sparse on the relatively new but highly relevant topic of mental disorders in video games. This scoping review aimed to map the existing research on portrayal of mental illness in video games. PubMed, PsychInfo, PsycArticles, Medline, Scopus and the ACM Digital Library were searched, resulting in the final inclusion of seven records. Prevalences for the representation of mental illness ranged from 12 to 24%. Findings indicate that video games’ portrayal of mental illness is predominantly stigmatizing and negatively connoted. Mental illness frequently serves as a reason for violent behavior and is portrayed in line with paranormal experiences. Yet, some games portray mental illness in a more neutral way, using game mechanics to elicit empathy. While this review emphasizes the need for non-stigmatizing depiction, potentially through the inclusion of experts in the development process, future research should examine how much consumers are affected by the negative or positive portrayal of mental illnesses in video games.

Historical Depictions, Archaeological Practices, and the Construct of Cultural Heritage in Commercial Video Games: The Role of These Games in Raising Awareness

Abstract Concerns regarding the historical accuracy, archaeological practices, and representation of cultural heritage (CH) in commercial video games (VGs) have fueled unending debates about their educational value. However, beyond offering interactive and engaging narratives, it is argued that these games play a vital role in CH. This work delves into the complexities inherent in representing history, archaeology, and CH within commercial VGs. It examines the portrayal of CH as a construct within these games, underscores the importance of collaborative efforts – between game developers, heritage professionals, and members of the communities represented – in their development, and highlights instances where commercial VGs can foster CH awareness. While many commercial VGs touch upon history and archaeology or embody diverse cultures as the platform for their narratives, the focus is placed on Shadow of the Tomb Raider to illustrate the many points found in this work because the game is said to ethically come close to representing the effects of archaeology on local populations and descendants of ancient people. The aim is to catalyze discussions among educators, researchers, game developers, heritage experts, and other stakeholders about the role of commercial VGs in enhancing learning and promoting consciousness about matters vital to cultural identities.

Life and Death 2: The First Neurosurgical Computer Simulation.

Life and Death 2: The Brain was the first computerized neurosurgical simulator. It was developed as a commercial video game for a general audience. Despite this, it contains many valuable lessons for the simulation and education of nontechnical skills as well as being a historical landmark in the field of neurosurgery and medical simulation.

Programming Fun(damentals): Using commercial video games to teach basic coding to adult learners

The acquisition of computational thinking and coding skills is of special significance in helping adult learners keep pace with a new context where those skills are required for many parts of the workforce. However, there is an agreement in the scientific literature that important challenges exist, such as keeping student engagement and the requirement of developing problem-solving skills, and not just learning the code syntax. The inclusion of digital Game-Based Learning (GBL) has shown great potential. To better understand how it can be helpful to adult learners in STEM degrees, a study was conducted on the application of two very popular commercial video games in different introductory programming courses at an online university, during the introduction of basic programming topics (CS1). The methods combined a descriptive qualitative and a quantitative approach, using a reflective journals and questionnaires, which helped students consider and express their experiences, how they interacted with the games, how the games helped them better understand the topics, and realize their personal progress and potential. Results showed that the use of these games as educational resources had a positive impact in their engagement and sense of self-efficacy, but only if some important instructional considerations are taken into account.

SyDRA: An approach to understand game engine architecture

Game engines are tools to facilitate video game development. They provide graphics, sound, and physics simulation features, which would have to be otherwise implemented by developers. Even though essential for modern commercial video game development, game engines are complex and developers often struggle to understand their architecture, leading to maintainability and evolution issues that negatively affect video game productions. In this paper, we present the Subsystem-Dependency Recovery Approach (SyDRA), which helps game engine developers understand game engine architecture and therefore make informed game engine development choices. By applying this approach to 10 open-source game engines, we obtain architectural models that can be used to compare game engine architectures and identify and solve issues of excessive coupling and folder nesting. Through a controlled experiment, we show that the inspection of the architectural models derived from SyDRA enables developers to complete tasks related to architectural understanding and impact analysis in less time and with higher correctness than without these models.

Improving microbial phylogeny with citizen science within a mass-market video game.

Citizen science video games are designed primarily for users already inclined to contribute to science, which severely limits their accessibility for an estimated community of 3 billion gamers worldwide. We created Borderlands Science (BLS), a citizen science activity that is seamlessly integrated within a popular commercial video game played by tens of millions of gamers. This integration is facilitated by a novel game-first design of citizen science games, in which the game design aspect has the highest priority, and a suitable task is then mapped to the game design. BLS crowdsources a multiple alignment task of 1 million 16S ribosomal RNA sequences obtained from human microbiome studies. Since its initial release on 7 April 2020, over 4 million players have solved more than 135 million science puzzles, a task unsolvable by a single individual. Leveraging these results, we show that our multiple sequence alignment simultaneously improves microbial phylogeny estimations and UniFrac effect sizes compared to state-of-the-art computational methods. This achievement demonstrates that hyper-gamified scientific tasks attract massive crowds of contributors and offers invaluable resources to the scientific community.

Economic Cost of Rehabilitation with Robotic and Virtual Reality Systems in People with Neurological Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Background: The prevalence of neurological disorders is increasing worldwide. In recent decades, the conventional rehabilitation for people with neurological disorders has been often reinforced with the use of technological devices (robots and virtual reality). The aim of this systematic review was to identify the evidence on the economic cost of rehabilitation with robotic and virtual reality devices for people with neurological disorders through a review of the scientific publications over the last 15 years. Methods: A systematic review was conducted on partial economic evaluations (cost description, cost analysis, description of costs and results) and complete (cost minimization, cost-effectiveness, cost utility and cost benefit) studies. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The main data sources used were PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science (WOS). Studies published in English over the last 15 years were considered for inclusion in this review, regardless of the type of neurological disorder. The critical appraisal instrument from the Joanna Briggs Institute for economic evaluation and the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) were used to analyse the methodological quality of all the included papers. Results: A total of 15 studies were included in this review. Ten papers were focused on robotics and five on virtual reality. Most of the studies were focused on people who experienced a stroke. The robotic device most frequently used in the papers included was InMotion® (Bionik Co., Watertown, MA, USA), and for those focused on virtual reality, all papers included used semi-immersive virtual reality systems, with commercial video game consoles (Nintendo Wii® (Nintendo Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan) and Kinect® (Microsoft Inc., Redmond, WA, USA)) being used the most. The included studies mainly presented cost minimization outcomes and a general description of costs per intervention, and there were disparities in terms of population, setting, device, protocol and the economic cost outcomes evaluated. Overall, the methodological quality of the included studies was of a moderate level. Conclusions: There is controversy about using robotics in people with neurological disorders in a rehabilitation context in terms of cost minimization, cost-effectiveness, cost utility and cost benefits. Semi-immersive virtual reality devices could involve savings (mainly derived from the low prices of the systems analysed and transportation services if they are applied through telerehabilitation programmes) compared to in-clinic interventions.

A Literacy Education Model with Commercial Video Games to Address Digital Divide Problem

We propose an innovative Literacy Education Model to address the digital divide problem in contemporary society, focusing on enhancing human literacy through the use of commercial video games and the automatic generation of educational materials. The human literacy model, fundamental to our approach, consists of three layers: the Application layer, the Method layer, and the Concept layer. Each layer is characterized by a specific skill: operation skill in the Application layer, knowledge acquisition skill in the Method layer, and generalization skill in the Concept layer. Our proposed Literacy Education Model is built upon this three-tiered human literacy model and includes a curriculum developed through a six-step process. A distinctive feature of our Literacy Education Model is the integration of commercial video games, which serve as engaging educational tools, and the use of OpenAI API like the Chat-GPT for the automatic generation of educational materials. We developed a rudimentary literacy education tool based on the models. Subjects tried taking the literacy education with the tool in preliminary experiments. We observed a progression as the individual improved their literacy skills and knowledge.

The Birth and Development of Sports Video Games From the 1950s to the Early 1980s

This article provides an overview of the origins and early development of sports video games. The first generation of sports video games were developed by scientists in laboratories for academic purposes. Together with the rise of microcomputers and the widespread adoption of television (TV) sets, commercial video games began to emerge in the early 1970s. Like their laboratory predecessors, most of the first-generation commercial games were sports-themed and primarily designed as a platform for competition between players. In the second half of the 1970s, ball-and-paddle-based games began to be replaced by more sophisticated games adopting the rules and actions of real-life sports. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, intense competition between video game companies gave birth to many innovative titles, with various sports disciplines adapted into games. Most of the sports games created in this period were based on competitive sports including American football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and tennis, as well as recreational sports like bowling, pool, and darts, many of them long popular in Western Europe and North America, some with a huge fan base in Japan. They were clearly produced to cater to the needs of gamers and sports fans in the world’s three major TV, personal computer, video game, and sports markets at the time.

Using and facilitating social videogames as warm-ups for embodied design

Warm-ups, as preliminary activities to physical training, are an inherent part of any physical exercise and sports practice. Rooted in the concept of embodied cognition, embodied design is a paradigm that shifts the focus of interaction design from external artefacts and devices to the human body (Svanæs & Barkhuus, 2020). A body-centred design emphasises the importance of having the human body at the centre of the entire design cycle, conveying movement, physical expressivity, feelings, and aesthetics, in a design process that uses the body as both a resource and target. Designing with the body is, therefore, a physically demanding activity that requires a specific set of warm-ups to educate and prepare designers mentally, socially, and physically for the act of embodied design. We propose social videogames as a resourceful framework for creating such a set of warm-up exercises. This paper presents a methodology comprising off-the-shelf commercial videogames whose rules have been adapted for embodied design. Three studies have been executed to validate the game's capacity as warm-up activity and icebreaker for embodied creativity and to study the conditions for an optimal method facilitation to external instructors in preparation for an applied session. The method applied is qualitative and quantitative feedback data gathered from the three studies using questionnaires, tests, observation, and open interviews. The results of the series of studies showed the potential of the proposed methodology as warm-ups for teaching, training, and practising embodied design, as well as giving insights on how to facilitate it. Overall, the game-based warm-ups for embodied design preparation using off-the-shelf movement games have a social and playful nature. The proposed twisted gameplays make them suitable to exert body moves and get ready to think and design with their bodies. The study on facilitation shows the need for a preparation session supported by an experienced person. However, one introductory session is enough for the toolbox to become an easily configurable resource that adapts to the facilitator's needs and goals. We suggest including sample implementation cases along with instruction cards of the embodied games. Further, the warm-up games are customisable using the toolbox's modifier cards.

Implementation of Game-Based Learning in a Tertiary General Education Course

Game-based learning can be an entertaining, engaging, and effective way of learning if both the game-play experience and educational content were carefully designed and balanced. By modifying an existing commercially available game rather than developing a game from scratch, the technical side and entertainment aspect of the game can be guaranteed so that educators can spend less effort in the technologies and game design but focus more on the educational and pedagogical aspect of designing and implementing game-based learning. We have enhanced a popular commercial computer game, Civilization, for use in a general education course that aims to nurture scientific literacy for tertiary students. The game has been used as a learning and assessment tool for this course along with other traditional course activities. The enhanced game includes scenarios which simulate world history and requires the players to lead a civilization and compete in these scenarios. Playing this ‘mod’ allows students to reflect upon, among many interesting issues, the dependency of scientific development on the political, economic, cultural, and geographical factors in history, which is one of the important intended learning outcomes in our course. The game has been used for 5 consecutive academic years. Survey responses and academic grades have been collected and analysed. The result is positive in both the rating on enjoyment and indicators of effectiveness of learning. Students who played the game are more engaged in course content, more willing to attend lectures and received a better course grade at the end as compared to those who didn’t. While we cannot simply conclude with a causal relationship based on our reported analysis, we believe that playing this game is useful and suitable in complementing our traditional pedagogy. The engagement in game playing will increase, not decrease, students’ effort spent on other traditional course activities.

Making sense of the pandemic: Multiple functions of commercial video games during one year and a half of COVID-19 crisis

The outbreak of the COVID-19 has made apparent the importance of gaming technologies during crises and difficult life moments. However, studies exploring the role of commercial off-the-shelf video games during the pandemic are still limited. Moreover, research often focuses on a specific moment of the crisis. In this article, we investigate how playing commercial video games impacts on how players manage and understand the COVID-19 pandemic considered in its temporal evolution. We conducted a one-year-and-a-half longitudinal qualitative study by interviewing 16 participants who were living in Italy during the first pandemic lockdown, then involving a subgroup of them (N = 10) in a follow-up interview. Study findings show that playing not only supported escapism from a difficult reality, but also helped individuals counteract the sense of detachment from the “pandemic world”, encouraging reflection and supporting sense-making. These functions of video games varied as the pandemic unfolded. Based on these findings, we present a preliminary model of the role of video game technologies during moments of crisis and suggest design considerations on how video games could support people experiencing extremely difficult life moments.

Comparing software product lines and Clone and Own for game software engineering under two paradigms: Model-driven development and code-driven development

Game developers often face more challenges when reusing code compared to non-game developers, and Software Product Lines (SPLs) have been successful in addressing this issue. In this study, we compare different approaches to code reuse in Classic Software Engineering (CSE) and Game Software Engineering (GSE) through a commercial video game called Kromaia. We specifically focus on two development paradigms: Model-Driven Development (MDD) and Code-Driven Development (CDD). We conduct an empirical evaluation where subjects develop game elements using two approaches: Clone and Own (CaO) and SPLs. The results show that game elements developed using SPLs are more correct (over 23%) than those developed with CaO in both MDD and CDD paradigms. In CDD, there are significant improvements in efficiency (51%) and satisfaction (13%) when using SPLs compared to CaO. However, no improvements are observed when working under MDD. The impact of using SPLs or CaO is greater in CDD than in MDD for game developers. Our findings suggest that SPLs in GSE may have a different role compared to their traditional role in CSE. Specifically, SPLs can be valuable in balancing game difficulty or generating new video game content, such as the one present in the bosses of the game.

A thematic analysis of bereaved adults' meaning-making experience of loss through playing video games.

Recalling personal memories on the loss and deriving new meanings from them is deemed necessary for adapting to bereavement. Recent studies suggest that games can afford players meaningful experiences that can support players through stressful life events, but its potential on the meaning-making of loss has not been much explored. To address this gap, we investigated the bereaved players' experiences of playing commercial video games that elicited their personal memories of loss and what meanings they derived from those experiences. Twelve adult players with bereavement experiences (six male, six female, age range: 20-31) played two video games (Bear's Restaurant and Spiritfarer). Their experiences during and after gameplay were tracked via play diaries and in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis method. We discovered seven themes on the meanings that players made from their gameplay experience: "Recalling memories", "Avoiding engagement with the pain", "Recognizing positive emotions", "Acknowledging the deceased's perspective", "Reviewing the meaning of loss", "Planning a better future", and "Fulfilling a wish". Our findings indicate that bereaved players recalled and related their autobiographical memories to their in-game experiences. Furthermore, they derived new meanings on both the loss and their post-loss life after playing video games. We discuss how video games can provide a unique meaning-making experience to bereaved players by affording them an agency to actively reconstruct their narrative of loss and facilitating the sharing of grief.

Effectiveness of virtual reality interventions of the upper limb in children and young adults with cerebral palsy: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Objective To examine the characteristics and the effectiveness of virtual reality systems on upper limb impairments in children and young adults with cerebral palsy. Data sources An electronic search was conducted on PubMed, PEDro, Web of Science, Central, and EMBASE. Methods The protocol of this review was prospectively registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42022302271). Randomized controlled trials that tested the effects of virtual reality-based interventions on the upper limb of participants with cerebral palsy were included. The methodological quality of the studies was measured by the PEDro scale. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation. The data of the studies were analyzed in meta-analysis and presented in forest plots and narrative synthesis. Results Twenty-two studies involving 746 participants were included. Ten different virtual reality systems were used in the interventions, of which six were designed specifically for rehabilitation and four commercial video games. We found an effect in favor of virtual reality when it was used in combination with conventional therapy for upper limb activity (SMD = 0.65; 95% CI (0.19 to 1.11)). However, the certainty of the evidence of the comparisons ranged from very low to low. Conclusion Virtual reality seems to be an effective tool for upper limb activity in children and young adults with cerebral palsy. Nevertheless, future studies should present a better methodological quality, a larger sample size, and well-defined rehabilitation programs to reduce the inconsistency of the evidence in this domain.

Videogames: escapism or an effective tool for anticorruption enlightenment?

Objective: to analyze video games with anticorruption components and to make a conclusion of the possibility to use them in anticorruption education with various mechanics, plots and narratives.Methods: analysis and summarization of the narrative of commercial video games, studies of the scientific literature and research aimed at revealing the influence of video games on a player’s cognitive abilities, as well as studying the possibilities of using video games in education and enlightenment allowed us to assume that video games may be used as an auxiliary instrument for anticorruption enlightenment.Also, we analyzed the audience of video games players to determine its relevancy for the goals of anticorruption education. According to the goals of anticorruption education identified by us, namely: ability to distinguish corruption and its types, developing negative attitude to corruption and positive attitude to a whistle-blower, illustration of short-term and long-term consequences of corruption – we performed a critical analysis of the video games narrative in order to identify the ones most appropriate for anticorruption education.Results: in the work, we studied the educational potential of video games and determined the efficiency level of their influence of the educational process. By the example of particular game projects, we proved in practice the expediency of using video games as a tool of anticorruption education.Scientific novelty: the article proves inexpediency of assessing video games exclusively as a form of escapism and, for the first time, specifies the examples of practical implementation of commercial video games, not being training programs or simulators, for organization of anticorruption education.Practical significance: the main conclusions of the article can be used in practical activity when developing long-term strategies and programs of anticorruption education, as well as within the activity of developing video games to assess longterm consequences of the narrative used.

Computer and Video Games in Mental Health

Due to the breakthrough of new technological devices in the last decade, electronic media has now become an integral part of our lives. Among its various forms, playing video games is one screen-based recreational activity enjoyed across various age groups and genders. Although undoubtedly entertaining, there is a considerable debate over the relative impact of video gaming on an individual. Traditionally, the research has focused on the negative effects of playing video games, but recent studies show that they can be an effective tool to reduce stress caused by daily hassles, help connect with likeminded people, and enhance a wide range of cognitive skills. There is also a small pool of research on the use of commercial video games in a therapeutic capacity to help build rapport and provide social skill training. This manuscript is focused on reviewing the pertinent research of the last two decades and from various online sources of scientific information on the abovementioned aspects of electronic and video games, their therapeutic implications in mental health, and suggesting future research directions.

Exploring the efficacy of video game training in developing adolescent reasoning abilities

ABSTRACT The benefits of video games in physical education have been extensively researched (Camunas-Vega & Alcaide-Risoto, 2020; Fang et al. 2020). However, little attention has been paid to the effectiveness of commercial video games combined with basketball practice in improving students’ reasoning skills (Chuang, Yeh, and Lin 2021; Rogers et al., 2020). In this paper, we present the results of an experimental study whose objective was to assess the effects of a programme that includes the use of a video game as the main learning tool to enhance the reasoning process of secondary education students in Physical Education. A total of 271 students participated in this study. A quasi-experimental pre-post design with a control group was used. The experimental group performed a specific training programme with the NBA 2K16 video game for nine weeks, once a week, 60 min per session. The results show that the students who participated in the programme achieved an improvement in deductive and spatial reasoning with a moderate effect possibly due to the use of a video game. Another conclusion was that sex differences in the spatial and deductive reasoning on the pretest disappeared on the post-test.

Benefits of video games for people with schizophrenia: a literature review.

In spite of the overwhelming concerns about the deleterious impact of exposure to video games, a growing body of evidence suggests that it may be of potential interest for therapeutic purposes, particularly in schizophrenia. As literature is rapidly evolving, we carried out a systematic review of recent articles on this issue. We identified seven studies published from 2017 to 2022 exploring the benefits of commercial video games in people with schizophrenia and related disorders regarding symptoms, cognition and functional outcome. Six studies used an RCT design. Associations between gaming and better outcomes were found in three main areas: physical condition (walking speed, aerobic fitness), neurocognition (processing speed, memory and executive functions), and social functioning, self-efficacy in daily life activities and quality of life. Active use of video games is associated with better aerobic fitness and cognitive performances. Video gaming may contribute to better functional outcome and quality of life in patients suffering from cognitive impairments and difficulties in social functioning. Persons with schizophrenia may benefit from using commercial video games because of their potential therapeutic impact on functioning and cognition.