Computer Games Research Articles

Cyber dating violence- a case report

Purpose: Cyber dating violence includes both the state of the victim to be harmed by threats, the dissemination of confidential information under the name of cyber violence, and the harassment of controlling the social relations of the victims, called cyber control, by constantly checking what they are doing on social media at any time. In the face of this type of violence that goes beyond spatial and geographical boundaries, the well-being of the victims is adversely affected because they consider the situation to be unresolved. Method: In this case report, a 13-year-old girl who has been exposed to cyber dating violence will be mentioned. Findings: After 3 months of virtual friendship with a 17-year-old man, whom this adolescent met on the computer games, she started to send him nude photos, they had virtual sex during the video call, the man guided her and offered to be a husband and wife with her during virtuel sex. It has been learned that she inserted a pen in front of the screen through his genitals and it hurt a lot. In the following days, they communicated to meet outside, the boy persuaded the teenage girl to take her home to introduce her to his family. The girl's family who followed them on their suspicions intervened in the situation, it became clear that they were faced with gang members. It has been revealed that throughout the time they communicated, the gang has collected a lot of data about the family’s income level over the internet and social media and asked the girl’s family for money through blackmail. In conclusion; with the legal complaint of the family, the gang members received legal punishment and the adolescent girl was taken to psychiatric treatment with the diagnosis of “post-traumatic stress disorder”.

Physical Activity and its Correlates among University Students in Lahore

Background: Physical activity plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health, yet global trends indicate a decline in these levels among university students. Gender differences, environmental access, and lifestyle choices have been identified as significant factors influencing physical activity levels. Previous studies have offered insights into these dynamics, yet gaps remain in understanding the comprehensive impact of various determinants on physical activity among the youth. Objective: This study aimed to assess the levels of physical activity and their association with different factors among university students, with a focus on identifying gender disparities and the influence of environmental and lifestyle factors on physical activity levels. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among students aged 18 to 30 years at Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College (AMDC) and the University of Lahore (UOL) from July 2022 to January 2023. Ethical approval was obtained, and a sample size of 150 students was determined using EPI software. Data on physical activity levels were collected using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPA-Q) and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Chi-square tests were applied to assess the association between physical activity levels and factors such as computer game play, music listening, sports participation during school, parental encouragement, and institutional support. Results: Among the participants, a significant gender difference in physical activity levels was observed, with males engaging more in strenuous activities. The study found a high association of physical activity with being an active sportsman during school and college (Chi-Square = 7.194, P-value = 0.02) and listening to music (Chi-Square = 9.27, P-value = 0.01). A majority of the students fell into the mild physical activity category, with fewer participants involved in moderate and high physical activity levels. No significant association was found with computer game playing, parental encouragement, or institutional support for physical activity. Conclusion: The study highlights significant gender differences in physical activity levels among university students, with males being more active. Early sports involvement and music listening emerged as key factors associated with higher physical activity levels. The findings suggest the need for targeted interventions to enhance physical activity, particularly among female students, and promote a more active lifestyle within the university setting.

De-foreignizing English Outside Class: Junior-Secondary-Level English-as-a-Foreign-Language Learners’ Extramural English Engagements and Listening and Reading Proficiency

Being cognizant of the indispensable role of abundant language input, scholars have given more attention to learning beyond the foreign language classroom in recent decades. This is especially important because there is usually limited time and exposure to authentic input in class. Contexts in which English is regarded as a foreign language warrant scrutiny since English is now highly accessible to learners at virtually all ages, worldwide, at no/low cost, thanks mostly to technology. The present longitudinal study set out to examine 350 Hong Kong junior-secondary-school learners’ informal engagements with extramural English activities (e.g. watching videos; playing computer games). The relationship between their engagements and language proficiency was also investigated. The findings revealed that as many as 90% of the participants had informal extramural exposure to English. This exposure was classified into seven categories. Overall, the three most popular types of engagement were videos/movies, songs, and communication (e.g. face-to-face chats; text messages). Intriguingly, the overall levels of engagements were correlated significantly and positively with proficiency scores for the average- and high-proficiency groups, but no such relationship was found for the low-proficiency students. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the findings.

Обзор современных исследований влияния видеоигр на когнитивные процессы

<p style="text-align: justify;">This review is aimed at systematizing the results of empirical and meta-analytical work on the problem of the influence of video games on cognitive processes. Psychology has accumulated a lot of facts indicating that computer games have positive effects, but sometimes it is impossible to fix them. Analysis of the literature has shown that video games have a positive effect on cognitive processes, but the size of this effect depends on the genre of the game. There is a largest effect of puzzle-games and the “arcade” genre on spatial thinking. “Action”, “shooter”, and “arcade” games have small but significant effects on some aspects of perceptual processing, as well as “action” games have a strong positive effect on problem solving speed. The effects on executive functions were small. A review of modern trends in gamification has shown that video games can be effective in teaching specific professional skills, for example, in the field of medicine, and in the treatment of psychological disorders, in particular dementia. The effectiveness of videogames as a part of cognitive learning products has not been confirmed, this area needs to be studied in more details. At the same time, only moderate video gaming is safe for development. Studies show that excessive video game passion causes gaming addiction and negatively affects attention, academic performance and emotional state. An analysis of the literature has shown that video games potentially have a positive effect on cognitive processes, but the size of this effect depends on the genre of the game. There is a largest effects of puzzle-games and the «arcade» genre on spatial thinking. «Action», «shooter», and «arcade» games have small but significant effects on some aspects of perceptual processing, as well as «action» games have a strong positive effect on problem solving speed. The effects on executive functions were small. A review of modern trends in gamification has shown that video games can be effective in teaching specific professional skills, for example, in the field of medicine, and in the treatment of certain psychological disorders, in particular dementia. The effectiveness of videogames as part of cognitive learning products has not been confirmed, this area need more detailed research. At the same time, despite the some positive effects of computer games, only moderate gaming is safe for development, studies show that excessive video game passion causes the gambling addiction and negatively affects attention, academic performance and emotional state.</p>

"Virtual reality" as a tool for global manipulation of socio-cultural identity

The subject of the article is the philosophical and cultural methodology of digital "virtual reality", comparing the declarations of developers with the practical possibilities and social consequences of using such technologies. The developers presented projects of online digital content services for all five senses using special equipment (glasses, headphones, interactive gloves, joysticks, costumes, printers of smells and tastes, etc.). It was assumed that virtual reality would surpass the reliability of previous multimedia content and interactive computer games, and the persuasiveness and attractiveness of traditional technical means of art and the press. Failure to fulfill these promises has led to significant losses since 2022 for leading companies developing digital virtual reality technologies Meta (recognized by the court as an extremist organization on 03/21/2022, activity is limited in the territory of the Russian Federation), Microsoft HapticLinks, Cave, AlloSphere, Teslasuit, VRealizer. There was a need to assess how and to what extent the methodology used and the predicted capabilities of digital virtual reality were correct. Philosophical and cultural analysis as a research method reveals: the developers of digital virtual reality promised the methodologically impossible, reducing human perception to the "sum" of the external "five senses" out of connection with the "self", inner sensitivity, bodily self-perceptions. A person is only partially amenable to algorithmized digital interaction; a critical barrier to digital virtuality is the socio-cultural identity of society and personality. The novelty of the results of the analysis lies in the conclusion: digital virtual reality in many respects is fundamentally inferior in effectiveness to traditional technical means of sensory and emotional impact and cognition, used both for creative and destructive purposes. In terms of creative potential, digital virtual reality is inferior to the technical means of art, science, education, upbringing, etc., and in terms of destructive capabilities, it is already used in the press and other mass communications technologies for manipulating public and individual consciousness, as well as psychotropic substances that cause addiction. National regulation of the development of digital "virtual reality" is recommended, aimed at protecting and developing the socio-cultural identity of Russian citizens and society, as well as for cognitive and educational purposes. It is recommended to limit the remote use of such developments to trusted domestic Internet services.

Executive functions assessment in very preterm children at school age: A pilot study about a clinical and experimental approach

While the survival rate of very preterm (VPT) infants has increased in the last decades, they are still at risk of developing long-term neurodevelopmental impairments, especially regarding self-regulatory abilities, and goal-directed behaviors. These skills rely on executive functions (EFs), an umbrella term encompassing the core capacities for inhibition, shifting, and working memory. Existing comprehensive tests are time-consuming and therefore not suitable for all pediatric neuropsychological assessments. The Flanker task is an experimental computer game having the advantage to last less than ten minutes while giving multiple EFs measures. Here, we tested the potency of this task in thirty-one VPT children aged 8–10 years during their clinical assessment. First, we found that VPT children performed in the norm for most clinical tests (i.e., WISC-V, BRIEF, and NEPSY) except for the CPT-3 where they were slower with more omission errors, which could indicate inattentiveness. Second, some Flanker task scores were correlated with standardized clinical testing without resisting to multiple comparisons correction. Finally, compared to full-term children, VPT children showed poorer performance in global EFs measure and lower accuracy in the Flanker task. These findings suggest that this child-friendly version of the Flanker task demonstrated a reasonable sensitivity in capturing EFs with good discrimination between VPT and term children despite VPT children’s mild difficulties. It may represent a promising tool for neuropsychological assessments and be suitable as a screening test, providing further validating larger studies. Moreover, while VPT schoolchildren globally display normal intelligence, subtle difficulties that seem to relate to EFs are observed.

МОДЕЛЬ ЦИФРОВОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ ДЛЯ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ИНФОРМАЦИОННОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ ОБУЧАЮЩИХСЯ В УСЛОВИЯХ СЕЛЬСКОЙ ШКОЛЫ ЯКУТИИ

In connection with the orientation of the educational paradigm to the development of the student's personality, there is a need to solve problems related to the formation of the student's information culture of personality, which allows him to understand the nature of information processes, their importance for self-improvement and the development of society, as well as to become a creator in his information behavior. The formation of the information culture of the personality of a student of a secondary school is impossible without the use of digital educational environment. This is particularly relevant in remote and hard-to-reach rural schools, since a digital educational environment can be built regardless of geographical location. This study is devoted to the practical implementation of the digital education model for the formation of students' information culture in the educational activities of the A.L. Bakhsyrov Killakh secondary School of the Olekminsky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The model contains the following structural components (blocks): targeted, meaningful, organizational and activity, evaluative and effective. The methodological foundations of the organization are system-activity, environmental and cultural approaches. When implementing the model, didactic principles of activity, continuity, integrity, variability and creativity are used. The paper presents the didactic possibilities of the digital educational environment (digital educational resource, online excursions, digital books, developing mobile computer games, animated films, school television, a school channel in a messenger, a mobile application for self-development), a structural and content model of digital education and a list of created products. The developed and implemented model of digital education for the formation of the information culture of schoolchildren has proven its effectiveness and can be implemented in other rural schools in Russia, provided that the digital infrastructure is sufficiently formed and innovations are accepted by teaching teams.

Embedding multi-agent reinforcement learning into behavior trees with unexpected interruptions

Behavior trees have attracted great interest in computer games and robotic applications. However, it lacks the learning ability for dynamic environments. Previous works combining behavior trees with reinforcement learning either need to construct an independent sub-scenario or train the learning method over the whole game, which is not suited for complex multi-agent games. In this paper, a framework is proposed, named as MARL-BT, that embeds multi-agent reinforcement learning methods into behavior trees. Following the running mechanism of behavior trees, we design the way of collecting samples and the training procedure. Further, we point out a special phenomenon in MARL-BT, i.e., the unexpected interruption, and present an action masking technique to remove its harmful effect on learning performance. Finally, we make extensive experiments on the 11 versus 11 full game in Google Research Football. The introduced MARL-BT framework could get an 11.507% improvement compared to pure BT for certain scenarios. The action masking technique could greatly improve the performance of the learning method, i.e., the final reward is improved around 100% times for a sub-task.

Entertainment as an attributive feature of modern culture

Entertainment culture becomes a structural and typological unit of festive/everyday culture, which uses it every day in the “loop” mode: television show programs, presentations of new boutiques in shopping centers, city fairs, art exhibitions, performances at concert venues, calendars with the slogan “Every day is a holiday”, computer games (as the advertisement says, “The best anti-stress game of all time!”), and so on. Certainly, in this entertainment cycle, a person’s acute perception of festivity becomes dulled, and fatigue from constant heightened emotionality appears. A person gets tired of both entertainment and games. In this sense, “Homo ludens” is not just a concept, but a problem identified and outlined by J. Huizinga, which became obvious in the 20s of the 21st century. The article examines the features of modern culture as a screen, visual culture, directly related to such an attribute as entertainment.

THE "HORROR" GENRE IN MODERN GERMAN DRAMATURGY

The horror genre is popular not only in modern filmography (for example, “28 Days Later,” “Reincarnation,” “Let Me In,” “The Conjuring,” “The Cabin in the Woods,” “Pulse” and many others), but also in computer games (“Friday Night Funkin Lullaby”, “All the Scary Sounds from Garten of Banban”, “Zombie Space Episode II”, “Outlast 2”, “Resident Evil 7”, “Dead Space” and others. Undoubtedly in fiction The image of Dracula, vampires and werewolves is iconic for this genre.

“I am gaming, you are gaming” - computer gaming habits and romantic relationship satisfaction

“I am gaming, you are gaming” - computer gaming habits and romantic relationship satisfaction

Innovative Strategies of Mobile Game Marketing in Social Media Environment

Compared with traditional computer games, mobile games have advantages such as portability, ease of use, and fragmented time utilization, attracting a large number of users. In the current era where social media and mobile games are intertwined, effective mobile game marketing in the social media environment has become a topic worthy of in-depth exploration. The article provides an overview of the current situation of the mobile game market in the social media environment, emphasizing the importance of social media in game marketing. Next, the challenges and issues of current mobile game marketing in the social media environment were analyzed, including user positioning, content creativity, and interactive participation. This article proposes a series of innovative strategies to address these issues. These strategies aim to fully utilize the characteristics and advantages of social media, establish closer connections and interactions with target users, and enhance the visibility and competitiveness of mobile games.

Parametrizing the unmeasurable: Urban qualities as quantitative parameters for computer games

Parametric design and gamification rely on quantitative factors that can be easily translated into computer language. However, measuring and quantifying the complex urban qualities poses a challenge. This leads to the question of how to incorporate complex spatial quality into parametric design. This research, therefore, proposes a method to parametrize and quantify urban qualities by extracting main spatial qualities from three main sources, developing a comprehensive list of qualities that can be effectively parametrized, breaking them down into more tangible parameters, and assessing their interrelations within a system model. The results reveal that although urban qualities are complex, they are better defined and parametrized when their relations and originating factors are fully investigated. Furthermore, qualities are classified according to their degree of connection to other qualities within the system model and the nature of these connections. This classification results in six categories: Main Instigator, Mediating and Consequential qualities, as well as Minimally, Moderately, and Highly connected qualities. This research contributes to urban parametric design by providing a method to parametrize urban qualities and gamification fields, allowing developers to implement city complex qualities into the games.

Peculiarities of eye Motor Reactions During the Perception of Static Images in Boys and Girls with a Bend to Computer Gaming Dependence

The problem of formation, course, prevention and rehabilitation of computer gambling addiction has been actively studied in the last decade. However, there is a shortage of valid and reliable methods for identifying a tendency to computer gambling addiction. The article is devoted to the study of the features of oculomotor reactions as markers of the risk of computer gambling addiction, as well as to the disclosure of the diagnostic potential of hardware methods, in particular the oculography method, in the early diagnosis of computer gambling.Purpose of the study. To reveal the features of oculomotor reactions in the perception of static images in boys and girls with a tendency to game computer addiction.Methods. To assess oculomotor reactions (fixation duration, number of fixations, and gaze fixation latency), we used the GP3 Gazepoint remote software and hardware system for assessing oculomotor reactions. To assess the tendency to game computer addiction, we used the following methods: clinical screening diagnostics of addictive and addictive behavior by I.S. Lukyantseva, V.A. Ruzhenkov; Internet Gaming Disorder Pontes, O. Kiraly, Z. Demetrovics, M.D. Griffiths (adapted by A.A. Petrova, N.B. Chernyak); screening diagnostics of computer gambling addiction L.N. Yurieva, T.Yu. Bolbot.Results. As a result of the study, we identified the features of oculomotor reactions that are characteristic of people with different experience in gaming (gamers, e-sportsmen who do not have experience in gaming), and analyzed their relationship with a tendency to computer gaming addiction. We have identified the most significant areas of interest for assessing oculomotor reactions (the area of control of the game action, the area of expectation of the game action, the peripheral area). A connection was found between the level of propensity for gaming computer addiction and the number and duration of fixations on stimuli containing gaming achievements and screenshots of eSports disciplines (Dota2, CS:GO, Hearthstone).Conclusion. The results obtained will make it possible to create guidelines for the selection of static images of a certain structure, as well as to develop a hardware method for diagnosing a tendency to game computer addiction

Escaping binary gender roles: Gender diversity dynamics in a CSCL‐Escape game

AbstractBackgroundGender and gender diversity are group features affecting social interaction and are critical for gender‐inclusive and equitable education. As such, the role of gender and gender diversity is of particular relevance to computer‐supported collaborative learning (CSCL). However, up until now, research on this topic in CSCL remains scarce. Those studies that explore gender frequently utilise a binary gender view, investigating collaboration patterns in terms of differences between men and women despite the pitfalls of this binary view, e.g. the risk of reproducing gender stereotypes.ObjectivesThrough gender diversity modelling based on group communication analysis, this study used a novel approach to investigate the role of gender in CSCL. It explored how gender diversity in CSCL is associated with emergent roles in small group interaction, providing evidence about how gender diversity interacts with the dynamics of group communication in a unique CSCL scenario.MethodsIn this explorative study, we used group communication analysis (GCA) to identify emergent team roles in the communication of triads in a CSCL escape game, realised through a Minecraft computer game. We elaborated on the differences between the team roles with respect to gender‐diverse and non‐diverse groups of our sample (N = 123) to estimate the role of gender diversity in CSCL learning processes.ResultsThe clustering of the group communication resulted in four emergent team roles with distinct communicative patterns: learner, lurker, follower, and leader. Non‐diverse teams were more likely to be dominated by leaders, whereas gender‐diverse teams showed more egalitarian tendencies in their group communication. Further, in gender‐diverse teams, there were more learners, and interaction was more productive overall.ConclusionsGender diversity is an important factor for understanding group dynamics in CSCL. A main advantage of gender diversity modelling – as explored here – is a more nuanced understanding of the role of gender in group communication, in contrast to reproducing existing gender difference paradigms. The approach demonstrated in this study enables CSCL researchers to extend traditional measures of gender towards gender diversity as steps towards more gender‐inclusive and bias‐free education. Further, it yields the practical design recommendation of ensuring group diversity to enhance the likelihood of productive group communication.

CREATIVE PROCESSES OF EMOTIONAL IMAGES: THE EFFECTS OF ASPECT RATIO ON THE EMOTIONAL AND AESTHETIC PROPERTIES OF IMAGES

Proportions are one of the primary components of successful image composition during the visual art creation process, which, in turn, is determinant of the variety of effects of images on the viewer, including emotional reactions, attention, and aesthetic preference. The importance of image width and height ratio is especially visible in the current trend to adopt the widest possible screens in a variety of modern creative media applications: photo, video, computer games, etc. In the present study emotional and aesthetic evaluations of the three most popular aspect ratios that are used in digital media devices were compared. This was achieved by assessing emotional arousal and valence ratings together with the interest and appeal evaluations of realistic photos presented in 4:3, 16:9, and 21:9 aspect ratios. The results demonstrated that the widest images did not have an inherent advantage – photos presented in the mid-wide aspect ratio of 16:9 could be considered as more effective, because they were rated as evoking the most positive emotional reactions and as the most liked pictures. This demonstrated that single design features can have an independent emotional effect, which needs to be considered in visual design aiming to evoke emotional reactions to the viewer.

COLLABORATION IN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES – FROM CREATIVE INDIVIDUALS AND INTERMEDIARIES TO NETWORKS

Collaboration is the core of creative work, and it can help small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as individual creative professionals, develop creative products that would not be possible if these parties were working separately. The aim of the paper is to reveal benefits of collaboration in creative industries from theoretical and practical perspectives. The paper analyses the concept of collaboration in creative industries and provides a theoretical overview of collaboration models that can take various forms, such as networks, creative intermediaries, and clusters. Also, the author has developed a creative industry collaboration matrix, in­cluding the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia’s list of creative industries (Architecture, Design, Cinema, Performing arts, Visual arts, Music, Publishing, Television, Radio and interactive media, Advertising, Computer games and Interactive software, Cultural heritage, Cultural education, Recreation, Advertising, Entertainment and other cultural activities) [LR Ministry of Culture 2022], as well as adding two more creative industries, which are identified in other theoretical models of creative industries used in Europe – Fashion and Crafts. By interviewing various experts from creative industries, the intensity and frequency of collaboration in creative industries are compared, and it is evaluated which creative industries are more prone to collaboration.

US-Cyberpunk und Cyber-Japan. Zwischen Blade Runner, Neuromancer und Die Hard

The paper explores why US authors of the cyberpunk genre imagined a future rich in Japanoid imagery in their fiction. By tracing the zeitgeist of the 1980s, which was characterized by the prevalence of affordable Japanese technology in everyday US life – often associated with fears of an economic threat from Japan – it is possible to explain why cyberpunk fictions explicitly depict Japanese technology. Furthermore, mechanisms of techno-orientalism that link high-tech to images of premodern Japan and thus diminish this specific cultural environment as subordinate to modern Western societies are evident within cyberpunk fiction. Analyzing Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) as a founding text of cyberpunk and the recent computer game Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) as well as the subsequent anime series Cyberpunk Edgerunners (2022) as examples of contemporary fiction, I argue that Japanoid images continue to be employed in a condescending manner within the cyberpunk genre, affirming an inherently Western perspective.

Perspectives on intergenerational playing: viewpoints of grandparents and teachers in a Greek preschool context

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of intergenerational play on grandparents and children relationship according to the teachers’ and grandparents’ point of view during the traditional playing. It is claimed that traditional games improve relationships within the family and strengthen the bond between children and grandparents. Grandparents (n = 83) participated in their grandchildren’s play (n = 100) for an hour daily during the study period. Together they experienced traditional games and created low-cost toys from recycled materials in a Greek preschool setting. Thirty-two volunteer grandparents and 8 teachers were interviewed about their experience. The children enjoyed playing in groups and also playing with their own and other children’s grandparents. Teachers realized that introducing traditional games into the classroom could have an educational effect. Interviews revealed that all grandparents enjoyed teaching and bonding and felt useful. They also realized that their grandchildren preferred playing with them instead of watching TV or playing computer games. Children as well as teachers boosted their creativity and realized that games have no age.

Dynamic muscular endurance as an indicator of functional readiness of cyber-athletes.

Aim: To study the dynamic muscular endurance of hand movement according to the tapping test in connection with the manifestations of cognitive qualities of cyber-athletes and students involved in computer games as a hobby. Materials and Methods: Dynamic muscular endurance of the right and left hands of the examined subjects was studied (using the tapping test method), as well as the reaction to a moving object using the diagnostic complex "Diagnost-1". Correction tables (Landolt rings) were used to study voluntary attention. 45 students of the National University of Ukraine on Physical Education and Sport of both sexes, aged 17-26, took part in the study, among whom 10 are cyber-athletes (sports experience of 1-10 years), 15 amateurs (involved in computer games as a hobby) and 20 students who do not play computer games (control group). Results: In cyber-athletes and students involved in computer games, the dynamic muscular endurance of the movement of the hand of the subdominant hand was greater than in students who did not engage in computer games. A higher level of dynamic muscular endurance for the subdominant hand and less functional asymmetry according to the tapping test scores in cyber-athletes were associated with a more successful performance of the attention test. Conclusions: A higher level of dynamic muscular endurance for the subdominant arm and a smaller functional asymmetry according to the tapping test indicators in e-athletes can be considered as an indicator of functional readiness.