Game Content Research Articles

Development of Convolutional Neural Networks for Analyzing Game Icon and Screenshot Images

Icons and screenshots are important media displayed in game distribution platforms for providing a brief understanding of the game content to the customers. In this study, we develop ensemble convolutional neural networks for icon and screenshot analysis as three applications: an automatic genre classification, a similar game searching, and a recognition quality assessment. First, the genre classifier is developed using 154358 images from 18 030 games in 17 genres. The proposed genre classifiers achieve 40.5% and 47.6% accuracies for classifying a single icon and a single screenshot, which outperform the average performance of the human testers. The accuracy can be boosted to 54.2% by aggregating results from every image of the game. The Grad-CAM is applied to analyze what models learned. Then, the feature extraction part trained by this task is transferred to the other two applications. For the similar game searching, a dissimilarity of two images is directly computed by the Euclidean distance in the feature space. We define a dissimilarity between two games which are sets of multiple images based on their image-pairwise dissimilarity. The results show that the features are successfully transferred, and the model seems to be able to cluster the games with a similar gameplay and differentiate them from the other gameplays even if they come from the same genre. For the third application, we develop a system for quality assessment of game images based on the correctness of viewers’ understanding of game content by combining multiple models from three different problem definitions. Our system can identify good-genre-representing game images which most of the human testers can recognize their genre correctly with 75.0% accuracy for icons and 76.2% accuracy for screenshots.

EXAMINATION OF MARITIME EDUCATION WITHIN FRAME OF GAMIFICATION

Gamification is a new design for many fields in changes in the expectations and satisfaction levels of each individual with digital literacy skills, as well as in their behavior and habits. Utilizing the benefits of its frame is also a critical issue for the maritime education. In this context, it is aimed to measure the predisposition and interest of the maritime university students in the game contents by conducting a survey. Statistical results are obtained regarding the attitudes of the participants towards learning with computer games, their attitudes and expectations towards gamification and how useful gamification could be for non-game systems. Lastly, it is revealed which courses in maritime can be gamified. Accordingly, it is seen that the majority of the students are intertwined with games every day. The reason why the majority of the people prefer to play 'multiplayer' games is the desire to be successful brought by the competitive environment or the communication-based system being more interesting and increasing motivation even more. Attendances consider that gamification will make the lessons more interesting, specifically electronic navigation and maritime security courses.

Effects of PCG on Creativity in Playful City-Building Environments in VR

The use of procedural content generation (PCG) in the context of video games has increased over the years as it provides an economical way to generate game content whilst enhancing their variety and replayability. For city-building games, this approach is often utilized to predefine map layouts, terrains, or cityscapes for the player. One core aspect of facilitating enjoyment in these games comes from creative expressivity. PCG, in this context, may support creativity by lowering the technical complexity for content creation, or it may hinder creativity by taking away control and freedom from the user. To examine these potential effects, this paper investigates if PCG has an impact on players' creativity in the context of VR city-building games. We present a VR prototype that provides varying degrees of procedural content: No PCG, terrain generation, city generation, and full (city + terrain) generation. In a remote user study, these conditions were compared regarding their capability to support creativity. Statistical tests for equivalence revealed that the presence of PCG did not affect creativity in any way. Our work suggests that PCG can be a useful integration into city-building games without notably decreasing players' ability to express themselves creatively.

Automatic Generation of Real-Time Animation Game Learning Levels Based on Artificial Intelligence Assistant

With the development of computer animation games, now many animation games use the automatic generation of animation game levels method to generate animation game content. Using the automatic generation levels of the animation game method can quickly generate many different levels, saving labor costs in manual production. And with the combination of other fields, more accurate results can be obtained. In this paper, the goal is to automatically generate the level of the animation game. This research proposed animation game objects and victory conditions to derive the concept of the clearance path and uses artificial intelligence genetic algorithms to obtain the clearance path that best meets the needs of the developer to recombine new levels. In addition, since the generated levels are regenerated from the clearance path, there are still too many blank areas. In order to make full use of these blank areas, this research provides a level complete system. The system has formulated its placement rules for existing animation game objects. These rules fill in these blank areas and produce a more complete level. The contributions of this search proved that the genetic algorithm can converge quickly due to the correction effect in the mutation. In the complete system, it has successfully achieved a complete and playable level. In the system running time, this research adjusted the method of selecting elites and the use of permutations and combinations to mate, so that the system’s operation can be stabilized on an average value.

Insights into blending game localisation in the Arab world

Abstract In the field of translation studies, game localisation is considered a growing branch of audiovisual translation in which localisers translate and adapt game content for successful circulation across foreign markets. This paper sheds light on the process of localising religious content and obscene references in the game Fiesta Online by comparing it to the Arabic-localised version Arafiesta on the basis of a corpus of 740 dialogue strings. Drawing on the frameworks developed by Delabastita (1989), Zitawi (2008) and Al-Adwan (2015), the analysis scrutinises game elements that are considered controversial in the Arab world. These items were omitted, mitigated, or adapted to isolate the theme of Paganism from the original content. Visual features were retained except for a few instances. Finally, during the process of localising interactive aspects of the game, retention, deletion and adaptation were frequently used. The paper highlights how blending game localisation, a prominent localisation approach changing the intersemiotic channels (the verbal, pictorial and interactive layers) of video games, plays a pivotal role in promoting and marketing game imports in the Arab world, which is now one of the largest growing markets.

Instrumenting a virtual reality headset for at-home gamer experience monitoring and behavioural assessment

Measuring a gamer’s behaviour and perceived gaming experience in real-time can be crucial not only to assess game usability, but to also adjust the game play and content in real-time to maximize the experience per user. For this purpose, affective and physiological monitoring tools (e.g., wearables) have been used to monitor human influential factors (HIFs) related to quality of experience (QoE). Representative factors may include the gamer’s level of engagement, stress, as well as sense of presence and immersion, to name a few. However, one of the major challenges the community faces today is being able to accurately transfer the results obtained in controlled laboratory settings to uncontrolled everyday settings, such as the gamer’s home. In this paper, we describe an instrumented virtual reality (VR) headset, which directly embeds a number of dry ExG sensors (electroencephalography, EEG; electrocardiography, ECG; and electrooculography, EOG) to allow for gamer behaviour assessment in real-time. A protocol was developed to deliver kits (including the instrumented headset and controllers, laptop with the VR game Half-life Alyx, and a second laptop for data acquisition) to participants’ homes during the COVID-19 lockdown. A brief videoconference session was made to provide the participants with instructions, but otherwise the experiment proceeded with minimal experimenter intervention. Eight participants consented to participate and each played the game for roughly 1.5 h. After each gaming session, participants reported their overall experience with an online questionnaire covering aspects of emotions, engagement, immersion, sense of presence, motion sickness, flow, skill, technology adoption, judgement and usability. Here, we describe our obtained findings, as well as report correlations between the subjective ratings and several QoE-related HIFs measured directly from the instrumented headset. Promising results are reported.

Creative Wand: A System to Study Effects of Communications in Co-creative Settings

Recent neural generation systems have demonstrated the potential for procedurally generating game content, images, stories, and more. However, most neural generation algorithms are “uncontrolled” in the sense that the user has little say in creative decisions beyond the initial prompt specification. Co-creative, mixed-initiative systems require user-centric means of influencing the algorithm, especially when users are unlikely to have machine learning expertise. The key to co-creative systems is the ability to communicate ideas and intent from the user to the agent, as well as from the agent to the user. Key questions in co-creative AI include: How can users express their creative intentions? How can creative AI systems communicate their beliefs, explain their moves, or instruct users to act on their behalf? When should creative AI systems take initiative? The answer to such questions and more will enable us to develop better co-creative systems that make humans more capable of expressing their creative intents. We introduce CREATIVE-WAND, a customizable framework for investigating co-creative mixed-initiative generation. CREATIVE-WAND enables plug-and-play injection of generative models and human-agent communication channels into a chat-based interface. It provides a number of dimensions along which an AI generator and humans can communicate during the co-creative process. We illustrate the CREATIVE-WAND framework by using it to study one dimension of co-creative communication—global versus local creative intent specification by the user—in the context of storytelling.

The Station: A Model for Content Co-Design with Rural Youth

We describe the design, modification, implementation, and preliminary research of a place-based serious AR (augmented reality) application in a rural school setting. The Station is a collaboratively designed iPhone app that allows players to explore the world around them through educational quests. It links the virtual gameplay to real-world locations and discovery via GPS. The quest content is user generated through a companion editor, a web-based platform that allows anyone to design and author their own quest. When used in a student context, the editor allows student users to move from passive consumers of game content to active creators. We follow a group of ninth-grade students from rural western Maine who worked to create content for The Station in collaboration with Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, who facilitated and researched the project. Youth participants were able to create game content for a real-world location that combined historical, geographical, and scientific knowledge while also learning the importance of storytelling. During our observations of the pilot deployment of this program, key elements emerged that should be incorporated as part of the co-design process for users to successfully create content for The Station. Our model can be useful in engaging youth as place-based content creators in both informal and formal education settings.

A Study to Determine Generation Y and Generation Z Gamers Assessment of "Loot Box" Content in Digital Games: The Case of FIFA Ultimate Team

Bu çalışmada, Dijital oyunlardaki şans paketleri (loot box ) kavramına yönelik Y ve Z Kuşağındaki oyuncuların değerlendirmelerini öğrenmek amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla, FIFA Ultimate Team oyun modunu en az 3 yıldır düzenli olarak FIFA serisi oyunlarını oynayan ve haftada en az 1 saat bu oyun moduna zaman harcayan Y kuşağından 6, Z kuşağından 6 oyuncu olmak üzere 12 katılımcıların şans paketlerine ilişkin değerlendirmeleri tespit edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Araştırmada, nitel araştırma yöntemi kapsamında yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme tekniği kullanılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda, Oyuncuların kuşak ayrımı gözetilmeksizin şans paketlerini kumar olarak nitelendirdikleri, paket içeriklerini satın alan kullanıcıların paketlerden istedikleri öğeyi elde etme ihtimallerinin çok az olduğunun farkında olduğu, paket satın almayan oyuncuların ise paket satın alan oyunculara kıyasla oyun içinde daha fazla zaman harcamak durumunda kaldığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Ayrıca, Y kuşağından oyuncuların, dijital oyunlardaki şans paketlerini satın almak istemedikleri anlaşılırken Z kuşağındaki oyuncular için şans paketlerini satın almanın normal karşılandığı ancak paket içeriklerinin beklenen faydayı sağlamadığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

메타버스 플랫폼을 활용한 창의융합 프로젝트 사례 연구

The purpose of this study was to propose implications for the use of the metaverse platform in terms of education through the case of operating the creative convergence project of A university case using the metaverse platform. To this end, the metaverse platform observed participation in the activity process in the project learning activity environment designed in the virtual space, Gathertown, and conducted a survey and interview with learners after the activity. As a result of the study, the survey showed high interest in the metaverse platform, the necessity of pre-education on how to use it, the degree of intimacy formation, interaction, solidarity formation, reality, team activity immersion, satisfaction with the team activity process, and team activity results. In the in-depth interview, the positive effects of using other metabus platforms were confirmed such as self-expression for non-face-to-face identity, achievement of cooperative problem solving, collaboration and creativity through various tools, learning contextual experience through sharing of game and learning contents, in-depth learning and space design. Based on the results of this study, various implications for the use of the metaverse platform for creative convergence education at the university level were derived. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for the educational use of metaverse in universities.

Ganking the Ranking: The self-reported Learning Potential from a Selection of game Genres to Develop self-directed Learning

Game-based learning (GBL) is said to have encouraging potential for varying educational contexts and scenarios, but how do practitioners select suitable edifying gaming content for their own unique environments? Moreover, what are the correct strategies, recommendations, procedures and/or parameters for choosing appropriate gaming media for learning? There are countless options to choose from, varying in genre, play style, medium, difficulty, aim(s), etc. This paper presents the results of an interpretive study seeking to discern a set of requirements and qualities of informed GBL selection. Online surveys completed by history-for-education students at a South African Higher Education institution hope to bring us closer to guidelines for more effective GBL selection and application in tertiary education contexts across the globe. The following paper begins with remarks on the significance of self-direction in contemporary Higher Education and the potential for GBL to not only spur this tendency on, but to frame and support it. The conceptual framework used in the project is then unpacked as it relates to self-directed learning, game-based learning, video games and supplementary theoretical structures. The proceeding section is divided into three sections related to central study concepts, including: meta-behaviour, metacognition, and meta-emotion, with trial and error, observation and modelling, as well as reinforcement learning as subcategories of meta-behaviour that follow. Additional subcategories surrounding metacognition are then explored, namely: connected learning, reflect and improvise, logical and analytical reasoning, inquiry-based learning, and synthesis. The methodology then describes the hybrid video/survey techniques utilised to gather data relating to participant impression(s), motivational factors, challenge and educational value of GBL selection for Higher Education contexts. Results obtained provide a suitable starting point to construct a viable applied framework for such an environment.

Coping with COVID-19 pandemic stressors: Comparisons between non-players and players, and levels of Game Transfer Phenomena

During the COVID-19 pandemic, video game playing increased exponentially. The question if playing could offer benefits to cope with the pandemic stressors emerged. This study compares how non-players and players who may or may not have incorporated game content in everyday context [i.e., experienced Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP)] cope with the pandemic stressors, emotion regulation and resilience. It also examines the impact of GTP on the perception of self and the world. A total of 567 completed a survey (59.6 % male, MeanAge = 28.55). The measures include emotional regulation (ERC), resilience to stress (BRCS) and fear of contamination (PI). No differences between players and non-players on ERC, BRCS and PI were found. Players with moderate GTP levels were more likely to report contamination fears and show preventive COVID coping behaviours. The positive impact of GTP was associated with high resilience and cognitive reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy. The results suggest that attention should be paid to players who experience GTP more frequently and with a negative impact. Maladaptive coping styles can exacerbate distress from GTP and situational stressors. Identifying methods of protecting vulnerable individuals from these psychological burdens can guide interventions and mitigate consequences in similar situations.

Feasibility of Using Multiplayer Game-Based Dual-Task Training with Augmented Reality and Personal Health Record on Social Skills and Cognitive Function in Children with Autism.

The purpose of this preliminary study was to evaluate the feasibility of multiplayer game contents with dual-task exercises using augmented reality (AR) and a personal health record (PHR) system for social skills and cognitive function in children with autism. The present study used a single group pretest–posttest study design with fourteen children diagnosed with autism and aged 6–16 years. The intervention consisted of various game contents designed specifically with cognitive and motor tasks, performed for 30 min per session, twice a week, for three weeks. Outcome measures were conducted before and after the intervention and included social skills and cognitive function. A satisfactory survey was conducted post-intervention to assess the usability of the performed games. As result, statistically significant improvements were observed in all subscales of the social skills and cognitive function expected in two subscales of each measured outcome. Parents and children appreciated the overall game program, and no risk of injury and dizziness were mentioned. This preliminary study found that multiplayer game-based dual-task training using AR and PHR was feasible and has a promising efficacy for children with autism. However, there is the need to conduct a randomized control study with a large sample size.

Designing Serious Game Metrics for Family Caregivers of People with Dementia

The paper presents a conceptual framework and a metric instrument for assisting design and evaluating serious games for dementia family carers as the first step towards designing a game specifically designed to cater for their needs. The paper starts with a literature survey on dementia, dementia family carers and existing games for health issues. From this survey, three components of the carers’ needs (health, education and social), three platforms (social marketing, social media and games) and six game contents (game play, avatar portrayal, game world graphics, sound / music and storyline) were identified, and engagement as the metric of interaction was also identified. With these, a conceptual framework was constructed, identifying the relationship amongst these elements. Based on these, the metric instrument is devised using the Goal Question Metric (GQM) method. An exploratory experiment was conducted with six health-related games and five game professionals to assess the effectiveness of the instrument. It is found that the instrument can identify the successfulness of the games in terms of satisfying the three categories of needs of the carer, i.e., health, education and social, though it was suggested that a further experiment with more participants and focusing on one game would be needed to further verify the effectiveness of the instrument.

Psychological and Pedagogical Expertise of Virtual Content of Games (VR-Games)

The necessity of conducting a psychological and pedagogical expertise of the virtual content of games, assessing its impact on the psychological safety of students on the basis of the positive psychology of virtuality is substantiated. A review of studies of psychological virtual reality in modern domestic psychology is provided, its functions are determined, positive and negative characteristics of the influence of virtual content of games on personality development are described. The revealed features of virtual reality technologies open prospects for the development of the concept of psychological and pedagogical expertise of virtual content of games in the system of lifelong education.

Design of Virtual Reality-Based Hippotherapy Simulator Exergaming Software and Its Controller for Rehabilitation of Children with Cerebral Palsy in Indonesia: An Engineering Concept

Horse riding exercise, also known as hippotherapy is a popular treatment for children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, the need for trained therapist, massive land use, and expensive maintenance of the horse ranch makes hippotherapy not affordable or even available for most patients in Indonesia. This problem motivates us to consider mechanical horse riding simulator machines to replace actual horse hippotherapy. However, most patients are children and are easily bored when asked to do monotonous activities for an extended period. The room setting also does not give the patient visual inputs that usually help motivates the children in real-horse hippotherapy activities. To solve this problem, we designed an exercise game (exergaming) software which we named Sirkus Apel, providing the patients with fun activities while doing the therapy. We also design an inertial sensor-based controller that lets the patients control the in-game horse by their back movements, which also benefits CP patients. To make the visual input enjoyable to the user while also considering the user’s safety, we built a convex mirror-based dome virtual reality to provide an immersive 3-D experience. We then project the game content to the dome to provide an immersive experience to the patients making it as if they are riding a real horse inside the game.

중국 게임 <원신>의 트랜스-내셔널 스토리월드 구축

In the era of the 4th industrial revolution, it is undeniable that the cultural and economic impact of the game industry, which is the forefront industry of the IP (Intelligent Property) value chain, is becoming increasingly important. Amid this trend, identifying recent trends in the game industry and major game contents in other countries and analyzing their success factors are essential tasks for cultural content industry and its researchers. Meanwhile, China, not only as a content consumer but also as a content producer, is increasing its influence in all directions through the expansion of IT infrastructure in line with its rapid economic growth. In this context, this article targets China's open-world CCG RPG game Genshin Impact. The game emerges as an important analysis target in several contexts, including its popularity established in the global game market and its special position as a ‘Chinese game’. In terms of content creation, operation, and marketing, this article aims to analyze Genshin Impact’s Trans-nationality strategy beyond ‘Chinese characteristics’ or ‘Chinese characteristics’. Secondly, this article focus on the ‘Character Moe’ code that functions as a key mechanism of the storyworld construction and a business model of this game. Through this, this article intends to examine the reason of Genshin Impact’s global success and popularity as a trans-national storyworld.

Game-related behaviors among children and adolescents after school closure during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

Increased exposure to digital gaming content among youth in recent years has raised serious health concerns. Social restrictions such as school closures, imposed worldwide because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, may increase exposure to gaming and lead to addictive gaming behavior in young people. In this study, we investigated gaming behaviors among Japanese students during COVID-19 school closures. Students completed questionnaires regarding their living conditions, game-related behaviors, diagnosis of Internet addiction, psychological difficulties, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared differences between the responses of potentially at risk for gaming disorder (potentially at risk for gaming disorder; defined in this paper with reference to the ICD-11 MMS criteria for gaming disorder [PGD]) students who met the criteria for a diagnosis of gaming disorder in ICD-11 MMS and those of control students. Logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the extent of factors contributing to potential gaming disorder. Four thousand and forty-eight participants completed the survey. Compared with control students (93%), potentially at risk for gaming disorder (defined in this paper with reference to the ICD-11 MMS criteria for gaming disorder, PGD) students (7%) reported playing games for longer times, spending more money on in-game purchases, were of younger age at the start of game playing, showed a tendency toward Internet dependence, practised school avoidance or absenteeism, and demonstrated the need for psychological support. Moreover, participants in the PGD group reported more anxiety about COVID-19 than control participants, as well as an increase in game-playing time and amount of money spent on games during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results indicate that young people classified as having a gaming disorder not only exhibit characteristic game-related behaviors but may be psychologically and socially vulnerable and need special support, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The interplay between executive function deficits, psychopathological traits and dysfunctional gaming habits in the context of Game Transfer Phenomena

Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP) are involuntary occurrences involving video game content that some players may experience. GTP can manifest as sensory or cognitive intrusions related to a game (e.g., images, sounds or recurrent thoughts) or involuntary automatic responses such as verbal outbursts, walking towards objects or involuntary limb movements. Many GTP appear to reflect failures in attention and inhibitory control among video game players. This study examines executive function deficits, psychopathological traits, fatigue and gaming habits related to fatigue, such as poor gaming-related sleep hygiene (PGSH). The assessment methods included cognitive tasks, such as the and the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) and the Go/No-Go (GNG) task and self-reports on everyday cognitive failures (CF), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and gaming disorder (GD). A total of 247 players 18–42 years old (M = 26.57 years; standard deviation [SD] = 6.030) participated; 75.7% were male. GTP was associated with ADHD and fatigue. PGSH, cognitive failures and GD emerged as significant in the hierarchical multiple regression full model. PGSH partially mediated the relationship between GD and GTP and between cognitive failures and GTP. This study has taken initial steps towards understanding what role cognitive failures and dysfunctional gaming habits have on GTP.

A Serious Game for Improving Reading Skill of Preschoolers

Nowadays, many games are made for educational or learning purposes. However, the unresolved challenge remains, and the perfect balance between the fun and learning aspects remains. This paper represents an effort toward such a challenge by way of game difficulty dynamization implementation in a game to improve preschoolers reading skills using Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment dan Procedural Content Generation. To measure the balance of fun and learning aspects in the game, experiments were conducted involving 32 preschoolers. The proposed game can generate 10.962 game content in various difficulties and balance the fun and learning aspects according to the enjoyment factor's average value. Students could enjoy the game while significantly gaining an increase in the average reading skill, based on the t-test value and NGain value of 0.551.