Game Platform Research Articles

Embracing discord? The rhetorical consequences of gaming platforms as classrooms

• Use of the social media platform Discord has expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. • Discord's association with gaming culture and its design pose moderation challenges. • These challenges require critical digital literacy and intervention. Gaming culture and platforms are becoming more popular for educational use, a trend that has been amplified during the massive migration to online education and conferencing across institutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these repurposed tools, one of the most popular is an unassuming social platform originally associated with guild meetings and gaming communities: Discord. Using a combination of software studies and design thinking, and drawing upon the authors’ experience designing and participating in Discord communities for academic purposes including conferences and classroom usage, this work examines the rhetorical disruption this games-designated platform potentially presents to institutional spaces and expectations. These disruptions and rhetorical disconnects manifest throughout the platform, involving choices in aesthetics, logistical elements of organization and threading (or the lack thereof), and assumptions in visual communication and available rhetorics. Even without greater gamification intention, such design elements and platform affordances can offer significant potential impact on the classroom, conference, or academic organization occupying this space. These changes are not without risks: gaming platforms carry with them mechanisms for decontextualized and intertextual racism, misogyny, and the transference of toxic community norms back to the classroom.

From Gaming to Hating: Extreme‐Right Ideological Indoctrination and Mobilization for Violence of Children on Online Gaming Platforms

As a consequence of numerous extreme‐right terror attacks in which the perpetrators posted their manifestos and attack life streams on online platforms adjacent to the video gaming community, as well as radicalized within that environment to a significant degree (e.g., Christchurch, New Zealand; Halle, Germany), increasing scholarly and policymaker interest is focusing on far‐right radicalization and recruitment within online video game environments. Yet little empirical insights exist about the specific engagement between right‐wing extremists and their potential recruits on these platforms. This study presents findings from a qualitative exploration of German police‐investigation files for two children who radicalized on gaming platforms to become involved in extreme‐right criminal behavior, including the plotting of a terrorist attack. The study demonstrates the importance of online and offline factor interaction, especially regarding the role of familiar criminogenic factors, as well as the social–emotional bonding between potential recruits and extremist gamers created through shared gaming experiences that lead to high‐intensity extremist radicalization aimed at offline behavioral changes. The study did not find evidence for strategic organizational far‐right recruitment campaigns, but rather multidirectional social‐networking processes which were also initiated by the potential recruits.

استخدام وسائط كاهوت لتحسين إتقان المفردات العربية لطلاب الصف الخامس في المدرسة الإبتدائية الإسلامية الزهرة

This study aims to explain the use of the online game-based Kahoot platform that is used to improve vocabulary mastery in learning Arabic. This study uses the method of classroom action research (CAR) using the Kemmis & McTaggart model with four stages, namely planning, carrying out an action, observation or observation, and reflection, with the design used in this study on two cycles, each cycle contains two cycles. Four stages, namely: 1) planning, 2) carrying out actions, 3) observing or observing, 4) thinking. The results obtained are that the use of the online gaming platform Kahoot can facilitate students to improve vocabulary mastery in Arabic The research conducted in the first course and the second course in the fifth semester SDI Az-Zahro Gresik shows that there is an increase in the Arabic vocabulary learning outcomes in Kahoot media application where the average number of student success results in the first cycle is 70% and the results in the second cycle rise to 87%.

Accelerated MM Algorithms for Inference of Ranking Scores from Comparison Data

Accelerated Algorithms for RankingAssigning ranking scores to items based on observed comparison data (e.g., paired comparisons, choice, and full ranking outcomes) has been of continued interest in a wide range of applications, including information search, aggregation of social opinions, electronic commerce, online gaming platforms, and more recently, evaluation of machine learning algorithms. The key problem is to compute ranking scores, which are of interest for quantifying the strength of skills, relevancies, or preferences, and prediction of ranking outcomes. One of the most popular statistical models of ranking outcomes is the Bradley–Terry model for paired comparisons and its extensions to choice and full ranking outcomes. In “Accelerated MM Algorithms for Inference of Ranking Scores from Comparison Data,” M. Vojnovic, S.-Y. Yun, and K. Zhou show that a popular MM algorithm for inference of ranking scores for generalized Bradley–Terry ranking models suffers a slow convergence issue, and they propose a new accelerated algorithm that resolves this shortcoming and can yield substantial convergence speedups.

School and community drivers of child diets in two Arab cities: The SCALE protocol and innovative tools to assess children's food environments.

BackgroundIn the context of the rapid nutrition transition experienced by middle-income countries of the Arab region, children and adolescent’s food choices and dietary behaviors are early risk factors for the development of non-communicable diseases. Assessment of factors influencing food choices among this age group is challenging and is usually based on self-reported data, which are prone to information and recall bias. As the popularity of technologies and video gaming platforms increases, opportunities arise to use these tools to collect data on variables that affect food choice, dietary intake, and associated outcomes. This protocol paper describes the SCALE study (School and community drivers of child diets in Arab cities; identifying levers for intervention) which aims to explore the environments at the level of households, schools and communities in which children’s food choices are made and consequently identify barriers and enablers to healthy food choices within these environments.MethodsField studies are being conducted in primary schools, among children aged 9–12 years, in Greater Beirut, Lebanon and Greater Tunis, Tunisia. A stratified random sample of 50 primary schools (public and private) are selected and 50 children are randomly selected from grades 4-5-6 in each school. The study includes surveys with children, parents/caregivers, school directors, teachers, and nutrition/health educators to assess individual diets and the contextual factors that influence children’s food choices. Innovative locally adapted tools and methods such as game-based choice experiments, wearable cameras and neighborhood mapping are used to describe the environments in which children’s food choices are made.DiscussionThe SCALE study will generate contextual knowledge on factors in school and neighborhood environments that influence child dietary behaviors and will inform multi-level interventions and policies to address childhood malnutrition (under-and over-nutrition). By integrating methods from various disciplines, including economics, data science, nutrition, and public health and by considering factors at various levels (home, school, and neighborhood), the study will identify levers for intervention with the potential to improve children’s dietary behaviors. This will help fill existing gaps in research on food systems and consequently guide positive change in Lebanon and Tunisia, with the potential for replicability in other contexts.

The Male Domain-Digital Game-Based Learning for Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Among Young Males.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted disease, with the highest infection rates among those sexually active under 25. Although vaccination can reduce HPV cancers among men, public health interventions have primarily targeted females. Increased gaming rates among men provide innovative opportunities to motivate behavior change. This study sought to explore which game development and design strategies are most effective in a game for sexual health, specifically focused on HPV. We also sought to capture information relevant to preferred gaming platforms and game mechanics (health messages, avatars, and visual imagery). Materials and Methods: Twenty-two (n = 22) qualitative interviews were conducted with experts. Using grounded theory, interview data was coded, and emergent themes were identified. Results: Game mechanics most mentioned included simulation/role-playing, social interaction, narrative, and rewards. Experts felt it was important to keep the game in the context of the target audience and integrate the game into an existing game/game scenario or application. Experts also felt the game should link to external resources and enlist partnerships or collaborations with external health agencies. Moreover, while there are benefits to each gaming platform, games on mobile phones and tablets are most appropriate. Conclusion: Digital games are a nonconfrontational approach to discussing HPV and can increase knowledge/awareness and positively influence behavior change toward vaccine uptake. Digital games present a safe environment for role-playing through simulated activities without real-world consequences.

Soft Optoelectronic Sensors with Deep Learning for Gesture Recognition

AbstractWith the rapid development of deep learning and computing power, human–computer interactions, and interfaces are attracting attentions in industrial and academic research. Flexible human–computer interaction can greatly improve productivity and enable robots to work in extreme environments that humans cannot tolerate. The research of gesture recognition is emerging and provides a new way of studying the human–computer interactions. However, compared with the entire human body, human hands are dexterous organs with more complex and flexible joints, which makes hand gesture recognition a challenging problem. Here, a robust and cost‐effective gesture recognition system is reported through the soft optoelectronic sensors. An array of polymer‐encapsulated U‐shaped microfiber (UMF) attached to a glove is fabricated for sensitive finger motion detection. The anisotropic strain response of UMF is measured with a sensitivity of 15.98 (2.20) in the x‐direction (y‐direction). A deep learning network (VGGNet) is developed to process the optical signals for analyzing and classifying hand gestures. The experiments show that VGGNet has high recognition accuracy of 99.2% for the test datasets with ten classified gestures. This work provides a potential optical interface in studying gesture recognition and biomechanical signatures, which can also be applied in virtual reality systems and interactive game platforms.

Embracing the Metaverse: Mechanism and logic of a new digital economy

<p>The Metaverse refers to virtual world and survival vision in which human beings will be more deeply engaged. It is initiated in game platforms and based on the innovation and circulation of digital currency and dependent on the development of digital technology and devices. The Metaverse craze hit China in 2021 for various reasons, such as the systematic change of the Internet protocol due to the development of block chain technology, more involvement in virtual life due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the aggravated crisis of old global narrative, and new patterns emerging in digital economy following PC digital economy and mobile digital economy. The Metaverse economy is a new digital economy different from the previous digital economies due to the emergence of digital currency along with the development of digital legal currency, and a series of new production and business models around digital assets. What underlies this new digital economy is the fact that digital currency is no longer controversial cryptocurrency and that several central banks have agreed to issue digital legal currency. The new digital assets in the form of NFT or NFR backed by the distributed ledger technology will bring a variety of reforms in business models and big upheavals in production, circulation, and consumption patterns. The interaction between digital and physical assets will create new economies. In the Metaverse economy where recognition determines value, in terms of technology it is possible to capitalize on the values such as cultural value, historical value and aesthetic value. This will give rise to more diverse economies and expand global economy.</p>

Embracing the Metaverse: Mechanism and logic of a new digital economy

<p>The Metaverse refers to virtual world and survival vision in which human beings will be more deeply engaged. It is initiated in game platforms and based on the innovation and circulation of digital currency and dependent on the development of digital technology and devices. The Metaverse craze hit China in 2021 for various reasons, such as the systematic change of the Internet protocol due to the development of block chain technology, more involvement in virtual life due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the aggravated crisis of old global narrative, and new patterns emerging in digital economy following PC digital economy and mobile digital economy. The Metaverse economy is a new digital economy different from the previous digital economies due to the emergence of digital currency along with the development of digital legal currency, and a series of new production and business models around digital assets. What underlies this new digital economy is the fact that digital currency is no longer controversial cryptocurrency and that several central banks have agreed to issue digital legal currency. The new digital assets in the form of NFT or NFR backed by the distributed ledger technology will bring a variety of reforms in business models and big upheavals in production, circulation, and consumption patterns. The interaction between digital and physical assets will create new economies. In the Metaverse economy where recognition determines value, in terms of technology it is possible to capitalize on the values such as cultural value, historical value and aesthetic value. This will give rise to more diverse economies and expand global economy.</p>

Development of Gamification-Based Wordwall Game Platform on Reaction Rate Materials

The purpose of this study was (1) to determine the development of a wordwall game platform on the reaction rate material, (2) to determine the feasibility of a gameification-based wordwall game platform from the results of validator and respondent data. wordwall is an application that can be used as a learning media, learning resource or online-based assessment tool that is attractive to students. The advantage of this application is that it has many templates that teachers can create to develop in the form of games. Wordwall is rarely used in learning media because there has not been socialization and application in the teaching and learning process for teachers. In this study, media development was carried out using wordwall applications on chemicals, namely the reaction rate that will be studied by students. This material contains the concept of reaction rate, factors that affect reaction rate, collision theory and reaction rate equations. The novelty of this study compared to existing research is that this research develops a wordwall medium that focuses on increasing students' interest in learning materials, especially chemistry in the online-based teaching and learning process.The wordwall media validators were 2 lecturers from Nusa Cendana University and the question validators were validated by 2 teachers at SMAN 3 Sidoarjo. The trial subjects were 37 students of high school class XI at SMAN 3 Sidoarjo. The research method used is R&D from the Alessi and Trollip model. Data collection using a google form-based questionnaire filled out online and test results. The data were analyzed by qualitative descriptive and percentage calculation. The results obtained: (1) the value of the validity of the material questions is 90%, (2) the value of media validity is 94%, and (3) the student implementation test score is 81.75%.

#WhatTheSmoke: The power of popular influencers on TikTok and gaming platforms to keep youngsters away from cigarettes

#WhatTheSmoke: The power of popular influencers on TikTok and gaming platforms to keep youngsters away from cigarettes

Utilizing gamification effect through Kahoot in remote teaching of immunology: Medical students' perceptions.

Introduction: Gamification of learning is a novel pedagogical approach in education, and Kahoot is one of the game-based learning platforms widely used for formative assessments in real-time. This study aimed to explore the medical students’ perception of using Kahoot in remote learning.Methods: The mixed-method study was carried out among 72 medical students (in third-year) at Eastern University, Sri Lanka, following a formative assessment on immunology conducted via zoom video conferencing and Kahoot. The students’ perception was collected through a google form, which consisted of 13 statements with a 5-point Likert scale and an open-ended question. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney test were computed using SPSS ver. 25. A content analysis was employed to interpret the qualitative statements.Results: The participants’ age ranges from 23-28 years with male-female ratio of 1:1.57. The majority of the students felt happy (73.6%) while playing Kahoot remotely and recommended it (84.7%) for formative assessment in future. The participants agreed that Kahoot increased the focus, understanding of the subject, helped retain knowledge, motivated them to learn, provided fun during learning, and kept them active throughout. The majority of the participants agreed that Kahoot was an effective tool for distance learning. Internet connectivity and switching between two applications were identified as difficulties while playing remote mode Kahoot quizzes.Conclusion: The online gaming platform Kahoot has a positive impact on learning immunology. Kahoot maintains its fun and enjoyable nature and motivates students to learn during remote teaching of immunology.

Granting of Consent by a Child for the Processing of Their Personal Data Within the Framework of Information Society Services

For a long time, it has been observed that services available in the virtual world, such as social networks, gaming platforms, music streaming services, have attracted the interest of internet users of different ages. They include children, who require special protection as relates to the processing of their personal data. These issues have been addressed by the EU legislator in Art. 8 of GDPR2. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the solutions adopted in Article 8 GDPR and to assess their application in practice.

Specifics of teaching latin and medical terminology in medical higher educational institutions in the conditions of distance learning during mertial law

The article analyzes the main prospects for the introduction of distance learning and defines the effectiveness of electronic learning programs and devices in the educational process in medical institutions of higher education. The following components of distance learning are set: adapted electronic learning tools created by the teacher; social networking; mobile application training programs. The positive and negative aspects of using the platforms Moodle, Google Meet, educational electronic applications Kahoot!, Quizlet are described. The advantages and disadvantages of distance learning in difficult conditions, the use of educational and game platforms during the teaching of the discipline “Latin Language and Medical Terminology” are described. It is proved that in the modern information society, mobile, game, and educational applications play an important role in the process of language disciplines learning. They increase the efficiency of lexical learning, help enhance students’ cognitive activity, develop skills of creative analysis of educational material, increase interest in learning, etc. The analysis of the ways of distance learning during martial law, it was found that the introduction of electronic learning platforms in the educational process is characterized by mobility and provides an effective learning process.

The Influence of the Application of Game Based Learning (GBL) Models Assisted by the Math Games Platform on the Mathematics Learning Outcomes of Fifth Grade Elementary School Students

This study uses an experimental quantitative approach to determine whether or not there is a result of a treatment. This study aims to determine the effect of implementing the Game Based Learning (GBL) model with the help of the Math Games platform on the mathematics learning outcomes of fifth grade elementary school students. This study used the One Group Pretest-Posttest Design method, with a subject of 29 students in an elementary school in Kediri Regency which was taken through purposive sampling technique. Data collection techniques using observation and objective tests. The instrument used was a multiple choice test with 10 questions that had been tested to determine the validity and reliability of the instrument. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics with the help of SPSS for Windows version 21. Based on the results, the mean pretest score was 60.35 and the posttest average score was 85.52 with an N-gain percentage of 66%. Analysis of research data was carried out through 2 stages, namely prerequisite tests and hypothesis testing. Based on the results of the prerequisite test, it was found that the research data were normal and homogeneous (having the same variance). The results of the hypothesis analysis using the paired sample t-test show that the data significance value is 0.000, where 0.000 <0.05, which means Ho is rejected and Ha is accepted. So it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between learning outcomes before and after the implementation of the game based learning model with an average increase in learning outcomes in the medium category.

A SPECTACLE THAT REPRODUCES INEQUALITY: THE PLATFORM AND SQUID GAME

Sosyal bir gerçeklik olarak eşitsizlik, film ve dizi sektöründe sıklıkla işlenen temalardan birisidir. Bu temadan hareket eden sinema yapıtları tıpkı diğer toplumsal sorunlarda olduğu gibi eşitsizliği de kurgusal bir düzlemde ve eleştirel bakış açısıyla daha çarpıcı bir şekilde anlatmayı hedeflemektedir. Modern sinemanın 1960’larla birlikte ön plana çıkan toplumsal sorunları ve onları üreten sosyal, ekonomik ve siyasal nedenleri eleştiren yapısı, güncel yapıtlarda da kendisini gösterir. Ancak sinema, gösteri kültürü aracılığıyla eleştiri nesnesini yeniden üreten modern paradoksun içinde kalmaya devam etmektedir. Filmlerin gelişen teknoloji ve küreselleşmeyle birlikte günümüzde çok daha kitlesel bir erişim imkânına ulaşması, toplumsal sorunları konu alırken sinemanın bu sorunları yeniden üreten paradoksal mekanizmasının işlerliğini azaltmamıştır. Bu çalışmada, ilgili argümandan hareketle bir toplumsal sorun olarak eşitsizliği konu edinen ve bunu Netflix gibi yeni medya araçlarının anlık erişim hızıyla geniş kitlelere ulaştıran iki popüler yapıtın söz konusu paradoksu tekrarladığı iddia edilmektedir. Bu bağlamda çalışmada The Platform (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2019) filmi ve Squid Game (Hwang Dong-hyuk, 2021) dizisinin ilk sezonu ilgili metodoloji çerçevesinde ters üçgen yöntemi izlenerek eleştirel bir perspektiften incelenmiştir.

Dissecting Cloud Gaming Performance with DECAF

Cloud gaming platforms have witnessed tremendous growth over the past two years, with a number of large Internet companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia publicly launching their own platforms. However, there is an absence of systematic performance measurement methodologies which can generally be applied. In this paper, we implement DECAF, a methodology to systematically analyze and dissect the performance of cloud gaming platforms across different game genres and game platforms. By applying DECAF, we measure the performance of Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, and Nvidia GeForceNow, and uncover a number of important findings such as processing delays in the cloud comprise majority of the total round trip delay (≈73.54%), the video streams delivered by these platforms are characterized by high variability of bitrate, frame rate, and resolution. Our work has important implications for cloud gaming platforms and opens the door for further research on measurement methodologies for cloud gaming.

End-to-end Characterization of Game Streaming Applications on Mobile Platforms

With the advent of 5G, hosting high-quality game streaming applications on mobile devices has become a reality. To our knowledge, no prior study systematically investigates the < QoS, Energy > tuple on the end-to-end game streaming pipeline across the cloud, network, and edge devices to understand the individual contributions of the different pipeline stages. In this paper, we present a comprehensive performance and power analysis of the entire game streaming pipeline through extensive measurements with a high-end workstation mimicking the cloud end, an open-source platform (Moonlight-GameStreaming) emulating the edge device/mobile platform, and two network settings (WiFi and 5G). Our study shows that the rendering stage and the encoding stage at the cloud end are the bottlenecks for 4K streaming. While 5G is certainly more suitable for supporting enhanced video quality with 4K streaming, it is more expensive in terms of power consumption compared to WiFi. Further, the network interface and the decoder units in mobile devices need more energy-efficient design to support high quality games at a lower cost. These observations should help in designing more cost-effective future cloud gaming platforms.

MySmartE – An eco-feedback and gaming platform to promote energy conserving thermostat-adjustment behaviors in multi-unit residential buildings

In this paper, we present a first-time cloud-based eco-feedback and gaming platform that aims to promote energy conserving thermostat-adjustment behaviors in multi-unit residential buildings. To achieve this goal, we introduce a new modeling approach for personalized eco-feedback design integrated with a collaborative social game to assist residents enhance their thermostat use while promoting community-level energy savings. Our modeling framework is integrated into a cloud-based application, MySmartE, with visual (wall-mounted tablet) and voice (Alexa) user interfaces to facilitate behavioral changes in a user-centric approach. The platform is deployed in a multi-unit residential community in Fort Wayne, IN, and data from the field study are used to investigate: (i) how occupants' thermostat behaviors changed after using the MySmartE app; (ii) how users interacted with the app during the game; and (iii) how was users' experience with the developed platform. Despite the heterogeneous characteristics of households, the results from the field study showed the positive effect of the intervention in the thermostat-adjustment behaviors, which resulted in an increase in the indoor temperature during the cooling season compared to the baseline. Findings from the user interaction analysis and post-experiment interviews also revealed the significant potential to nudge households’ energy conservation behaviors with the developed platform along with the challenges that should be tackled to derive long-term behavior changes.

Impact Study of the Learning Effects and Motivation of Competitive Modes in Gamified Learning

At a time when game-based learning has become a research hotspot, this study focused on the competition mechanism in gamified learning, aiming to explore the impact of different competition modes on students’ vocabulary learning effect and learning motivation. A group of 79 sixth grade students from China were randomly assigned to a non-competitive class, an individual competition class, and an inter-group competition class. The experiment was conducted in an English vocabulary course, and the game competition was carried out using the Quizlet Live game platform. The results indicated that: (1) the vocabulary learning effect and motivation of students in the competitive classes (individual competition and inter-group competition) were better than those in the non-competitive class; (2) the learning effect of students in the inter-group competitive class outperformed that of the individual competitive class, but there was no significant difference in learning motivation. Through the qualitative analysis of the students’ interviews, it was found that the results of inter-group competition may be related to the student’s perception of learning and emotional support. The findings of this study can provide relevant support for the subsequent game-based learning design.