Game Preferences Research Articles

Designing Video Games for Nutrition Education: A Participatory Approach

ObjectiveTo describe the participatory approach used to inform the development of a video game designed to increase children's nutrition knowledge. The objectives were to (1) assess children's nutrition areas of focus, (2) explore parents’ and children's perceptions of video games for nutrition education, and (3) collect information on children's video game preferences. DesignQualitative research design using 10 focus group interviews and 5 workshops. Children's nutrition knowledge and game player type were assessed by questionnaires. SettingSouth Island, New Zealand. ParticipantsSixty-two primary school children, aged 7–11 years. Ten parents completed an online questionnaire. Phenomenon of InterestParticipatory approach in designing digital nutrition education resources. AnalysisA general inductive approach was used to develop the themes. ResultsThe following 3 themes were identified through thematic analysis: (1) positive impacts associated with video games for nutrition education, (2) factors for engagement, and (3) barriers for sustained use. Conclusions and ImplicationsBoth children and parents perceived that video games offered an avenue to increase nutrition knowledge. However, negative views such as screen time usage need to be addressed before widespread adoption. The participatory design approach provided information about game mechanics that will inspire the game design and enhance engagement of video games for nutrition education.

Theory and experiments on network games of public goods: inequality aversion and welfare preference

In this paper, we investigate social preferences in network games, where the network structure determines whose action affects the payoff of which player. We develop alternative theories that incorporate inequality aversion and welfare preference into the context of dominant-strategy network games, and test their implications in laboratory experiments. When the economic return is relatively low, we observe that subjects contribute more than the amount that would maximize their monetary profit; moreover, subjects at the central network positions contribute more than those at the periphery. These anomalies suggest that subject behavior is mainly driven by the welfare preference and not as much by either inequality aversion or self-interest, regardless of the network structures considered. In a supplemental experiment with an increased economic return, we find that the advantage of social preferences over self-interest in driving individual activities varies with the underlying network architecture. We also estimate the behavioral parameters and interpret the results in relation to the network topology.

Rationalization as a Dissonance Management Strategy among Electronic Gambling Machine Players

Erroneous gambling-related beliefs are well researched in light of their association with problem gambling, with some research suggesting these beliefs also serve as justifications for gambling behaviour. The process of justification (i.e., rationalization) can provide insights into how those who gamble resolve dissonance resulting from persistent loss in the gambling context. Using in-depth interviews of 43 participants who identified electronic gambling machines as their preferred game type and were either experiencing gambling problems or were at risk of developing a problem, this study details how dissonance is managed through rationalizations in line with the Dawson (1999) framework. This framework is based on research of religious groups surviving prophetic disconfirmation and is employed here to highlight the contextual and socio-cultural underpinnings of rationalizations along with their supernatural and pseudo-religious qualities. Rationalizations reflect broader socio-cultural beliefs around morality, work, speculation, perseverance, and the supernatural. Implications for treatment are discussed.

A comprehensive player types model: player head

ABSTRACT Almost in every aspect of life, classification and categorization make it easier for humans to analyze complex structures and systems. In games, the classification of the players based on their demographics, behaviors, expectations and preferences of the game is important to increase players’ motivation and satisfaction. Likewise, knowing the students’ game and learning preferences may help design effective educational games. The player Head Model is introduced in this article to determine the similarities and differences of the game players by synthesizing various models from gaming and learning. It classifies players into seven types as entertainer, strategic, leader, tester, artistic, researcher, and socializer. This study is a systematic literature review were based on the existing literature, observations, and assumptions of various studies. Therefore, future experimental research studies on this model can be done to generalize the presented model.

Winning isn't everything: The impact of optimally challenging smartphone games on flow, game preference and individuals gaming to escape aversive bored states

Recently there has been concern surrounding the relation between flow and the development of problematic gaming among players who game to escape noxious mood states. There is a scarcity of research examining how this relation might extend to smartphone games. Here we assessed whether gaming to escape is characterized by heightened boredom proneness and depressive symptomology in everyday life in addition to negative consequences related to smartphone gaming. We also assessed whether escape players preferentially experience flow, positive affect and effectively less boredom than non-escape players. We also measured whether escape players had enhanced arousal and urge during actual gameplay. To compare the in-game experiences between escape and non-escape players, we characterized gaming to escape as the upper tercile of all escape scores in our sample (n = 20), and non-escape players as the lower tercile of escape scores (n = 20). As expected we showed that gaming to escape was associated with boredom proneness in everyday life, which was in itself correlated with depressive symptomology. During gameplay, those who game to escape boredom demonstrated heightened flow and positive affect compared to non-escape players. State boredom scores however were comparable between the two groups. Importantly, those who game to escape demonstrated greater arousal and urge-to-play following gameplay than non-escape players – but only for optimally challenging games. Findings converge to suggest that bored escape players may seek flow and its consequent positive affect for relief from states of hypo-arousal and monotony through optimally challenging games.

Investigation of Online Game Preferences with Online Game Disorders of High School Students

Bu araştırmada, lise öğrencilerinin çevrimiçi oyun tercihlerinin belirlenmesi ve çevrimiçi oyun oynama bozukluklarının farklı değişkenlere göre incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırma ilişkisel tarama modeline uygun olarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın katılımcılarını 2019-2020 öğretim yılında Sakarya ilinde bulunan iki farklı özel okulda öğrenim gören 255 lise öğrencisi oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada “İnternet Oyun Oynama Bozukluğu Ölçeği Kısa Formu (İOOBÖ9-KF)” kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonunda lise öğrencilerinin çevrimiçi oyun oynama bozukluklarının olmadığı, erkek öğrencilerin kız öğrencilere göre çevrimiçi oyunu oynama bozukluklarının daha yüksek olduğu görülmüştür. Lise öğrencilerinin çevrimiçi oyunu oynama bozukluklarının öğrenim gördükleri sınıf düzeyleri ve evlerinde bilgisayarı olup olmama durumları açısından da anlamlı bir farklılık göstermediği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Ayrıca çevrimiçi ortamlarda oyun oynayan lise öğrencilerinin en çok Savaş ve FPS türlerini tercih ettikleri sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Does mutual knowledge of preferences lead to more Nash equilibrium play? Experimental evidence

Nash equilibrium often does not seem to accurately predict behavior. In experimental game theory, it is usually assumed that the monetary payoffs in the game represent subjects’ utilities. However, subjects may actually play a very different game. In this case, mutual knowledge of preferences may not be satisfied. In our experiment, we first elicit subjects’ preferences over the monetary payoffs for all players. This allows us to identify equilibria in the games that subjects actually are playing (the preference games). We then examine whether revealing other subjects’ preferences leads to more equilibrium play and find that this information indeed has a significant effect. Furthermore, it turns out that subjects are more likely to play maxmin and maxmax strategies than Nash equilibrium strategies.

The Importance of Betting Early

We evaluate the impact of timing on decision outcomes when both the timing and the relevant decision are chosen under uncertainty. Sports betting provides the testing ground, as we exploit an original dataset containing more than one million online bets on games of the Italian Major Soccer League. We find that individuals perform systematically better when they place their bets farther away from the game day. The better performance of early bettors holds controlling for (time-invariant) unobservable ability, learning during the season, and timing of the odds. We attribute this result to the increase of noisy information on game day, which hampers the capacity of late (non-professional) bettors to use very simple prediction methods, such as team rankings or last game results. We also find that more successful bettors tend to bet in advance, focus on a smaller set of events, and prefer games associated with smaller betting odds.

The use of serious digital games in the peer violence prevention

The topic of aggressive behavior of school children and teenagers in relation to computer games is quite popular. There is a large number of studies which show a clear relationship between the frequency of playing computer games and the preference for violent games and various aggressive behaviors. Slightly less space is devoted to the positive effect of games, its educational and preventive potential, and especially to the use of computer games in the prevention of violence. Meanwhile, for some time now, new technologies, in particular serious games, have started to be included in preventive programs. The aim of the article is to draw attention to the possible use of serious digital games in the prevention of peer violence. The subject will be the analysis of their potential, with emphasis on solutions that can be used in the prevention of peer violence, both “traditional” and electronic, and the effects that can be achieved thanks to such games. Serious games can be used to raise awareness, induce empathy, and teach strategies for coping with the experience of victimization as well as witnessing violence. This issue is of particular importance from the point of view of the contemporary education of children and youth.

Violent acts ((Online)Games)

The depiction of violence is the focus of many content analyses of video games. Typically, the occurrence and nature of acts of violence or aggression are coded to quantify the amount of violent content in a particular game. Field of application/theoretical foundation: Quantifying the amount of violence in video games can inform media effects research that looks at the relationship between the exposure to violent video game content and aggression. This allows for more precise measures and hypotheses than simply coding a game as violent or nonviolent which is often done in experimental research in this area. What is commonly coded in content analyses of violent content in video games is the number and nature of aggressive or violent actions. Specific attributes of these acts, such as their realism, graphicness or (narrative) justification (Tamborini et al., 2013) are only considered in a few studies (e.g., Lachlan et al., 2005). While the focus in most studies is on acts of physical aggression/violence in interactions with/between game characters, there are also studies that have investigated verbal aggression between players (Holz Ivory et al., 2017). References/combination with other methods of data collection: Content analysis of violence in video games can be complemented by survey data asking players about the games they play and their rating of the degree of violence they contain and/or age rating from institutions like ESRB or PEGI (see Busching et al., 2015). Example studies Coding material Measure Operationalization Unit(s) of analysis Source(s) (reported reliability of coding) Video recording of playing session Number and duration of violent interactions (attacking and being attacked) (a) combat: “periods of playing time in which a player [i.e., the character controlled by the player] fires his gun” (p. 1021) (b) “under attack–the player is attacked by an opponent before or after using his own weapon” (p. 1022) Distinct phases/events in up to 12 minutes of solo play of the first-person shooter game Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror Weber et al., 2009 (Cohen’s kappa = 0.81) Video recording of the whole game Depictions of injury (present/not present) “An injured or dead character lying on the ground or remnants of blood from a known violent act” (p. 403) 1-second intervals of the game recordings Thompson et al., 2006 (Cohen’s kappa = 0.93) Video recording of the whole game Depictions of violent acts (present/not present) “Intentional acts in which the aggressor causes or attempts to cause physical injury or death to another character” (p. 403) 1-second intervals of the game recordings Thompson et al., 2006 (Cohen’s kappa = 0.93) Video recording of the first 10 minutes of gameplay Depicted harm/pain (none, mild, moderate, extreme) in aggressive exchanges between in-game characters “physical injury or incapacitation of the victim” (p. 64) “an aggressive exchange that occurs between a perpetrator (P) engaging in a particular type of act (A) against a target (T)” (p. 63) Smith et al., 2003 (coefficient according to “Potter and Levine-Donnerstein's (1999) reliability formula for multiple coders”, p. 65: 0.87)

Parents' Perceptions on Barriers and Facilitators of Physical Activity among Schoolchildren: A Qualitative Study.

Given that physical activity (PA) plays an important role in early childhood, understanding the factors that affect the practice of PA at an early age could help develop effective strategies for overcoming barriers and increasing activity levels in this age group. A qualitative study was conducted based on grounded theory aimed at exploring the perceptions of mothers and fathers from Cuenca and Ciudad Real (Castilla La Mancha, Spain) regarding barriers and facilitators of physical activity of their children during the adiposity rebound period. Data were collected using focus groups involving 46 parents of children in the 3rd grade of pre-school and 1st grade of elementary school. During the analysis, the socio-ecological model and grounded theory were used. The barriers encountered were the preferences of children for sedentary activities (individual factors), academic tasks as a main priority of parents, the influence of older siblings and the unfavorable school environment (microsystem), the lack of family conciliation (mesosystem), and barriers related to the built environment or lack of facilities for physical activity (exosystem). Facilitators were the preferences for active games (individual factors), parental models including the co-participation of parents in activities, the influence of friends, living in large homes, the support provided by teachers and the school (microsystem), living in rural areas, having sufficient facilities, favorable weather conditions (exosystem), and the existence of free or subsidized activities (macro system). Programs aimed at promoting PA in early childhood should include strategies that address contextual factors and not only focus on individual factors related to the child.

Game analysis on constructing the model of an international carbon emissions trading model

Constructing a model for international carbon emissions trading is an effective method to curb global warming through a market mechanism. Although the international carbon emissions market generates substantial profits, the relevant trading mechanism has been far from perfect. The perfect mechanism for international carbon emissions trading should be a revealing preference game. In other words, only if all players in this game truly show their information and preferences can the Nash outcome be Pareto efficient and fair. China should actively participate in the international carbon emissions trading game; promote efficiency, justice, rationality, and the quality of being manipulation-free in the carbon emissions market; and play a more important role in perfecting the international carbon emissions trading mechanism.

Pharmacy student experience, preference, and perceptions of gaming and game-based learning

IntroductionThe incorporation of serious games in higher education has shown improvement in student engagement and motivation to learn. Research that explores local pharmacy student preferences of gamification aspects of serious games is scarce. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate local pharmacy student experience, preference, and perceptions of gaming and game-based learning. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing self-administered questionnaires among pharmacy students in Malaysia. Descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney test, the Kruskal–Wallis test, and the Spearman's correlation test were used for analysis. ResultsA total of 328 pharmacy students enrolled in this study, and 84.1% (n = 276) had video game experience. Students usually played video games using mobile phones (n = 231, 70%). Pharmacy students showed positive perceptions regarding serious games with a mean score of 3.69. However, limited awareness and knowledge of serious games was observed among pharmacy students. The most preferred game genres were role-playing and strategy (n = 174, 53%). Pharmacy students also preferred playing a cooperative game style (n = 113, 34.5%) with scores as a reward system (n = 204, 62.6%). Over three quarters (n = 292, 89.3%) wanted to see the results of the assessment after the game. ConclusionsThis research provided information on serious games preferences of local pharmacy students. Further study should evaluate the acceptance and effectiveness of the implementation of serious games among pharmacy students in Malaysia.

Perception of Game-Based Rehabilitation in Upper Limb Prosthetic Training: Survey of Users and Researchers.

BackgroundSerious games have been investigated for their use in multiple forms of rehabilitation for decades. The rising trend to use games for physical fitness in more recent years has also provided more options and garnered more interest for their use in physical rehabilitation and motor learning. In this study, we report the results of an opinion survey of serious games in upper limb prosthetic training.ObjectiveThis study investigates and contrasts the expectations and preferences for game-based prosthetic rehabilitation of people with limb difference and researchers.MethodsBoth participant groups answered open and closed questions as well as a questionnaire to assess their user types. The distribution of the user types was compared with a Pearson chi-square test against a sample population. The data were analyzed using the thematic framework method; answers fell within the themes of usability, training, and game design. Researchers shared their views on current challenges and what could be done to tackle these.ResultsA total of 14 people with limb difference and 12 researchers participated in this survey. The open questions resulted in an overview of the different views on prosthetic training games between the groups. The user types of people with limb difference and researchers were both significantly different from the sample population, with χ25=12.3 and χ25=26.5, respectively.ConclusionsWe found that the respondents not only showed a general willingness and tentative optimism toward the topic but also acknowledged hurdles limiting the adoption of these games by both clinics and users. The results indicate a noteworthy difference between researchers and people with limb difference in their game preferences, which could lead to design choices that do not represent the target audience. Furthermore, focus on long-term in-home experiments is expected to shed more light on the validity of games in upper limb prosthetic rehabilitation.

Innovating Occupational Safety Training: A Scoping Review on Digital Games and Possible Applications in Agriculture.

Digital games have been successfully applied in different working sectors as an occupational safety training method, but with a very limited application in agriculture. In agriculture and other productive sectors, unintentional injuries tend to occur with similar dynamics. A literature review was carried out to understand how occupational risks are addressed during game-based safety training in different productive sectors and how this can be transferred to agriculture. Literature about “serious game” and “gamification” as safety training methods was searched in WEB OF SCIENCE, SCOPUS, PUBMED and PsycINFO databases. In the forty-two publications retained, the computer was identified as the most adopted game support, whereas “points”, “levels”, “challenges” and “discovery” were the preferred game mechanics. Moreover, an association can be detected between the game mechanics and the elements developed in the game. Finally, during the game assessment, much positive feedback was collected and the games proved to be able to increase the operators’ skills and safety knowledge. In light of the results, insights are provided to develop an effective, satisfying and engaging safety game training for workers employed in agriculture. Games can be best used to learn and they are certain to improve over the next few years.

Strong Shot, a Student Centred Designed Videogame for Learning English Vocabulary

Most of current vocabulary games are simplistic and do not meet student’s game preferences. Students are considered digital natives since they have grown up among technology. Thus, they have other preferences that past generations did not have. Consequently, a student centred video game may be a suitable methodology for learning English while meeting those preferences and needs. This paper presents a student centred designed video game as a strategy for learning and rehearsing English vocabulary and shows the process of development based on the active participation of a group of secondary students. Furthermore, a game experience evaluation conducted involving a second group of secondary students is presented. The evaluation confirmed that besides a good story, video game aesthetics also play a crucial role to motivate and engage students. The evaluation also showed that new strategies to present game story should be considered, since intended audience has a very limited English knowledge.

Beyond action video games: Differences in gameplay and ability preferences among gaming genres

This paper collated and analysed information regarding the abilities, gameplay and game genre preferences perceived to be important by amateur gamers and whether these perceptions differed based on several criteria, including time spent gaming and the types of games people played. First-person Shooter (FPS), Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) and Real-time Strategy (RTS) games were examined among a sample of 301 gamers (262 male) at the PAX East gaming festival. Participant’s perceptions of the importance of and preference for a subset of gameplay attributes were assessed through a survey and compared with the game genre individuals reported playing most. MOBA and FPS gamers were found to have similar preferences for competitive and fast paced games requiring quick and precise actions, while strategy was preferred for RTS. Preference and the perceived importance of tactical aspects of FPS and MOBA games were found to be unimportant, contradicting their current prominence in esports. Our findings suggest that the current treatment of RTS games in esports research as an action video game is possibly flawed and they should not be grouped with MOBA/FPS games.

Game preferences of K-12 level students: analysis and prediction using the association rule

Many different tools have accompanied the self-realization processes of human beings such as love, belonging, respect, socialization and gaining new experiences. These tools have differentiated depending on the development in science and technology or have been replaced by new tools. Games, on the other hand, have been constantly renewed by this process and have survived until today and have become an important industry today. In addition, games have become a frequent part of learning environment designs recently. Accordingly, the need for outstanding educational game designs has increased. Many game design models have been introduced to guide educational game designs for this need. However, following these models does not guarantee that the games provide an enjoyable learning experience. Therefore, a roadmap is needed for the design process as well as models. In line with this stated need, the game preferences of the students were examined within the scope of the research. After the examinations, a roadmap was presented based on the similarities and differences of students' game preferences.

Behavior Correlation between Games in First-Person Shooter Genre based on Personality Traits

Abstract Recently, video games became an increasingly popular pastime. Nevertheless, there is little research conducted to see the relationship between personality and preferences for first-person shooter (FPS) video games. We would like to know what this kind of games is can drive a violent behavior. On the other hand, in the field of personality psychology, there is consistent research that personality traits can clustered into 5 high-level factors, called as the Big Five Personality Factors. This study would like to examine whether personality traits affect preference in FPS games. We conducted the research by asking participants to fill out a questionnaire containing personality traits test based on Big Five Personality and a questionnaire about FPS games played to identified player’s game preference. From the data, we investigated the behavior correlation between FPS games based on personality traits. There were 62 participants who like to play video games on this research. Only 29 participants like and play FPS games. It showed that participants already have different preference for games based on their personality traits. On FPS players who like Counter Strike Global Offensive (CSGO) have interesting patterns, that is very low Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientious, Openness, but higher neuroticism when compared to other players.

Estimating Social Preferences Using Stated Satisfaction: Novel Support for Inequity Aversion

In this paper, we use stated satisfaction to estimate social preferences: subjects report their satisfaction with payment-profiles that hold their own payment constant while varying another subject's payment. This approach yields significant support for the inequity aversion model of Fehr and Schmidt (1999). This model is among the most renowned in behavioral economics, positing a generalized aversion to inequality that is stronger when one's own payoff is lower–rather than higher–than others'; i.e., is stronger than guilt. While aggregate-level estimates based on revealed preferences in laboratory games have supported the model, the assumption that guilt is stronger than envy is often violated at the individual level. This paradox may be due to limitations of the revealed-preference approach. An advantage of avoiding games is that eliciting stated satisfaction is relatively easy to implement and is less prone to being confounded with motives like reciprocity; also the absence of tradeoffs between own and others' payoffs is cognitively less demanding for subjects. Our unstructured approach does not limit the expression of social preferences to inequity aversion, yet our methodology yields significant support for it. At the individual level, 86% of subjects exhibit at least as strong envy as guilt, and 76% (65%) of subjects weakly (strongly) adhere to the model. Our individual-level estimates are robust to changing the value of one's own constant payment and to changing the range of the other subject's payments. Methodologically, eliciting satisfaction can be an easy-to-implement complement to choice-based preference-measures in contexts other than social preferences that are of interest to economists.