Individual Game Research Articles

تركيب الجسم والتمثيل الغذائي خلال الراحة لدى لاعبي فرق الألعاب الجماعية والفردية في جامعة النجاح الوطنية

The purpose of this study was to investigate body composition and resting metabolic rate among team and individual games players at An-Najah National University. The sample of the study consisted of (32) players, and Tanita TBF-410 Bioelectrical impedance analyzer (BIA) was used to determine variables. The result revealed a good level of body composition and resting metabolic rate among team and individual games players at An-Najah National University. Furthermore, the results indicated a significant difference in body mass index and percent of body fat between team and individual games players in favor of team players. Also, the results indicated that there were no significant differences in the other variable between team and individual games players. هدفت الدراسة التعرف الى مستوى قياسات تركيب الجسم والتمثيل الغذائي خلال الراحة لدى لاعبي فرق الألعاب الجماعية والفردية في جامعة النجاح الوطنية، كذلك التعرف الى الفروق في قياسات تركيب الجسم والتمثيل الغذائي خلال الراحة بين لاعبي فرق الألعاب الفردية والجماعية، ولتحقيق ذلك أجريت الدراسة على عينة قوامها (32) لاعبا، (16) لاعبا من فرق الألعاب الجماعية و(16) لاعبا من فرق الألعاب الفردية. وتم قياس متغيرات الدراسة باستخدام جهاز تانتا (Tanita- TBF- 410) في مختبر القياس الرياضي في كلية التربية الرياضية بجامعة النجاح الوطنية، وأظهرت نتائج الدراسة وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين لاعبي الألعاب الجماعية والفردية في متغيري (مؤشر كتلة الجسم ونسبة الشحوم ولصالح فرق الألعاب الجماعية في حين لا يوجد فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية في المتغيرات الاخرى (التمثيل الغذائي خلال الراحة ،وكتلة الشحوم، والكتلة الخالية من الشحوم وكتلة الماء).

Comparison of physical fitness variables between individual games and team games athletes

The aim of the study was to investigate the significant differences of selected physical fitness variables between individual games and team games athletes. A group of 30 sportspersons A (Individual games athletes: N=15) and B (Team games athletes=15) of age group 18-25 years were selected from department of physical education (T), Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India. It was hypothesized that there may be significant differences with regard to selected physical fitness variables among individual and team games athletes. The between-group differences were assessed by using an independent samples t-test. The level of p≤0.01 was considered significant. An independent samples t-test revealed that individual games athletes had significantly higher muscular strength, agility, power, speed and cardiovascular endurance (p<0.01) than team games athletes. Further investigations are needed on the above studied variables along with physiological variables to assess relationships among them and with performances in team games and individual games athletes.

Comparison of physical fitness variables between individual games and team games athletes

Comparison of physical fitness variables between individual games and team games athletes

Evaluation of Exercise Intensity and Energy Expenditure of Wii Fit Games

The increasing trend of obesity and participation in daily gaming and technology use has lead the video gaming industry to develop new ways for individuals to become physically active. Previous research has reported that Wii Fit meets minimal criteria for exercise intensity, but this research did not analyze individual game choice or physiological data. PURPOSE: To examine selection rate and physiological demand of individual Wii Fit activities during 30 minutes of Wii Fit play. METHODS: Twelve healthy, physically active females (21 ±1.6 years, 65.9 ±16.9 kg, 1.68 ±0.08 m, 41.2 ±7.1 ml/kg/min) completed a graded exercise test to determine level of cardiovascular fitness (VO2max) and maximum heart rate (HRmax). Following two orientation trials, participants completed 30 minutes of self-selected cardiovascular activity using the Wii Fit to assess energy expenditure, VO2, HR, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and duration. RESULTS: Of the seven activities selected, Basic Run was significantly greater in %VO2max for all activities. Basic Run also demonstrated higher caloric utilization and absolute VO2 compared to all activities except Rhythm Boxing. Hula Hoop and Basic Step both displayed shorter game duration, 1.2 ± 0.1 and 2.1 ± 0.7 minutes respectively, and the lowest RPE scores, 7.6 ± 3.1 and 7.4 ± 2.5 respectively. Boxing was the only activity with significantly higher RPE scores, 15.0 ± 1.4. CONCLUSIONS: The increased metabolic load resulting from the Basic Run was likely a result of the increased total body movement required to run in place. Hula Hoop and Basic Step typically had the lowest values for almost all of the physiological variables. This was most likely due to the short duration of the game, resulting in less actual activity performed. Boxing was the only activity that resulted in a significantly higher RPE, despite lack of significant differences in metabolic variables. Perhaps this increased RPE is a result of the increased use of upper body musculature and the need for more powerful movements with the arms. These results suggest that interactive gaming may be used as a starting point or supplement for physical activity, but one should be mindful to select an activity that requires significant upper and lower body movement to increase intensity and energy expenditure.

A Closer Look at the Tax Incidence of Instant Lottery Games: An Analysis by Price Point

The tax incidence of different price-point instant lottery games is examined. Theoretical reasons exist for expecting higher-priced instant lottery games to be less regressive than lower-priced instant games. Using game-level data from a sample of states, the empirical results show that higher-priced instant games are significantly less regressive than lower-priced games. For some games, regressivity is rejected in favor of proportionality. In addition, the tax incidence of individual instant games is quite different than that for all instant games combined. This suggests that large differences in individual instant-game tax incidence are masked if aggregated sales data are used.

Análisis de la relación entre preferencia lúdica y la estructura de las actividades programadas en festivales lúdico-deportivos. (Analysis of the relationship between playing preference and the structure of the programed activities in recreational-athletic festivals)

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between playing preference of the participants in a festival of games and the internal logic of the proposals. The consistency between the range of activities and the expectations of the participants is an index for measuring the quality of any event. Therefore, self-report of preferences about internal aspects of motor games was provided by 369 participants at the International Games Festival at Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2007. The results were compared by a descriptive study utilizing a praxiological analysis of the 187 games planned by the festival organizing committee. The results indicate that the playing preference of respondents is not consistent with the internal analysis of games organized by the Festival. Respondents preferred sociomotor team games and fun is more important to them than the result or winning games. However, the games proposed by the festival are individual games with few motor elements between the players.

Convex and exact games with non-transferable utility

We generalize exactness to games with non-transferable utility (NTU). A game is exact if for each coalition there is a core allocation on the boundary of its payoff set. Convex games with transferable utility are well-known to be exact. We consider five generalizations of convexity in the NTU setting. We show that each of ordinal, coalition merge, individual merge and marginal convexity can be unified under NTU exactness. We provide an example of a cardinally convex game which is not NTU exact. Finally, we relate the classes of Π-balanced, totally Π-balanced, NTU exact, totally NTU exact, ordinally convex, cardinally convex, coalition merge convex, individual merge convex and marginal convex games to one another.

Large vertebrate responses to forest cover and hunting pressure in communal landholdings and protected areas of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

AbstractAlthough tropical forest vertebrate populations are often heavily impacted by both habitat loss and subsistence hunting, in many human‐dominated landscapes their fate depends on the wider habitat matrix outside protected areas. This study used line‐transect surveys to examine patterns of vertebrate species richness and encounter rates (ER) throughout Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula across a broad spectrum of anthropogenic forest disturbances. Censuses were carried out at eight forest sites, including two localities within the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, a communally managed protected area, a private forest reserve and three communal‐tenure landholding units. Species richness increased with increasing forest cover in the surrounding landscape, but was not affected by the degree of hunting pressure. Responses to different forms of disturbance varied markedly across species and functional groups. Aggregate ER of old‐growth specialists were positively correlated with forest cover, but unrelated to hunting pressure. Hunting pressure was strongly related to aggregate ER of game species, particularly of preferred prey, and a meta‐analysis of species‐specific correlations showed a significant effect of hunting pressure on the ER across individual game species. Sampling within old‐growth forest of Sian Ka'an yielded relatively high ER for almost all species. In comparison, low ER were obtained for several species at Sian Ka'an sites consisting of a higher proportion of open habitat. Landholding units showed low relative abundances, but species ER varied depending on disturbance type. The communally managed reserve exhibited high ER for both game and non‐game species. Synthesis of these results with comparable data from 19 additional Mesoamerican sites shows that species‐specific ER found across the Yucatan Peninsula are within the ranges observed elsewhere, with a consistent pattern of lower abundances in hunted sites. It is critical that private, communal and public‐sector reserves are integrated into a coordinated management approach across the wider landscape in this biodiversity hotspot and throughout the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

Achievement motivation and locus of control of university level individual and team sport players- A prognostic study

The aim of this study is to find out the significant differences among the players of individual and team sports, on the variable achievement motivation and locus of control. A group of three hundred and fifty (N=350) male players of individual and team sports, aged between 20 to 25 years were purposively selected for this study. They were further divided into two groups: A (individual game) and B (team game). It was hypothesized that there may not be significant differences with regard to achievement motivation and locus of control among individual and team game players. The significance between-group differences were assessed using the student’s t-test for dependent data. The level of p < .05 was considered significant. Significance between group differences were found among the players of individual and team sports on the variable achievement motivation whereas no significance between group differences were found among the players of individual and team sports on the variable locus of control. Considering the various parameters as applied on different sets of subjects the results prove to be variant in nature and scope in relation to achievement motivation whereas results prove to be identical in respect to locus of control. Key words: Achievement motivation, locus of control, individual sport, team sport.

Short-Run Demand and Uncertainty of Outcome in Major League Baseball

This article explores the importance of uncertainty in athletic contests. We use a probit model and Monte Carlo simulations to forecast game outcomes in Major League Baseball. Simulations are necessary to understand fully the preferences that consumers have towards uncertainty in sports. We use these simulations to estimate demand using attendance data for regular season games. Our findings show that when game, playoff, and consecutive season uncertainty measures are all included in estimating attendance for individual games, only the metrics that are related to the home team’s standing are significant. These metrics include the change in performance from the previous season and the importance of the game in qualifying for the playoffs.

OWN- AND CROSS-PRICE ELASTICITIES FOR GAMES WITHIN A STATE LOTTERY PORTFOLIO

I. INTRODUCTION The prevalence and growth of lotteries around the world is typically explained in terms of the desire of governments to identify new sources of revenue without recourse to new or higher taxes. Thus, in most developed countries, specialist public agencies have been created and now offer a wide variety of lottery games to suit the tastes of players, seeking to maximize revenue for the state or its nominated organizations (such as those promoting sport). But the potential and performance of this source of revenue still needs to be better understood. In particular, as agencies have expanded the number of games on offer, there has been little analysis undertaken concerning the structure of the portfolio of games available. Looking at one game in isolation, the dominant approach in previous lottery studies, runs the risk of yielding recommendations (on, e.g., take-out) that are suboptimal because they fail to take into account impacts on sales of other lottery products (if these prove to be either substitutes or complements). The Spanish lottery agency, Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (LAE), one of the biggest in the world, has followed international practice in expanding the number of games in its portfolio over time. Its first lotto product, La Primitiva, was launched in 1985; Bonoloto was added in 1988; and El Gordo de la Phmitiva followed in 1993. Extra drawings of individual games were also introduced to present players with greater choice over when, as well as how, to play. It is the relationship between these various game offerings that is explored in this article. (1) All three games have long odds against winning the biggest prize (2) and in each case this generates frequent rollovers, permitting spectacular jackpots to accumulate on occasions. Thus, even though take-out rates are uniform across the games, there may be very substantial variation from week to week in the relative value for money available at each draw of each game. It depends on which games have accumulated large rollovers. Because the games are drawn on adjacent days over the course of a week, and are widely available through the same retail networks, they may then be expected to be revealed as either substitutes or complements by modeling of the response of sales of each product to the set of expected values of tickets available that week. Whether the relationship between games is that of substitutes or complements (and the strength of the relationship), it has implications for the pricing and marketing of the games offered by the lottery agency. According to standard economic usage, the definition of substitutes (or complements) depends on the sign of the cross-price elasticity. This study uses draw-by-draw data to examine the sign of the cross-price elasticities among Spanish lotto games and therefore to determine whether these games are substitutes or complements. Following practice since Clotfelter and Cook (1987) and Gulley and Scott (1993), in the lottery literature is usually identified with the expected loss from the purchase of a single ticket. This is termed price and it will vary with the pattern of rollovers even if the nominal entry fee for a game is held constant. Here in the Spanish case, there is the complication that two changes in the nominal entry fee were in fact introduced during the data period. We will therefore model demand for each game as a function of its own effective per euro paid for a ticket and of the (similarly defined) effective prices of rival games available at the same outlets. Estimates of own - and cross-price elasticities will then enable inference concerning whether net-of-prizes revenue is being maximized at current take-out rates and whether there are significant relationships between the demands for each game, which need to be taken into account. There have been a number of previous studies attempting to evaluate own-price elasticity for a lotto game (see, e. …

Gambling, Capitalism and the State

In this article I explore the relationships between commercial gambling and late capitalism. In particular, I am interested in the societal forces that produce gambling as a contemporary form of consumption, which I define as the state-sanctioned commodification of chance.As a theoretical entry point, I employ the typology of games devised by French sociologist Roger Caillois in his 1961 volume Man, Play, Games . Specifically, I develop Caillois’s distinction between competitive or agônistic games (the ancient Greek word meaning contest or challenge) and those based on chance or alea (the ancient Greek for playing at a game of chance of any kind). I extend these categories beyond a concern with the individual game to explore the tensions between the increasingly aleatory trends of the risk society, the agônistic forces of gambling production (i.e. the state and industry) and the aleatory nature of individual consumption. I argue that the expansion of gambling products is due to the state’s own position as aleatory subject within late capitalism. I suggest that the concern with the risk minimization of the risk society and the massive expansion of alea through gambling are dialectically related. In other words, the risk society produces a corollary — a demand for risk — in the production of alea.This contradiction is resolved through the consumption of alea as a form of controllable, bounded, and individualized risk, one that is able to be consumed free of the broader global anxieties of the risk society. Finally, I argue that aleatory consumption itself opens up the possibility of a series of misrecognitions between production and consumption, ones that, in combination with the ideology of chance, conceal the agônistic realm of production by enabling consumers to adopt individualized orientations towards consumption.

Perceptions of music therapy interventions from inpatients with severe mental illness: A mixed-methods approach

Due to their unique set of symptoms and the way psychiatric facilities are set up to provide treatment, it can be difficult to systematically study the effects of a psychosocial intervention on people with serious mental illness (SMI) in an inpatient setting. The purpose of this study was to obtain perceptions of different music therapy interventions utilizing a mixed-methods approach with psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with SMI. The researcher provided five different commonly utilized music therapy sessions on an inpatient unit. Participants rated an individual music game as the most helpful and a group music game as the most enjoyable on separate Likert-Type Scales. To obtain qualitative data, the researcher conducted an individual interview with each participant after the sessions. Analyses of participant interviews indicated that participants (1) were able to articulate what they had done in the group music therapy intervention, (2) were able to explain the purpose and general group objective of the session, and (3) supported the use of music therapy on the unit. Consistent with the current literature, analyses of qualitative and quantitative data revealed no overt differences between music therapy intervention types. Limitations of the study, generalization caveats, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Special issue on Serious Games and Virtual Worlds

The emergence of serious or non-leisure uses of game technologies and virtual world applications has been swift and dramatic over the last few years. As a result, there has been little time to develop the theoretical and academic rigor in the emerging field. Another factor affecting the field has been the general aspect of convergence between new technologies, for example augmented reality, mobile technologies, GPS technologies, sensor technologies and social software. Together, this has presented potential for developing new technologies based upon immersive and interactive interfaces and has in parallel produced many unanswered questions in terms of the usage of the formats. As a result there is a clear need to consider new frameworks, theories, methods and design strategies for making serious applications of games and virtual world technologies more effective and useful. The term ‘Serious Games’ covers a broad range of applications from flash-based animations to totally immersive and code-driven 3D environments where users interface with large volumes of data through sophisticated and interactive digital interfaces. This shift towards immersive world applications marks the beginning of new challenges that offer real scope for collaborative and multi-disciplinary research solutions and real opportunities for innovative development. The 1st International Conference in Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES’09) gathered individual researchers and games’ developers that focus on serious games methodologies, mobile games, virtual and augmented environments, and 3D social worlds.

Estimating Attendance at Major League Baseball Games for the 2007 Season

Using games from Major League Baseball’s 2007 season, individual game attendance is estimated using censored normal regression with home-team fixed-effects. Included in the model are several factors affecting attendance, such as divisional and interleague rivalries, that to date have been omitted from the literature. The relationship between attendance and game characteristics is shown to be fundamentally different between small market and large market teams. Attendance is also shown to steadily increase as the probability that the home team will win the game increases, which stands in contrast to the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis that predicts that attendance will eventually decrease if the home team’s chance of winning the game gets too large.

A Microsoft Excel Version of Parrondo’s Paradox

Parrondo’s paradox is analyzed via Monte Carlo simulation and Markov chains within Microsoft Excel. The properties of individual and mixed games are clearly demonstrated. The accompanying Excel workbook, Parrondo.xls, enables the reader to replicate results, verify claims, and extend the analysis in unforeseen ways.

Over the moon or sick as a parrot? The effects of football results on a club's share price

This article considers the impact of match results on the stock returns of English football clubs. We propose that the magnitude of the response to a given result depends on the importance of the game, which is measured in two ways. First, we consider the extent to which the clubs are close rivals vying for similar league positions, as winning such games is particularly significant. Second, we argue that each individual game becomes more important for those clubs likely to be promoted or relegated as the season draws to a close, since a given match will have increasing information content concerning the final league position of the club. Using a fairly large panel comprising data for 19 clubs, we find some support for the notion that stock prices are affected more by the results of important matches than matches of lesser importance. We also observe that the difference between the number of points the club secures from a given match, and the number it was expected to secure, affects its stock price, as does the number of goals that the club under question scores in the match, relative to its competitor.

In Defense of the Playoff System

According to some philosophers of sport, the decision to use a playoff system in American sports is driven more by the desire to maximize profits than to determine the most talented player or team in a given sport. In “On Winning and Athletic Superiority,” for example, Nicholas Dixon claims that the playoff system is not the best measure of athletic excellence, even though it may be a good means for increasing the entertainment value of sports (1). According to Dixon, the best way to measure athletic excellence is to use a system, such as a season long championship, that “minimizes the impact of unjust results in individual games due to such factors as poor refereeing, cheating, gamesmanship, and bad luck” (1: p. 232). In a playoff system, as Dixon points out, it is quite possible that the “best” team does not actually win the championship since the result of any particular game may hinge on factors not directly related to athletic superiority. While a team might play better during postseason playoffs, this does not justify the claim that it is the best team of the year. Yet, in some sports, such as NFL football, the winner of the playoffs is dubbed the “best team of the year” even though it might not truly deserve the title. Playoff games, Dixon admits, can be very exciting and suspenseful, and therefore financially rewarding for sports organizations, but they are not the best measure of athletic excellence. Thus, Dixon suggests that we “reexamine our attitude toward the playoff system in American professional sport” (1: p. 231). Following Dixon’s lead, William Morgan argues that the desire for profit in American professional sports leads to a deterioration of athletic excellence. Speaking of the choice of a playoff system, Morgan infers that the primary motivation is financial because “the allure of the playoffs is that they attract large audiences and, in turn, large television revenues” (4: p. 28). If professional sports leagues, in other words, were concerned with improving the quality of play, they should choose a system that fosters athletic excellence rather than a system that produces fan excitement. In this paper, I offer a defense of the playoff system in response to the arguments of Dixon and Morgan. As I see it, Dixon and Morgan convincingly argue that our current attitudes toward the playoff system require adjustment and revision. However, when it comes to making institutional changes, whether on a professional or amateur level, their arguments fall short. More specifically, I argue that Dixon and Morgan have a too cynical view of the playoff system in that they believe that the choice to use a playoff system is motivated simply by the desire

From Command to Constructivism: Canadian Secondary School Physical Education Curriculum and Teaching Games for Understanding

Canadian physical educators have fought long and hard to be recognized as legitimate contributors to school curricula. In claiming alliances with discourses of medicine and morality, science and psychology, proponents of physical education have sought to be recognized and validated within the educational milieu. These claims have fundamentally influenced physical educators’ conceptions of what knowledge is important in physical education, and contributed to a particular regime of “truth” that foregrounds content, performance and notions of “technocratic-rationality.” In this article I explore how cultural perspectives from the past have influenced the secondary physical education curricular offerings of today, and then examine how an approach to teaching concepts of team and individual game tactics and strategies, Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), that relies ontologically and epistemologically upon pedagogically developed constructivist notions of teaching and learning for its existence and its knowledge base may challenge the dominant discourse of technocratic-rationality. In this article a brief overview of significant historical elements affecting curriculum development in physical education will be examined. Two forms of constructivism will be explored, and TGfU as an alternative to traditional curricular and pedagogical approaches to games instruction, offering potentially appealing learning experiences for many students will be examined.

Over the Moon or Sick as a Parrot: The Effects of Football Results on a Club's Share Price

This paper considers the impact of match results on the stock returns of English football clubs. We propose that the magnitude of the response to a given result depends on the importance of the game, which is measured in two ways. First, we consider the extent to which the clubs are close rivals vying for similar league positions, as winning such games is particularly significant. Second, we argue that each individual game becomes more important for those clubs likely to be promoted or relegated as the season draws to a close, since a given match will have increasing information content concerning the final league position of the club. Using a fairly large panel comprising data for 19 clubs, we find that the unexpected parts of both the points and the number of goals ahead from the match do affect stock prices. There is also some limited support for the notion that stock prices are more affected by the results of important matches.