Successful Game Research Articles

Associated Consistency and the Aumann–Drèze Value

This paper presents an axiomatic characterization of the Aumann–Drèze value [Aumann, R. J. and Drèze, J. H. [1974] Cooperative games with coalition structures, Int. J. Game Theory 3, 217–237] for cooperative games with coalition structures. We build an associated game that extends the original associated game presented by Hamiache [[2001] Associated consistency and Shapley value, Int. J. Game Theory 30, 279–289] to cooperative games with coalition structures. We use a similar approach to the one used in Hamiache and Navarro [[2020] Associated consistency, value and graphs, Int. J. Game Theory 49, 227–249]. This new associated game is expressed through a matrix form. We show that the series of successive associated games is convergent and that its limit is an inessential game. This allows us to propose a characterization of the Aumann–Drèze value that relies on associated consistency, inessential game and continuity axioms. Hence, this paper strengthens the results of Hamiache [[2001] Associated consistency and Shapley value, Int. J. Game Theory 30, 279–289] and Hamiache and Navarro [[2020] Associated consistency, value and graphs, Int. J. Game Theory 49, 227–249] considering that if these axioms are viewed as desirable, we are now able to provide a unique value for three different types of problems: the Shapley value on standard games [Hamiache, G. [2001] Associated consistency and Shapley value, Int. J. Game Theory 30, 279–289], the Hamiache–Navarro value on games with graphs [Hamiache, G. and Navarro, F. [2020] Associated consistency, value and graphs, Int. J. Game Theory 49, 227–249] and the Aumann–Drèze value for games with coalition structures.

Corroborating the effect of positive technology readiness on the intention to use the virtual reality sports game “Screen Golf”: Focusing on the technology readiness and acceptance model

This study investigates the positive and behavioral topic of screen golf, which is often regarded as the most commercially successful virtual reality sports game. Our team analyzed the decision-making process related to screen golf through the widely used the technology readiness and acceptance model to explain the relationships among technology readiness, belief in technology acceptance, and use intentions. The proposed model fit the data satisfactorily, and several of our hypotheses were supported. Structural equation modeling tested the nine hypotheses established based on a literature review, analyzing 350 valid responses obtained through online surveys. Perceived utility (ß = .519**) was the most influential factor in individuals’ plans to participate in the virtual sport. This means that practical considerations such as correcting individuals’ posture and improving their abilities should be prioritized when creating screen golf programs.

Designing a Serious Game (Above Water) for Stigma Reduction Surrounding Mental Health: Semistructured Interview Study With Expert Participants.

BackgroundAlthough in many contexts unsuccessful games targeting learning, social interaction, or behavioral change have few downsides, when covering a sensitive domain such as mental health (MH), care must be taken to avoid harm and stigmatization of people who live with MH conditions. As a result, evaluation of the game to identify benefits and risks is crucial in understanding the game’s success; however, assessment of these apps is often compared with the nongame control condition, resulting in findings specifically regarding entertainment value and user preferences. Research exploring the design process, integrating field experts, and guidelines for designing a successful serious game for sensitive topics is limited.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to understand which elements of game design can guide a designer when designing a game for sensitive topics.MethodsTo carefully probe the design space of serious games for MH, we present Above Water (AbW), a game targeting the reduction of stigma surrounding MH, now in its second iteration. The game, AbW, serves as a consistent research probe to solicit expert feedback. Experts were recruited from a range of topic domains related to MH and wellness, game design, and user experience.ResultsBy using this deployment as a research probe, this study demonstrates how to synthesize gained insights from multiple expert perspectives and create actionable guidelines for successful design of serious games targeting sensitive topics.ConclusionsOur work contributes to a better understanding of how to design specialized games to address sensitive topics. We present a set of guidelines for designing games for sensitive subjects, and for each guideline, we present an example of how to apply the finding to the sample game (AbW). Furthermore, we demonstrate the generalizability to other sensitive topics by providing an additional example of a game that could be designed with the presented guidelines.

Hosting and Human Rights: The Summer Olympics in the Twenty-First Century.

During the twenty-first century, Summer Olympic Games have been used to distract from, justify and push through acts of increased securitization, surveillance, and displacement of the host city populace. Situating sport within the field of International Relations, we outline these civil and human rights intrusions across successive Games. From Sydney 2000 to Rio de Janeiro 2016, we explicate the consequences, contestedness, and evolution of repressive techniques applied at each Games using theories of hegemony espoused by Antonio Gramsci, Robert W. Cox, and Raymond Williams, among others. In doing so, we demonstrate how the International Olympic Committee (IOC), their partners and host cities are wedded in a symbolic and symbiotic courtship that manufactures local consent for and normalizes human right infringements; simultaneously providing the architecture for the spread and imposition of neoliberal order on the citizenry, while masking the damage done by and through the Olympics. Finally, we close by asserting that the current formulation of the Olympics are not ‘the best we can do.' Instead, through the counterhegemonic potential of critical approaches and engaged, strategic action, a transformation of critical consciousness - and the Olympics, into something to be proud of - remain a live and entirely possible option.

The Impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on China and the Olympic Movement: The Legacy

This paper aims to explore the impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on Chinese sport and Chinese society as well as the international Olympic Movement and Games. It asks three questions: What have been the purported impacts of the Beijing Games on China’s sport culture and practice? Did the 2008 Beijing Games contribute to the development of the Olympic movement? What, if any, social progress has been achieved through the Beijing Games? In answer to the first question, the paper explores how the Games sought to bring Olympic ideals and spirit to China and the Chinese sports authority used the Games to popularize Olympic ideals within the country. Olympic education programmes played an important role in spreading and popularizing Olympic knowledge and culture during the Beijing Games as well as during the post-Beijing Olympics era. The Games also provided a platform for the development of a volunteer programme which gave direct support to the hosting of the Beijing Games, but also developed a voluntary workforce which has continued to serve China’s social and cultural development. In answer to the second question, China used the opportunity to help the world to understand China, its history, its people, its cultures, and its ambition, and future direction. China’s promotion of an Olympic slogan and the three themes: One World and One Dream, the Green Olympics, and the Technological Olympics and Humanistic Olympics took the Olympic Movement and the Games to foster an intercultural Olympism, of ‘One World’ a twenty-first century phenomenon. Thirdly, the Games reflected economic and cultural changes since the 1980s when China opened its door to the outside world. However, the Games did not bring changes to the political system or to social structures in Chinese society. Nevertheless, it did give China the confidence to join the international sports community and gain rich experience to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Beijing, therefore, will become the first city to have hosted Summer and Winter Games in Olympic history, but the hosting of the 2022 Games will take place with China having grown in confidence and strength since the 2008 Games. The country is sufficiently confident to stage a successful Games despite the context of dealing with the Covid pandemic, the diplomatic boycott instigated by the USA, the objections of the sporting world to the treatment of the Chinese tennis star, Peng Shuai, and the environmental problems resulting from having to manufacture artificial snow.

Analysis of the critical success factors of mobile animation games based on a consistent fuzzy preference relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to explore the critical success factors of mobile animation games, by exploring the game itself, information systems, game motivation and promotional activities, as well as conducting research and analysis on mobile animation game players.Design/methodology/approachThis research used the Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the consistent fuzzy preference relationship for data analysis. In this study, collect 1,286 valid questionnaires through online questionnaire surveys. And comparing the two games “Legend Showdown” and “Tower of Gods and Demons”, players believe that the more successful mobile animation game is “Legend Showdown”.FindingsThrough experimental design, and the consistent fuzzy preference relationship for data analysis. The results found that the critical factors considered by the player in relation to the mobile animation game were firstly the information system, followed by promotional activities, game motivation and finally the game itself.Research limitations/implications Because this research does not involve the concept of fuzzy theory at all, it is easy to produce subjective, uncertain and ambiguity issues when comparing pairwise. We recommended that follow-up researchers can use fuzzy semantic preference relations to solve this problem.Originality/valueThis study proposed a new approach that takes the critical factors for the mobile animation game. According to the research results, the critical success factor of mobile animation games is the information system, as it could provide a reference direction for game manufacturers when designing or formulating marketing strategies in the future.

Os Jogos Olímpicos de Tóquio 2020: impactos da COVID-19 e da transformação digital

Abstract The Olympic Games have been responsible for moving billions of dollars in direct and indirect investments during their winter and summer editions in the host cities, thus leaving tangible and intangible legacies that, if well used, can promote significant changes in the daily lives of societies. For the first time in the modern era of the Olympic Games, at the beginning of 2020, this cycle had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic that had killed more than 4 million people worldwide by July 2021. The teaching case puts the reader in the role of Hiroto Nakami, then President of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, to solve operational barriers and make it possible to create a successful digital Olympic Games model. It will be necessary to evaluate the financial and technological limitations in order to assess the impacts and legacies from these actions for the event and the local business environment. The case is suitable for multidisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students interested in discussing themes and concepts related to the area of strategic planning, crisis management, mega-events, and digital transformation.

Understanding COVID-19: A Hybrid Threat and Its Impact on Sport Mega-Events. A Focus on Japan and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 affected the sports industry with the cancellation of many professional sports competitions worldwide. Thus, the postponement and organization of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games behind closed doors became a significant disruption to the global sports landscape. In this paper, we present a novel, conceptual discussion, signifying and defining the pandemic via the concept of international security as a hybrid threat. We associated the term hybrid threat to clarify better the difficult times facing sport mega-events. First, the paper proffers that the COVID-19 pandemic is a form of hybrid threat while reflecting on the connected implications of using sport as a soft power tool for nations. Secondly, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on sport mega-events globally and explain the implications of COVID-19 on the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympic Games. This paper although drawing on some figures associated with COVID-19 and the Tokyo Olympic Games presents a theoretical contribution to knowledge in the area of sport mega events, soft power and hybrid threat. We outline how the threats, triggered by the pandemic, have impeded a successful Olympic Games and clarify how these threats have affected Japan's opportunity to use the Games as a soft power tool, which is the paper's key contribution to the field.

Towards Prevention of Sportsmen Burnout: Formal Analysis of Sub-Optimal Tournament Scheduling

Scheduling a sports tournament is a complex optimization problem, which requires a large number of hard constraints to satisfy. Despite the availability of several such constraints in the literature, there remains a gap since most of the new sports events pose their own unique set of requirements, and demand novel constraints. Specifically talking of the strictly time bound events, ensuring fairness between the different teams in terms of their rest days, traveling, and the number of successive games they play, becomes a difficult task to resolve, and demands attention. In this work, we present a similar situation with a recently played sports event, where a suboptimal schedule favored some of the sides more than the others. We introduce various competitive parameters to draw a fairness comparison between the sides and propose a weighting criterion to point out the sides that enjoyed this schedule more than the others. Furthermore, we use root mean squared error between an ideal schedule and the actual ones for each side to determine unfairness in the distribution of rest days across their entire schedules. The latter is crucial, since successively playing a large number of games may lead to sportsmen burnout, which must be prevented.

Leveraging eye tracking to understand children’s attention during game-based, tangible robotics activities

The difficulty in maintaining attention can interfere with the acquisition of critical academic skills. Recently, researchers have used embodied and game-based learning to support skill acquisition for children with learning difficulties. In this context, robots can be an interesting asset to foster engagement and investigate game dynamics. However, it is still an open question of how to develop adaptive learning environments for children with learning difficulties. Before one can provide effective adaptation, a first step is needed to understand the differentiating behaviors during the activity for children with attention difficulties. Three such differentiating behaviors are how a child divides his or her attention during the learning activity, the child’s level of cognitive load, and the child’s physiological fatigue, which are the focus of our study Using a robot assisted, gamified activity, we conducted a user study with 18 children having difficulty in maintaining attention. Using process mining techniques and eye-tracking data, we found the importance of integrating the autonomous robots into the attention patterns to successfully complete a game and the influence their behaviors can have on the participant’s attention. This importance was supported by the cognitive load of participants decreasing the more they focused on the autonomous robots in successful games. This work contributes to the understanding of children’s behaviors during tangible game-based activities and can be used to build effective adaptation for children with attention difficulties.

Brain Synchrony in Competition and Collaboration During Multiuser Neurofeedback-Based Gaming.

EEG hyperscanning during multiuser gaming offers opportunities to study brain characteristics of social interaction under various paradigms. In this study, we aimed to characterize neural signatures and phase-based functional connectivity patterns of gaming strategies during collaborative and competitive alpha neurofeedback games. Twenty pairs of participants with no close relationship took part in three sessions of collaborative or competitive multiuser neurofeedback (NF), with identical graphical user interface, using Relative Alpha (RA) power as a control signal. Collaborating dyads had to keep their RA within 5% of each other for the team to be awarded a point, while members of competitive dyads scored points if their RA was 10% above their opponent's. Interbrain synchrony existed only during gaming but not during baseline in either collaborative or competitive gaming. Spectral analysis and interbrain connectivity showed that in collaborative gaming, players with higher resting state alpha content were more active in regulating their RA to match those of their partner. Moreover, interconnectivity was the strongest between homologous brain structures of the dyad in theta and alpha bands, indicating a similar degree of planning and social exchange. Competitive gaming emphasized the difference between participants who were able to relax and, in this way, maintain RA, and those who had an unsuccessful approach. Analysis of interbrain connections shows engagement of frontal areas in losers, but not in winners, indicating the formers' attempt to mentalise and apply strategies that might be suitable for conventional gaming, but inappropriate for the alpha neurofeedback-based game. We show that in gaming based on multiplayer non-verbalized NF, the winning strategy is dependent on the rules of the game and on the behavior of the opponent. Mental strategies that characterize successful gaming in the physical world might not be adequate for NF-based gaming.

Back “Poarch” Politics: States, “States,” and Indigenous Sovereignty in Alabama

AbstractThe Poarch Band of Creek Indians provides a complex look into the negotiation of heritage from a tribal nation. While Poarch operates a successful gaming business, Alabama has not been supportive of this exertion of sovereignty, particularly given its location in the Bible Belt. While Poarch has always operated legally under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (1988), Alabama has often attempted to deny the Poarch Creeks the rights to gaming that it may freely grant business owners with relationships to state government officials. Given that scholars have argued that there is a shift toward heritage “as a discourse and system of values” (Geismar 78), this paper explores how Poarch has differentiated their system of values from others seeking to operate gaming facilities in Alabama. Through the examination of the PR campaigns put forth by the tribe this paper will consider how each of these examples has contributed to showcasing Poarch Creek heritage and the Poarch Creek system of values to the larger Alabama public. I argue that the Poarch Creeks have been forced to present a type of heritage and values that are palatable in larger Alabamian politics and able to sway public opinion, particularly of the religious right.

Semi-Automated Gameplay Analysis by Machine Learning


 
 
 While presentation aspects like graphics and sound are important to a successful commercial game, it is likewise important that the gameplay, the non-presentational behaviour of the game, is engaging to the player. Considerable effort is invested in testing and refining gameplay throughout the development process. We present an overall view of the gameplay management problem and, more concretely, our recent research on the gameplay analysis part of this task. This consists of an active learning methodology, implemented in software tools, for largely automating the analysis of game behaviour in order to augment the abilities of game designers. The SAGA-ML (semi-automated gameplay analysis by machine learning) system is demonstrated in a real commercial context, Electronic Arts’ FIFA’99 Soccer title, where it has identified exploitable weaknesses in the game that allow easy scoring by players.
 
 

Japan’s Younger Generations Look for a New Way of Living

As post-growth Japan hesitates between stagnation and change, its young people are opting out of traditional career paths and seeking lifestyles with greater personal freedom. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Japanese society to change in some respects, but institutional and corporate leaders remain reluctant to embrace reforms to work and gender norms and in many other areas. Yet social changes are occurring at the grassroots level, as younger Japanese pursuing new opportunities are moving from cities to the countryside, others head overseas in pursuit of more diverse careers and living arrangements, and some among the growing ranks of social introverts turn themselves into successful game developers and writers.

“This Is the Story of Community Leadership with Political Backing. (PM1)” Critical Junctures in Paralympic Legacy: Framing the London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model for New Global Challenges

The London 2012 Paralympic Games was called “the most successful Paralympic Games ever” (by the then-President of the IPC), and it saw more athletes from more countries than ever before compete and become global heroes for the first time in a redeveloped part of East London which also hosted “the most accessible Olympic Games ever” that summer. However, the model used to design and deliver disability inclusion for London 2012, and its legacy, has never been explicitly written up. This paper presents new primary evidence from first-hand research from those who were involved; retrospectively framing the London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model such that it might be usable and developed for other global disability challenges. We used an adapted Delphi methodology, through four rounds: beginning with an initial hypothesis and testing through semi-structured interviews with ten key players in the London 2012 disability inclusion approach. Using thematic analysis with consensus building surveys and workshops we came to a settled unanimous agreement on the 12-step London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model comprising three parts: (Get ready) community-led mission setting, (Get set) essential building blocks and (Go) enabling a culture of success. The model is presented here, alongside a narrative on its uniqueness and replicability to other major programs, as a public good. We welcome its active use, testing and adaption by others in service of disability innovation for a fairer world.

The Impact of Strategic Core-Component Reuse on Product Life Cycles

The mobile games business is an ever-increasing sub-sector of the entertainment industry. Due to its high profitability but also high risk and competitive atmosphere, game publishers need to develop strategies that allow them to release new products at a high rate, but without compromising the already short lifespan of the firms' existing games. Successful game publishers must enlarge their user base by continually releasing new and entertaining games, while simultaneously motivating the current user base of existing games to remain active for more extended periods. Since the core-component reuse strategy has proven successful in other software products, this study investigates the advantages and drawbacks of this strategy in mobile games. Drawing on the widely accepted Product Life Cycle concept, the study investigates whether the introduction of a new mobile game built with core-components of an existing mobile game curtails the incumbent's product life cycle. Based on real and granular data on the gaming activity of a popular mobile game, the authors find that by promoting multi-homing (i.e., by smartly interlinking the incumbent and new product with each other so that users start consuming both games in parallel), the core-component reuse strategy can prolong the lifespan of the incumbent game.

Making digital adventure games: a conversation with Mark Yohalem

This article presents a conversation with Mark Yohalem, an award-winning computer game story-writer, co-founder of Wormwood Studios, and a highly regarded attorney. Using Yohalem’s successful adventure game Primordia as a point of reference, the interview covers such topics as how player agency differentiates interactive media from traditional storytelling; the history and evolution of adventure games; the relationship of trust, affection, and collaboration between designer and player; the role of fan communities in game development; digital games within the context of politics of struggle; and adventure games in relation to diversity, gender, identity, race and ethnicity.

Becoming the Unseen Helmsman - Game facilitator competencies for novice, experienced, and non-game facilitators

Background. To facilitate game sessions for purposes beyond mere entertainment a facilitator needs to act like an ‘Unseen Helmsman’: steering their ship clear from rocks and storms without the players in the ship realizing. Previous work laid down a competency model for game facilitation. It reviewed several competency models for facilitators of generic (non-game) group sessions. Since no such model comprehensively provided guidelines to facilitate game sessions in particular, a new competency model was proposed using a bottom-up approach with the participation of game facilitation experts. The question remains what lessons may be drawn from this model.Methods. This contribution elaborates on the competency model for game facilitation and draws lessons from it. Thus it aims to empower both novice and experienced game facilitators to become an Unseen Helmsman. Also, it presents learnings for people who are experienced in facilitating groups in general, but who are new to facilitating game sessions.Conclusions. First, lessons for novice game facilitators include familiarising themselves with the core notions of the competency model: the characteristics of a complex systems game (session), and the attitudes, knowledge, and skills for successful game facilitation. Second, experienced game facilitators may learn from existing competency models for generic (non-game) group facilitation. Third, facilitators of generic (non-game) group sessions are encouraged to study the characteristics of game sessions in addition to the specific competencies contained in the competency model for game facilitators.

The Effect of Weekly Training Load across a Competitive Microcycle on Contextual Variables in Professional Soccer.

Analysis of the key performance variables in soccer is one of the most continuous and attractive research topics. Using global positioning devices (GPS), the primary aim of this study was to highlight the physiological response of a professional soccer team across competitive microcycles in-season according to the most influential contextual performance variables. Determining the training load (TL), a work ratio was established between all recorded data within the training sessions and the competitive profile (CP). Each microcycle was classified in accordance with the contextual variables: opponent level (high, medium, low), match location (home and away) and score (win, draw, lose). Results revealed that the team were significantly more successful (games won) in competitive games against high-level opponents and when played at home. Cumulative microcycle/weekly training load (WTL) was significantly lower when the team won. In addition to the opponent level and the match location, WTL could condition the athlete’s performance in the competition. Competitive performance responses are the main source of information for the planning of training programs. The results of this study could be used as a reference to structure TL and WTL according to contextual variables in the competition. This study, which is the first of its kind, revealed that WTL effects the performance of the players in the competition.

Game jams in general formal education

This article summarises three years of studying game jams. Rooted in extensive field work — participating, organising, studying and discussing game jams — and multiple methods, we have explored different digital and non-digital jamming formats to apply in educational settings, especially in the Finnish context of general formal teaching for 16–19 year olds. This paper sums up our main findings arranged thematically. We claim that game jamming is a viable method in general formal education, and that although the learning outcomes vary and can be difficult to verify, the participants themselves report perceived learning and increased motivation. We also discuss the values present in our research project and the inclusivity of game jams. We describe various ways to organise game jams in classrooms, along with teacher competencies and resources needed. Based on these viewpoints we provide recommendations, grounded in both research and practice, on how to use game jamming in schools to teach, for example, STEAM and other 21st century skills. • Game jams are pedagogically compatible with formal general education. • Game jams can provide learning experiences and increase motivation and selfefficacy. • Successful pedagogical game jams require both resources and careful planning. • A non-competitive approach can support learning and lower barriers to entry. • Not all students are interested in game making or games in general.