Abstract:In light of calls that civic participation is declining, efforts are underway to replace outdated, unproductive forms of citizenship. With the majority of Americans now connected to the Internet, community leaders see the digital realm as the new frontier for promoting engagement. Increasingly, digital games are being designed for the express purpose of promoting community engagement and social action. My thesis examines this emerging practice of civic game design. Within this thesis, I
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================================================================================= International Scientific Symposium "Games for all purposes? Appropriation, Repurposing and Rejection" ================================================================================= On 4 and 5 June 2013 in Valenciennes, during the "e-virtuoses" scientific convention, dedicated to the use of games and play (digital or not) for utilitarian purposes, we will host a scientific
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Keywords : Serious Game, Serious Gaming, Gamification, Serious Play, Evaluation, Uses, Organisation, Transformation
As the title implies, this book tackles the history of videogames through a quite unique viewpoint: gamepads. This book analyses each and every gamepad released for a home console, from the Atari 2600 controllers to Xbox 360 ones. It is divided in five parts. The first one goes through the early beginnings of game controllers : it analyses the ones created for Spacewar! and Tennis for Two, among others. The second part is dedicated to the evolution of controllers handling, and details how the va
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Keywords : joypads, history, gamepads, game design
The development of multiple web applications with features of video games gave way to a new trend called Gamification. However, there isn't a clear explanation that allows the connection of the elements of the game applications with non-game features, mainly in traditional highly regulated financial sector. The aim of this study is to investigate the acceptance of a business application Gamified in e-banking. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the results from an online survey of 18
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Keywords : Gamification, Game
This tiny book (100 pages in a pocket format) is full of wisdom and expert analysis about a delicate topic: are videogames dangerous? In this book, Yann Leroux, a psychologist specialized on this subject, provides us with a excellent synthesis of all the scientific studies that happened about the effects of violent videogames and the addiction to videogames. This synthesis is written in a clear and simple language, and we thus strongly recommend this book to any parent, teacher, politician
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Keywords : addiction, violence, psychology, simple, parents, reassuring
This Game Design book is full of "practical advices" coming from an experimented Game Designer. Lewis Pulsipher designed several board games, his most famous title being Britannia (1986-2008). Each chapter of the book emphasizes over the traps to avoid and the good habits to follow in order to become a professional Game Designer: selecting a target audience; critical analysis of existing games; assessment of game ideas; creation of prototypes; the different stages of the Game Design pr
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Keywords : game design, board games, lewis pulsipher, practical advices
The European Serious Games Awards aims to celebrate the best works on games for learning in Europe. Organized by GALA (an European Network of Excellence dedicated to research on Serious Games), these awards are quite different from other awards. Instead of relying on the sole advice of a few experts, the European Serious Games Awards are based on a scientific analysis of the games. The Awards ceremony took place during the VS-Games 2012 conference. Organized in Genoa (Italy) from 29 to 31 Octobe
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Keywords : serious games, awards, europa, academia
The e-virtuoses is an international event dedicated to Serious Games. It features a rich program of international conferences about the future of the field, a Serious Games Awards ceremony to celebrate the best titles of the moment, alongside with a scientific symposium focused on the analysis of Serious Games. The event took place from May 23rd to 24th in France, in the city of Valenciennes, near Lille.
Keywords : serious game, conference, awards, international, scientifique symposium
This book a call for all amateurs creators around the world to use videogames as means for their personal expression. The authors states that most commercial videogames are guided by market analysis more than creativity, as she concludes that this trend results in locking the expressive potential of videogames. But for Anna Anthropy, an American game designer recognized for its unique creations, there is still some hope left: what the industry can't or don't want to produce, the amateur game des
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Keywords : amateur, indie
On the french version of this blog , I posted an in-depth critic of a (french-written) book about the history of Mario. Far from being a simple "illustrated books for fans" filled with nostalgia, l'Histoire de Mario by William Audureau and published by Pix N'Love is one on the most interesting books about the genesis of Mario. It's not an history book, it's an analytical book that tries to answer one simple question : "Why Mario?". After all, when Nintendo picked a masc
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Keywords : mario, history, nintendo, analysis