To develop a complex learning game, it is necessary to use an iterative design methodology, since the design task is particularly challenging. Within an ongoing project that uses such a methodology, for each iteration and for each part of the game, four dimensions are analyzed: ludic, epistemic, ergonomic and contextual. Some questions regarding assessment in this context are raised, especially regarding the balance
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Keywords : Learning video game, Instructional game design, Evaluation, Iterative design
The famous website Gamasutra has just published one of our article about the potential use of Game Design tools to help designers and programmers communicate within a game development studio. You can read it online:
Keywords : game design tools, industry
This article presents a selection of "formal game design tools" that may be able to bring game design and software engineering closer. Nowadays, game designers can rely on a set of theoretical tools to create video games. These tools are first intended to facilitate the design phase. However, some of them have a strong potential to communicate designers' ideas to the rest of the team, especially to developers. We will study four examples of such tools, before discussing how they
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Keywords : game design tools, communication, industry
================================================================================= 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
Abstract Social, economic and global changes make it difficult to predict what the future might hold. Creativity is one possible response to these changes. Indeed, creative skills enable students to face the complex nature of life. As a result, creativity has become significant in education, and is regarded as an important objective to be addressed in the curriculum. Nevertheless, creativity is not always promoted in schools. Rather, there are those who claim that many educational systems hinder
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Keywords : Game design, Creativity, Game-based learning
Despite the growing interest in interactive storytelling techniques, their actual applications to traditional gameplay design remain to be investigated. However, many game designers have expressed concerns about the incorporation of such generative techniques in traditional game titles, mainly because of the lack of control they will have over dynamically generated content. This paper proposes an authoring tool allowing game designers to formalize, visualize, modify, and validate game level solu
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Keywords : Cultural Heritage , Serious Game, Game Level Design, Gameplay
This autobiography is composed by the personal journal of Jordan Mechner during the creation of his famous game Karateka (1984). The authors tells us about his thoughts, his doubts, his joy, and more specifically about the different steps towards the creation of this popular game. A very interesting read, despite a rather "rough" writing style : this book allows you to literally enter inside the head of Jordan Mechner, a creative genius with a lot more doubts and fears that we cou
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Keywords : biography, jordan mechner, karateka, artist, creative process
ABSTRACT • Learning Games (LG) are educational environments based on a playful approach to learning. Their use has proven to be promising in many domains, but is at present restricted by the time consuming and costly nature of the developing process. In this paper, we propose a grid of quality indicators that can help the conception team evaluate the quality of their LG during the designing process and before it is developed. By doing so, the designers can identify and repair the problems i
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Keywords : Learning Games, Serious Games, Evaluation, Quality, Cost, Conception, Development
This one-of-a-kind book is guide for any foreigner who wants to work in the Japanese video game industry. James Kay, the British-born author of the book, has personally made this move: he worked for different Japanese video games studios during 10 years, and then founded his own studio there. Over 300 pages, he tackles all the questions one could ask: Why go to Japan to create video games? How to get hired in a Japanese studio? How to find a place to live? And how is the day-to-day life in a Jap
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Keywords : japan, video game, industry, guidebook, job