A Novel Game Map Preloading and Resource Provisioning Scheme in Cooperative Cloud Networks

Unlike traditional games that anchor players to a controller in a designated gaming space, mobile games invite haptic interfaces wherein players may touch, hold, play, move, sit, and otherwise reconfigure their bodies through various spaces and times. I call this characteristic mobile gaming’s corporeal agency, and while mobile games include many limitations to player agency, the increased freedom of bodies to traverse time and space merits discussion and analysis. This study focuses on interviews conducted with mobile game players, and those interviews reveal that mobile games invite behaviors conducive to a corporeal agency that break away from traditional conceptions of gaming time and space. I argue that mobile gaming bodies demonstrate a more fluid relationship with touch, space, time, and physicality than traditional forms of gaming, allowing players to move their fingers, hands, and bodies through time and space while performing the corporeal task of gaming. The analysis consists of sections dedicated to three primary elements of mobile gaming’s corporeal agency: physicality, temporality, and spatiality.

Objective:Mobile, valid, and engaging cognitive assessments are essential for detecting and tracking change in research participants and patients at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRDs). The mobile cognitive app performance platform (mCAPP) includes memory and executive functioning tasks to remotely detect cognitive changes associated with aging and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. This study assesses participants’ comfort and subjective experiences with mCAPP as the potential utility and advantage of mobile app-based assessments for remote monitoring among older adults will depend upon usability and adoptability of such technology.Participants and Methods:The mCAPP includes three gamified tasks: (1) a memory task involving learning and matching hidden card pairs (“Concentration”) (2) a stroop-like task (“Brick Drop”), and (3) a digit-symbol coding-like task (“Space Imposters”). Participants included 37 older adults (60% female; age=72±4.4; years of education=17±2.5; 67% White) with normal cognition enrolled in the Penn ADRC cohort. Participants completed one baseline session of mCAPP in-person, followed by two weeks of at-home use with eight scheduled sessions. Information on prior experience with mobile technology and games was collected, and usability of mCAPP was measured at baseline and after 2-weeks of use with the IBM Computer Usability Satisfaction Questionnaire and the mHeath App Usability Questionnaire (MAUQ) respectively. Feedback on perceived difficulty, enjoyment, and likelihood to play mCAPP games again on their own was collected.Results:Participants completed on average 11±4.9 sessions over 2 weeks, with each session lasting 11.5±2.5 minutes. 59% of participants reported using their mobile device to play games (“mobile game players”). Performance on mCAPP tasks was slower at baseline for non-players, with trend-level differences on higher-load blocks of Space Imposters (p=.057 and .059). No differences in game performance were seen between groups after playing 8 sessions at-home. There were no differences in usability of mCAPP between groups, with average usability 8.2±1.5 (IBM, 0-9 scale) at T1 and 6.2±0.8 (MAUQ, 1-7 scale) after completion of two weeks of at-home use (TLast). Reported enjoyment was moderate to high for both groups at baseline and increased over time. Likelihood to play Concentration and Brick Drop again trended lower among nonplayers at T1 (p=.061 and .054), but not at TLast. Further, change in likelihood to play mCAPP from T1 to TLast was positive among non-players, with change for Concentration significantly higher for non-players than for players (p=.037).Conclusions:Participants were willing and able to complete at-home cognitive testing and most completed more than the assigned sessions. While participants who do not play games on their own mobile device were slower on some tasks at baseline, these differences dissipated with further play at-home. Usability and enjoyment of mCAPP games were high regardless of mobile game-playing status, and non-players demonstrated increased willingness to play mCAPP games again at the end of participation compared to baseline. This pilot study shows preliminary feasibility and adoptability of mobile app-based assessment regardless of prior experience with mobile games.

Nowadays, smartphones have become the largest gaming platform. With the improvement of the performance of smartphones continuously, the manipulation of mobile games has gradually turned to more horizontal and complicated. It also prompted players to pay more attention to the gaming experience; even emerge dedicated joystick for mobile phones. However, the previous literature has rarely discussed the gaming experience and the feelings of the mobile game control process. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the feelings of play mobile games with different joysticks and to find the key Kansei vocabulary that affects players’ feelings stronger, to establish the design direction of joysticks which are dedicated to the mobile phone in the future. This research will invite high-involved players of mobile games to conduct Focus group and play mobile games. Through the research results, we can understand the players’ expected feelings when playing mobile games, and also provide the future design direction of the joystick, so that players have a better gaming experience, even increase willingness to play mobile games, and make a positive impact on the gaming market. In addition, through this study, we will be able to explore the process of using the Kansei engineering method to understand the users’ expected control feelings and apply to the development of future human-computer interactive products and contribute to the field of human-computer interaction.

Higher resolution is one of the main directions and drivers in the development of virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs). However, given its associated higher cost, it is important to determine the benefits of having higher resolution on user experience. For non-VR games, higher resolution is often thought to lead to a better experience, but it is unexplored in VR games. This research aims to investigate the resolution tradeoff in gameplay experience, performance, and simulator sickness (SS) for VR games, particularly first-person shooter (FPS) games. To this end, we designed an experiment to collect gameplay experience, SS, and player performance data with a popular VR FPS game, Half-Life: Alyx. Our results indicate that 2K resolution is an important threshold for an enhanced gameplay experience without affecting performance and increasing SS levels. Moreover, the resolution from 1K to 4K has no significant difference in player performance. Our results can inform game developers and players in determining the type of HMD they want to use to balance the tradeoff between costs and benefits and achieve a more optimal experience.

Immersive and engaging are words often used interchangeably to describe the player's experience of gameplay without clear distinction between what these terms refer to, and without investigation of the underlying basis of each experience. This paper aims to build upon previous work by other authors on the nature of the player's experience of gameplay by focusing on how these experiences are mediated by the player's point of control within the game-world. The relationship between the player and their point of control in the game-world is discussed in terms of embodiment to articulate differences between the terms avatar and character, distinctions that are in turn used as a basis for understanding how different attitudes towards the activity of gameplay arise from the interplay of different relationships between the player and their point of control. Finally there is a consideration of how the relationship between the player and their point of control and resultantly their attitudes towards the activity of gameplay may influence different types of an experience of being-in-the-game-world, namely immersion, engagement, presence, and telepresence.

스마트디바이스의 보급화 이후 게임 산업은 콘솔과 PC Online에서 모바일로 변화하였다. 특히, 스마트디바이스의 어플리케이션 다운로드 수와 매출을 확인해보면 80% 이상이 모바일 게임에 의해 발생되며 문화콘텐츠로서 게임의 위상이 높아져가고 있다. 스마트디바이스의 보급이후 가장 성공한 모바일 게임으로 일본의 퍼즐 앤 드래곤(Puzzle & Dragons)을 들 수 있다. 퍼즐 앤 드래곤은 2012년 일본 소프트뱅크자회사인 겅호 온라인 엔터테인먼트가 개발한 게임으로 출시 1년만인 2013년에 모바일 게임 최초로 1조원의 매출을 올렸다. 2015년에는 4천만 다운로드를 이루어 내며 세계 모바일 게임 매출순위에서도 2년 동안 1위와 2위를 차지했다. 특히 2013년부터 세계의 여러 모바일 게임콘텐츠에 영향을 주며 일본 게임산업의 부흥기를 다시 열었다. 반면 세계 모바일 게임 매출순위에서 아직까지 국내 게임은 찾을 볼 수 없다. 모바일 게임 시장이 매년 크게 증가하는 지금, 국내 모바일 게임만이 유사 콘테츠를 양산하며 게임 강대국의 위상을 잃고 세계에서 도태되고 있는 것이다. 이러한 국내의 실정에 의해 산업적으로나 학술적으로 성공한 게임의 성공요인 분석이 필요하게 되었다. 본 연구에서는 세계에서 가장 성공한 모바일 게임, 퍼즐 앤 드래곤의 성공요인을 분석하기 위해 비즈니스 모델인 K.Masanao의 수익창출구조 매트릭스를 활용했다. 퍼즐 앤 드래곤을 고객가치, 이익, 프로세스라는 세 가지 영역에 대입하고 누가, 무엇을 어떻게 라는 항목으로 분석한 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 다양한 연령층의 이용자 유입을 위해 퍼즐장르와 RPG장르를 융합한 새로운 형태의 장르를 개발하였으며 경쟁요소를 배제하고 협력위주의 싱글 게임으로 개발하였다. 둘째, 한정기간동안 유치되는 갓 페스티벌과 유명 콘텐츠와의 콜라보레이션을 활용한 캐릭터 뽑기 시스템을 도입해 이익을 창출하였다. 셋째, 이용자와의 지속적인 온 오프라인 소통을 통해 소비자의 니즈를 파악하고 게임에 도입하였다. 본 연구에서 도출된 퍼즐 앤 드래곤의 세 가지 성공요인은 국내 모바일 게임 산업에서 게임콘텐츠 제작 방안을 수립하는 데 기여하는 한편, 관련 연구와 이론적 지평을 확대한다는 점에서 산업적으로 학술적으로 중요한 의미를 가진다. Mobile games have taken 80% of the market sales in smart device application industry that is highly regarded as one of the fast growing pool of cultural content after the distribution of smart devices. One of the most successful mobile games after the smart device's appearance is <Puzzle & Dragon>. <Puzzle & Dragon> created by Gung-ho Online entertainment under Softbank Japan, has gained the sales revenue of one trillion dollars after its release in 2012, just after one year of its exposure to the market. The game also has been the top rank by Worldwide Mobile Game Revenues for 2years achieving 40 million downloads worldwide in 2015. However, there is no place for a Korean game in world mobile game sales ranks yet. Even though the mobile game industry has been expanding every year, Korean games are losing its places in the market. Therefore, the analysis of a successful game such as <Puzzle & Dragon> is vital for diagnosing Korea's game content and its lack of direction. This study utilizes K. Masanao's Matrix for Creating Profit System for analyzing <Puzzle & Dragon>'s factors for its success. First, the game has incorporated puzzle and RPG contents for creating a new genre, which led various age groups to play the game. Second, the developers have applied 'limited time' in-game festivals and collaborations between the game and famous contents such as God Festival and Character Draw system to increase the profit revenue. Third, the company communicated with on and off line players to seek their needs for developing the game's better development. Consequently, the three success factors of <Puzzle & Dragon> deduced from this study not only reflect the related researches and academic values, but also contribute for the search in finding better ways to developing game contents for Korean mobile game industry.

Nowadays, video games are getting popular due to the rapid growth of technology, especially mobile technology. Video games are now able to be played on mobile devices whether in single or multiplayer mode by using the internet and it's free and available everywhere. Understanding player experience in mobile video games is essential for developers and researchers. This research evaluates player experience in a mobile video game using the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) and Player Experience Questionnaire (PENS). The evaluation was performed using an online questionnaire form to the participants (N = 110) who had played the specific mobile game. Using the Core Questionnaire from the Game Experience Questionnaire and Player Experience of Need Satisfaction module, this research found that the Game Experience Questionnaire shows high scores values in the aspects of Immersion (4.22), Competence (3.25), and Positive Aspects (4.38) which indicates a good player experience, and the Player Experience of Need Satisfaction shows a rather balanced yet high score for each value that indicates a satisfying player experience.

From traditional gaming to mobile gaming: Video game players' switching behaviour

In recent years, an aging demographic majority in the Western world has come to the attention of the game industry. The recently released "brain-training" games target this population, and research investigating gameplay experience of the elderly using this game form is lacking. This study employs a 2 x 2 mixed factorial design (age group: young and old x game form: paper and Nintendo DS) to investigate effects of age and game form on usability, self-assessment, and gameplay experience in a supervised field study. Effectiveness was evaluated in task completion time, efficiency as error rate, together with self-assessment measures (arousal, pleasure, dominance) and game experience (challenge, flow, competence, tension, positive and negative affect). Results indicate players, regardless of age, are more effective and efficient using pen-and-paper than using a Nintendo DS console. However, the game is more arousing and induces a heightened sense of flow in digital form for gamers of all ages. Logic problem-solving challenges within digital games may be associated with positive feelings for the elderly but with negative feelings for the young. Thus, digital logic-training games may provide positive gameplay experience for an aging Western civilization.

This paper proposes a novel adaptive time- threshold based bandwidth allocation scheme (ATTS) for voice handoff calls in cellular wireless networks. The proposed scheme overcomes the flaws of the fixed time-threshold based bandwidth allocation scheme (FTTS) in the total admitted traffic and the blocking probability of new calls. In proposed scheme, bandwidth threshold for non-prioritized handoff calls and new calls can be varied adaptively based on instantaneous handoff call and new call arrival rates. This makes it possible that there is the increasing number of new calls which have successfully occupied bandwidth units in ATTS scheme when traffic load is heavier. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme improves new call blocking probability and bandwidth utilization with traffic load of given cell increasing while keeps low total handoff call dropping probability compared with FTTS scheme. The proposed scheme provides good QoS guarantees for both mobile users and service provider.

Interactive, mobile online games have recently become popular thus receiving the attention of researchers. Mobile games represent a particularly interesting case because of the proliferation of smart personal devices and the increasing availability of high speed wireless access points. With this vision, we propose a holistic solution that enables a top quality online gaming experience regardless whether the player is wired, wireless, or even mobile. Main components of this solution are: (i) a synchronization mechanism based on an Internet server overlay that enables interactivity, fairness, and scalability, and (ii) a smart access point able to support efficient coexistence between elastic (download) and real-time (game) traffic.

The most common aim of computer game optimisation is to find the shortest path within a game or to solve a problem of a travelling salesman within a small group of cities. This article deals with the possibilities of comparing the ascertained solutions of a given problem of human intelligence and evolutionary algorithms. Human intelligence is represented by mobile game players programmed for the Android operating system, by their conduct during playing the game, and by the achieved the results. Evolutionary algorithms are represented by differential evolution. The best possible parameter estimation will be sought and compared with the player's results. The goal is to nd parameter estimation of an equal or better quality in comparison with results of human players. Another task is to verify whether this setting is suitable for all mazes and whether people or the differential evolution are better at searching. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited.

Youth online engagement and well-being are especially important in emerging countries, but they tend to be understudied. Rather, the existing research tends to be more on the United States. This study examined third place theory of virtual spaces on individual-level well-being among the Generation Z from Brazil and China, especially comparing them to their U.S. counterparts. Well-being, both related to realizing your full potential and lowering psychopathology, is relevant to youth engagement in online spaces, because the spaces can help the youth express their true selves and engage in supportive online communities. The participants were players of a mobile video game whose three months of pre-survey gameplay data and survey data (N = 986) were analyzed. We compared countries on several third place characteristics, on well-being, and how the third place characteristics predicted well-being. We found that players from the three countries were significantly different in several third place characteristics (i.e., neutral ground, leveler, and conversation). Well-being was also higher among the Chinese players. Moreover, the leveler characteristic–commonality of game levels among players and their in-game friends–significantly predicted well-being. These findings from a mobile game help better understand youth online perceptions and behaviors in different countries, correlates to well-being, and contribute to the theory development of virtual third places and digital public spheres.

Players can get stuck in video games, which impedes their process to their goal and results in unfavorable outcomes like negative emotions, impediments of flow, and obstacles for learning. Currently, it is not easily possible to assess if a player is stuck, as no widely accepted definition of "being stuck" in games exists. We conducted 13 expert interviews and a systematic literature review with 104 relevant papers selected from 4022 candidates. We present a definition of "being stuck" that conceptualizes the state as a continuum and contextualize it within related concepts. Our stuck continuum can be applied to regulate the player's stuck level. We propose a taxonomy of measures that are useful for the detection of the level of stuckness and discuss the effectiveness of countermeasures. Our stuck concept is crucial for game developers creating an optimal player experience in games.

Avatar customization is a feature that is offered in many computer and video games. Customization options are presented to users via Character Creation Interfaces or CCIs. CCIs differ greatly between games, independent of genre, with regard to the quantity and quality of customization options available. In addition, the way in which these options are presented to users differs from game to game. Research on avatar customization is typically focused on user-avatar identity or self-representation. In general, we have found that the User Experience (UX) of avatar customization has been greatly overlooked in academic literature. As such, we look to existing research on UX in order to propose how its methodologies may be used to study the impact of CCI affordances on player experience in games.