Procedural Generation of Video Game Cities for Specific Video Game Genres Using WaveFunctionCollapse (WFC)

Educational video games are being used increasingly in teaching physics. They offer learners a fun and convivial learning environment. However, the use of an educational video game genre that is ill-suited to a type of learning situation or inconsistent with the learners' motivational profile influences the effectiveness of its use in the classroom. In this context, this article deals, on the one hand, with the coherence between the genre of video games and the type of learning situation found in the context of the competency-based approach. On the other hand, it presents the results of a survey to describe the Moroccan learners' motivational profile in video games. The results show that the games should be adapted to each type of learning situation, designed and chosen to meet the learners' interest and avoided when learners are not interested in the genre of the games. It is also pointed out that most of learners prefer to use video games at the level of the explanation of the lessons and the exercises. In light of this research, we have made a number of recommendations for choosing and designing an educational video game.

The claim that video games are replacing literacy activities that is bandied about in the American mainstream press is based not only on unspecified definitions of both ‘games' and ‘literacy’ but also on a surprising lack of research on what children actually do when they play video games. In this article, the author examines some of the practices that comprise game play in the context of one genre of video games in particular — massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). Based on data culled from a two-year online cognitive ethnography of the MMOG Lineage (both I and II), the author argues that forms of video game play such as those entailed in MMOGs are not replacing literacy activities but rather are literacy activities. In order to make this argument, the author surveys the literacy practices that MMOGamers routinely participate in, both within the game's virtual world (e.g. social interaction, in-game letters) and beyond (e.g. online game forums, the creation of fan sites and fan fiction). Then, with this argument in place, she attempts to historicize this popular contempt toward electronic ‘pop culture’ media such as video games and suggest a potentially more productive (and accurate) framing of the literacy practices of today's generation of adolescents and young adults.

In this chapter I begin by offering a discussion of the role of video game consoles in the video game industry, the most important video game consoles, and the question of whether consoles will be supplanted by tablets and smartphones. Next I offer information on the most important kinds and genres of video games and statistics on the amount of money spent on handheld, mobile, personal computer, and video game consoles and a listing of the top ten video games of 2013. This is followed by a discussion of the attributes of video games, such as immersion and interactivity, and the problem of video game addiction. Finally I offer an analysis of PacMan as an example of how video games reflect important themes in American culture.

Comparing effectiveness of educational video games of different genres in computer science education

The re is a growing need for robot control interfaces that allow a single user to effe ctively control a large number of mostly-autonomous robots. The ch allenges in controlling such a collection of robots are very similar to the challenges of controlling characters in some genres of video games. In this paper, we argue that interfaces based on elements from computer video games are effe ctive tools for the control of large robot teams. We present RIDE, the Robot Interactive Display Environment, an example of such an interface, and give the results of initial user studies with the interface, which lend support to our claim. Follow this and additional works at: htt p://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cse_research Part of the Computer Engineering Commons, and the Computer Sciences Commons

<p>Despite consumer growth, few studies have evaluated the cognitive effects of gaming using mobile devices. This study examined the association between video game play platform and cognitive performance. Furthermore, the differential effect of video game genre (action versus nonaction) was explored. Sixty undergraduate students completed a video game experience questionnaire, and we divided them into three groups: mobile video game players (MVGPs), console/computer video game players (CVGPs), and nonvideo game players (NVGPs). Participants completed a cognitive battery to assess executive function, and learning and memory. Controlling for sex and ethnicity, analyses showed that frequent video game play is associated with enhanced executive function, but not learning and memory. MVGPs were significantly more accurate on working memory performances than NVGPs. Both MVGPs and CVGPs were similarly associated with enhanced cognitive function, suggesting that platform does not significantly determine the benefits of frequent video game play. Video game platform was found to differentially associate with preference for action video game genre and motivation for gaming. Exploratory analyses show that sex significantly effects frequent video game play, platform and genre preference, and cognitive function. This study represents a novel exploration of the relationship between mobile video game play and cognition and adds support to the cognitive benefits of frequent video game play.</p> <p> </p>

Video Games and the Future of Learning

A growing body of literature demonstrates that playing action video games (AVGs) can improve attentional and cognitive abilities, thereby facilitating better learning skills that are critical to academic foundations. However, there are no evidence-based rules for selecting a game that can lead to attentional improvements. This exploratory study attempted to develop an Action Video Game Characteristics (AVGC) instrument that distinguishes AVGs from other video game genres, and examine individuals' perceptions of specific video games that were used in previous AVG training research using the AVGC instrument.

Playing specific genres of video games (e.g., action video games) has been linked to improvements in cognitive skills mostly related to attentional phenomena. Nonetheless, do video games have features or dimensions in common that impact cognitive improvements beyond the game genre? Here, we argue that the sensorimotor demand-the amount of demand for precise coordination between movement and perception-is a key element in the improvements associated with playing video games. We conducted a two-part study to test this hypothesis: a self-report online gaming instrument development and validation and an in-lab behavioural and electrophysiological study. In the first study, data from 209 participants were used to devise the sensorimotor demand instrument (SMDI). The SMDI was split into three dimensions of video game playing: sensorimotor contingency, immersion and unfocused gaming. Criterion validity related to video gamers' characteristics supported that the SMDI is sensitive to the input device (e.g., keyboard or touchscreens), and the most recent experience gained during gaming sessions while not being sensitive to the game genre. In the second study, data from 20 participants who performed four visual-attentional tasks previously reported in the literature showed that the SMDI's dimensions were associated with behavioural performance measures and the latency and amplitude of event-related potentials (N1, P2 and P3). Despite the challenge of studying the video gamer population, our study remarks on the relevance of sensorimotor demands in the performance of attentional tasks and its potential use as a dimension to characterize the experience of playing video games beyond the game genre.

Medievalism, broadly construed, concerns the cultural and intellectual afterlife of the Middle Ages. It has a long tradition as a topic for critical scholarly engagement. Initially growing up in the disciplines of history and literature, it quickly spread to encompass the disciplines of art, architecture, music, and cultural studies, and began to incorporate theoretical positions taken from critical theory and psychoanalysis. With the founding of Studies in Medievalism by Leslie J. Workman, medievalism began to strike out as an interdisciplinary subject in its own right, crossing boundaries of genre, discipline, and period. The study of music and medievalism is a key part of the broader discipline, as an integral part of understanding popular culture broadly, and the genres of film, television, video games, and opera (among others) specifically. Medievalism is an important part of understanding the context of scholarly and performance traditions such as the historically informed performance practice movement and in understanding many types of music from Wagnerian opera to heavy metal. Indeed, medievalism has a long history in the arts. It has, throughout its history, come to mean many things, from the deliberate creative use of the medieval by later generations in art, literature, music, and other cultural products, to its explicit representation, and even more-general influence, conscious or otherwise. The earliest forays of 18th-century Romanticism tended to hold the medieval in high regard as a way of rejecting the political and ideological formulations of the Age of Enlightenment. It therefore formed an important part of 18th-century movements in art, architecture, literature, poetry, and music. More recently, medievalism has become an important part of popular culture, impacting upon film, television, video game, and popular music to an increasing degree, as well as entering political and journalistic discourse as a way of understanding contemporary phenomena.

Previous studies have identified relationships between romantic media consumption and users’ romantic beliefs, but romantic video games (RVGs; i.e., games in which players attempt to foster a romantic relationship with a chosen game character, also called dating games or dating simulators) remain understudied. Using a cultivation framework, we conducted an online survey of female Chinese players to determine their consumption of the RVG genre, identification with their avatars, and parasocial relationships with the romantic targets they pursue in the game, as well as their beliefs about romantic relationships. Although the amount of time spent playing RVGs did not directly predict idealized beliefs about romantic relationships, the hypothesized mediation model revealed that it indirectly predicted romantic beliefs through identification with avatars and parasocial relationships with video game characters. We discuss the implications for studying romantic media, dating simulations, interactive narratives, and other video game genres.

A computer-based 'Useful Field of View' (UFOV) training program has been shown to be effective in improving visual processing in older adults. Studies of young adults have shown that playing video games can have similar benefits; however, these studies involved realistic and violent 'first-person shooter' (FPS) games. The willingness of older adults to play such games has not been established. OBJECTIVES: To determine the degree to which older adults would accept playing a realistic, violent FPS-game, compared to video games not involving realistic depiction of violence. METHODS: Sixteen older adults (ages 64-77) viewed and rated video-clip demonstrations of the UFOV program and three video-game genres (realistic-FPS, cartoon-FPS, fixed-shooter), and were then given an opportunity to try them out (30 minutes per game) and rate various features. RESULTS: The results supported a hypothesis that the participants would be less willing to play the realistic-FPS game in comparison to the less violent alternatives (p's<0.02). After viewing the video-clip demonstrations, 10 of 16 participants indicated they would be unwilling to try out the realistic-FPS game. Of the six who were willing, three did not enjoy the experience and were not interested in playing again. In contrast, all 12 subjects who were willing to try the cartoon-FPS game reported that they enjoyed it and would be willing to play again. A high proportion also tried and enjoyed the UFOV training (15/16) and the fixed-shooter game (12/15). DISCUSSION: A realistic, violent FPS video game is unlikely to be an appropriate choice for older adults. Cartoon-FPS and fixed-shooter games are more viable options. Although most subjects also enjoyed UFOV training, a video-game approach has a number of potential advantages (for instance, 'addictive' properties, low cost, self-administration at home). We therefore conclude that non-violent cartoon-FPS and fixed-shooter video games warrant further investigation as an alternative to the UFOV program for training improved visual processing in seniors.

This paper aims to provide a deeper insight into some of the most popular FPS (First-Person Shooter) video games available. The available literature on this subject tends to discuss the negative psychological impacts of playing this genre of video games. However, this paper deviates from the traditional focus and adopts a more dynamic approach. The aim of this manuscript is to discuss how combat has been represented in FPS video games by referring to real-life events. This paper uses content analysis and descriptive approach to discuss how combat along with history and politics can be observed by the players in popular FPS video games like Call of Duty, Battlefield etc. There are references to international history and politics since most of the video games within the ambit of this study are based on true events. The broader aim is to explore the possibility of presenting accurate international events, particularly wars and battles in combat video games and the possibility of learning through them. Video games like Call of Duty and Battlefield are known all over the world for their intensive graphical representation.

First established in 1864 during the gold rush era of western Victoria, Australia, the Ararat Lunatic Asylum has long stood as a gothic edifice overlooking the regional city of Ararat on the crest of the ominously named “Madman’s Hill.” The complex has become the site of a thriving dark tourism industry feeding off public fears of both mental illness and the plight of the incarcerated patients as manifested through folklore, urban legends, media reports and, of course, the ubiquitous legacy of the Asylum in popular culture. The complex is the focal point of mnemonic battles over representations of the site as a symbol of gothic horror and incarceration in contrast to its role in the history of psychiatry and the lived experiences of patients and staff. These representations draw on the folklore of haunted experiences, tied to the trauma of the former men and women incarcerated at the asylum, yet they are primarily mediated through expectations rooted in the horror and gothic genres of cinema, novels and video games. The paper will examine the process by which this network of popular, folkloric and populist representations has shaped representations of “Ararat Lunatic Asylum” as a significant heritage site in the history of the incarceration of the mentally ill in Australia.

Research on players’ reasons for video gaming, their video game preferences, and the behavioural effects of video gaming on the players tends to study those issues separately. This study attempts to explore all those issues collectively with the aim of facilitating game designers to develop appealing educational games for university students without inflicting negative behavioural impacts on the students. Relevant data from 100 undergraduates were collected from an online survey. Cluster analysis of the eight major reasons for playing video games resulted in grouping the respondents into five clusters. The cluster that rated peer effect as the major reason for playing is male-dominated whereas the cluster that rated family influence as the major reason is female-dominated. A similar analysis of the respondents’ video game genre preferences reveals that the cluster favouring fighting and battle games is male-dominated, whereas the cluster favouring family entertainment games is female-dominated. Both genders enjoy playing challenging adventure-strategy games. Most respondents perceived that their cognitive functioning had improved through video gaming, but no conclusion can be drawn as to whether video gaming can improve their social and psychological functioning. Except for poor sleeping habits, most respondents had not experienced any significant negative effects from playing video games. No statistical evidence supports that playing violent video games would induce aggressive behaviours. As games that involve a high demand for players’ motor skills may not be a good choice for educational games and violent games may induce poor sleep quality, it is concluded that challenging adventure games and strategy games are suitable educational game genres for undergraduate students.