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Review: Play Like A Feminist
Full text linkReview: Play Like A Feminist, by Shira Chess. 2020. MIT Press. 165 pp
Review: How to Be a Games User Researcher
Full text linkReview: How to Be a Games User Researcher, by Steve Bromley. 2021. Self-Published. 173 pp
Visual Novel Based Education in English Literature: A Study on Student Engagement
Full text linkThe present study aims to determine the relationship between visual novels and student engagement in English literature. The visual novel development program Ren’Py was used to create a visual novel based on S. E. Hinton’s classic novel The Outsiders (1967). The game was distributed to high school students, and data was collected using a pretest-post-test quasi-experimental design. A descriptive positive relationship was tentatively found; students who indicated having read the book as well as having played the visual novel reported having a refreshed or otherwise positive experience with the visual novel. Factors such as learning enjoyment; behaviour, effort, and persistence; and cognitive learning were identified as having been enhanced through interaction with the visual novel, which suggests an overall improvement in student engagement. The most valuable implication of devoting research to this topic is the advancement of teaching methods that can impact the way students read and think critically about texts. With greater evidence and a wider breadth of subject material covered in the future, it could be possible to transform how high school students interact with literature
Review: Cooperative Gaming: Diversity in the Games Industry and How to Cultivate Inclusion
Full text linkReview: Cooperative Gaming: Diversity in the Games Industry and How to Cultivate Inclusion, by Alayna Cole and Jessica Zammit. 2020. CRC Press. xv + 95 pp
Understanding Extended Testing Feedback: Positioning Platforms as a Key Factor in Independent Game Development
Full text linkThe independent (“indie”) game is a common category of video games, referring generally to those that are developed by individuals or small teams. When creating new games, most developers recruit a testing team made up of users/gamers who are not in the immediate design team and generate feedback about the game. The main objective of this study is to explore a qualitative way for categorising and filtering online reviews through social media platforms to help indie developers process user feedback efficiently during the extended game testing phase. This research adopts a qualitative methodology to develop in-depth and high-quality results based on case studies of Manifold Garden (William Chyr Studio, 2019) and No Man’s Sky (Hello Games, 2016). It includes qualitative content analysis based on Grabarczyk and Aarseth’s (2018) ontological meta-model (2018). A comparative investigation is also used to evaluate two key media platforms: YouTube and Steam. The results indicate that Steam users’ reviews focused on fundamental aspects of the game operation and game mechanics. In contrast, reviews on YouTube were related to the visual performance of games. The researcher observed an understanding gap between reviewers and developers, which means not all reviewers’ advice had been accepted. In conclusion, indie developers could consider platform types when categorising and targeting user feedback
Review: Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming
Full text linkReview: Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming, by Kishonna L. Gray. 2020. Louisiana State University Press. xiii + 195 pp
What Factors Do Players Perceive as Methods of Retention in Battle Royale Games?
Full text linkBattle Royale (BR) games are well known for their ability to not only attract but also retain a large number of players. In this paper, we attempt to identify the common themes which BR players identify as methods of retention through a qualitative thematic analysis with 11 participants. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and analysed through thematic analysis. Seven common themes were identified, where (1) draw of new content, (2) mechanics and action of BR games, and (3) reward systems were suggested to impact retention. Additionally, (4) social dynamics and (5) mastery were external factors outside the game that may impact retention in BR games. However, the other themes of (6) aesthetic preference and (7) unique selling points were not contributing factors in our sample. Further work is needed to understand the impact of these retention factors and how to design for these factors in game development
Review: The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers Are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games
Full text linkReview: The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers Are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games, by Bonnie Ruberg. 2020. Duke University Press. xii + 276 pp