Search results for "digital game"
showing 10 items of 27 documents
Why Digital Games Can Be Advantageous in Vocabulary Learning
2021
Vocabulary learning is an integral part of language learning; however, it is difficult. Although there are many techniques proposed for vocabulary learning and teaching, researchers still strive to find effective methods. Recently, digital games have shown potentials in enhancing vocabulary acquisition. A majority of studies in digital game-based vocabulary learning (DGBVL) literature investigate the effectiveness of DGBVL tasks. In other words, there are enough answers to what questions in DGBVL literature whereas why questions are rarely answered. Finding such answers help us learn more about the structure of the DGBVL tasks and their effects on vocabulary learning. Hence, to achieve this…
Becoming a Gamer: Performative Construction of Gendered Gamer Identities
2021
This article examines how women construct their gameplay identities in relation to the hegemonic “gamer” discourse. The article is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with women who occupy central roles in the Finnish gaming industry. We deploy Judith Butler’s theorization of performative identity construction to examine how the women negotiate their identity in relation to the hegemonic gamer discourse, focusing on how they both embrace and resist the hegemonic, masculine constructions of gameplay. The study shows the dynamics surrounding the gamer identity. While women submit to the hegemonic gamer discourse, reproducing the masculine gamer notions to gain recognition as a viabl…
Establishing Video Game Genres Using Data-Driven Modeling and Product Databases
2015
Establishing genres is the first step toward analyzing games and how the genre landscape evolves over the years. We use data-driven modeling that distils genres from textual descriptions of a large collection of games. We analyze the evolution of game genres from 1979 till 2010. Our results indicate that until 1990, there have been many genres competing for dominance, but thereafter sport-racing, strategy, and action have become the most prevalent genres. Moreover, we find that games vary to a great extent as to whether they belong mostly to one genre or to a combination of several genres. We also compare the results of our data-driven model with two product databases, Metacritic and Mobyga…
Playing horror : narrative and genre in Valve's Left 4 Dead Series
2013
The place of story and narrative in digital games has been a hotly contested topic within the field of Game Studies during the past two decades. Beyond the question of whether games can or should be used for telling stories, research interest has focused on the nature of game narratives and their distinct qualities in comparison to other expressive media, like literature and film. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to this debate by examining the elements involved in storytelling not in digital games overall, but in one particular series, namely Valve Software‘s Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. The use of this in-depth case study allows an examination of how various different elements co…
Supporting struggling readers with digital game-based learning
2019
This study investigates the effectiveness of a digital game—GraphoLearn (GL)—in supporting second-grade students who have persistent difficulties with acquiring accurate and fluent reading skills. The participants (N = 37) were randomly assigned either to a 6-week intervention including sessions with GL, in addition to school-provided support, or a control group receiving only school-provided support. The intervention took place at the students’ homes and schools under the supervision of their parents and teachers. The results showed that the children who received the GL intervention developed significantly faster in word reading than the control group. Moreover, their reading development w…
Injustice in the Ruins and a Disordered Post-Apocalypse: Gothic Ideology in the Digital Game World of Fallout 3
2020
The Gothic is an influential source for storytelling in a wide range of digital games. Thus far, interpreting it in games and how they are informed by Gothic ideology has been little studied. This study seeks to address this gap in research by investigating these issues in the narrative of the action role-playing game, Fallout 3. More specifically, through a close reading of the game narrative and by drawing on theories of the Gothic, ideological aspects of the Gothic are analyzed in detail with specific reference to non-player characters and their actions and dialogue along with elements of the mise-en-scéne, style, and simulation. Results show how classic Gothic ideology is reproduced in …
Utilizing games in the co-production of mental health services
2020
This study analyses the application of a co-production approach in utilizing digital games and game-related methods in mental health services. The goal is to offer a real-world experiment on co-production, focusing on mental health service users, active gamers and mental health practitioners who worked together in equal ways and valued each other’s unique contributions during the experiment. The implications of a co-production approach for applying digital games in the field of mental healthcare are somewhat limited and under-explored. In this case study, seven workshop sessions were held involving service users, gamers and professionals. Participants were interviewed concerning their exper…
När barnet blir expert: Förklaringar av ord och procedurer i det digitala spelet Growtopia
2019
The ability to explain word meanings is central to a child’s language development and socialisation into different domains of language use. In previous research explanations have been shown to be linked to cognitive and linguistic development as well as academic language and discursive skills. This paper analyses what kinds of linguistic and discursive competences are put to use in explanation activities in interactions between an 8-year-old bilingual child (Albin) and his mother around a digital game. The data comes from a larger data set of video-recordings and field observation of children’s interactions around games. The analysis focuses on explanation sequences in which the child expli…
Psychometric properties of the Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT-10) and problematic gaming behavior among Finnish vocational school students.
2019
This study was conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of the Finnish version of the Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT-10), identify the proportion displaying problematic gaming behavior (PGB) among Finnish vocational school students, and characterize the relationships between sociodemographic factors and gaming characteristics predicting PGB in this population. This cross-sectional study involving 773 students (mean age 17.5 years). Socio-demographic and gaming behavior characteristics were established using a web-based survey. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the IGDT-10 test has appropriate psychometric properties. The proportion of students exhibiting PGB …
Morality in Let’s Play narrations : Moral evaluations of Gothic monsters in gameplay videos of Fallout 3
2018
Performative Let’s Play gaming videos are a part of contemporary Internet culture through which morality becomes shared. Many digital games draw on Gothic traditions to feature human-like monsters who demand morally complex interpretations from players. This study examines what kinds of moral evaluations players form of ambiguous Gothic monsters in Let’s Play videos of the action role-playing game Fallout 3. With a discourse analysis of transcribed speech obtained from 20 Let’s Play series on YouTube, it argues that the moral evaluations that players actively produce impact significantly on the play experience, that players take diverse moral stances whose (in)determinacy varies based on w…