Orientadora: Adriane Beatriz de Souza Serapião / Banca: Afonso Antonio Machado / Banca: Mauro Klebis Schiavon / Resumo: O contexto contemporâneo tem exigido cada vez mais que os vários âmbitos da vida humana se ambientem às novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação. Devido a uma grande preocupação com relação ao sedentarismo, obesidade e os riscos que estes processos causam à saúde das pessoas, associada ao grande número de usuários de jogos virtuais, os benefícios dos jogos conhecidos como exergames (EXGs) vêm sendo discutidos com maior frequência. Participaram do estudo 18 voluntários de ambos os gêneros, com idade média de 22 anos (±1). Os instrumentos utilizados para coleta de dados foram o IPAQ (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) - Versão Curta, a fim de mensurar o nível de atividade física de cada uma das participantes. Foi utilizado o POMS (Profile Of Mood States), aplicado antes e depois de cada sessão de intervenção de 40 minutos com EXGs. Outros instrumentos utilizado foram a Escala de Percepção Subjetiva de Esforço baseada na escala de 0 a 10 proposta por Borg et al. (1982) e o Inventário de Motivação, Jogos Virtuais e Prática de Atividades Físicas / Esportes, composto de 108 questões, divididas em duas seções, Videogame e Atividades Físicas / Esportes. Ao final do período de 4 semanas, foi realizada uma entrevista, pautada no Roteiro de Entrevista, a fim de colher dados sobre os aspectos motivacionais, atividade física e jogos virtuais. Para a prática dos EXGs foi utilizada uma Tv LED Samsung 40" (modelo 5300 series 5), um Microsoft Xbox360® com Kinect® e jogos relacionados a esportes e atividades físicas. A partir dos dados encontrados e os relatos das participantes, corroborados pela recente literatura, notou-se que as TDICs e os ambientes imersivos de realidade virtual estão fortemente presentes no cotidiano das jovens participantes do presente estudo. Com os resultados do presente estudo pode-se perceber que os EXGs funcionam ... (Resumo completo clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The contemporary context has increasingly demanded that the various spheres of human life to acclimate to the new technologies of information and communication. Due to concern with respect to physical inactivity, obesity and the risks that these processes cause to human health associated with the large number of virtual game users, the benefits of games known as exergames (EXGs) have been discussed more often. The study included 18 volunteers of both genders, with a mean age of 22 (± 1). The instruments used for data collection were the IPAQ (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) - Short Version, in order to measure the physical activity level of each of the participants. Was used POMS (Profile of Mood States) applied before and after each 40 minute session with intervention EXGs. Other instruments used were the Effort Subjective Perception Scale based on the scale 0- 10 proposed by Borg et al. (1982) and the Inventory of Motivation, Virtual Games and Practice of Physical Activities / Sports, composed of 108 questions divided into two sections, Videogame and Physical / Sports Activities. At the end of 4 weeks, an interview was conducted, based on the map interview in order to collect data on the motivational aspects, physical activity and virtual games. For the practice of EXGs we used a Samsung LED TV 40 "(5300 series 5 model), a Microsoft Xbox360® with Kinect® and games related to sports and physical activities. From the data found and the reports of the participants, supported by recent literature, it was noted that the TDICs and virtual reality immersive environments are strongly present in the daily lives of the young participants of this study. With the results of this study can be seen that the EXGs work as a motivational factor for physical activity. The reports of the participants, as well as the data collected pertaining to their emotional states during the ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-04-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:59:45Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 campelo_am_me_rcla.pdf: 2017667 bytes, checksum: fb98fddfdac2858c32241df896aaf6c2 (MD5) / Ao longo do desenvolvimento motor, algumas crianças apresentam dificuldades no desempenho de tarefas motoras da vida diária e podem ser identificadas com o Transtorno de Coordenação (TDC). Como consequência dessas dificuldades, estas crianças evitam a prática de atividade física com seus colegas de escola o que traz impacto negativo em muitos aspectos de suas vidas. Tendo em vista tais dificuldades, profissionais da saúde realizam intervenção para melhoria do comportamento motor. No presente estudo, as crianças realizaram atividades em ambiente de realidade virtual. Nesses ambientes, affordances com suas propriedades levam a criança a criar novas perspectivas e possibilidades de ação motora, emergentes do processo de auto-organização. A última geração de videogames como Nintendo Wii e Xbox/Kinect permite a interação sujeito com o ambiente virtual. Nessa condição, a ação do sujeito é projetada em ambientes virtuais. O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar a eficácia da prática de atividade física em ambiente virtual sobre a coordenação motora e equilíbrio dinâmico de crianças com TDC. Do total de 130 crianças avaliadas pela bateria de testes Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2” (MABC-2) (HENDERSON, SUGDEN e BARNETT, 2007), 28 delas foram selecionadas para o estudo, sendo 14 delas com TDC pareadas em idade e gênero com 14 crianças com desenvolvimento típico (DT). Todos os participantes foram submetidos a um programa diário de intervenção desenvolvido em ambiente virtual com os videogames Wii e Xbox/Kinect. As crianças foram distribuídas em quatro grupos de forma aleatória. O programa de intervenção foi realizado durante dez sessões com duração de 20 minutos cada, de segunda a sexta-feira. Nas 5 sessões da primeira semana metade do grupo de crianças com TDC e metade do grupo DT fizeram... / Some children throughout development show difficulties in the performance of motor tasks of daily life and they can be identified as shown Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). As a consequence of such difficulties, these children get away from physical activity avoiding playing with their school mates and consequently with negative impact in many aspects of their lives. In the present study, children with Developmental Coordination and normal children performed activities in a virtual reality environment. Affordances in this context and its properties stimulate children to create new perspectives in theirs possibilities for motor action that emerges from self-organization processes. The last generation of videogames like Nintendo Wii and Xbox/Kinect allow for the subject interaction with the environment. In this condition, subject´s action is used to project the future state of the environment. The aim of this study was to measure the efficacy of the practice of physical activity by children with DCD in two different virtual environments that require dynamic balance and motor coordination. From a total of 130 children assessed by the Movement Assessment Battery for children 2 (MABC-2), 28 children were selected to participate in the study from which 14 of them were with coordination problems and they were matched by age and gender with typically developing (TD) children. Four groups were formed All participants were submitted to a daily intervention program developed in two virtual environments, the Wii and the Xbox/Kinect. The intervention program was conducted throughout 5 sessions per week from Monday to Friday in each one of the environments. The order of the environments was counterbalanced between groups so that one group had in the first week 5 sessions in the Wii and in the second week... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Video games are one of the largest cultural industries in the world and an important part of life for billions of people. This medium offers much more than just entertainment and that is especially true for the field of cultural heritage, although there has not been sufficient research of video games from this perspective. This work sets out to explore the medium of roleplaying video games from the point of view of their players as a key to access and understand cultural heritage, looking into the forms cultural heritage plays in video games, the advantages of engaging with cultural heritage in this way and offering an outlook into its implications regarding its significance for the field of cultural heritage. The core of this thesis is formed by an analysis of a topical survey created by the author that has been completed by 564 players, followed by a discussion of results and other written sources. Using the results of the survey this thesis concludes that roleplaying video games are a valuable asset for cultural heritage. It is an improved (interactive, immersive, captivating) storytelling medium with a great potential for benefiting its users' cultural knowledge and skills, as well as conserving, sustaining, and sharing the value of cultural heritage, and the field should acknowledge it as such and take advantage of it.

Civilization games can depict imaginative and sophisticated perspectives on the future. Yet some scholars have critiqued civilization games for their replication of dominant, limited ideologies. Game designers often learn about design directly or indirectly from frameworks, such as the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework which contains a very idiosyncratic definition of aesthetics. Given that aesthetic thinking can unlock the sociological imagination, the aim of this dissertation was to discover opportunities to expand civilization game design by understanding the aesthetic experience of designers. A qualitative interview study was conducted of 13 game designers who created at least one civilization game based in the future. The interview and analysis had an ontological focus, to better understand how aesthetics fit into the existing puzzle of game design knowledge. The findings showed that designers employ their perspective in game design; this sense of self and perspective is not captured by current ontologies of game design. Furthermore, designers are limited in their ability to explore the boundaries of civilization games by task complexity, emotionality, and reliance on player experience. Resultantly, they may focus intensely on known aspects of game design in order to deliver a product. The dissertation proposes two primary solutions. Firstly, a game design framework that integrates the self into game design and more clearly delineates the game as an artifact. Secondly, cultivate truer senses of vision in game design for those who want to push civilization games and games as a whole, while understanding the practical realities of game design. These implications can be used by educators to reconsider game design program curricula, as well as affirm game designers’ pursuit of their own perspective.

No description available.

Following the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011), which struck down the state of California’s appeal to restrict the sale of games deemed to have “deviant violence” to those 18 or older and the court’s recommendation that parents use the ESRB Ratings System instead, this ethnographic study sought to better understand what parents thought of laws on video games and how they used the recommended ratings system. A total of 30 interviews using semi-structured open-ended questions were conducted and analyzed to reveal what parents thought of laws on video games, how they used the ESRB Ratings System to assess video game content, and what other methods they used for video game content assessment in addition to the ratings system. This research utilized Dervin and Nilan’s (1986) sense-making methodology as a way to learn how parents bridged their knowledge gap when it came to learning about video game content and how they made sense of the knowledge gained to determine the content appropriateness for their children. Analyses of the collected data provided the foundation for a model on the effects of the parent-child relationship on parental information behavior.

The purpose of this project on game design and development is to experiment with actual technology tools used in computer games and get experience in three deminsional game development using 3D Studio Max and Microsoft XNA.

This research strives to characterize the means by which video game players experience and understand the space of the game city during the course of play. Three-dimensional video game cities are neither static environments nor stationary views; rather, they are experienced through movement, action, and play. Our experiences of new places are not developed at a glance. Instead, they are cultivated through use over time. This work utilizes games that take place in constructed versions of New York City as a case study. By focusing on the ways players navigate spaces, we can understand how they construct spatial awareness and how this space is transformed into a meaningful place of play. In order to come to this understanding, this study asks a series of questions: How are these spaces arranged? How does the player move through the space and how does the game teach spatial navigation? What actions are performed in the space and how is gameplay adapted for the city environment? And how do of narrative environments contribute to a player's identification with the space? These questions are examined within a framework of urban, cultural, and game studies. I examine techniques that are employed by video game city designers to help players navigate space and make it meaningful. Additionally, this research poses areas for future expansion and experimentation with game cities.

Thesis (Masters) -- The College of Saint Elizabeth, 2010. / Typescript. Available at The College of Saint Elizabeth - Office of Graduate Programs. "March 2010"

The focus of this study was to determine how attribution patterns of children with an internal or external locus of control differ when playing a computer video game. Forty subjects each (twenty internally controlled and twenty externally controlled) were placed in a competitive or non-competitive treatment setting with a successful or unsuccessful outcome. Each subject played a computer video game made by a major manufacturer. At the completion of each session, each subject was asked to rate the four attributes of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The results were then analyzed using analysis of variance with age as a covariate.