This thesis analyzes how the institutional environment of the Chinese market affects market entry by foreign PC video game developers. The thesis utilizes a qualitative, multiple case study of five independent PC video game developers from around the world. The results of the thesis finds that despite China’s strict rules regarding video game publishing by foreign developers, culture and language are stronger influences on market entry strategies than Chinese regulations for the PC platform. This is due to the prevalent use of Steam, not only by foreign developers, but also their Chinese partners who publish the game to bypass the approval process mandated by the State Administration of Press and Publication (SAPP). The study also finds that, despite being in a leveraged market position due to regulations, Chinese publishers provide host of services for the developer partners for a revenue share deemed within industry standards. Additionally, localization strategies are discussed by each of the cases and this thesis finds that, while a basic translation can have success in the Chinese market, utilizing native Chinese speakers has a significant impact on a game's success, regardless of the professional level of the translation. Finally, despite the notoriety of piracy in China, developers expressed indifference to the practice, however, several methods have been identified to help mitigate the activity.

Analysens syfte var att presentera om ett datorspel kan betraktas som en berättande text, hur ett datorspel skiljer sig från andra berättande texter, samt hur datorspelet The Witcher 2: Assassins of kings (2011) kan användas som en berättande text i gymnasieämnet svenska. Analysarbetet genomfördes genom att spela datorspelet, skriva loggbok och spela in spel-tillfällena. För att klargöra om datorspelet kan betraktas som en berättande text använde jag mig av forskning som definierar en berättande text. Sedan jämförde jag datorspelets berättelse mot forsknings-resultaten. Gällande användningen i gymnasieämnet svenska reflekterade jag över Skol-verkets formuleringar i det centrala innehållet för kurserna. Resultatet som jag kunde utläsa var att datorspel kan betraktas som berättande text och är möjliga att använda i gymnasieämnet svenska. Beträffande skillnaderna från andra berättande texter är ett The Witcher 2 ett icke-linjärt datorspel med interaktiva inslag, vilket innebär att berättelsen kräver större engagemang från en spelare i jämförelse med en läsare.

For this study three questions are being studied. Question one: “How does the audio compressionaffect the perceived video quality?” Question two is somewhat reversed: “How does the texturedetail affect the perceived audio quality?” The final question follows: “How do the audiocompression and texture detail affect the perceived overall quality?” The experiment was done on 36different untrained listeners, whereof 2 didn’t give complete answers and were therefore notincluded in the results. In total the result was based on 34 test subjects. Subjects participating in theexperiment had to play through three levels, one level for each research question. In each levelsubjects evaluated the game’s different qualities. In one level only the texture detail changed (LevelVV), in the other only audio compression rate changed (Level AA) and in the third both audiocompression and texture detail changed (Level AV). The texture detail ranged from low to medium tohigh setting, while the audio compression had four different levels ranging from 49 kbit/s to 150kbit/s, in the compressed format of ogg vorbis. The result shows that subjects did not perceive animprovement in quality in either of the single quality tests, i.e. levels AA and VV. In the last level withmultiple changing stimuli (AV), subjects could identify the lower video quality from medium and high.Subjects also showed a significant difference in perceived overall quality in the AV level, subjectsshowed that they could identify a difference in audio quality better, when video quality was on thelow setting.

Video games are anything but a marginalized subject among communication scholars and media psychologists for quite some time now. Nevertheless, a certain lack of empirically valid theoretical conceptualizations that truly respect the unique nature of the medium is still an important issue, even concerning basic concepts such as interactivity. Drawing from a recently introduced multidimensional conceptualization of video game interactivity as continuously required player effort to meet game demands and to exercise in-situ authorial control over the game experience, this dissertation consists of four manuscripts (covering seven individual studies) that aim for empirical evidence for a rather general but extremely vital question: How do players process video games? In my understanding of the field, this question exemplifies a substantial shift in how researchers examine games to explain not only the medium’s worldwide appeal but also the psychological consequences that may result from playing it. Just as psychophysiological and neurophysiological perspectives have gained significant momentum within game scholarship these days, an experiential approach that focuses on the (dynamic) interplay between demand and effort promises to serve as a valuable theoretical basis to develop an advanced understanding of video gaming beyond what we as game scholars currently know. My work is inspired by this vision and the four manuscripts that are included in this thesis contribute little pieces to it by examining interpersonal competition (manuscript 1) and game streaming (manuscript 3) as well as by developing and validating a German scale to assess different game demands (manuscript 2) and a methodology to explore demand dynamics (manuscript 4). In doing so, it intends to provide conceptual and empirical groundwork necessary not only to ask bigger questions about video games but also to answer them.

This thesis examines the motivation of players of video games for their playing, and the strategy of these players for overcoming feelings of depression, using the methods of grounded theory. The first part deals with the approach of sociology and selected studies towards the issue of video games and mental disorders, to which I then relate the findings of my own research at the final chapter. In the second part of this work I present what methodology has been used and how. In the final part I lead a discussion about the findings and outcomes of my research.

Procedural content generation is present in many games today. However, little has been written about generating combat encounters in role playing video games (RPG). In these games the player's combat ability varies greatly from person to person and there are many different enemies that could be spawned for the player to fight. These factors make generation of combat encounters difficult. In this thesis we create a small game in which we implement a new algorithm for generating combat encounters. We then distribute this game to the general public. From the data we gather we conclude that this algorithm is at least as good at generating combat encounters as the author of the thesis and that it is a good starting point for further research.

Biofeedback interaction offers interesting opportunities for video games since it allows player physiological information to be used in novel interaction techniques. Despite several contributions in the area, biofeedback interaction faces a set of challenges relating to its design and implementation. First, it has mainly been used as a method to replace more traditional interaction devices, such as gamepads, mice or keyboards. Also, few of the previous interaction techniques have made an essential use of physiological data: exploring possibilities that could only be developed by involving physiological inputs. This dissertation explores how different physiological methods, such as electroencephalography, eye tracking, electrocardiography, electrodermal activity, or electromyography, could be used in the design and development of natural user interaction techniques that might be applied to entertainment video games, highlighting technical details for the appropriate use of physiological signals. The research also discusses interaction design principles from a human-computer interaction perspective, evaluates several novel biofeedback interaction techniques with a set of user studies, and proposes ethical considerations for the appropriate exposure to virtual reality and physiological sensor technology. Results show that the use of biofeedback inputs in novel interaction techniques, vary in complexity and functionality depending on the type of measurements used. They also showed that biofeedback interaction can positively affect player experience since it allows games and virtual reality applications to synchronize with player physiology, making of playing games a personalized experience. Results highlighted that biofeedback interaction can significantly affect player performance, being influenced by the interaction complexity and the reliability of the sensor technology used.

<p>With the popularity of the gaming industry, game streaming appeared and became a global phenomenon with high participation in recent years. Game streaming platforms such as Twitch had millions of active users participated in the community by watching and chatting. Yet there was lack of investigation about how chat behaviors connected with the overall participation in game streaming community. This study aims to describe and analyze the roles taken on by viewers as they engaged in chat while watching game streaming and identify how these roles influenced participation. I designed a qualitative study with online observations on several Twitch channels streaming Overwatch. By analyzing the chatlogs collected, I identified four social roles among chatters: Lurker, Troll, Collaborator, and Moderator. A discourse analysis was applied to further investigate the interactions among these roles and how they shape the conversation in chatrooms. With these findings, I generated a four-role model that specific for chatters in Twitch personal channels. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were also provided.</p>

The aim of this degree project was to find out what students currently enrolled at upper-secondary school programs think of video games as an educational tool, and whether they believed it would be a good idea to use video games in English language classrooms. This was done by collecting data through the use of an online questionnaire, where students enrolled at an upper-secondary school in central Sweden answered questions on the subject video game habits, previous experience playing video games in class, attitudes toward video games in general and as educational tools in teaching English in particular. A secondary objective for this study was to compare what the students think of video games as an educational tool with previous research and what two active teachers have to say about the subject. To achieve this, two teacher interviews were conducted and analyzed through comparing the answers with the student questionnaire and previous research, by others, on the subject of attitudes toward video games and education. These teachers were also asked to present possible challenges for integrating video games in English class. The result was that the students had, by and large, a positive attitude towards video games being used in English class and a substantial amount of them acknowledged that they had acquired English skills through playing video games in the past. The teachers presented a number of practical challenges for using video games in class – including current curriculums, teacher readiness, technology available at school and a perceived lack of science behind video games as educational tools. Despite this, both teachers were willing to use video games in English class if they get the right incentive and tools to do so.

The focus of this research is on the development of a real time application that uses a low cost EEG headset to measure a player's state of mind while they play a video game. Using data collected using the Emotiv EPOC headset, various EEG processing techniques are tested to find ways of measuring a person's engagement and arousal levels. The ability to measure a person's engagement and arousal levels provide an opportunity to develop a model that monitor a person's flow while playing video games. Identifying when certain events occur, like when the player dies, will make it easier to identify when a player has left a state of flow. The real time application Brainwave captures data from the wireless Emotiv EPOC headset. Brainwave converts the raw EEG data into more meaningful brainwave band frequencies. Utilizing the brainwave frequencies the program trains multiple machine learning algorithms with data designed to identify when the player dies. Brainwave runs while the player plays through a video gaming monitoring their engagement and arousal levels for changes that cause the player to leave a state of flow. Brainwave reports to researchers and developers when the player dies along with the identification of the players exit of the state of flow.