The Internet has enabled the popular pastime of playing video games to grow rapidly by connecting game players in disparate locations. However, with popularity have come the two challenges of hosting a large number of users and detecting cheating among users. For reasons of control, security, and ease of development, the most popular system for hosting on-line games is the client server architecture. This is also the most expensive and least scalable architecture for the game publisher, which drives hosting costs upwards with the success of the game. In addition to the expense of hosting, as a particular game grows more competitive and popular, the incentive to cheat for that game grows as well. All popular online games suffer from cheats in one form or another, and this cheating adversely affects game popularity and growth. In this dissertation we follow a hypothetical game company (GameCorp) as it surmounts challenges involved in running an on-line game. We develop a characterization of gamer habits and game workloads from data sampled over a period of years, and show the benefits and drawbacks of multiplexing online applications together in a single large server farm. We develop and evaluate a geographic redirection service for the public server architecture to match clients with servers. We show how the public server game architecture can be used to scalably host large persistent games such as massively multiplayer (MMO) games that previously used the client server architecture. Finally we develop a taxonomy for client cheating in on-line games to focus research efforts, and specifically treat one of the categories in detail: information exposure in peer-to-peer games. The thesis of this dissertation is: a methodology for accurate usage modeling of server resources can improve workload management; public-server resources can be leveraged in new ways to serve multiplayer on-line games; and that information exposure in peer-to-peer on-line games is preventable or detectable with the adoption of cryptographic protocols.

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Simulation video games potentially offer students the opportunity to participate in activities designed to bring about higher order thinking. Gee (2005b, 2007) elucidates that without the guidance of instructors, humans involved in a simulation experience have a high probability of finding creative but spurious patterns and generalizations that send learners down miseducative paths. The focus of this study is an examination of the function of instructor guided reflection and prior participant interest and exposure to video games in promoting affective and cognitive learning during participant use of single and multiplayer simulation video games in the classroom. One hundred twenty- eight students enrolled in World History classes at a suburban high school located in the Southeastern United States participated in this research study. Participants completed a survey of their interest and prior exposure to video games, played a tutorial of the simulation video game, played a single player or multiplayer version of the game with or without instructor guided reflection, and completed a posttest of reasoning and knowledge ability. The researcher used independent samples t tests, analysis of variance, and descriptive statistical analysis in combination with qualitative methods outlined by Miles and Huberman (1994) to analyze the data. Thomas (2003) described the mixed methodology used to analyze and interpret the data in this research study. Quantitative analysis of the data revealed that participants who engaged in both reflection and multiplayer groups scored significantly higher on posttest of reasoning ability at the .05 level. Furthermore, qualitative analysis revealed that participants in the multiplayer and reflection treatment groups were more likely to be engaged in the lesson, participate in more cognitive discussions, and made more connections to the large context of the lesson. Participants with a high level of prior interest in video games scored significantly higher on a posttest of reasoning ability at the .05 level of significance and were more likely to participate actively during the lesson. The findings from this study suggest the need for teaching educators to utilize reflective and collaborative practices in the incorporation of digital technology in the classroom.

Sports video games should be inherently competitive, but they fall short in providing competition between player skills. The translation of real-world physical activities to a game controller and the emphasis on statistical simulations in traditional sports video games leads to a limited opportunity for expertise development, individual differentiation, and fatigue. These are three very important aspects of real-world sports that are lacking in sports video games. One possible solution to these difficulties is to use small-scale exertion. This method requires the design of an input mechanic that requires only the use of hands and fingers (or feet). We created two small-scale exertion sports video games (Track and Field Racing and Jelly Polo) and ran four studies to compare our small-scale exertion games to traditional rate-based sports video games. Qualitative and quantitative results suggest that using small-scale exertion increases the amount of expertise development, individual differentiation, and fatigue in sports video games. Results also suggest small-scale exertion controls are more engaging than traditional rate-based controls. By using small-scale exertion to add physicality into sports video games, we are able to increase richness, competitiveness, and realism in order to create a game which is competitive, in terms of player skill, and sport-like.

This dissertation explores the emerging relationship between the U.S. military and the commercial video game market. Specifically, this study situates this relationship in terms of the U.S. military's evolving role in a variety of media-such as Hollywood feature films, television, and television news-for the purposes of propaganda and the influencing of public opinion. Consequently, an analysis and critique of the U.S. military's production and commissioning of commercial video games will be advanced that takes into account contemporary analyses and media critiques with respect to war and representation. Since these games are also a part of the larger field of entertainment and cultural production, this study will attempt to understand these products for the complex ways they combine cultural expression, modern spectatorship and the desire to influence or mediate popular conceptions of war. Consideration will also be given to situating these products within the emerging field of video game studies and aesthetics, as well as questions concerning genre, realism, historical revisionism, and the ethics of simulation.

It seems like teaching about games should be easy. After all, students enjoy engaging with course content and have extensive experience with videogames. However, games education can be surprisingly complex. I explore the question of what it means to understand games by looking at the challenges and problems faced by students taking games-related classes. My findings include realizing that extensive prior videogame experience often interferes with students abilities to reason critically and analytically about games, and that students have difficulties articulating their experiences and observations about games. In response to these challenges, my research explores how we can use online learning environments to support learning about games by (1) helping students get more from their experiences with games, and (2) helping students use what they know to establish deeper understanding. I explore these strategies through the design and use of two online learning environments: GameLog and the Game Ontology Wiki. GameLog is an online blogging environment designed to help students reflect on their game playing experiences. The Game Ontology wiki provides a context for students to contribute and participate legitimately and authentically in the Game Ontology Project. The Game Ontology Project is a games studies research project that is creating a framework for describing, analyzing and studying games. GameLog and the Game Ontology Wiki were used in university level games-related classes. Results show that students found that participating in these online learning environments was a positive learning experience that helped them broaden and deepen their understanding of videogames. Students found that by reflecting on their experiences playing games they began to understand how game design elements helped shape that experience. Most importantly, they stepped back from their traditional role of gamers or fans and engaged in reasoning critically and analytically about the games they were studying. With GameLog, I show how blogging about experiences of gameplay can be a useful activity for supporting learning and understanding about games. For the Game Ontology Wiki, I show how it is possible to design learning environments that are approachable to learners and allow them to contribute legitimately to external communities of practice.

Thesis (Ph.D) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1999. / Bibliography : p. 149-170.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 90 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.B.A.)----University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May viewed May 28, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37)

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2010. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 25-26).