<p>This essay covers computer gaming as seen from a perspective of gender theory. The main purpose of the essay is to examine women’s relationship to computer games, and more specifically women’s attitudes to the games they play. The theoretical basis for this essay is sprung from a hermeneutic perspective. The empirical basis for analysis consists of two in depth interviews and game analysis of the two computer games Counter Strike and Final Fantasy XI. The theories and previous research we have taken in consideration discuss topics like computer usage, gender studies, identity, identification, cyborg theory, subculture, fanculture and narration. This essay has shown that the two computer games contain multiple gender related and theory relevant connotations. The aspects of the games the informants consider important in the identification process mainly consist of game related communion and the interaction with other players. Both informants have presented several views on what they find important in the process of identification and what they chose to discard. </p>

<p>Syftet med detta arbete är att komma med ett inlägg i diskussionen kring datorspel och spelandet av desamma. Detta genom att försöka påvisa att datorspelande har en inverkan på svenska elevers inlärning av det engelska språket. För att nå mitt mål genomförde jag kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare och elever på en skola vars undervisning är inriktad mot grundskolans senare år. Huvudsyftet med intervjuerna var att samla in information för att kunna föra en relevant diskussion kring datorspelandets inverkan på inlärning av engelska.</p><p>Resultatet visar att eleverna upplever det som att den mesta engelskan de lär sig snarare kommer från datorspelen än undervisningen i skolan. Många av eleverna tror dock att lärarna inte tycker om datorspel, men menar att det nog bara är för att de inte förstår vad det handlar om. Lärarna förstår dock nyttan av att spela datorspel på fritiden, samt har en övervägande positiv inställning till datorspel. En lärare upplever att spelande elever generellt sett är duktiga på engelska och tar till sig det engelska språket på ett annat sätt än andra elever. Ytterligare en lärarröst menar att elever som spelar har ett mer flexibelt och berikat språktänk, samt öppnar upp sitt sinne på ett friare sätt i jämförelse med sina klasskamrater.</p> / <p>The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to the ongoing debate on computer games. My aim is to show that playing computer games affect the Swedish students’ acquisition of a foreign language, such as English. The method I used was qualitative interviews carried out on teachers as well as students at a school in the upper level of Compulsory School. The main purpose of these interviews was to gather subjective thoughts and attitudes from teachers and students to be able to lead a relevant discussion on computer games and how playing them affects the acquisition of a foreign language.</p><p>My results show that the students experience that they learn more English by playing computer games than during their English lessons. Many of the students also think that the teachers are not at all fond of computer gaming, but conclude this to be due to the teachers’ lack of experience. The teachers, however, do understand how the students benefit from playing computer games in their spare time, which leads to a predominantly positive attitude towards computer games amongst the teachers in this study.</p>

The sixth volume of the DIGAREC Series holds the contributions to the DIGAREC Keynote-Lectures given at the University of Potsdam in the winter semester 2009/10. With contributions by Mark J.P. Wolf (Concordia University Wisconsin), Espen Aarseth (Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen), Katie Salen (Parsons New School of Design, New York), Laura Ermi and Frans Mäyrä (University of Tampere), and Lev Manovich (University of Southern California, San Diego).

This essay covers computer gaming as seen from a perspective of gender theory. The main purpose of the essay is to examine women’s relationship to computer games, and more specifically women’s attitudes to the games they play. The theoretical basis for this essay is sprung from a hermeneutic perspective. The empirical basis for analysis consists of two in depth interviews and game analysis of the two computer games Counter Strike and Final Fantasy XI. The theories and previous research we have taken in consideration discuss topics like computer usage, gender studies, identity, identification, cyborg theory, subculture, fanculture and narration. This essay has shown that the two computer games contain multiple gender related and theory relevant connotations. The aspects of the games the informants consider important in the identification process mainly consist of game related communion and the interaction with other players. Both informants have presented several views on what they find important in the process of identification and what they chose to discard.

Syftet med detta arbete är att komma med ett inlägg i diskussionen kring datorspel och spelandet av desamma. Detta genom att försöka påvisa att datorspelande har en inverkan på svenska elevers inlärning av det engelska språket. För att nå mitt mål genomförde jag kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare och elever på en skola vars undervisning är inriktad mot grundskolans senare år. Huvudsyftet med intervjuerna var att samla in information för att kunna föra en relevant diskussion kring datorspelandets inverkan på inlärning av engelska. Resultatet visar att eleverna upplever det som att den mesta engelskan de lär sig snarare kommer från datorspelen än undervisningen i skolan. Många av eleverna tror dock att lärarna inte tycker om datorspel, men menar att det nog bara är för att de inte förstår vad det handlar om. Lärarna förstår dock nyttan av att spela datorspel på fritiden, samt har en övervägande positiv inställning till datorspel. En lärare upplever att spelande elever generellt sett är duktiga på engelska och tar till sig det engelska språket på ett annat sätt än andra elever. Ytterligare en lärarröst menar att elever som spelar har ett mer flexibelt och berikat språktänk, samt öppnar upp sitt sinne på ett friare sätt i jämförelse med sina klasskamrater. / The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to the ongoing debate on computer games. My aim is to show that playing computer games affect the Swedish students’ acquisition of a foreign language, such as English. The method I used was qualitative interviews carried out on teachers as well as students at a school in the upper level of Compulsory School. The main purpose of these interviews was to gather subjective thoughts and attitudes from teachers and students to be able to lead a relevant discussion on computer games and how playing them affects the acquisition of a foreign language. My results show that the students experience that they learn more English by playing computer games than during their English lessons. Many of the students also think that the teachers are not at all fond of computer gaming, but conclude this to be due to the teachers’ lack of experience. The teachers, however, do understand how the students benefit from playing computer games in their spare time, which leads to a predominantly positive attitude towards computer games amongst the teachers in this study.

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Garamond; panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Garamond","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:SV;} p.Standard, li.Standard, div.Standard {mso-style-name:Standard; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Garamond","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:SV;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --><!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} > <! [endif] > This paper focuses on the female gender position in World of Warcraft. The paper analyses the game, the gamer community and female gamers own experiences of play in a male-dominated arena. The subject is approached using semiotics, online ethnography and semi-structured interwiews. The results show that World of Warcraft is far from the worst example of stereotypical gender representations in games, although the game enforces stereotypical structures. The culture in the gaming community is extremely male dominated and heteronormative. The female respondents seem to thrive in the game via a negotiated reading of the gamer culture. Their goals and motivations in the game differ widely.  < ><-->

The thesis caters to the demands of the creative industries for products and contents which can be utilized for convergent media usage and cross-marketing strategies. In this regard character design serves as an important element of entertainment franchises since it is a means to produce media content with high recognition value. However, numerous character adaptations in different media formats illustrate that characters who are successful in one medium are not necessarily as successful in another media format. The thesis takes a closer look at characters in the context of media convergence and discusses the main principles of character creation and development. By favoring a heuristic approach which analyzes the aesthetic phenomena of arts and entertainment by the means of theoretical research which is supported by practical examples, the thesis concludes that character development is based on three dimensions which have to be combined in order to create characters which can be utilized for different media formats. In this context the work discusses character creation in writing, visuals and interactive media by focusing on ways which secure the successful transfer of characters into different media formats without a loss of character depth and quality.

The purpose of this essay is an attempt to create a “first basis” of reliability for religious content in computes games, and its value in academic studies. While not researching it in depth, this essay will also give a suggestion of computer games’ potential as a didactic medium. A quantitative comparative analysis has been performed, to present several common religious themes and their occurrence in the computer game respectively. While researching the game, an abundance of religious themes have been found, documented and presented. Through this, it is concluded that computer games not only have the capability of presenting religious themes; they are found to be capable mediums of presentation. The content itself is of high varsity and of great interest to any religious scholar.

This thesis establishes a theoretical framework for understanding virtual spaces and roleplaying in relation to Ian Bogost's theory of "procedural rhetoric," the art of persuading through rule systems alone. Bogost characterizes the persuasive power of games as setting up an Aristotelian enthymeme--an incomplete argument--that one completes through play; however, I argue that the dominant rhetoric intended by a team of game designers is subject to manipulation through player choice. Discrete structures within the play experience cause the meaning-making possibilities of a game object to pullulate in a number of directions. Procedural rhetoric is not comprehended or created when reflected back upon after play: we interrogate it, piece it together, and change it through play. If rules are how the designers express themselves through videogames, then the player expresses herself by forming a personal ruleset--a modus operandi or ethical system--in response to the dominant rhetoric. Furthermore, game space is not merely the place where this dialectic occurs; it also embodies a ruleset in the way it organizes objects and directs the flow of play. The thesis proposes a model by which games, which are "half-real" according to theorist Jesper Juul, can be judged intersubjectively--that is, in a way that accounts for the objectivity of their rulesets and the subjectivity of player experience. By fully understanding the dynamic between the three procedural influences of rules, space, and identity, we can learn more about designing persuasive game systems and enhance the possibilities of subversive play.

Computer games are an increasingly popular application for Artificial Intelligence (AI) research, and conversely AI is an increasingly popular selling point for commercial digital games. AI for non playing characters (NPC) in computer games tends to come from people with computing skills well beyond the average user. The prime reason behind the lack of involvement of novice users in creating AI behaviors for NPC's in computer games is that construction of high quality AI behaviors is a hard problem. There are two reasons for it. First, creating a set of AI behavior requires specialized skills in design and programming. The nature of the process restricts it to certain individuals who have a certain expertise in this area. There is little understanding of how the behavior authoring process can be simplified with easy-to-use authoring environments so that novice users (without programming and design experience) can carry out the behavior authoring task. Second, the constructed AI behaviors have problems and bugs in them which cause a break in player expe- rience when the problematic behaviors repeatedly fail. It is harder for novice users to identify, modify and correct problems with the authored behavior sets as they do not have the necessary debugging and design experience. The two issues give rise to a couple of interesting questions that need to be investigated: a) How can the AI behavior construction process be simplified so that a novice user (without program- ming and design experience) can easily conduct the authoring activity and b) How can the novice users be supported to help them identify and correct problems with the authored behavior sets? In this thesis, I explore the issues related to the problems highlighted and propose a solution to them within an application domain, named Second Mind(SM). In SM novice users who do not have expertise in computer programming employ an authoring interface to design behaviors for intelligent virtual characters performing a service in a virtual world. These services range from shopkeepers to museum hosts. The constructed behaviors are further repaired using an AI based approach. To evaluate the construction and repair approach, we conduct experiments with human subjects. Based on developing and evaluating the solution, I claim that a design solution with behavior timeline based interaction design approach for behavior construction supported by an understandable vocabulary and reduced feature representation for- malism enables novice users to author AI behaviors in an easy and understandable manner for NPCs performing a service in a virtual world. I further claim that an introspective reasoning approach based on comparison of successful and unsuccessful execution traces can be used as a means to successfully identify breaks in player ex- perience and modify the failures to improve the experience of the player interacting with NPCs performing a service in a virtual world. The work contributes in the following three ways by providing: 1) a novel introspective reasoning approach for successfully detecting and repairing failures in AI behaviors for NPCs performing a service in a virtual world.; 2) a novice user understandable authoring environment to help them create AI behaviors for NPCs performing a service in a virtual world in an easy and understandable manner; and 3) Design, debugging and testing scaffolding to help novice users modify their authored AI behaviors and achieve higher quality modified AI behaviors compared to their original unmodified behaviors.