The video game industry in Sweden has experienced tremendous growth since 2009 with its revenue generation being compared to iron ore, an important revenue generator for the country. The ability of these firms to record recurrent increases in revenue is due to the innovativeness of the industry. External sources of knowledge affect firms’ innovative performance. However, the complexity of the knowledge acquired is influenced by the strength of ties between the firm and its counterparts. This study investigates how Swedish video game firms develop new products to stay competitive through their relationship with their strong ties counterparts, level of cooperation and firms’ absorptive capacity. We model strong ties relationship with latent constructs including closeness, commitment and trust. A nationally representative survey was conducted among selected video game firms across Sweden. Structural equation modelling was then utilized to assess the effect of strong ties on new product innovativeness. The results show that strong ties with external counterparts have a positive and statistically significant effect on new product innovation through the mediating channel of cooperation and absorptive capacity. Closeness, commitment and trust show a direct effect on cooperation, cooperation on absorptive capacity and absorptive capacity on new product innovativeness. The implications of these findings have been discussed.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo refletir acerca das potências que a cultura de jogo digital oferece à construção dos modos de ser gendrados e sexualizados. A partir de um evento chamado Proudmoore Pride – uma parada LGBT dentro do jogo online World of Warcraft – procuro compreender de que maneira se constroem possibilidades de enunciar modos de vida não-misóginos e não-heteronormativos nessa cultura, além das formas de resistência à heteronormatividade. Entendo os jogos digitais como uma cultura e um contexto, não simplesmente um conteúdo explícito. Já a identidade de gênero/sexualidade é concebida como sempre política e contingente, inserida e constituída por e em relações de poder. Em relação aos seus materiais, essa pesquisa é divida em três dimensões: uma reflexão acerca das condições de possibilidade do que chamei de tecnopolítica de gênero/sexualidade, ou seja, o conjunto de movimentos organizados que se puseram a pensar a necessidade de uma política questionadora de identidades dentro das tecnologias de informação e comunicação e do ciberespaço, focalizando principalmente nos jogos digitais; a análise de fóruns e outras manifestações escritas acerca do evento; e minha experiência como pesquisador-jogador participando da parada em si. Metodologicamente, utilizei elementos da netnografia, e da análise de discurso e genealogia como pensadas por Michel Foucault. Com esse trabalho, constatei que os jogos digitais, apesar de manterem uma programação fixa e restritiva, podem ser usados de modos que não foram imaginados por seus criadores iniciais. Assim, elementos dos jogos são rearranjados pelos(as) seus(suas) jogadores(as) para designar e construir espaços que antes não existiam ali. Dessa maneira, entendo que durante a Proudmoore Pride se articula um espaço construído por elementos e narrativas originais do jogo original, mas que devidamente rearranjadas e deslocadas, resultam na visibilização e constituição de formas de vida não-heteronormativas dentro do World of Warcraft. / This work aims to reflect about the power that the digital gaming culture offers to the construction of sexualized and gendered ways of being. From an event called Proudmoore Pride – an LGBT pride parade hosted at an online game called World of Warcraft – I seek to comprehend possibilities of enunciation of non-misogynist non-heteronormative ways of life in this culture, in addition to forms of resistance to heteronormativity. I understand digital games as a culture and context, not only as explicit content. The political gender/sexual identity are conceived as always political and contingent inserted and constituted by and in power relations. About its material, this research is divided in three dimensions: a reflection about the possibility conditions of what I called gender/sexuality technopolitics, in other words, the set of organized movements that question identity politics in information and communication technologies and the cyberspace, focusing mainly in digital games; the analysis of forums and other written manifestations about the event; and my own experience as a player-researcher participating of the in-game parade. Methodologically, I used elements of the netnography, of discourse analysis and genealogy as thought by Michel Foucault. With this work, I found that the digital games, despite of having fixed and restrictive programming, can be used in ways that wasn’t perceived by its original creators. Thus, gaming elements are rearranged by its players to designate and build spaces that didn’t existed there before. I understand that the Proudmoore Pride Parade is articulated at a space built with elements and narratives from the original game, in rearranged and dislocated ways, resulting in visualization and constitution of non-heteronormative ways of living in World of Warcraft.

This study aims to explore the question, how the use of applied gaming aspects through affective gaming, specifically as affective avatars, can promote an increment in play-motivation compared to today’s serious gaming. Similar studies in different fields have already shown, that the use of serious gaming can have a very positive impact on the motivation. This study should provide an initial step towards applying serious gaming and gamification through affective computing, for a more efficient motivational educating. By combining the fun of gaming, serious part and the affective avatar gaming, a much higher informational and motivational result could be achieved. A quantitative method was used to collect the data from 18 participants, participating in the research study. The participants were separated into three groups, equally distributed between experienced video game players and non-experienced ones, playing three different game versions, including and excluding affective elements. The collected and analysed data indicates, that participants do seemingly show a slightly higher play-motivation by having an affective avatar interaction. The gained result from this study could potentially show a new path of using affective avatars in a serious gaming setting and strengthen its possible potential.

Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka kopplingar mellan användande av MMO-spel och ökad engelsk språkutveckling hos elever i svensk skola ur ett lärarperspektiv. För att besvara syftesfrågorna i studien användes en kvalitativ metod. Fem lärare som undervisar eller har undervisat i engelska i årskurserna 4-6 intervjuades om sina erfarenheter. Studien har inspirerats av fenomenografi och fokuserar på lärarnas upplevelser och erfarenheter av MMO-spelande elevers språkutveckling i engelska.  Resultatet i studien visar att lärare har följande uppfattningar: elever som spelar MMO-spel har en ökad engelsk muntlig förmåga, mer tillgång till det engelska språket ett naturligt sammanhang för det engelska. Samtidigt finns det nackdelar med MMO-spelens inverkan på elevernas engelska språkutveckling. Dessa nackdelar består av negativt språkbruk, avsaknad av abstraktionsförmåga och svårigheter med att skilja på formellt och informellt språkbruk. / The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between the use of MMO games and increased English language development among pupils in Swedish schools from a teacher perspective. To answer the research questions of this study, a qualitative method was used. Five teachers who teach or have taught English to grade 4-6 pupils were interviewed about their experiences. The study has been inspired by phenomenography and is focused on how teachers experience the phenomenon of MMO playing pupils and their English language development. The result of the study show that teachers hold the following perceptions: pupils have an increased English verbal ability, more access to the English language, and that the MMO games give a natural context for the English language. At the same time, MMO games may have a negative impact on pupils English language development. These disadvantages consist of negative language, lack of abstraction ability, and difficulties in distinguishing between formal and informal English language use.

Transmedialt berättande innebär berättande som sker över flera medium som samverkar för att berätta samma berättelse, där varje medium dessutom enskilt bör hålla god form, för att sedan skapa en större summa när det sammanförs med de andra. En sådan produktion kräver mycket ur publiken, såväl som forskare, då man behöver analysera och värdera varje enskild del av berättelsen varpå man kan ta sig an den fulla konstellationen. Denna uppsats syfte är att belysa transmedia och hur det kan brukas, samt undersöka hur webserien Marble Hornets utnyttjar sin transmedialitet för att forma flera berättare. Seriens berättarform kommer därefter jämföras med filmtolkningen av serien, Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story, för att belysa vad transmedialiteten tillför för möjligheter, vilket sedan diskuteras. I studien utnyttjades en blandning av narrativa och semiotiska analysmetoder och tyder på att transmedia och alternate reality gaming öppnar många dörrar för manusskribenter för att förändra hur berättelsen skildras, på flera olika sätt.

The focus of this study is the correlation between spent time on gaming and student grades. It is my hypothesis that computer gaming has potential for students to acquire communicative competences in English. The aim of the essay is to see what effect computer gaming have on grading outcomes in the English subject for upper secondary school students in Sweden. The study was conducted using a survey concerning: students’ gaming habits, how much time they spent gaming on a daily basis, what kinds of games they were playing and how they felt that they used English whilst playing those games. The survey was conducted on two English classes in an ICT school. 25 students participated from grades 2 and 3 in the Swedish upper secondary school system. Based on the data from the survey, four gamer-groups emerged based on time spent on playing computer games: Non-gamer, occasional-gamer, moderate- gamer and frequent-gamer. Results indicate that occasional game play (maximum two hours a day) led to higher proficiencies in English (as shown by their grades) than the other groups. There was also an indication that no time spent on gaming might be disadvantageous.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo refletir acerca das potências que a cultura de jogo digital oferece à construção dos modos de ser gendrados e sexualizados. A partir de um evento chamado Proudmoore Pride – uma parada LGBT dentro do jogo online World of Warcraft – procuro compreender de que maneira se constroem possibilidades de enunciar modos de vida não-misóginos e não-heteronormativos nessa cultura, além das formas de resistência à heteronormatividade. Entendo os jogos digitais como uma cultura e um contexto, não simplesmente um conteúdo explícito. Já a identidade de gênero/sexualidade é concebida como sempre política e contingente, inserida e constituída por e em relações de poder. Em relação aos seus materiais, essa pesquisa é divida em três dimensões: uma reflexão acerca das condições de possibilidade do que chamei de tecnopolítica de gênero/sexualidade, ou seja, o conjunto de movimentos organizados que se puseram a pensar a necessidade de uma política questionadora de identidades dentro das tecnologias de informação e comunicação e do ciberespaço, focalizando principalmente nos jogos digitais; a análise de fóruns e outras manifestações escritas acerca do evento; e minha experiência como pesquisador-jogador participando da parada em si. Metodologicamente, utilizei elementos da netnografia, e da análise de discurso e genealogia como pensadas por Michel Foucault. Com esse trabalho, constatei que os jogos digitais, apesar de manterem uma programação fixa e restritiva, podem ser usados de modos que não foram imaginados por seus criadores iniciais. Assim, elementos dos jogos são rearranjados pelos(as) seus(suas) jogadores(as) para designar e construir espaços que antes não existiam ali. Dessa maneira, entendo que durante a Proudmoore Pride se articula um espaço construído por elementos e narrativas originais do jogo original, mas que devidamente rearranjadas e deslocadas, resultam na visibilização e constituição de formas de vida não-heteronormativas dentro do World of Warcraft. / This work aims to reflect about the power that the digital gaming culture offers to the construction of sexualized and gendered ways of being. From an event called Proudmoore Pride – an LGBT pride parade hosted at an online game called World of Warcraft – I seek to comprehend possibilities of enunciation of non-misogynist non-heteronormative ways of life in this culture, in addition to forms of resistance to heteronormativity. I understand digital games as a culture and context, not only as explicit content. The political gender/sexual identity are conceived as always political and contingent inserted and constituted by and in power relations. About its material, this research is divided in three dimensions: a reflection about the possibility conditions of what I called gender/sexuality technopolitics, in other words, the set of organized movements that question identity politics in information and communication technologies and the cyberspace, focusing mainly in digital games; the analysis of forums and other written manifestations about the event; and my own experience as a player-researcher participating of the in-game parade. Methodologically, I used elements of the netnography, of discourse analysis and genealogy as thought by Michel Foucault. With this work, I found that the digital games, despite of having fixed and restrictive programming, can be used in ways that wasn’t perceived by its original creators. Thus, gaming elements are rearranged by its players to designate and build spaces that didn’t existed there before. I understand that the Proudmoore Pride Parade is articulated at a space built with elements and narratives from the original game, in rearranged and dislocated ways, resulting in visualization and constitution of non-heteronormative ways of living in World of Warcraft.

I denna undersökning studerar jag hur adaptiv musik påverkar spelarens immersion i ett datorspel, samt undersöker hur ens roll och arbetsprocess påverkas som kompositör vid adaptiv musikkomponering. Genom att ha varit med och skrivit musik till ett datorspel som gjorts från grunden har jag getts unika inblickar i den processen. En fokusgruppundersökning i form av ett speltest på detta spel har även det gett feedback som eventuellt inte hade kunnat fås av ett spel som redan finns tillgängligt på marknaden. Det har framkommit att adaptiv musik fyller en viktig roll, medvetet och omedvetet, hos spelaren. Samtliga deltagare i fokusgruppundersökningen hade gemensamma drag och åsikter. Som kompositör ställs man även inför utmaningar som man annars inte stöter på under komponering under mer konventionella omständigheter som t.ex. till film.

Context. Smartphones contain advanced sensors called microelectromechanical systems(MEMS). By connecting a smartphone to a computer these sensors can be used to test new interaction techniques for games. Objective. This study aims to investigate an interaction technique implemented with a gyroscope that utilises the leaning of a user’s torso and compare it in terms of precision and enjoyment to using a joystick. Method. The custom interaction technique was implemented by using the gyroscope of a Samsung Galaxy s6 Edge and attaching it to to the torso of the user. The joystick technique was implementation by using the left joystick of an Xbox One controller. A user study was conducted and 19 people participated by playing a custom-made obstacle course game that tested the precision of the interaction techniques. After testing each technique participants took part in a survey consisting of questions regarding their enjoyment using the technique. Result. The results showed that the leaning technique was not as precise as the joystick implementation. The participants found the learning technique to be more fun to use and also more immersive compared to the joystick implementation. The leaning technique was however also more uncomfortable and difficult to use, and players felt less competent in their ability to control the player character with it. Conclusion. The performance difference might have been due to the lack of familiarity with the leaning technique compared to the joystick implementation. The leaning technique was more difficult to use and more uncomfortable than the joystick method. However, the leaning technique was also more fun to use and more immersive. This offers up the opportunity to keep exploring possibilities with this technique.

Augmented reality opens up a lot of possibilities for new types of games, where the real and the virtual world are mixed. Despite this, augmented reality games are still not very common, probably due to the fact that head-mounted displays (which are often used for augmented reality) are expensive. However, in recent years mobile phones have become more and more powerful, and since many of them have built-in cameras and rather large screens, they are a potential platform for augmented reality games. This thesis explores some of the problems and possibilities associated with the creation of augmented reality games for the Apple iPhone. In order to do that, a multi-player augmented reality game for the iPhone was implemented, and then a number of performance tests and a user study were conducted. The most important conclusion that was reached is that performance is a definite problem when creating augmented reality games for the iPhone. / Augmented reality (förstärkt/utökad verklighet) öppnar upp nya möjligheter för spel där den virtuella världen kombineras med den verkliga. Trots detta så finns det inte många augmented reality-spel tillgängliga, vilket kan bero på att head-mounted displays (som ofta använda till augmented reality) är dyra och inte särskilt lätt att få tag på. Mobiltelefoner är däremot väldigt lättillgängliga och de senaste åren har de blivit mer och mer kraftfulla. Eftersom många av dem dessutom har inbyggda videokameror och relativt stora skärmar, så har mobiltelefoner blivit en potentiell plattform för augmented reality-spel. Denna rapport utforskar några av de problem och möjligheter som är associerade med skapandet av augmented reality-spel för Apples mobiltelefon, iPhone. Ett multi-player augmented reality-spel implementerades för iPhone, och sedan genomfördes ett antal prestanda-tester och en användarstudie. Den viktigaste slutsatsen som drogs var att prestanda är ett stort problem när man skapar augmented reality-spel för iPhone.