The research question is formulated as “what are the key success factors making a mobile game become a big success in China? ” to view the key success factors behind new launched mobile games and how company’s business model and marketing strategy that bring them into and help them succeed in the China market.   A qualitative method with the deductive approach has been using in this paper to be able to answer and interpret the studied questions. Four in-depth interviews were conducted to collect the primary data, which have been following as the purpose is to do a cross-case analysis to identify the similarities and difference of each company behave their business model and marketing strategy, to contribute game success in China market.   The main factors contributing to the success of mobile game in China market including internally strategic factors and externally tactic factors. Technical skill and resource, R&D ability and market knowledge and experience as the internal key success factors behind mobile game success in China. The mobile game companies use localization, wide distribution channel collaboration and social integration to suit the market needs and requirements.   From the results of the study have been identified to as to how is the business model for the China mobile game market. Through collaborating with abroad local distribution channel can increase their knowledge capacity of the local market to create a better value proposition. In China mobile game market, social integration and cross promotion can be seen as very important and through collaborating firms can work around these factors and create, capture and deliver better value to the customers.

The objective of this master thesis project was to improve the existing mobile game Entanglement. This game needed better tutoring and feedback, since the players found it hard to grasp how to play the game. The gameplay of the game also needed to be adjusted as it had no clear goal and did not keep the players’ interest. Mobile games has exploded on the app market and the way they are composed differs from the more traditional games on gaming consoles and computers. This thesis has investigated what makes mobile games successful and what trends there are in the mobile gaming market. Focus has been on the tutoring, feedback and gameplay of mobile games. The thesis project resulted in improved feedback to the player as he is playing Entanglement. The tutoring of the game has also been given a real boost although it needs continued work and user testing to get it to work optimally. The gameplay was changed to a level based gameplay, which gave the game a clear goal and easily kept the players interested. Entanglement is still not ready for release, but it has come a long way.

Mobile apps have emerged ever since the smartphone has been establishedinto most peoples everyday life. Almost half of those available apps in the appstores are mobile games. We study game design patterns speci cally for endlessmobile minigames, as they are one of the emerging categories. This genre hasbecome popular in the app stores with its unique characteristics which include veryshort play session iterations and its minimalist design. Game design patterns arefocused on the interaction with the player and provide knowledge and experiencewith regards to games in general. Not only are they bene cial for game designers,but also for developers, practitioners and possibly researchers, as patterns providea common terminology to share information between di erent professions.We conduct a case study including ve example games and analyze endlessmobile games to identify and create genre speci c game design patterns. We searchfor commonalities and major aspects of endless mobile minigames to facilitate theproduction of such games for developers. To con rm our results, we implementa prototype of an endless mobile minigame, which is then evaluated through asurvey.The result is a collection of game design patterns based on our cases. Thequestionnaire reveals which of those patterns are relevant and should be consideredwhen developing an endless mobile game. The result outlines that game designpatterns are considered supportive when designing a game, however requires ad-justments and revisions.

In recent years, much attention has been directed to the use of educational games for learning computer science concepts. The motivation of game-based learning with positive experience has been deeply studied in the literature, but game design for improving code reading skills have much room for improvement. Being good at the reading code is important to a professional developer. To address this issue, we defined a new educationally-oriented mobile game application, aimed at promoting the development of code reading skills in a new and fun way. The strategy of this game is to find errors in pieces of codes. At each level, students should find all syntactic and semantic errors in the code in a certain time in order to advance to the next level. Of the numerous programming languages, we chose Java because it is one of the most popular programming languages. In many colleges, Java plays a major role in introductory courses. Our vision is to allow instructors to employ the game in their introduction to programming in Java course. In addition, we hope it could be adapted for use in introductory courses using different programming languages. Data collected during the project helps us evaluate the impact of game-based learning on code reading in programming languages. We asked undergraduate students at the department of computer science at Virginia Tech to play with the game during Spring 2017 semester. The collected data analyzed, and students believe that Code Reading Dojo improves their code reading skills in Java and overall programming ability, in additions to help them find errors in their own program. / Master of Science / In recent years, much attention has been directed to the use of educational games for learning computer science concepts. The motivation of game-based learning with positive experience has been deeply studied in the literature, but game design for improving code reading skills have much room for improvement. Being good at the reading code is important to a professional developer. To address this issue, we defined a new educationally-oriented mobile game application, aimed at promoting the development of code reading skills in a new and fun way. The strategy of this game is to find errors in pieces of codes. At each level, students should find all syntactic and semantic errors in the code in a certain time in order to advance to the next level. Of the numerous programming languages, we chose Java because it is one of the most popular programming languages. In many colleges, Java plays a major role in introductory courses. Our vision is to allow instructors to employ the game in their introduction to programming in Java course. In addition, we hope it could be adapted for use in introductory courses using different programming languages. Data collected during the project helps us evaluate the impact of game-based learning on code reading in programming languages. We asked undergraduate students at the department of computer science at Virginia Tech to play with the game during Spring 2017 semester. The collected data analyzed, and students believe that Code Reading Dojo improves their code reading skills in Java and overall programming ability, in additions to help them find errors in their own program.

The research described in this thesis is grounded in the fields of independent adult learning, user experience for mobile applications and game design. It considers the case for mobile game-based learning in the context of informal microlearning and investigates the potential of mobile games to assist the independent skills development of adults. Initial research found that adults expressed positive attitudes towards the idea of learning with a mobile game, while even those who did not use mobile games recreationally appeared positive to using them if they perceived them as an effective way to develop their skills. Guidelines were then developed to inform the design of effective mobile learning games based on theories of adult learning, game-based engagement, mobile usability and mobile game design. These guided the development of a mobile game prototype aimed at assisting adults, speakers of English as a second language, to build their academic vocabulary. To evaluate the effectiveness of the prototype, a mixed methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments was utilised. Player engagement and system usability were measured rather than direct measures of learning outcomes. Overall the results were encouraging since evaluation participants were found to be engaged by the activity and able to easily pick up the game and play. Additionally, qualitative data on participants’ experiences and perceptions were collected, which supported initial research findings on the positive attitudes of adults towards using mobile games for learning. Though caution is recommended when generalising the evaluation results, the potential of mobile games for the independent learning of adults was supported. Overall this research offers a rationale for the use of mobile game-based learning, an insight into the nature of adult learners’ needs and their mobile devices usage patterns, a critical discussion on the type of learning that would be appropriate for the context, a set of guidelines for the design of mobile learning games, and finally a discussion of evaluation methods along with a collection of empirical data on the post-experiential attitudes of adults with regards to mobile games for learning.

O fenômeno metafórico, caro às ciências da linguagem, tem recentemente adentrado também os estudos cognitivos, visto que se tem advogado que a metáfora não ocorre apenas na linguagem, mas constitui processos do pensamento. Argumento aqui que a metaforização articula singularidades que operam na contiguidade entre linguagem e cognição e, nela, na invenção de si e do mundo. Para tanto, um projeto de pesquisa-intervenção foi cartografado, através da criação de um método com retalhos, denominado pat(c)hwork. No projeto, desenvolvido pelo Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ecologias e Políticas Cognitivas (NUCOGS-UFRGS), um jogo digital móvel baseado em localização foi produzido para ser jogado no Parque Jardim Botânico de Porto Alegre, em um contexto não formal de aprendizagem. O jogo foi testado por estudantes do 4º e 5º ano do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública conveniada com o parque e com o grupo de pesquisa, através de oficinas. O foco cartográfico enfatizou o linguajar como agir humano na linguagem, com especial atenção à hipótese de que o mesmo caracteriza-se também pela metaforicidade O referencial teórico apóia-se na teoria autopoiética, por meio da concepção de linguagem como linguajar, entrelaçada ao emocionar e ao conversar, compondo redes de conversação; na teoria da enação, mediante a noção de cognição incorporada; na linguística cognitiva, especialmente na teoria da metáfora conceitual, como processo de fabricação e organização que pressupõe a corporeidade; e na cognição inventiva, pela costura dos conceitos de políticas, ecologias e tecnologias cognitivas. Ao cartografarmos retalhos linguageiros de conexões entre os domínios físico e digital, necessários à jogabilidade de um jogo móvel de localização, esperamos contribuir para uma compreensão do fenômeno metafórico como modulador da linguagem e da cognição como ações corporificadas, emergentes e acentradas, processos e produtos de recorrências e recursões operadas no entrelaçamento linguajar-conhecer ao longo do viver. / The metaphorical phenomenon, dear to the sciences of language, has also recently entered the cognitive studies, since it has been argued that metaphor does not occur only in language, but constitutes processes of thought. I argue here that metaphorization articulates singularities that operate in the contiguity between language and cognition and, within it, in the invention of oneself and of the world. For this, a research-intervention project was mapped through the creation of a patchwork method, called pat(c)hwork. In the project, developed by the research group Núcleo de Ecologias e Políticas Cognitivas (NUCOGS-UFRGS), a location-based mobile game was produced to be played at the Botanical Garden of Porto Alegre, in a non-formal learning context. The game was tested by students from the 4th and 5th grades of an elementary public school that entered a partnership with the park and the research group, through workshops. The cartographic focus emphasized languaging as human action in language, with special attention to the hypothesis that it is also characterized by metaphoricity The theoretical research framework is based on autopoietic theory, through the conception of language as languaging, intertwined with emotion and conversation, composing conversation networks; on enactivism, through the notion of incorporated cognition; on cognitive linguistics, especially on the theory of conceptual metaphor, as a process of fabrication and organization that presupposes corporeality; and on inventive cognition, by sewing the concepts of cognitive policies, ecologies and technologies. By mapping patches of connections between the physical and the digital domains, necessary for the gameplay of a location-based mobile game, we hope to contribute to an understanding of the metaphorical phenomenon as a modulator of embodied, emerging and decentralized language and cognition as modes of actions, processes and products of recurrences and recursions operated in the intertwining of languaging and knowing along living.

L’actualité socio-économique montre la forte importance qu’ont pris les termes « entrepreneuriat » ou « startup » dans les discours politiques et économiques. Sous l’impulsion des politiques publiques dans le cadre d’une idéologie de la « révolution entrepreneuriale », l’environnement financier dans lequel se développent les jeunes entreprises évolue. Basées sur un travail de terrain mené auprès de jeunes entreprises des TIC et s’inspirant particulièrement des travaux menés sur les industries culturelles en sciences de l’information et de la communication, ces recherches questionnent l'évolution et les enjeux des politiques publiques françaises en matière de soutien aux jeunes entreprises. Grâce à l’étude des différents dispositifs de soutien et de leur mise en complémentarité, nous montrons, dans la première partie, la place centrale que prend la sphère financière dans les conditions d’émergence des jeunes entreprises, avec un soutien réglementaire et financier majeur apporté par les politiques publiques. En nous appuyant sur les travaux menés sur la financiarisation des grandes entreprises, nous montrons que les mouvements de concentration touchent aussi les jeunes entreprises. Bien qu’il y ait des éléments de cohérence entre la financiarisation des grandes entreprises et le phénomène que nous mettons en lumière, ceux-ci se distinguent par le recours aux récits organisationnels comme facteurs d’objectivation. En étudiant la filière du jeu vidéo mobile et plus particulièrement une entreprise que nous avons accompagnée dans différentes campagnes de levée de fonds entre 2012 et 2015, la seconde partie de ce travail de thèse questionne l’impact de cette financiarisation sur le fonctionnement des jeunes entreprises. Nous mettons en lumière comment le recours à la sphère financière et la prédominance de l’idéologie de la valeur actionnariale pèse sur les stratégies des entreprises. Ainsi la financiarisation contraint les jeunes entreprises à l’adoption de modes de développement spécifiques et accentue les tendances industrialisantes. Les impacts de la financiarisation sur les jeunes entreprises semblent enfin dessiner les traits d’un idéal-type de la jeune entreprise financiarisée, une conception idéologisée de l’entreprise : la startup. / The socio-economic actuality is filled with examples showing the importance that the words entrepreneurship and startups have taken in political and economic discourses. Driven by policy makers and influenced by the « entrepreneurial revolution” ideology, the financial framework in which young companies venture is evolving. Based on a study on young companies in the ICT sectors, and strongly inspired by the previous works on cultural industries, this research seek to question the stakes of an evolving French policy towards young companies. By studying various funding schemes and their complementarity, we show in the first section the central role that the financial sphere has taken in the conditions of young venture’s emergence, with a major financial support of public policy. Using academic research on financialisation, we show that concentration movements also apply to young companies. Although many elements plead for an important coherency between the financialisation of big companies and the phenomenon we point at, the financialisation of young companies seems to characterize itself by the use of growth narratives as objectivation factor. Through an analysis of the mobile game sector and more especially a company we adviced in various fundraising campaigns between 2012 and 2015, the second section questions the impact of financialisation on young companies’ development. We show how the recourse to the financial sphere and the dominance of the shareholder value ideology impacts the companies’ strategies. Therefore, financialisation forces young companies into the adoption of specific development strategies and emphasize the industrialization tendencies. In that study, appear the traits of an ideal-type of the financialised young company, an ideological conception of venture creation: the startup.

As the mobile devices are popularized, the population of mobile Internet is increasing year by year. The mobile application service includes mobile information, mobile entertainment, mobile transaction, and mobile location service. The most growing market is the mobile game. According the prediction of Juniper¡¦s research, the output value of global mobile game industry will reach 9.7 billion dollars. To research the sunrise industry topic, the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) are integrated in this thesis. Contextual Effects in the Usage Intention of Mobile Games. The causal relationship of perceived playfulness, perceived ease of use, attitude, subjective norm, and intention is researched. The influence of location, task, and subjective norm on intention is also studied. According to the research and the result of PLS analysis, the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Technology Acceptance Model are verified in this thesis. Additionally, the assumptions proposed in this research are verified and proved. Some results are derived in this research. The perceived ease of use positively influences the perceived playfulness. The perceived playfulness and the perceived ease of use positively influence the attitude. The attitude and the subjective norm positively influence the intention. The interaction of the location and the subjective norm will regulate the intention. The interaction of the task and the subjective norm will not regulate the intention. Some further TAM Model results are derived in this research. The perceived playfulness and the perceived ease of use positively influence the intention. The influence of location, task, and perceived playfulness on intention is also studied. Finally, according to the result of the study, some suggestions are proposed for future research.

My foray into location based gaming started because as a web designer, I felt that I wanted to expand my practice from one that consisted of straightforward interface design, to one that encompassed a wider variety of skills by improving on my knowledge and expertise in the burgeoning field of interaction design. This allowed me at the same time, to incorporate other aspects of design that include the usercentred design of tools for collaboration, content creation and community creation. I take a particular interest in the opportunities afforded by the convergence of web and game based technologies, especially when mobile interaction is afforded by such convergences. This exegesis describes the theoretical underpinnings that have informed the creation of a series of graphical interfaces that serve to bridge the gap between system capabilities as envisaged by the developers and a user's experience facilitated by an interface. The actual research into creation of the interface was preceded by an exploration of the field of location based gaming from which the initial area of interest was derived. Due to the fact that location based gaming is still an emerging field, it required the creation of a custom taxonomy for the works to be systematically separated into their various elements for analysis. The taxonomy to be created involved the combination of three smaller individual taxonomies in a way that has not been attempted previously and in a way that would give a balanced account of what makes up a location based game. The area of interested identified was how location based games might be made more readily available for a wider audience. Cipher Cities, which was a system in development at the time, was one that was already designed for such an application, but now required an interface that would appropriately represent what it aimed to achieve. I joined the team as their interface designer and it became clear that due to the location centric nature of the game, the only feasible way to go about democratising the participation in such games was to make it easy for people to build their own. The issue that arose was how an interface could encourage the creation of as well as participation in location based games. This required reference from current Web 2.0 applications that use members as creators of content as well as research into the theories behind community building, content creation and distribution in support of such an interface. These theories were put into practice and implemented before being evaluated and verified through a series of user testing sessions that served to refine the system in terms of user interface design and system functions. The result of the research is the first interface ever created that works to support a system for the creation of location based games by the public. More importantly, it is a robust, interface that is attractive as well as usable.

O fenômeno metafórico, caro às ciências da linguagem, tem recentemente adentrado também os estudos cognitivos, visto que se tem advogado que a metáfora não ocorre apenas na linguagem, mas constitui processos do pensamento. Argumento aqui que a metaforização articula singularidades que operam na contiguidade entre linguagem e cognição e, nela, na invenção de si e do mundo. Para tanto, um projeto de pesquisa-intervenção foi cartografado, através da criação de um método com retalhos, denominado pat(c)hwork. No projeto, desenvolvido pelo Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ecologias e Políticas Cognitivas (NUCOGS-UFRGS), um jogo digital móvel baseado em localização foi produzido para ser jogado no Parque Jardim Botânico de Porto Alegre, em um contexto não formal de aprendizagem. O jogo foi testado por estudantes do 4º e 5º ano do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública conveniada com o parque e com o grupo de pesquisa, através de oficinas. O foco cartográfico enfatizou o linguajar como agir humano na linguagem, com especial atenção à hipótese de que o mesmo caracteriza-se também pela metaforicidade O referencial teórico apóia-se na teoria autopoiética, por meio da concepção de linguagem como linguajar, entrelaçada ao emocionar e ao conversar, compondo redes de conversação; na teoria da enação, mediante a noção de cognição incorporada; na linguística cognitiva, especialmente na teoria da metáfora conceitual, como processo de fabricação e organização que pressupõe a corporeidade; e na cognição inventiva, pela costura dos conceitos de políticas, ecologias e tecnologias cognitivas. Ao cartografarmos retalhos linguageiros de conexões entre os domínios físico e digital, necessários à jogabilidade de um jogo móvel de localização, esperamos contribuir para uma compreensão do fenômeno metafórico como modulador da linguagem e da cognição como ações corporificadas, emergentes e acentradas, processos e produtos de recorrências e recursões operadas no entrelaçamento linguajar-conhecer ao longo do viver. / The metaphorical phenomenon, dear to the sciences of language, has also recently entered the cognitive studies, since it has been argued that metaphor does not occur only in language, but constitutes processes of thought. I argue here that metaphorization articulates singularities that operate in the contiguity between language and cognition and, within it, in the invention of oneself and of the world. For this, a research-intervention project was mapped through the creation of a patchwork method, called pat(c)hwork. In the project, developed by the research group Núcleo de Ecologias e Políticas Cognitivas (NUCOGS-UFRGS), a location-based mobile game was produced to be played at the Botanical Garden of Porto Alegre, in a non-formal learning context. The game was tested by students from the 4th and 5th grades of an elementary public school that entered a partnership with the park and the research group, through workshops. The cartographic focus emphasized languaging as human action in language, with special attention to the hypothesis that it is also characterized by metaphoricity The theoretical research framework is based on autopoietic theory, through the conception of language as languaging, intertwined with emotion and conversation, composing conversation networks; on enactivism, through the notion of incorporated cognition; on cognitive linguistics, especially on the theory of conceptual metaphor, as a process of fabrication and organization that presupposes corporeality; and on inventive cognition, by sewing the concepts of cognitive policies, ecologies and technologies. By mapping patches of connections between the physical and the digital domains, necessary for the gameplay of a location-based mobile game, we hope to contribute to an understanding of the metaphorical phenomenon as a modulator of embodied, emerging and decentralized language and cognition as modes of actions, processes and products of recurrences and recursions operated in the intertwining of languaging and knowing along living.