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Ad-hoc wireless networking has recently become a standard feature of handheld video gaming systems. This capability, along with the portability of the devices, increases the number of places where people can easily engage in multiplayer games. The Nintendo DS, a handheld gaming system with ad-hoc wireless networking, has sold 64 million units worldwide. Its feature set, combined with its ubiquity, enable new forms of multiplayer gaming to emerge. Understanding how people adopt this technology is important for proposing how future handheld gaming systems could be better designed. This thesis reports findings from a qualitative study investigating the collocated multiplayer gaming practices of Nintendo DS users. Through interviews with fifteen DS owners and observations of seven organized public gaming events we examined why, where, and who participants played with, as well as the details of how games were formed, carried out, and experienced as social activities. With this data it is possible to describe how the DS's unique characteristics impact multiplayer gaming practices and the social gaming experience. From our data, we identified three major themes surrounding the social, multiplayer gaming practices of DS users: renegade gaming, or the notion that users reappropriate locations and contexts for multiplayer gaming, and social boundaries on multiplayer gaming contexts; practical and social barriers to the formation of pick-up games; and private gaming spheres, or the individualized gaming contexts that the handheld device's form factor creates within larger social contexts. These findings lead us to propose a set of design implications for future handheld gaming systems in order to better support pick-up gaming and sharing experiences with groups and crowds.

Ad-hoc wireless networking has recently become a standard feature of handheld video gaming systems. This capability, along with the portability of the devices, increases the number of places where people can easily engage in multiplayer games. The Nintendo DS, a handheld gaming system with ad-hoc wireless networking, has sold 64 million units worldwide. Its feature set, combined with its ubiquity, enable new forms of multiplayer gaming to emerge. Understanding how people adopt this technology is important for proposing how future handheld gaming systems could be better designed. This thesis reports findings from a qualitative study investigating the collocated multiplayer gaming practices of Nintendo DS users. Through interviews with fifteen DS owners and observations of seven organized public gaming events we examined why, where, and who participants played with, as well as the details of how games were formed, carried out, and experienced as social activities. With this data it is possible to describe how the DS's unique characteristics impact multiplayer gaming practices and the social gaming experience. From our data, we identified three major themes surrounding the social, multiplayer gaming practices of DS users: renegade gaming, or the notion that users reappropriate locations and contexts for multiplayer gaming, and social boundaries on multiplayer gaming contexts; practical and social barriers to the formation of pick-up games; and private gaming spheres, or the individualized gaming contexts that the handheld device's form factor creates within larger social contexts. These findings lead us to propose a set of design implications for future handheld gaming systems in order to better support pick-up gaming and sharing experiences with groups and crowds.

Social games have become popular on social media such as Facebook and MySpace. While there are plenty of market reports regarding social media, the related academic research is limited. This study applies Homans’ cost‐reward structure from Social Exchange Theory to investigate how social games change people’s social behavior on social media. The concepts of rewards are drawn from the gratifications of social media use, and the concepts of costs are drawn form the symptoms of media addiction. In a survey of 323 college students, participants’ perceived rewards and costs of Facebook use and game play are measured. The results indicate social game players perceived significantly higher costs of Facebook use than non‐players. In addition, costs of Facebook use and costs of game play also play important roles to influence social game players’ willingness to play more social games. Discussion and limitations are provided. / text

Problem Det föreligger en risk att negativa effekter av digitala spel överexponerats i tidigare forskning genom att fokus riktats mot problem i större grad än möjligheter. Enligt rapporter och studier kan mycket av denna tidigare forskning inte heller anses vila på korrekt vetenskaplig grund. Detta riskerar att prägla och påverka professionellas bemötande av ungdomar med riskbeteende kring digitala spel på ett felaktigt sätt. Denna studie kartlägger eventuella samband mellan digitala spel, individens psykiska hälsa och deras relationer till familj, vänner och omgivning. Förhoppningen är att kunna bidra med värdefull kunskap till professionella vilket möjligen kan hjälpa dem i deras bemötande av ungdomar med ett sådant riskbeteende. Metod Genom en kvantitativ enkätstudie med totalt 108 respondenter med spelintresse har nödvändig data insamlats kring digitala spel, deras psykiska hälsa och sociala relationer till familj, vänner och omgivning. Resultat Samband har påträffats mellan omfattningen av spelande och faktorerna socialt spelande, flykt och krav/status. Det är möjligt att det föreligger samband mellan nyttjandet av digitala spel och dennes psykiska hälsa, sociala omgivning och miljö präglad av negativ karaktär. Slutsats  Om det föreligger ett riskbeteende är det av vikt för professionella att intressera sig för individens spelmönster för att förstå grunden till problemet. Ytterligare studie krävs dock för att kunna konstatera eventuell kausalitet. / Problem There’s a risk that by focusing on problems rather than opportunities the negative effects of digital gaming has been over exposed in previous research. And according to reports and studies this research can’t be considered to rest on proper scientific basis. This can improperly characterize and influence the professionals' treatment of adolescents with risky behavior around digital games. This study aims to identify possible connections between digital gaming, the individual's mental health and their relationships to family, friends and surroundings. The hope is to be able to contribute with valuable knowledge to the professionals that possibly will them in their treatment of young people with such risky behavior. Method Through a quantitative survey with a total of 108 respondents with gaming interest, necessary data has been collected about digital games, mental health factors and relationships with family, friends and surroundings. Result Correlations was found between the extent of gaming and the factors of social gaming, escape and demands/status. In addition to their reciprocal relationship these factors have also shown significant parallels to the respondents' mental health and relationships with parents, friends and surroundings. Conclusion If there is a risk behaviour it is important for professionals to be interested in the individuals’ gaming pattern to understand the basis of the problem, as other factors like social surroundings and environment of negative character might have an influence on this pattern.

Vänner möts inte längre bara på fysiska platser utan även online på olika typer av plattformar. Denna studie utforskar var onlinevänner träffas, i vilka aktiviteter de umgås, hur frekvent onlinevännerna umgås samt hur många onlinevänner som även träffas offline. Syftet med studien är att få en större förståelse för var och hur människor möter vänner online. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av en enkätundersökning med 1000 deltagare som spreds via sociala nätverkstjänster och offline, samt genom att analysera tidigare forskning inom relaterade ämnen. Resultatet av studien pekar på att det finns ett stort antal olika plattformar där onlinevänner kan skapas. De vanligaste av dessa är Facebook och World of Warcraft. Främst umgås onlinevänner via textchatt, röstchatt och genom att spela tillsammans. De flesta onlinevänner umgås dagligen och majoriteten av deltagarna träffade 2-5 onlinevänner offline. Studien väckte stort engagemang på sociala medier och kan förhoppningsvis komplettera redan existerande forskning samt bidra med inspiration till framtida studier. / Friends no longer meet only in physical places; they can also meet on various different online platforms. This paper aims to explore where online friends meet, in which activities they socialise, how frequent they socialise and how many online friends also meet each other offline. The purpose of this paper is to get a better understanding of where and how people meet friends online. The paper was realised through a survey with 1000 participants, distributed both on social networking sites and offline. An analysis of already existing related research papers was also made. The result of the survey showed that there are various different platforms where online friends can be made. The most common platforms were Facebook and World of Warcraft. Most online friends socialised via text chat, voice chat and through playing games together. The majority of the online friends kept in touch with each other on a daily basis and met 2-5 online friends offline. The survey was given big attention at social networking sites and hopes to complement already existing research as well as contribute with inspiration to further studies.

Magister Commercii - MCom / The humble Pong arcade game at the corner store ignited a fundamental culture shift in the 1970s and it is increasingly gaining momentum. A generation of gamers is already permeating organisations. The socio-cultural phenomenon of digital gaming has become pervasive. The intersection point of the three trends, Ubiquitous Computing, Ubiquitous Gaming and Social Networking, is the focus point of this study. It is at this intersection point that both social online gaming and cutting-edge leadership competencies co-exist and have the potential to flourish when implemented with caution and circumspection. Leadership is frequently touted as an almost mystical holy grail in modern business. Leadership :pevelopment is therefore often recognised as a critical pivot for business success. If business leaders can successfully utilise game-based learning to maximise their return on investment in Leadership Development initiatives, this may not only increase business metrics, but also enable business leaders to leave a lasting legacy by sculpting new generations of leaders who are ready and able to face the future. Social Online Simulation Gaming (SOSG) as a learning design and learning technology can prove particularly valuable as a leadership and skills development tool within the "digimodem" world. Current literature, however, does not provide a clearly focused framework for the implementation of ICT supported game-based Leadership Development technologies within the information economy. Current literature fails to integrate and take into account aspects critical to the successful utilisation of SOSG, such as the principles of "Flow Design", the often "Puppet Master" role and the interrelatedness, even interdependence, of the required utilisation competencies There is currently not a clear and specific framework for evaluating the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) competencies, knowledge, skills and attitudes required to successfully use Socia1 ·bnline Simulation Games software within the context of Organisational Leaden;hip Development. This study aimed to create and refine a framework for evaluating the ICT competencies required to successfully implement SOSG as Leadership Development tool.

Gaming as an activity possesses many different facets (Sköld 2018: 134). One important yet relatively underexplored is the social facet, how the act of gaming is impacted by social rules and codes. Previous research on the topic is relatively limited and mainly performed retroactively on older game communities. The thesis addresses this lack of research by studying a community formed around World of Warcraft, a game that currently has an active player base.  By specifically studying a World of Warcraft guild whose members define the guild by its social nature (Interview 1,2,3,4), this thesis provides a perspective on how the desire to maintain relationships impact how gaming is practiced and what is considered to be desirable behaviour among players.  The thesis is based on material gathered in four interviews and two observations of guild members playing together. The interviews were primarily focused on discovering how the members experienced the guild and the game itself, and what they believed to be positive or negative behaviour. The observations were intended to study how the members interact in practice, how the ideas and notions that they mentioned in the interviews were expressed while playing. The analysis uses Political Discourse Theory (PDT) to connect the ideas, practices and terms used in both interviews and observations into a cohesive discourse. This discourse is then divided into specific traits that are seen desirable within different contexts.  The thesis finds that being respectful of other guild members time is seen as the most important trait among players. This respect is primarily expressed through understanding that other members have lives outside of the game and therefore cannot devote the majority of their time to the game. If another player or even the game itself demands more from a member than they are able to give, it is seen as problematic. Accomplishing in-game goals is seen as fun, yet unimportant in comparison to maintaining a respectful social environment within the guild.

The Swedish national regulations and advice that the Covid-19 pandemic has entailed have resulted in individuals staying at home to a greater extent. This has led to individuals not having physical social interactions to the same extent as before the pandemic. These limitations have meant that digital technology has become an important role in today's society where individuals in virtual groups and virtual communities have had their social needs met online rather than in real life. This is a qualitative survey in which results are based on six semi-structured interviews and 192 questionnaire responses. The respondents consist of adults living in Sweden. Results show that participation in gaming-based voice-mediated online communities helps individuals to fullfil their social needs as well as reduce feelings of loneliness and depression. The availability of such communities enables them to replace social contact when it is otherwise impractical to meet in real life, for example during the Covid-19 pandemic or when the individuals are geographically separated. Individuals in gaming-based voice-mediated online communities have often been attached to other members for a long time, the interactions are not limited to gaming and they can integrate individuals in these communities to their offline-life. They also have greater control over when and for how long they participate along with flexibility which allows the participants to decide how involved in the conversation they wish to be at any given time. Through internet-based communication individuals can selectively and strategically present themselves, which in a positive way distorts the perception between the individuals and result in more intimate and intensive conversations.