The use of video games as a sustainable tool for preserving existing archaeological data in an entertaining and interactive manner was investigated. The main aim of such investigation was to explore the potential benefits in terms of archaeological/heritage education, broadcasting, and representing data in a manner that is interactive and encourages critical thinking through play. Game Pass Shelter, located at Kamberg in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park was used to create a virtual environment in a video game that accurately represents traditional Bushmen rock art and folklore. Two phases were featured in the development of the video game: (i) getting feedback from gamers through a questionnaire I had designed, and (ii) using the identified recommendations to design the 2D video game using Unity Game Engine (a free video game development piece of software). This 2D video game, defined by authenticity to the represented folklore, features rock art motifs from Game Pass Shelter used against the backdrop of the Spoiling of the Eland traditional story. The video game begins with the ‘Rosetta Stone’ of southern African rock art and contextualises it using selected traditional folklore. Through this process, the video game aims to show why hunting was so important to the traditional Bushmen way of life. It further shows why eland were so valued and some unique beliefs that the Bushmen had concerning them. / Dissertation (MA (Archaeology))--university of Pretoria, 2020. / Anthropology and Archaeology / MA (Archaeology) / Unrestricted

My research will attempt to determine how award academies choose their nominations through the analysis of select musical aesthetics. As a trained musician (pianist) and avid gamer, I will bring my two passions together, contributing to the field of ludomusicology (the study of video game music). My research consists of an overview of video game scores spanning a decade (2004 – 2013) with a select sample of three soundtracks per year (a total of thirty soundtracks). The samples will be taken from the BAFTA- (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), VGX- (formerly known as Spike), and D.I.C.E. awards (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain). Through engaging a music theory macro analysis, I will discuss melodic themes used in each soundtrack, the setting of the score (instrumental or electronic), and whether the soundtrack samples contain the epic musical idiom. At the end of my dissertation my research reveals what kind of music these award academy panels favour. If the award academies are a reflection of popular taste, my research indicates what the audiences like to hear in video game music. / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Music / MMus / Unrestricted

Studies of how users experience Virtual Reality (VR) have thus far failed to address the extent to which rendering resolution and rendering frame rate affect users’ sense of immersion in VR, including applications of VR involving simulators, treatments for psychological and mental disorders, explorations of new and nonexistent structures, and ways to better understand the human body in medical applications. This study investigated if rendering resolution affected users’ sense of immersion in VR. This was conducted by comparing the responses of two groups, relative to two measures of participant immersion: (a) participant’s sense of presence and (b) participant’s sense of embodiment. The treatment levels were (a) low 512 pixels per inch (ppi) and (b) high 2048 ppi rendering resolution. One potential moderating variable, game type, varied over three levels: narrative, objective, and situational. The participants were randomly assigned to a treatment level account for previous VR experience, neither participants nor the research observer knew the treatment level. Measurements were collected after each game via an Immersion tendency Questionnaire after each game. For each dependent measure, sample descriptive statistics—mean (M) and inter-quartile range (IQR) with a conventional significance level of 0.05—were evaluated to conclude the results. Data indicated that the rendering resolution did not affect user immersion, but the game type did affect immersion and the situational game type was determined to be significantly more immersive than the other game types.

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Video game advertising is a major venue for game industry to promote its products. As a form of advertising, game advertising reflects national cultural values. It also manifests game cultural values which gamers are able to identify with. Millions of people, youth and children in particular, are being exposed to game advertising. Video game advertising may not only influence viewers' purchasing decisions, but has the potential to influence their attitudes and perceptions of important societal issues such as gender roles, violence and sex. However, few studies have examined the information content and messages of game advertising. The purpose of this study is to begin to fill the gap. This study examined the content of 1,021 print game advertisements in four popular game magazines published between December 2006 and May 2008 in China and the United States. The study was built on a variety of theoretical backgrounds and game studies. First, built on Resnik and Stern's (1977) classification of information cues and conceptual differences between advertising service and tangible products, the study found that Chinese game advertisements used more information cues than U.S game advertisements. Second, built on a variety of cross-cultural frameworks including Hofstede's ─ individualism vs. collectivism, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's human and nature relationship and time orientation, the study found that that U.S. game advertisements used more individualistic appeals, manipulation-of-nature appeals and future-time-orientation appeals than Chinese game advertisements. It was found that Chinese game advertisements used more collectivistic appeals, oneness-with-nature appeals and past-time-orientation appeals than U.S. game advertisements. Third, the study, on the basis of synthesizing game literature, examined gender representation, sex and violence, and major game cultural values in Chinese and U.S. game ads. The study found that in both Chinese and U.S game advertisements, males were more likely to be featured (83.5% in U.S. ads and 55.9% in Chinese ads) as primary characters than females (12.4% in U.S. ads and 42% in Chinese ads). Female characters were sexualized when presented. The study also found 29.8% of Chinese advertisements contained sexual content and only 4% of U.S. game advertisements contained sexual content. It was found violent content was common in U.S. game advertisements and 61% of U.S. game advertisements contained violent content. U.S. game advertisements contained more violent words than Chinese game advertisements. The study examined three online game cultural characteristics reflected in game ads. Compared with U.S. ads, Chinese game advertisements used more character progression, virtual item accumulation and socialization appeals. Limitations of the study and directions for future study are discussed.

This paper discusses a modification to improve usability and functionality of a ge- netic neural net algorithm called NEAT (NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topolo- gies). The modification aims to accomplish its goal by automatically changing parameters used by the algorithm with little input from a user. The advan- tage of the modification is to reduce the guesswork needed to setup a successful experiment with NEAT that produces a usable Artificial Intelligence (AI). The modified algorithm is tested against the unmodified NEAT with several different setups and the results are discussed. The algorithm shows strengths in some areas but can increase the runtime of NEAT due to the addition of parameters into the solution search space.

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In this study, 174 undergraduates from the University of Central Florida were asked to rate individual human and animal avatar features from the video game Spore on their level of femininity, masculinity, likability, and how well the feature represented them on a 7 point Likert scale of agreeability. Avatar features were presented on a neutral gray, quadruped body in two different views. It was expected that participants would show higher likability for avatar features that they perceived as corresponding to their Personal Attribute Questionnaire (PAQ) gender. Males liked feminine features approximately the same as females, however, in many categories females liked the most masculine features more than the most feminine features. Males liked the most masculine body detail feature more than females, and females liked the most masculine body detail more than males. It also was anticipated that avatar features rated as having both low femininity and low masculinity would be the features rated lowest in likability overall. These features did not have the lowest likability, but were somewhat close to neutral in likability. These results have implications for likable avatar creation for businesses, the military, and education.

This thesis examines NieR: Automata, a video game published in 2017 on PlayStation 4 from a narratological perspective to see how it composes its narrative elements to make an excellent argument about existence. The director Yōkō Tarō argues that, we could and should exert our agency to make the choice in our life, thus this is how we grant our life meaning. This thesis aims at providing a relatively comprehensive analysis on Automata’s profound understanding and presentation of Sartre's existentialism, its ingenious narrative construction, and the close association between them, through a contextualization on Sartre's existentialism, and a game components analysis. Yōkō takes his works as exploration on the usual themes and elements in the video games like violence and life, and Automata becomes his answer to one's life. From a comprehensive demonstration involving Automata’s game and narrative structure, we could clearly see that these two aspects are built so closely – all the game components are all associated with its central argument about existence and agency, and affirming or enhancing it from different perspectives, including its game systems, playthrough process, maps and stages, et cetera. Automata's argument shows a reflection on Japanese's collective recognition of self, which evidently received much influence from Sartre's Existentialism, a western philosophy view, suggesting a globalizing trend in the Japanese cultural context. Automata also gives a fine example for narrative game and illustrates that video game could be a persuasive lesson of argument in reality as well. By applying this literary study on Automata, this thesis also aims to provide an example for similar narrative studies on video games in the future. / Graduate

As the popularity of video games increases, a growing literature has begun to examine the association of video game play with cognitive processes. An advantage in cognitive control ability for video game players (VGPs) compared to nongamers (nVGPs) has been suggested by a number of recent studies. Miyake et al. (2000) identify three separable components of cognitive control: ability to shift mental set, updating and monitoring of working memory, and ability to inhibit automatic responses. In three sets of experiments, we investigated claims of a benefit in cognitive control for VGPs compared to nVGPs. Chapter 2 used two task switching paradigms to examine the ability to shift mental set, finding no difference in cognitive control between VGPs and nVGPs when baseline differences in response speed were accounted for. In Chapter 3, a series of nback experiments to investigate working memory demonstrated that VGPs display an advantage in spatial processing, but not in cognitive control. Chapter 4 assessed group differences using three measures of inhibitory control: flanker, Stroop, and go no-go tasks. The results of these experiments suggest that VGPs may rely more on automaticitybased response strategies than do nVGPs, but no group differences in cognitive control were evident. Overall, the results of this dissertation dispute a growing literature that assumes a cognitive control benefit for VGPs compared to nVGPs. Although VGPs reliably show faster performance on a range of tasks used to assess cognitive control (e.g., task switching paradigms), when examined with careful methods, these observed differences in performance are not attributable to differences in cognitive control ability. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Many people enjoy playing video games, and it is important to understand whether playing these games is associated with differences in the way we think, or our ability to complete tasks. Previous studies have claimed that playing video games is associated with increased control over our ability to selectively respond to our environment. This dissertation uses a series of experiments to compare the cognitive control ability of video game players (VGPs), and people who do not play video games (nVGPs). We tested their ability to switch between different tasks, to hold items in memory, and to withhold responses. Results of these experiments suggest that although VGPs may generally respond faster and process spatial information better than nVGPs, there are no differences in cognitive control between VGPs and nVGPs.