Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, May, 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis explores the effects of ludic structure—defined as the elements of game play not considered content—on video game communities. Counter to the focus on video game content and its effects by other scholars, this study argues the importance of the study of game structure and its influences on player interactions. Two games, League of Legends and Puzzle Pirates were examined. I played both games for 20 hours, as well as interviewing four players from each game. Using Laura Ellingson’s (2009) crystallization as a guiding approach, I analyzed the games using both a traditional thematic analysis and personal narratives in an attempt to create a richer dataset from which to draw conclusions. I discovered that one game was more competitively structured (League of Legends), which resulted in more aggressive and negative interactions among players in the community. Puzzle Pirates, on the other hand was more cooperatively structured, which resulted in an open and friendly community of people who were wanting to help each other. I argue that ludic structure does have a significant impact on player interactions, and that game companies should strive for more cooperatively structured games to encourage a positive community of gamers. / Literature review -- Methodology -- Close analysis of League of legends -- Close analysis of Puzzle pirates -- Conclusions, flaws and future research. / Department of Communication Studies

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Communication and Culture. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-130). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR19676

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2010. / Document formatted into pages; contains v, 146 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2008. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-113). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR51518

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 97 p. Includes bibliographical references.

As the United States shifted toward a service-based economy and an increasingly digital media environment, American youth -- particularly young men and boys -- found an opportunity to play with these values in the then-novel video game arcade. The video game industry first came of age between the successful commercialization of Pong in 1972 and the U.S. gaming industry crash of 1983. In the interim, economic and play practices in the arcade itself and media representations of the arcade and its habitués shaped and responded to the economic and cultural upheavals of the period. Arcade machines were the first computers many Americans confronted. Through public discourse about gaming and gamers, Americans engaged in a critical debate about computerization, the move to digital media culture, the restructuring of the U.S. labor economy, and the competitiveness of American youth -- particularly boys -- in a Cold War culture conceived as both hostile and technologically oriented. This study demonstrates that video gaming was an arena in which Americans grappled with larger tensions about masculinity, globalization, labor, and digitalization. By analyzing gaming as a practice of everyday life, this work not only offers a cultural history of this period of gaming, but critical insights into the crystallization of masculine identity in a postindustrial, postmodern economy. / text

The relationships between violent content and aggression have not been fully understood and explained in video game research literature. This study sought to determine if video game players" flow experience--a psychological absorption—explains the aggression that can follow video game playing. Employing a survey, this project sought to determine if relationships existed among degrees of violence portrayed in video games, degrees of flow experience, and subsequent aggressive attitudes after gaming. In this study, it was determined that a player's flow experience is more strongly correlated with aggression than is the violent content of video games. Moreover, contradicting the common belief that the video game companies make more profit by increasing the quantity of violent content, there is actually no significant relationship between violence and purchase of video games. However, along the same lines of Hoffman and Novak (1977), this study discovered an increase in purchasing intent related to flow experiences in video games. / Department of Telecommunications

The purpose of this study was to examine if video game usage was influenced by family structure. Family structure was measured in two ways; the first, the amount of time one spends with their family, and second, family disruption. The amount of time one spends with their family was measured with specific amounts of time; for example, the number of weekly days one would engage with his or her family. Family disruption was broken into four categories; parental marriage, parental divorce, adoption, and guardian death. Video game usage was measured in two categories; weekly days one plays video games, and daily hours one plays video games. The evidence from the 701 surveys suggests there is no correlation between video game usage and the amount of time one spends with their family. The evidence also suggests that family disruption does not influence whether or not one plays video games either. / Department of Sociology

This thesis identifies and explores the types of communication modes that exist in video games. Different types of communication are identified and discussed based on Frye's audience centered theory of modes. The inferior communication mode, the mimetic communication mode, the leader-centered communication mode, the romantic communication mode, and the mythical communication mode are all explained. A convenience sample of six video game players were interviewed about video games. An analysis of their self-identification statements revealed that players seek a high level of romantic communication when playing video games. The romantic communication mode makes the video game world an idealized place where the players are able to manipulate their circumstances or show more intelligence than the user in reality. Uses of the communication modes are also explained. / Department of Telecommunications