The focus of this thesis is research of interaction which takes place between players and computer games. Specifically on ethical and moral aspects of such interaction in which the players are required to make moral decisions that in any way affect the progression of the story, shaping of the virtual world, or have any other effect on the in-game narration. The goal of this text is to describe context in which such moral decisions are made and factors that influence them. The theoretical part of this thesis has the form of a summary of relevant game studies topics, which influence the moral decision making issue. Research was conducted on a group of ten respondents, who played The Walking Dead game and who shared their experiences by answering questions concerning moral decision making. The gathered data was thereafter analysed using a grounded theory method, which allowed me to identify and contextualize the researched phenomena. The main output of this text is the grounded theory itself and the answers provided by its application in context with research questions.

Introduction: The theoretical part of the thesis summarizes findings from foreign literature on virtual reality and its use in rehabilitation, as well as the possibility of the benefits of active video games as part of balance training, specifically gaming console Nintendo Wii. The practical part is a pilot study to evaluate the effect of balance training in patients with cerebral palsy using this gaming console. Methods: The study included five patients with cerebral palsy, three in the form of spastic hemiparesis, two in the form of spastic triparesis. Patients were aged 8-18 years. Therapy took place on the Nintendo Wii, selecting five games from cd/dvd Wii Fit Plus. Patients underwent a total of 8 treatments with a frequency of once a week. One therapy lasted 20-30 minutes, according to success in individual games. The effect of therapy was evaluated using the Balance Master, specifically through tests Weight / Bearing squat (weight distribution of the lower limbs), mCTSIB (modified test balance sensory interaction) Limits of Stability (CoG sway to the borders of support base), Rhytmic Weight Shift (fast active transfer of CoG), Walk Across, Tandem walk and Step/Quick Turn (walking with a turn). For statistical evaluation and comparison of the results before and after treatment was used...

This thesis is based on a detailed analysis of various topics related to the question of whether video games can be art. In the first place it analyzes the current academic discussion on this subject and confronts different opinions of both supporters and objectors of the idea, that video games can be a full-fledged art form. The second point of this paper is to analyze the properties, that are inherent to video games, in order to find the reason, why cultural elite considers video games as inferior in relation to traditional forms of art. In addition to features of games like entertainment, competitivness and unproductivity, this part examines the circumstances that have an impact on current game design, like mass popularity and game developers pandering to wide audiance. Due to these circumstances, the majority of video games can be considered kitsch. Following passage through the application of theory of kitsch on specific video game shows and identifies tendencies in game design that cause this condition. Conclusion of the second chapter, however, shows that some video games exhibit characteristics that are generally regarded as positive elements of art works and by that they avoid being branded as kitsch. The last part of this thesis, based on cluster theory of art, identifies and analyzes...

"Studies and a career of Czech animator in terms of market economy" answers all basic, practical questions that Czech animation student asks about his future career. It is an information link between school and practice. It delivers facts about current situation on Czech animation scene and presents practical skills which are necessary for setting up an animation career. The goal of a writer was to deliver undistorted information which might be surprisingly realistic or skeptic. Understanding these facts is fundamental, because readers should come up with their own solutions for their future jobs in animation. A broad topic contains information about film or artistic animation, commercial and comissioned jobs, internet animation, basics about animation studios, animation industry and economic aspects of a freelance work. It summaries a purpose of animation schools, including 10 commandments of a student aimed on practical skills to gain during studies.

This diploma thesis deals with the new trends in the monetization of the video gaming industry with emphasis on crowdfunding, free-to-play model, selling games by "pay what you want" bundles and sales on Steam and other digital distribution stores. The purpose of this diploma thesis is to describe how the players on personal computers react to these trends in the Czech Republic. First, the situation in Czech gaming industry and the situation of players in the Czech Republic is described. Then, the new trends are analyzed thoroughly using foreign researches. The practical part analyses the effects of the new trends on Czech players with the results of an online questionnaire. First, the methodology is presented and subsequently the collected data is analyzed. Gradually, the thesis are answering the three research questions which are clarifying various aspects of how the Czech players respond to the new trends in the video gaming industry monetization. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This master's thesis focuses on the research of similar video game experiences among players of different cultures. Because video games are a product of the worldwide gaming industry, the same content is available for players of various cultural backgrounds, who can then share their experiences via internet forums. In a cross-cultural comparison, the thesis examines similarities in gaming experiences the players of different cultural backgrounds have, and thus exploring the potential of videogames to overcome national borders and to bring players closer. Because four generations of gamers had already got the opportunity to play videogames, the thesis also focuses on similar gaming experiences across the age groups, and thus potentially bringing together also players of different ages. The theoretical basis of this thesis is built on the works of theorists of play Johan Huizinga, Vladimír Borecký, and Roger Caillois, theories of anthropologists George P. Murdock, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Michal Tošner, and Clifford Geertz, and lastly, the history of video games as a medium along with the history of computers in general as described by Lev Manovich. The research itself was conducted by using two methods. An online survey, shared among respondents by using the Snowball Sampling method, followed by a...

The subject of this diploma thesis is the perception of female characters in various media adaptations of The Witcher from the perspective of audiences that show signs of fan affiliation. The research focuses on the two most recent adaptations, i.e. the third game The Witcher: Wild Hunt and the serie The Witcher on the Netflix platform. The research took the form of in-depth interviews with a total of nine participants and focused on the role, characteristics, relationships and motivations of female characters in order to find out how respondents perceive these areas in adaptations. The first part of the diploma thesis deals with the theoretical basis related to popular culture, audiences, game and film studies and gender in media. It also presents the world of The Witcher, the selected characters and the critique of adaptations. The next section of the thesis deals with the research methodology. The grounded theory was used as a method of work and multiple levels of coding and categorization were conducted. These categories are then presented in the empirical part of the thesis together with a demonstration of the respondents' statements followed by data interpretation and discussion. The main findings include that female characters play an important role in both adaptations from the audience's...

The topic of computer/video games and their translation has only recently attracted attention of translation scholars. The thesis aims at introducing the phenomenon as a legitimate topic of translation studies, presenting it as a specific and influential medium with an extensive user subculture. A description of the overall process of game localization, and specifically its practice in the Czech Republic are included. Lexical analysis of selected computer game reviews and online discussions is complemented with a questionnaire survey to reveal if and how computer games and game- focused articles influence the constitution of a characteristic sociolect and its usage outside the gamer subculture. Concepts used in intercultural and interlingual transfer of computer games are defined and compared with established terms in translation studies. A comparative analysis of original and Czech versions of two computer games is carried out to identify translation methods used in the transfer of culture- and language-specific elements in order to determine whether the process of computer game translation exhibits any specific features that may justify the introduction of new terms into translation studies. Specific features of computer games in translation are described and an analysis of several games...

This dissertation investigates whether video games are able to affect players' attitudes and information behaviour towards depicted historical topics in games over the short- and long-term. We collected data from a sample of 148 young adults. As far as we know, there is currently no study of such a scale focused on historical games. We used, as an intervention tool, a modification of the serious game Czechoslovakia 38-89: Borderlands that deals with the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans from the former Czechoslovakia after WWII. The game is based on historical research providing players with multiple perspectives on the depicted topics. Our control group played a similar game, but where the narrative was unrelated to any depicted historical event from Czechoslovakia 38-89: Borderlands. In the empirical part of the study, we measured explicit and implicit attitude change and information behaviour change towards the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans. Results showed more negative pretest-posttest explicit attitude changes towards the expulsion on a general level (d = -0.34; p = .022) and a specific level (d = -0.53; p = .001) in the experimental group compared to the control group. Over the long-term, group differences in attitude change remained significant for the specific level (d = -0.44; p = .014),...

Video games today represent very widespread medium, which has a huge potential. Majority of games uses for its stories and building of their world rearranged and commodified elements inspired by vernacular folklore. Thanks to that kind of games, they were able to preserve and spread some manifestations of oral tradition, mainly representation of oral literature, specifically the representatives of demonological legends, not only in collective memory of certain group, but also in the general population thanks to the mass culture of popular culture. Based on the identification, processing, study and documentation of these manifestations in a selected sample of video games with folklore themes and subsequent research among players and developers about the knowledge of these manifestations, it can be determined whether is the manifestations or folklore, or whether these manifestations are related with folklorism or folkloresque. The thesis aims to examine these statements and to explore the possibilities of preserving the manifestations of oral literature in the collective memory of the subculture of computer game players with an overlap to the general population. Keywords oral tradition, oral literature, storytelling, popular culture, demonological legends, video games, case study, folkloresque,...