tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18730903936267914532024-03-14T04:10:36.763-04:00Location-based Games - gaming in physical spaceAbout location-based games - gaming that crosses barriers.
And other topics relating to my dissertation - in one way or another.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-14754794052549184132011-12-15T04:45:00.002-05:002012-01-19T14:47:05.059-05:00Dissertation on Location-based GamesI have now defended my dissertation on location-based games. And it went well. Now it is time for the dissertation to live its own life. I invite you to read it (link to download is in the end of this post), and hope that it will inspire, illuminate the area, perhaps provoke, and lead to fruitful discussions.<br />
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Allow me to present its contents briefly: In the dissertation, it is explored which prerequisites are necessary in location-based games to make meaningful the meeting between players and spatiality with an emphasis on physical locations. Throughout the dissertation, it has been shown that LBGs affect players’ perception of and behavior in everyday spaces, as the games reside on the boundaries between the continuums of play and ordinary, authentic and fictional, and as they merge physical and digital media. These are termed the six dimensions of location-based games. location-based games let the player explore the boundaries between these dimensions and the dimensions are related through play. The location-based game acts as a mediator for the meeting between the player and locations through the boundaries between these six dimensions. The motivation of the dissertation is to push the development of and research in location-based games toward actualizing the potential for expanding location-based games’ spatial aspect even further and to contribute with a cohesive framework on location-based games.<br />
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This dissertation consists of a review of previous research and existing location-based games, and a theoretical discussion of the elements of location-based games encompassing: 1) Spatiality: space and place, digital space, mediated spaces (physical and digital), locations as play-spaces. 2) Structure: rules, frames, fiction and authenticity, and uncertainty and ambiguity. 3) Interface: Location-aware devices, seams, and objects and players. 4) Player experience: Motivation, mobility, meaning, and finally, a discussion of flow, immersion or incorporation. The combination of these elements is used to conceptualize location-based games.<br />
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The theoretical point of departure for the dissertation is Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception and Michael Apter’s theory on motivation (reversal theory). The phenomenology of perception contributes with a framework describing our experiences of being in the world and the creation of meaning. The theory on motivation defines what motivation consists of and how it relates to our actions. This theory has been combined with theories concerning play and play culture, digital media, (digital) games, (optimal) experiences, landscape architecture, everyday practices (related to walking in the city), and the existing theories on location-based games as well as pervasive games.<br />
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The methodological approach incorporates design-based research. It combines and aims at improving design, research, and practice concurrently. A design of an location-based game – Visions of Sara – has been created and implemented. It evolved out of the initial observations and participation in three location-based games (DJEEO Education, Land of Possibilities?, and Fruit Farmer), the review of the literature, and relevant theoretical models. After creating Visions of Sara, three more location-based games were played and they are included as part of the empirical data – Ghost Patrol, Spy in the City, and Foursquare. These seven games, interviews, and observations, along with my own experiences both playing and designing are included in the analysis of the relation between locations and location-based game; the ways in which players use them to create meaningful experiences; and of the prerequisites of a meaningful meeting between players and locations.<br />
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The dissertation contributes to the field of location-based game research by offering an enhanced understanding of location-based games, and location-based game player experiences, as well as providing an expanded vocabulary describing location-based game elements. In addition, the dissertation provides design knowledge concerning creating location-based games that uses certain emergent opportunities when combining location-aware technologies with game mechanics to make use of the six dimensions of location-based games and to involve the player’s body – i.e. make a meaningful meeting possible.<br />
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The practical contribution is my creation of the location-based game Visions of Sara. People continue to play this game in Odense more than two years after its launch, and <a href="http://www.djeeo.com/index.php/en/the-concept" target="_blank">DJEEO </a>uses it as a showcase, enabling the company to sell similar location-based games.<br />
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Please feel free to download, read and distribute the dissertation: <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=113YHpM-c6OFbSirefzruC6QHy8ZvuaF96coNA_J0BjUrCo6klBgMTWKrvtXc" target="_blank">Location-based Games: From Screen to Streets</a><br />
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You can also buy (the price only covers printing it) a physical version of the dissertation from the <a href="http://me.lt/9wU0Y" target="_blank">university webshop</a>.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-81524665870872837342010-11-10T04:40:00.000-05:002010-11-10T04:40:06.266-05:00Flook it!<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flook-location-browser/id337515423?mt=8">Flook </a>is a location-based browser. Its very graphical. Its is a game awarding you for augmenting your surroundings by sharing information about them. To me Flook is more playful and the more graphical approach than similar apps like GoWalla and Foursquare is appealing. <br />
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In Flook you create "cards" that tell about a place. You add text, a photo and a category to the card. Cards can be informative, express a sentiment, comment on something in the surrounding etc. Every time you share you are awarded.<br />
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Cards can be collected or shared and people befriended. The categories can be from "Funny", "Food and drink", "For sale", "Place to go", "Question", "Event" "Local secret", "Art",or "Uncategorized".<br />
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You can also search featured flookers - these are users that present specific content - such as last.fm (concerts) or EnglishHeritage (knowledge on historical sites).Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-43443902408386669602010-11-09T10:22:00.000-05:002010-11-09T10:22:34.441-05:00Transmedia storytellingInterested in creating a pervasive game - or tell a story using a range of media, but you haven't got a team of developers in your back or technical skills yourself? Then the "<a href="http://www.transmediastoryteller.com/transmedia-storytelling">Transmedia Storyteller</a>" might be the option. <br />
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They offer a content management system, that should allow you to focus on the content - not the tech stuff. <br />
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I'll be looking into this. Do you have experience with this or similar systems please do share!Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-10308718897321571202009-11-17T22:35:00.000-05:002009-11-17T20:38:34.361-05:00From Audience to Users in Computer GamingIn 2006 Erik Kristiansen from Performance Design on Roskilde University wrote a paper on MMORPG’s and pervasive games in relation to the role of the players. Kristiansen arguments that computer games are mass media, though they are different from other mass media in one respect: In computer games the audience are not just reacting but actually interacting with the media.<br />
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Kristiansen states that the player’s engagement in the game even goes beyond interaction, as the player is creating a game performance. Kristiansen make a distinction between three different types of games:<br />
<ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reactive games:</span> These games are in a way passive as the game play is in control of the computer, the player is not.</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Action games:</span> The player can act and have full control of the game though the player is bound to use the state of the game as basis for choosing the actions.</li>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Creative games:</span> The player has full control over the game and is even creating game play by combining game elements which alters the game.</li>
</ol>Games are more and more offering creative possibilities to the players so that the players can play on the third level. According to Kristiansen pervasive games are mass media in a new way as they can embrace many people at one time, and at the same time they take computer gaming to the streets. Also they make it possible to promote collective intelligence in solving the games and therefore they offer creative games to the public.<br />
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Media is thought as a part of our everyday life whereas play takes place in a separate space, Kristiansen writes, and at the same time play is a core activity of everyday life. In other words media is the everyday site for play. The boundary between play and seriousness is also less distinct than earlier according to Kristiansen. This makes it even more relevant to talk about pervasive games.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Relevance:</span><br />
I find it quite interesting to discuss if player freedom is actually adding to the game experience. I am not quite sure that self configurable games are better games. This is not What Kristiansen is saying, but the theme is here.<br />
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Reference</span><br />
KRISTIANSEN Erik. (2006) From Audience to Users in Computer Gaming. The MMORPGs and pervasive games as mass media. In Publics, audiences and users: Theoretical and methodological challenges in a multidisciplinary field of research, A NordForsk doctoral course, Hotel Niels Juel, Køge, Denmark.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-46355397394139292342009-11-17T20:49:00.000-05:002009-11-17T20:49:25.024-05:00Augmented Reality on the Android - AR going towards mainstreamJust found wonderful news on the world wild web: An augmented reality kit is available for the Android. You can download it from <a href="http://github.com/haseman/Android-AR-Kit/">github</a>. <br />
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This means that even more applications using augmented reality will be out there soon for even more users!<br />
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Looking forward to see what is coming!<br />
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Follow the developers on twitter: http://twitter.com/androidarkitAgent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-75276346967605133832009-10-14T14:55:00.000-04:002009-10-14T16:13:23.001-04:00Do-it-yourself pervasive gameIf none of the movies running are worth seeing, if you know every video game on your shelves by heart OR if you simply feel like getting outdoors and like creating an interesting game - then what about building your own game, even one that lets you use the physical environment as a playground. Yes, you can built your own pervasive game.<br /><br />There are various options if you have the right mobile phone with a decent GPS unit built in.<br /><br />These platforms all allow you to make your own pervasive game:<br /><br />* You can download a kit with <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.locomatrix.co.uk">LocoMatrix</a></span><br />* <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://gpsmission.com/">Orbster </a></span>also has a pervasive game engine<br />* Finally you can try out your game creating skills through the services offered at <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://ciphercities.com/gamebuilder.php">Cipher Cities</a></span><br /><br />Get some inspiration playing some of the games already there - some of them are beta, others have been played a great deal. This is a nice opportunity for creative minds and academic bodies to get a hands on experience creating games that use location aware technology. And hey it might even be fun!<br /><br />If anybody got a great game to recommend please write a comment!Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-11899333542199702802009-09-18T20:01:00.007-04:002009-09-21T11:37:17.576-04:00The High Line Park (New York) - a gem<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-HiHYKhQ-s5xz6inhaAl64lOokfOC91Ps2KebH4I2efWlZ-H6XIsgb_cFNHr1rXDvrpfnkBdGgoy96z9fmn2QH_h3vYmgvjQRdXevKVDK7i6O7EYcT5-tdRmk4DdrHaxrBLX510slO4/s1600-h/HL_IMG_2213.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-HiHYKhQ-s5xz6inhaAl64lOokfOC91Ps2KebH4I2efWlZ-H6XIsgb_cFNHr1rXDvrpfnkBdGgoy96z9fmn2QH_h3vYmgvjQRdXevKVDK7i6O7EYcT5-tdRmk4DdrHaxrBLX510slO4/s400/HL_IMG_2213.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375036787184917794" /></a><br /><br />In 1980 the last train loaded with a load of frozen turkeys rolled down the High Line in Manhattan. High Line is freight train lines, which for reasons of security was raised above the ground. Or it was The High Line, because after the frozen turkeys have long since been thawed, deep fried and digested, nothing has been transported on the tracks, that have existed since the 1930s.<br /><br />A demolition has been planned ever since, but prevented the train enthusiasts, as in 2002, was the city's support for pooling resources, building plans and transform the track into a public park.<br /><br />The old railway High Line has not only been preserved, but opened in June 2009 as a recreation area where pedestrians can stroll along, over and under the old track from the former railway. <a href="http://www.thehighline.org/">"The High Line" park</a> has preserved traces from the previous use, providing a unique sense of history and atmosphere! Along the paths wild grass and flowers are planted, giving a sensation of being in a park, just that it is several meters above the ground. Along the track you can find loungers, which can be moved along the track still remaining - as a reminder of what was and giving a function to what is. Along the way, we also find a station where the platform is converted into a café and meeting place. From the High Line, you can also enjoy the view over the Hudson River on one side and Manhattan on the other.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBOOgd0F03XCFnq-e45Z2ray9HWSwKiqZoPtbq4YYOSQmc3GnMlOzc0-x8Ako6ivE4hOZ4urDjLhqZVFXgvV2P75fST5EZ-nmW-Z5WhGg4GiGj7lVWymvkVQYmbmr7ScfKjpkIL6UNDEM/s1600-h/HL_IMG_2214.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBOOgd0F03XCFnq-e45Z2ray9HWSwKiqZoPtbq4YYOSQmc3GnMlOzc0-x8Ako6ivE4hOZ4urDjLhqZVFXgvV2P75fST5EZ-nmW-Z5WhGg4GiGj7lVWymvkVQYmbmr7ScfKjpkIL6UNDEM/s400/HL_IMG_2214.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375035826845684386" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4nK8Zy_IKSyqPOPmVkPMiD8cLsVX7DFgYqwcT71A5IbLpGo7NrCJ6j5GgltsgACYFYXtpYqftEl2ls6savF7FwXSmwOYYChy6MG17-xrYVdZB7-7OPqzk38dXfVEc7mI4WD-H7QSM0Q/s1600-h/HL_IMG_2187.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4nK8Zy_IKSyqPOPmVkPMiD8cLsVX7DFgYqwcT71A5IbLpGo7NrCJ6j5GgltsgACYFYXtpYqftEl2ls6savF7FwXSmwOYYChy6MG17-xrYVdZB7-7OPqzk38dXfVEc7mI4WD-H7QSM0Q/s400/HL_IMG_2187.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375035753886847250" /></a><br /><br /><br />I can highly recommend the "park"! It is a gem - a beautiful example of how cultural history is preserved for and serving the people. <br /><br />I 'blog' about this - though it has nothing to do with pervasive games - because it has everything to with opening our eyes to how space can be used differently, in a more playful way.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-88960469436325246992009-09-18T19:49:00.003-04:002009-11-06T11:36:15.940-05:00Park(ing) Day DC 2009Just came back from a day of Park(ing)! <br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="225" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=fc197651ac&photo_id=3932323678&hd_default=false"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=fc197651ac&photo_id=3932323678&hd_default=false" height="225" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />http://www.nbcwashington.com/around-town/events/Artsy-Activists-Create-a-One-Day-Park-on-14th-Street-59760177.htmlAgent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-35599500676731274012009-08-28T14:13:00.002-04:002009-08-28T14:22:40.446-04:00Pervasive games on speed - who's the rabbit?Pervasive games - digital game that uses the physical world as a playground - is often a game-play, reminiscent of a treasure hunt combined with orienteering and adventure games. It does certainly not have to be this way. In Germany you will find this new adventure and <a href="http://www.imgawards.com/"> award winning </a> game:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qWo9Cv6QOu8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qWo9Cv6QOu8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />The game is strategical, uses the possibilities of technology to give a classic game of tag entirely new dimensions. There are ethical or at least security issues associated with the game as I could imagine that when players become engrossed, they would tend to forget about safety in traffic and being considerate of non-players who come in their way. But these are speculations, the fact is that the game offers interesting opportunities for more action packed pervasive gaming.<br /><br />The game was developed by <a href="http://www.fastfoot.mobi/"> Fast Food Challenge </a> and you can download the game from their website, where you can also see if your mobile can run the game.<br /><br />This game will undoubtedly make you break a sweat! Who would lake to join me? Man overboard!Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-47859583562239033542009-08-20T14:24:00.001-04:002009-08-28T14:41:42.049-04:00The spaces we inhabit<object width="350" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/OlafurEliasson_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/OlafurEliasson-2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=599" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/OlafurEliasson_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/OlafurEliasson-2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=599"></embed></object><br /><br />Art is not about decorating world, but to take responsibility and move the world, says architect Olafur Elisson.<br /><br />Eliasson has created many works around the world. In one of them - <a href="http://www.olafureliasson.net/works/green_river.html"> Green River </a> - where he poured green paint in a river in Los Angeles, Stockholm, Moss (Norway), Bremen and Tokyo to give the inhabitants of the town a sense of space, its dimensions and what time and motion means for space. In that way the inhabitants can experience how their body is a part of the given space and that there is a consequence of their presence. According to Eliasson, this give people a sense of the materiality of space and thereby the knowledge that they can actually change space. It makes space available to the public.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW7Fcv1Gsyh2zn3ZBVYBAtc8nhZLJFw-7l-zP5vMIK2Sj1jVjevn8CNd5pwpU-rzNl0z3kKb_ldF4ztr6JdHJIAdTAO-xzTlU0R0PCaZ2kS4hiC7y-6AWql5-fbuFPFJDGvtmsvMXLneA/s1600-h/the_matter_of_time.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW7Fcv1Gsyh2zn3ZBVYBAtc8nhZLJFw-7l-zP5vMIK2Sj1jVjevn8CNd5pwpU-rzNl0z3kKb_ldF4ztr6JdHJIAdTAO-xzTlU0R0PCaZ2kS4hiC7y-6AWql5-fbuFPFJDGvtmsvMXLneA/s200/the_matter_of_time.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366210728639570690" /></a><br /><br />If you go to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (with I highly recommend!) You can experience <a href="http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/secciones/programacion_artistica/nombre_exposicion_claves.php?idioma=en&id_exposicion=64"><br />The Matter of Time </a>, which is a work by Richard Serra. It consists of huge rusty iron plates, which stands on the floor and form corridors that the audience can explore and get lost in. Some of the corridors are shaped like ellipses, some are parallel. The great thing about the installation, is that while walking through it you can fell how the surroundings affect your body. You may actually find that you begin to tilt to one side, with the walls - or that you get the feeling of being crushed when the walls lean inward and closes at the top.<br /><br />Richard Serra describes his work like this:<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> <blockquote> "The sculptures are not objects that its separately in the space, actually quite the opposite is true, they engender a spatial continuity with the environment In which they exist." </blockquote> </span><br />Serra and Eliasson alike are working with something I am very interested in, namely: How do we experience the spaces we inhabit, how do we influence on space and vice versa; and what does this mean for design of art installations (landscape) architecture, and games (pervasive games) that are set in physical space? The spaces we engage in is created and shaped by the way we use it, and it affects us even more than we sometimes realize.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-9268823239763580082009-06-01T22:38:00.000-04:002009-09-02T11:48:58.868-04:00You Mean It’s Only a Game?In the article <a href="http://journals.sfu.ca/loading/index.php/loading/article/viewFile/11/5"><font style="font-style: italic;">“You Mean It’s Only a Game? Rule Structures, the Magic Circle, and Player Participation in Pervasive Mobile Gaming”</font> (2006)</a> Alison Harvey brings ethics in pervasive games into focus. In game theory there is an implicit agreement that when playing the players find them in a magic circle, which makes out a conceptual and symbolic structure that surrounds the play world. Within this magic circle it is clear who is playing and who is not according to Harvey. In some pervasive games this divide is not fixed, which means that people can be part of the game without their consent.<br /><br />The concept of the magic circle has to do with the rigidity of boundaries in games. Harvey quotes Huizinga for writing that rules are vital to a game as they create the play world by setting its boundaries and they determine what is acceptable inside the boundaries of the game.<br /><br />The pervasive games can make the player aware of things in their environment that they normally would not notice. In this way, Harvey writes, pervasive games actually shift the boundaries of the real world for the players. This shift and lack of clearance of boundaries raise ethical questions when for example a non-player is integrated in the game due to the shifting boundaries. Harvey quotes Benford et al 2006 that makes a distinction between the primary user (player) as a performer and the spectators (secondary users). The secondary user is not only a person who watches the game, but also persons who have an indirect influence on the game as they can be asked for directions or even have a defined role in the game according to Benford and his co-authors. They refer to a framework “The frame of the game” that is pushed through mobile gaming. It is this framework that settles the roles of the users – primary and secondary. Within the framework there is a transition between being a primary user and a secondary user. The primary users have an unspoken contract with the secondary users that they confirm continuously through rituals, conventions, and both physical and intellectual structures. In this setting the performer – or primary user – is the frame constructor and the spectator – secondary user – is the frame interpreter.<br /><br />This setup challenges the concept of the magic circle according to Harvey. The players are running around in the streets without a clear demarcation of what is inside the game world and what is not. In addition non-players or spectators can be part of the game without their consent. Benford et al do distinguish between audience members that are aware that the actions they are observing are within a performance frame, and bystanders who has not got clue of what is going on. However Harvey notes that it is pure chance who belongs to which group as there is nothing in the framework that supports the difference. Harvey criticises both Benford et al and Montola and Waern for not having serious concerns for the secondary users. Montola and Waern write that a “very engaging experience” can be obtained through the use of “social expansion” which is expanding the game socially and including non-players in the game. Harvey notes that they neglect to mention who is experiencing is for. Benford et al do realize that there is a risk when including non-players in the game. They purpose designing a “safety harness” that protects the players – not the non-players according to Harvey.<br /><br />Harvey concludes that there is a lack of discussion on the ethical questions that come out of playing with frames and boundaries in public spaces. Her opinion is that play is something that the participants have to enter explicitly. She acknowledges that when games are been played in public they will draw attention and players <span style="font-style:italic;">can</span> interact with non-players. But this should not be scripted into the design as a part of the game according to her. Harvey states that the boundary between players and non-players must remain intact for ethical reasons. She points out that this might change later, when conventions on the area develop, as they can give the non-players a clue about what is going on.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Harvey, A.: <span style="font-style:italic;">You Mean It’s Only a Game? Rule Structures, the Magic Circle, and Player Participation in Pervasive Mobile Gaming <br /></span>; Proceedings of CGSA 2006 Symposium (2006)Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-77603239113878493902009-05-29T14:56:00.002-04:002009-12-10T15:45:47.592-05:00Visions of Sara (Danish title: Saras Syner)I would like to introduce Sara. She is the mere shadow of her own self. She is haunted by voices and foul sights. On a lot of locations in her home town Odense, she is experiencing strange things. This unnerving condition has evolved over some time, but now Sara has had it. Her last chance is H.U.B (This is Danish and short for: the Special Unit for handling the Haunted, Exorcism and Obsession), a sort of Ghostbusters team, that can solve the mystery and thereby set Sara free. <br />
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In other words Sara is the protagonist of the pervasive game “Visions of Sara”, that I created in 2009 as a part of my dissertation using a platform developed by and in cooperation with <a href="http://www.djeeo.com/index.php/en/djeeo-play">DJEEO</a>. The project was supported by Udviklingsforum Odense (Forum for Development in Odense) and Odense Kommune (Municipal of Odense). Finally the development of the game is part of the research project Serious Games on a Global Market and of my Ph.D.project on pervasive games.<br />
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Here is video from the opening of the game (just ignore the bit of spoken Danish):<br />
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You can now play it in Odense, everything you need to do is to bring one, three or more friends at the central library and lend equipment from them.<br />
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Odense is the third largest town of Denmark. Situated in the centre of Denmark, the old town was grounded before 988 it has a lot of historical buildings and stories lying under the surface. The town was once the seat of religion with lots of monasteries, convents and churches. In old times it was even the town of the kings and queens. It was here the King Knud was killed by the mobs – in one of the churches.<br />
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Odense developed in to an industrial town, with a functional harbor and highways leading through the town. Nowadays the harbour is in a development phase from hub of transportation to hub of culture. This change is on the sketchbook and slowly seen in the harbour as well. But according to the municipal of Odense the citizens have not yet seen the full potential of the harbour. But how do they communicate and demonstrate that the harbour is no longer a place for trucks and containers, but a scene for Sunday walks and sports?<br />
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Sara would not exist if it was not for Odense. She is created to guide the citizens through the layers of the town. At first she was supposed to roam the harbour. But she decided to start in the centre of town – just to be sure to have company. The idea is to create a pervasive game that invites the players to experience the town, while playing the game. <br />
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When the players enter the streets, they follow the goal, rules and story of the game. The players perceive their surroundings through game optics. This brings about interesting possibilities, not only for game enthusiasts, but also for tourists, newcomers or for those interested in architecture and history for example. To be able to make use of this possibility, we need to gain knowledge and experience of how the rules of a game, its goals and stories influences the perception of the physical surroundings.<br />
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It is challenging to find the level of how close the game must be connected to the physical surroundings. Players have stated that a game becomes pointless if there is “no reason why they are out in the streets”. This speaks in favour of establishing a close connection to the gamers’ surroundings.<br />
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On the other hand, games that are based on one location, e.g. in the monastery garden behind the church of St. Knud in Odense, cannot immediately be moved to a new location without a game producer changing the game. The game loses its mobility, which can be one of the reasons why pervasive games have not hit the civil market yet.<br />
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The players’ experience is central to my research, because it is really the experience that is sold when a digital game is handed over the counter or is downloaded.<br />
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The project casts light upon the role of the physical surroundings and the players, together, in a number of pervasive games. That is, how the games are perceived by the players, and what it takes to add meaning to the players’ encounter with the physical surroundings. As a part of the project, the game “Sara’s visions” has been developed in cooperation with the company DJEEO (<a href="http://www.djeeo.dk">www.djeeo.dk</a>). It is now possible to play the game at Odense Central Library – and, of course, in the streets of Odense.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-43692280709964385442008-11-17T22:59:00.000-05:002008-11-18T10:31:31.455-05:00Playful spaces - take a swing!Bruno Taylor is master in industrial design, and he had a question: What has happened to playing in the streets? Fewer and fewer children are playing outside in the public areas. Taylor has shaped his question as a swing in a bus stop and recorded the reaction towards the installation:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nDqbb0eHVXA&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nDqbb0eHVXA&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="349"></embed></object><br /></div><br />This is not a game (which is what I am studying) but it is still relevant as it deals with the restrictions and possibilities there when inviting for play in public space.<br /><br />A few people actually take a swing, some pose on the swing to take a photo - which in my perception is also a form of play. Some just look puzzled and distrustful towards the alien swing in the bus stop.<br /><br />A bus stop is a context for waiting, often together with a bunch of strangers. People waiting there are together even though they are not. For me at least it is a dull time, where a bit of excitement would be much welcomed. But is it acceptable for adults to play in the streets? Does the design of modern cities invite for play?Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-27794358823242278432008-11-16T22:27:00.000-05:002008-11-16T22:27:00.739-05:00Ubiquitous computing - where it all startedIn 1991 Mark Weiser wrote the article: "The Computer for the 21st Century" presenting the visions for future computing that he and his colleagues at Xerox PARC worked at.<br /><br />Weiser states that the greatest technologies are the ones that are not noticed anymore. They are constantly present in the background, but do not call for attention. They are ready with the information we need when we need it.<br /><br />Weiser advocates for a different approach to thinking about computing, one that takes natural human environment into account. The focus should be the task at hand - not the technology.<br /><br />When people are very familar with a technology then they do not notice it anymore according to Weiser. He makes references to Georg Gadamer and Martin Heideggers notion of "horisont" as an equivalence to concept that the person ceases to be aware of his knowledge when something is learned sufficiently well.<br /><br />Weiser also labels ubiquitous computing "embodied virtuality" - which is the process of "unleashing" computers in physical space. This is opposite to "virtual reality" that aims at re-creating the world within the virtual world.<br /><br />In embodied virtuality it is very important that the ubiquitous computers know <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">where </span></span>they are and that the right <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">scale </span></span>is chosen.<br /><br />The location awareness ensures that the technology can fairly easily adapt to the environment. The scale gives different possibilities. In the 90ties they worked with Tads, Pads and Yards (the former is smallest, the latter biggest). The strength of the concept is not the devices in themselves but what emerges from the interaction between them.<br /><br />Finally ubiquitous computing aim at focus at the task and the "people in the other end" more than on the tool.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Relevance:</span><br />Weiser is mainly dealing with computing for workspace whereas I am interested in using the technology in an entertainment setting.<br /><br />As Weisers' - and his colleagues' - ideas are the beginning of ubiquitous computing and thereby pervasive computing it makes out the basic idea behind pervasive gaming.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reference:</span><br /><a href="http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/SciAmDraft3.html">WEISER, Mark <span style="font-style: italic;">"The Computer for the 20st Century</span>", <span style="font-style: italic;"></span>1991, Scientific American, pp. 933-940</a>Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-48166637350686874552008-10-13T22:40:00.001-04:002008-11-13T22:58:47.178-05:00Pervasive Games in Ludic SocietyIn the paper Pervasive Games in Ludic Society (Stenros et al., 2007) Stenros, Montola and Mäyra show how pervasive games emerge from three different cultural trends:<br /><ol><li>The first, is the increasing blurring of facts and fiction in media culture</li><li>The second, is the struggle over public space</li><li>The third, is the rise of ludus in society</li></ol>The authors recognise that pervasive games are influenced by the idea of pervasive computing. Despite of this they do not consider pervasive games as technology-based. Though technology plays an important role in creating new pervasive games, technology is not at the core of the activity according to Stenros et al. They use Montola’s definition of pervasive games as games that expand spatial, temporal and social boundaries of traditional games(Montola, 2005).<br /><br />Traditional games are normally played by certain people, at a certain time, and in a set place. Pervasive games break with at least one of these three certainties.<br /><br />The authors take Huizinga’s understanding of play as the opposite to ordinary as a starting point.<br /><br />This contradiction is blurring nowadays in media, when we conceive truth and story, fictive and real as related to game and ordinary: This is seen in popular movies as The Game (1997), The Truman Show (1998), The Matrix (1999) and in the marketing for The Blair Witch Project (1999). In all of these pieces fact and fiction are mixed so that it is not clear what is real and fictive, and what is truth and story.<br /><br />The authors make a point out of explaining how users on the Internet are playing with facts and fabricated reality. They uses identity and gender play as examples, but also ARGs that are based on fake websites and scam baiting which is playing with email spammers in order to see how far the spammer will go. These are examples of how we are using reflectivity, self-awareness and performativity as tools in order to play with meaning, speculation, fabrication and fluid identities. The authors claim that these tools become ubiquitous parts of everyday activities and that they makes the terms “truth” and “real” relative.<br /><br />The second trend that pervasive games emerge from according to the article is the public and urban space movements. These are movements for reclaiming or questioning the conventions around public space. These are theatre groups; the graffiti movement; people planning events in the public space like creating a small park on a parking lot or athletic individuals that travel through the city in alternative ways such as skaters or people performing Le Parkour.<br /><br />All of these street movements negotiate or comment upon the accepted use of public space and they do it in a playful way which is in line with another trend and the third that influences pervasive games, namely the rise of ludus in society.<br /><br />The authors claim that the Western world has turned into a culture of gamers with the rise of digital games. They quote game researcher Jesper Juul’s definition of a classic:<br /><blockquote>“[...] game is a rule-based system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the activity are optional and negotiable.”</blockquote>This definition fits the type of formal play that Roger Caillois dubbed ludus (formal play) as opposed to paidia (free play). Stenros et al claim that the tendency is that we see more and more paidiec activities as ludic. In addition more and more games have an increased amount of paidiec elements, like storytelling in war games or combining dancing and singing with digital games like in Singstar.<br /><br />What is the denominator of these different examples? Stenros et al are using Michael Apter’s distinction between playful mindset (paratelic) and serious mindset (telic). According to Apter both mindsets can result in pleasure. In order to understand what kind of activities that take place Stenros et al add further two categories: Playful context and serious context. Games are traditionally perceived as activities carried out in a playful mindset and in a playful context. But as we have seen activities carried out in a playful mindset but in an ordinary context are emerging. This situation can be even more complex as a context can be playful to some and serious to others like in Candid camera, in this case the context is fabricated.<br /><br />When play is taken out of its spatial, temporal and social context: the magic circle has expanded. Play pervades the ordinary world. This is what pervasive games are all about according to the authors:<br /><blockquote>“Pervasive games have a tendency to play wildly with the different contexts and mindsets, leading into various different activities.”<br /></blockquote>Pervasive games are in other word encouraging people to interact in both playful and serious contexts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Relevance:</span><br />The link to "Claiming back the streets" is highly relevant to my project. My focus is on pervasive games that pervades real space. Also the distinction between spatial, temporal and social context is interesting.<br /><br />Keeping in mind that Michael Apter did not write about context but merely the internal mindset of a person. According to Apter the mindset and motivation of a person can not be affected intentionally and directly. Despite of this the context must play a role in the experience.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reference:</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Pervasive Games in Ludic Society"</span> (Stenros et al., 2007) Stenros, Montola and MäyraAgent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-57286949924089675732008-09-18T22:28:00.000-04:002008-09-18T23:38:06.324-04:00Bringing Computer Entertainment back in to the Real WorldI have just read the paper <span style="font-style: italic;">“Pervasive Games: Bringing Computer Entertainment Back to the Real World” </span>(2005) by Carsten Magerkurth, Adrian David Cheok, Regan L. Mandryk and Trond Nilsen. This is an outline of this paper. Please have in mind that I have focused on what I have found relevant for my study in the outline.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Outline</span><br />In the paper pervasive gaming as a research field is introduced. According to the authors pervasive games can vary in approaches and the technologies that are used, but they have in common that they are games that make use of a blend between real and virtual game elements in order to create an game experience.<br /><br />The authors first compare traditional games with computer games. According to them computer games have some advantages over traditional games, which is why they are more popular. These advantages are:<br /><ol><li>Computer games create an illusion that the <span style="font-style: italic;">players are immersed in an imaginative virtual world </span>through the use of graphics and sound. </li><li>The goals of <span style="font-style: italic;">computer games are mostly more interactive</span> than that of traditional games, this supposedly engage the players stronger in the game, and therefore they have a stronger desire to win the game</li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Computer games motivates the players</span> by provoking their fantasy, challenging them and stimulate their curiosity </li></ol> Unfortunately, it is said in the article, computer games has a tendency to make players physically inactive, as the game make them focus on the screen and links them to the control (controller, keyboard, mouse or similar). This problem is addressed through developing more physically challenging games, which makes pervasive games a relevant new genre of games. Pervasive games are defined as games that: integrate the physical and social aspects of the real world into the domain of computer games. They also agree that a goal for pervasive games is to: create context-aware applications that will adapt their behaviour to information collected from the environment.<br /><br />The authors describe five different forms of pervasive games in order to give an idea of the scope and diversity of pervasive games. These genres are:<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Smart toys </span>are toys augmented with pervasive computing technology.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>The technology that is embedded in the toys, these are often sensors linked to computer logic. Actually the smart toys are not games, as they are not bound by certain rules or limitations in their use. </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Affective Gaming </span>has as a goal to adapt the game environment to the feelings of the player. </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Augmented Tabletop Games </span>integrate the physical state of the players into the game. Through augmentation of tabletop games they can be less static than the traditional games according to the authors. On the other hand the augmented tabletop games retain the social aspect that traditional tabletop games have. This aspect gives richness to the game. </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Location-Aware Games </span>regards the physical world as a game board and the players as unpredictable “pieces” in the game. </li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Augmented Reality Games </span>work as an overlay on the real world, as the players see 3D objects merged into the real space. This is possible through use of different devises such as head-mounted displays, projectors and hand-held devices. </li></ol> These genres use very different technologies and result in very different types of games. The question is if pervasive games can be considered a genre at all?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why writing about this?</span><br />The article presents some interesting examples of pervasive games. Also the comparison between digital and traditional games is somehow inevitable, though I do not agree that one is better than the other - but they do have different features and offers different possibilities.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reference:</span><br />MAGERKURTH C., CHEOK A. D., MANDRYK R. L. and NILSEN T. (2005) Pervasive Games: Bringing Computer Entertainment Back to the Real World. ACM Computers in Entertainment Vol. 3(No. 3), 19.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span>Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-3170508442219508682008-09-17T22:12:00.002-04:002009-11-06T11:37:39.222-05:00Immersive games, ambiguity and player experienceThe American researcher Jane McGonigal has been very active in defining and developing pervasive games. In the article “A Real little Game: The Performance of Belief in Pervasive Play” (2003) she show how the players negotiate the boundaries between pervasive games and “real life”. Jane McGonigal has a background in Performance Studies. She focuses on the performance and on how the players are performing in order to make the game happen. In the article McGonigal argues that the players maximize their play experience by performing belief. In other words they are pretending that they believe what they know is a part of a game is in fact real. According to McGonigal they are doing this to gain a “Pinocchio effect” which is (the desire for) the game turning into real life or the opposite: that the real life turns into a “real little game”.<br /><br />McGonigal uses the term pervasive play about: “mixed reality” games that use mobile, ubiquitous and embedded digital technologies to create virtual playing fields in everyday spaces. According to McGonigal immersive games, are a form of pervasive play where it is built into the communication of the game to say that it is not a game – or just not to mention that it is a game. This is to create the illusion that what is happening in the game is in fact part of the real life. The relationship between pervasive play and immersive games are illustrated in the following model:<br /><br />McGonigal argues against the critiques that claim immersive games are in fact ”schizophrenia machines” designed to make sane people paranoid, and against that the player actually can not differentiate between game and reality. She states that when the players express their game experience they actually verify these prejudices, by describing how the game has altered their view on their daily lives, that when the game ends it is like waking up after a long sleep where you suddenly realize that there is another (real) life that has been neglected and a player even published a recovery guide. But these statements are mixed with remarks that make it clear that the players are fully aware of the deceit:<br /><br /><blockquote>“Now here we are, e very one of us excited at blurring the lines between story and reality. The game promises to become not just entertainment, but our lives.”<br /></blockquote>McGonigal insists on a difference between an actual belief and then performing belief. She draws on Richard Schechner, the originator of Performance Studies, who distinguishes between two kinds of play: 1) “make believe” and 2) “make belief”. Make believe protects the boundaries between what is real and what is pretended. Whereas make belief blurs the boundaries between what is real and what is pretended. I have made this model of the two situations, in which I see the pretended as a subset of the real:<br /><br />This being so there is a difference between 1) pretending to believe and 2) purposely denying the performance in order to believe “for real”. Jane McGonigal suggests that:<br /><br /><blockquote>“The frame of representational play remains visible and sturdy to players in even the most believable performances of belief.”<br /></blockquote>This means that there is a frame, which let players know which actions and elements represent play and which that do not. This frame is visible at all times according to McGonigal. One of McGonigal’s core claims is that the longing to believe is a central driver for players of pervasive games. They are longing because it is impossible to actually believe that the game is real.<br /><br />McGonigal rejects the idea that players of pervasive games should be credulous. Instead she makes use of the historian Tom Gunning’s analyzes of the first spectators. He rejects that spectators react on the first films with screams and flight is a result of pure naivety. Instead he suggests that the spectators have been “engaged in a sophisticated, self-aware suspension of disbelief”. The earliest spectators were intentionally playful participants in the creation and maintenance of the illusion as the players of pervasive games are.<br /><br />When playing a game the player can experience to be “absorbed” in the game: the game has the full attention and the player becomes one with the game. The player experiences immersion. McGonigal states that it is assumed that immersion is desired by the player and it is seen as a conscious choice to surrender to the experience hoping to be immersed into the game. McGonigal makes the point that this does not fit the idea of a credulous player, that is unaware and naive about what is happening. By parting consciousness and immersion the critiques also contradict the major play theories that define play as voluntary. McGonigal writes this off as hysteria:<br /><br /><blockquote>“By debunking the seminal myth of the naïve immersive gamers, we can stage an intervention in the centuries-spanning cycle of suspicion and hysteria over progressively and mimetic media.”<br /></blockquote>Instead McGonigal describes what is happening: The players are performing belief – it is a willful suspension of disbelief. She dubs this “the Pinocchio effect”.<br /><br />McGonigal ends by stating that the best pervasive games are make the player more suspicious of, more attentive to, the world:<br /><blockquote>“A good immersive game will show you game patterns in non-game places; these patterns reveal opportunities for interaction and intervention.”.<br /></blockquote>She concludes by saying that the players’ performed belief is a conscious decision to prolong the pleasures of the player experience and a part of this prolonging is to use the skills acquired in the game on real life.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-7213409006768045592008-02-06T09:50:00.000-05:002008-02-07T09:53:56.972-05:00Pervasiveness - a measureResearchers sometimes speak of pervasive games as a new game genre; a group of games that have a significant something in common. The Dutch researcher <a href="http://www.igda.org/wiki/Alternate_Reality_Games_SIG/Academic_ARG_Researchers#Eva_Nieuwdorp">Eva Nieuwdorp</a> has problematized this approach in the article <em><strong>“The Pervasive Discourse: An Analysis”</strong></em><span style="font-size:130%;">.</span> The point of departure in the article is the usual definition of the term pervasive. It is simply an adjective used about an object or concept that spreads, diffuses, or goes through something. Nevertheless, when speaking of pervasive related to games it is not enough to look in a dictionary for definitions. The term pervasive derives from computer science and this relation influences its meaning.<br /><br />Actually, the term relates to the term ubiquitous, which manager <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Weiser">Mark Weiser</a> introduced in 1988 at the Computer Science Lab, Xerox PARC. He had a vision of a new kind of computing that turned its back to the personal computer, which he sees as complex, attention demanding, isolating its users from other activities and too dominating. The new kind of computing he dubbed pervasive computing – calm computing. Ten years later IBM introduced pervasive computing which is the concept of being able to access any service or information at anytime. The two terms, ubiquitous and pervasive, can be seen as related, which Nieuwdorp claims that many game researchers does.<br /><br />Eva Nieuwdorp has done a thorough job digging back to the roots of pervasive gaming. However, this does not answer the question: “What is a pervasive game?” She lists different researchers’ examples of pervasive games, which includes; Smart toys, affective gaming, location-aware game, alternate reality Games, cross-media games and adaptronics games among others.<br /><br />Judging from the definitions that Nieuwdorp cites from a range of game researchers the denominator is that real space and virtual space are somehow in play within these games. This seems to be a vague denominator, which is why Nieuwdorp suggests changing the question: instead of asking, “What makes pervasive games?” she suggests that researchers try to answer this question, “What makes games pervasive?” Nieuwdorp speaks of pervasiveness as a characteristic that can be found in a range of games. I understand pervasiveness as a continuum of how pervasive a certain game is.<br /><br /><strong>Relevance</strong><br />I find the concept of talking about pervasiveness very appealing as it leads to a discussion of what dimensions we can “measure” in order to determine to which extend the game is pervasive. I will be off hunting for dimensions…<br /><br /><strong>Reference</strong><br />Nieuwdorp, Eva. <em>The Pervasive Discourse: An Analysis of the Use and Definitions of the Term 'Pervasive'</em> in Games Research. In ACM Computers in Entertainment, January 2007.Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1873090393626791453.post-91935867459969683672007-11-20T04:39:00.000-05:002007-11-20T05:01:48.455-05:00What is this blog all about?<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">The topic of this blog is gaming in the borderland<span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: black;">between reality and virtual reality. My blog reflects my research on pervasive gaming and alternate reality gaming. I have limited my field to pervasive games that are not screen based.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br /><br /></span></span>Agent Niftyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12718855250190623446noreply@blogger.com0