Research Presentations!

Hello Erin, I enjoyed watching your presentation it offered a new angle of information that I did not find during my research. I choose to focus on game-based learning and disorders, so my viewpoint was narrow in terms of research. Great job!

Hi Erin,
I really enjoyed watching your presentation. I agree that it’s very important to consider games as a way to develop players. I especially liked your research about college students benefiting from game-based learning and agree that this class is a prime example of how a game format enhances learning.

Hi Erin! I like how you chose a topic within gaming that also coincides with your aspiration regarding education/teaching. I believe that this shows how gaming can be so versatile and can be utilized in many different ways. I actually utilized education in one of my articles for game worlds where the article discussed how school see gaming worlds as a great opportunity for students to learn how to problem solve and learn independently as well as collaboratively in a game world setting. I find it super fascinating how useful and beneficial games can be from an educational perspective, especially due to how advanced games have become.

Hi Erin! I love how you incorporated the topics of education and teaching and connected them to game design. Games are a great way to get a child, or really anybody at any age, engaged, interested, and eager to learn. I think it is very cool that games can be used in various settings and ways, and how helpful they can be to someone who is learning, while also making the learning fun! Loved your presentation, very nice job!

Hi Erin!
My favorite part of this whole video was your enthusiasm for this topic. I love how you were able to connect to it on a personal level, as this is something you wish to pursue in your future. The connection of psychology to education was very interesting as it reminded me of the self fufilling prophecy, which is similar to the fixed mindset you talk about. I like how you showed that this was portrayed in game- based learning, which can help educators tackle this issue among students. The final point I would like to make is that I agree that this class is a prime example of how game- based learning can enhance learning as a whole.

Hi Erin! I thought your research topic was super interesting! I almost did a similar topic as I am very interested in how games can be used for educational purposes. I love how you connected the research topic to your life and I think it is so cool how your family is a long line of educators! Educators are so important and what they do is so amazing. I thought that the growth mindset and fixed mindset topics that you discussed were interesting because I had never heard of them before. I also like the study you discussed the use of gamification in higher education because I think a lot of the time people don’t realize how there are so many different ways to learn and people of all ages can benefit from playing games and having fun but also learning at the same time. I always find myself learning when we play games such as Kahoot or other educational platforms because I have fun and it makes learning a better experience. I loved your topic and presentation!

Hi Erin, I enjoyed watching your presentation! I learned a little more on game-based learning than I did from watching podcasts on the same topic. For example, the multiple categories on game-based learning being cognitive, motivational, affective, and sociocultural were categories that I didn’t know were involved in game-based learning. Also, learning about the growth mindset and fixed mindset, it was clear how the growth mindset was key to wanting to be able to learn as opposed to the fixed mindset.

Hi, I liked your topic of game-based learning, specifically how classrooms and students can use games to enhance their education! I like how you gave an example of how a bartering game from when you were a kid stuck with you and is still something you remember to this day. This reminds me of my own experiences with game-based learning. I personally am an extremely visual learner. For me to be able to retain information, it needs to be both engaging and interactive, which is why I think game-based learning is such a valuable tool for students.

Hey Erin,
I currently am looking into education as well so it was very interesting to hear about what you had to share. The project that I did focus on music in games and through this I learned that music in games helped people learn skills better. So Both of our projects relate in that way. I’m sure that the game itself has more of an impact like you said, but the music is always a plus! Great post!

Hi, I really enjoyed watching your presentations. I like the way that you connect education and game experience with your personal experience. Your presenation makes me know game-based learning is a life-long process and game-based learning brings lots of benefits to people.

Hi Erin! I also did my presentation on game based learning and it was interesting to see how our points connected. I like how you expanded the term of game based learning and explained how there were lots of different kinds of game-based learning and how it is constantly evolving. I also liked how you described the effects that a learning game has on the players such as motivation as I believe it is one of the, if not the most, important factor that determines the success of a learning-based game. Great presentation!

Hi Erin!
I am really into the topic you discussed. It is such a popular topic but all from different perspectives. Learning has become more and more difficult since the overall accumulation of technology and studies. People now need ways to learn faster, otherwise it may take years for students to catch up with the latest science progresses. Game based learning provides a good direction of future studying form. Usually, what people learn from game can hardly be applied into real life. However, it can be true that players can learn from games they are playing and those knowledge can really be applied to real life. That is a really promising future. Most of time, studying can be a difficult process, but if we can make it easier by adding more game feature into it, maybe students will be more willing to study and make the process more time-efficient.

Hi Erin,

I enjoyed your research presentation and its graphics included.I agree that game based learning does support students in their learning by providing a better understanding for them. Learning games are impactful, I myself still remember a game based learning games that I engaged with as a child which were hook on phonics and the Leap Frog, which provided educational task and information. I too wonder how much game based learning has evolved from 1965 to today.

Hi Destiny!

I also did Game-Based Learning and I loved watching your presentation! It was very interesting to see how you focused on ADHD and game-based learning. I focused on it as a whole and seeing it from a different perspective was very interesting to learn about! I really enjoyed your presentation, great job!!

Destiny!
First off I would like to say I love the graphics!! They were very eye-catching and fit the theme.

I like the topic you chose because personally I am no stranger to ADHD, and I have experienced that games oddly possess the ability to make me hooked for several hours. It is another aspect of why game-based learning should be implemented more in education and shows its versatility to even help those with learning disorders.

Hi Destiny! I really like the topic that you chose! I know family and friends who have ADHD and I think it is amazing how game-based learning can help people with ADHD to learn better and make learning a better experience for them. I also think your presentation looks amazing and you did a great job explaining your topic. I really liked the article you discussed where low-cost video game technology is used to improve motor skills in children because I think it is important that these technologies are affordable and help children grow for the future. Motor skills are important and if we can help teach children in better ways then I think that is amazing. I thought your presentation was fantastic!

Hi Destiny, I loved your presentation! I love how you tied these two topics together, and I think many people with ADHD would truly benefit from game-based learning. As game-based learning makes the game more fun, I think children with ADHD would especially benefit from this, as they will be more engaged and interested in the game, and it won’t feel boring or like a chore to them. Very nice presentation!

Hi Destiny, I honestly found your presentation really interesting. I was already in to learning about some of the benefits of game-based learning, but listening to how it benefits children with ADHD was eye-opening. Of course, using games can help kids learn, but it can also do something like improve motor skills in both children AND adults. Learning that executive functions are impaired in people with ADHD and how video games can improve these impairments shows the potential of game-based learning for all types of children. I also thought your slides were well-designed and visually appealing.

Hi Destiny, I enjoyed watching your presentation and like the way that you structured your powerpoint! Your presenation makes me know the benefits that game-based learning brings to us. These benefits includes improve in motor skills, social connections and attentions. I also liked the way you connect game based learning with ADHD. I believe those people who have ADHD could benefit from this.

Hi Destiny! I enjoyed your presentation and I really think your powerpoint was well structured and was really engaging to look at. Your topic dealt with game based learning and ADHD, and I really liked how you connected the topic of games with a practical issue in the world today. Game based learning can help those with ADHD to focus better, and brings them benefits regarding their symptoms. Overall I really enjoyed your presentation and it was really interesting to see how games can become of practical use in our world today.

Hi Destiny, great presentation! And very cute also, I love your slides. I think your approach of going source by source was actually a really good one because it highlighted exactly how the research was relevant to the topic. It was also cool to see how you focused on a specific topic under the general field of game based learning, because it begins to show you how many different perspectives there can be on the same topic. And in learning you really should address the different ways that people learn, but that doesn’t always happen, so this was important as well as interesting, especially in the ways that the benefits of game-based learning can extend outside of the classroom to general life. Great job overall!

Hi Destiny! I also did my research project on game-based learning! I really enjoyed the research you did on ADHD and game based learning. I like how you started off your presentation with definitions to help us understand the several components of your project and then connect them together as you went on. I learned that game based learning benefits a humans motor skills, social connections, and attention and memory. I mostly focused on the temporary effects between the player of the game and was very interested to see the long term effects that you included. I liked the sources you included too which proved the positive effect of games on ADHD during rehabilitation. Great presentation!

Hi Destiny!
I like how you address your idea of game-based learning with the treatment with a specific diseases. It is more detailed and the causal effect is more clear. One good thing about game as treatment is it is less offensive. In the field of psychological therapy,, it is really hard for people to admit that they need help. People have the tendency to hide their problems and deny the needs of help from others. However, comparing to go to real therapy, using game as a treatment is much less offensive way. People will not feel that they are forced to d anything. Instead, they can take their time to explore their needs and help themselves. However, there is a concerns that since patients are already vulnerable, if the game is not designed properly, there are chances that the game will not work as what people expected. Even worse, it could bring more problems. It is a field needs more study and investigation, but if it can be properly designed, game can really save people.

Hi Destiny,

I loved your research presentation and it’s graphics. I appreciate the definition of ADHD as some people are not familiar with the disorder. I was intrigued to learn that it has been proven to benefit the three areas that children with ADHD experience slight delays in which are motor skills, social connections and attention and memory. I think it is interesting that the United States of America military also utilizes video game based learning for pre-training and engaging with future recruits.

Hi Jasmine!!

It was very fascinating to learn about different ways the impact of natural language processing in game design and how game-based learning is a one of those effects. I have heard about different ways of learning a language and lot of sources say that music and immersing yourself in the culture is one of them. With this being said, I wonder if playing a game in a different language from one that you speak has any impact/change on that. I really enjoyed watching and learning about natural language processing in game design, great job!!

Hello Jasmine, I enjoyed listening to your presentation. I understand how natural learning language can enhance immersive experiences for users. When I conducted my research on game-based learning a particular framework of game design introduced “learners’ analysis’ which basically informs the game designer to understand the users background and implement similar aspects of their identity such as prior learning experience or culture to enhance their experience.

Jasmine!
Prior to this I had not known what natural language processing was. I developed the understanding that the natural language plays a large part in game design. The addition of sound, in a digestible way allows players to be more engaged and pushes further understanding and connection within the game.
I wonder if this applies primarily to story based games. As it does help to have a narrator, but in some games I find myself skipping over the storyline and narrator parts to play the game faster.

Hello Jasmine, this is a very fascinating topic and well-done presentation! This isn’t something I had given much thought to prior, but you bring up a lot of good points. The best way to learn a language is to try and incorporate things from that specific culture as much as you can, as well as just hearing the words. My boyfriend is Spanish and I only know a bit of Spanish, but we have been together 3 years now and I find myself understanding so much of the language, more than I ever thought I could! The language is a significant part of the game, and something that further connects the player with that game. Very nice job!

Watching your presentation, I enjoyed learning about how natural language processing has the potential to enhance player experience in narrative driven games by allowing for more personalized and immersive experiences. The fact that gamification and narrative elements can be effective tools for enhancing visualization and literacy in children and other learners was something that in my opinion, shows just how important language is in understanding your game. Natural language processing in game design was something that I really hadn’t thought about before watching this presentation, but I’m glad I did. Very good job.

I really enjoyed your topic and believe it will be very useful for when we create our own game design teams later in the semester! The impact of natural language processing is something I have never thought to consider in game design! It was fascinating to learn about how natural language can help game designers analyze and understand player feedback and behavior more accurately and quickly.

Hey Jasmine,
I really liked your post it is super interesting that games and technology can increase the learning ability of children. I really like how you explained the use of narrative in the games to help the child learn language skills. I personally am a visual learner so I think that this would have helped me a lot as a kid. Great Job!

I really enjoyed listening to your presentation. Your presentation clearly and understandably explained the relationship between natural language and game design to us. Prior to this, I had no idea what natural language was. Through listening to your presentation, I understood the benefits that gamification brings to children.

Hey Jasmine,
I enjoyed listening to your presentation as you touched upon natural language and how it creates an immersive experience for children and other players. Before listening to this presentation, I did not know how natural language applies to game design; however, your presentation highlights how the essentials of gamification and narrative elements create various visualizations and experiences for players that generate a deeper understanding of what the game entails of, and how these aspects of natural language contribute to the immersive experiences among players. The essentials of natural language in game design can also touch upon experiences that players can relate to in a game, such as real-life experiences of a specific event that happened in their life that made them relate to their understanding of the game even more.

Hi Chris!!

To start off with, I thought your presentation was very clear and you talked very passionately about the topic you chose! While watching I learned a lot about games in general but especially about open-ended and bounded agency games and story lines. It is very clear that this decision between the two is a very crucial part of the game design process and could and will change how the whole game is going to pan out. It is clear that bounded agency is usually for game designers that like that control and open-ended is more for people who go with the flow and want that freedom. Is there anyway and how would someone be able to combine these two thoughts? I really enjoyed watching your presentation, great job!!

Hi Christopher! I really enjoyed the layout of your presentation and how organized all of your ideas were. What stuck out most to me in your presentation was the concept of open-ended storytelling. I believe that this is super important to game engagement as it gives players control of their own destiny in a sense and it also gives each player a unique experience. In addition to this it increases engagement in that it adds a sense of mystery since the game can go in many different directions depending on choices that the player makes. This presentation was very interesting to watch and I think you made some really great points!

Really awesome presentation! I liked how engaging it was and all of the different examples of games you included in your presentation. I focused on storytelling games as well for my research proposal, so it was interesting to learn about the two kinds you mentioned, bounded agency and open-ended.

Hello, I enjoyed watching your presentation, I think games that have a story definitely add to the game experience. It makes the game feel immersive. I like that you went into depth with this element of game design and discussed more aspects of storytelling that Schells introduced.

Christopher!
Great application of your research articles. Your video was very descriptive and covered all questions I could have pertaining this topic. I like how you brought up the point that because the player is the main character, the importance of narration becomes greater. The comparison you make with a movie brings the perspective of what makes a game unique, and helps support your final point that player interaction along with narration fosters the best game experience.

Hi Christopher,
This was a very great research project. I really like how well your presentation flowed. I also never really looked at the interactions as a necessary part of the game. However, now that I think about it NPCs are one of the best things in games. I have always had favorite NPCs in games that I played that helped improve the game so much. Great Job!

Hi Christopher! I really enjoyed your presentation as I researched a topic similar to yours but more focused on the effect of narratives on learning-based games. The elements that enhance learning are very similar to the elements that you talked about such as interactions, characters, plot. I really liked the examples you provided that made the points you introduced simple. It helped me understand a lot and I love the way you explain each section. Your presentation helped me understand the full effect of narratives as it provides an emotional connection and offers an experience that is more than just watching a movie. Great presentation!

Hey Christopher! I found your research topic very interesting. The game narrative is an extremely intricate area of game design, and there is a lot of thought that goes in to creating the narrative. You mentioned the three elements that enhances a narrative – interactions, characters, and plot – and I really found it interesting that you went in deeper to research how these elements enhance the narrative. Personally as someone plays games I really find the narratives interesting as it is what drives me to play the game further. Overall really nice presentation!

Hi Christopher：
Your introduction to the topic game narrative was very clear. After listening to your presentation, I completely agree that open-ended games provide a strong sense of engagement and interactivity for each player. Undoubtedly, this is a very important aspect in the game design process.

Hey Christopher,
Your presentation was very informative, and understanding in highlighting the significance story-based game provides for a player in terms of immersive experience and curiosity about the game’s story. I liked how you distinguish between bounded-agency and open-ended in video games because it creates uncertainty for players about whether or not the choices made by the player will result in changes in the story. I also liked that you mentioned the significance of characters, how they’re used as guides in finding out the story’s outcome, and how they serve as an emotional attachment to players throughout their adventure of the game.

Hi Christopher, awesome presentation! You managed to effectively convey a lot of information in just under six minutes! I really liked the part about how there’s a tradeoff between interactivity and narrative. The more complex you want the story to be, the harder it is to have your own input as a player. I think that’s part of why tabletop RPG games and the like really click with some people because they want more input on the narrative, and something less open ended like a visual novel game would attract people who like reading the story itself and are fine with less player input in exchange for that added depth to the story. Personally I really like story based games, so this was a really interesting presentation to me. Great job on organizing the information and presenting it visually!

Hi Christopher!
Really useful information for designers to choose between whether players should in control or the game is in control. It is the interactivity that makes a game game rather than a novel or movie. Players are the variables in the playing process. It can be impossible to stimulate all situations that players may think and act, so there must be compromises. The question about give and take is how to balance the two factors. If designers choose to give players more choices, it will largely increase the workload since there must be lots of different story lines that need to be made. It can make players more involved into the story but it will also reduce the consistency of narratives. Since things will be largely depending on players’ choice, it will ask designer to leave more possibilities when write the story. The question is how much should game designers step back. If they step back too much, players will not have fun since the connection between different plots can be too distinct. If designers step back not enough, players will feel restricted, and they are not really involved. This really needs designers to view the game from players’ perspective and feel what players may feel, so that the game can be balanced, and interactivity and narratives can reinforce each other rather than fighting.

Hi Christopher,

I enjoyed your research presentation of game narrative: balancing interaction and story. I agree what takes narrative to the next level is having deep characters with personality. This aids in an emotional attachment for the player which is essential for higher engagement. Also, that the downside to open-ended story telling is the designer has less control over the narrative by allowing the player to decide their own story.

Hi Megan!

It was really interesting to see how you brought up Candy Crush and how importance it is to discuss the experience of the game. As well as, bringing up all the lenses of Schell was interesting to listen about and how you would describe how those are used in a game in your own words. I really liked how you brought up your texts and the importance of them to your research and what we know already! Great Job!

Hi Megan! I really enjoyed your topic choice as the player experience is the most important thing to consider when going through the game design process. I really like how you utilized Schell’s lenses to connect your research and show all of the things that go into creating a successful player experience.

Hi Megan, I like your perspective of Schell’s lens and how you related it to how it affects the player experience. There are certainly many aspects to game design that affect gameplay.

Megan!
I like how you connected your research to Schell’s Lenses. As game design is the primary contributor of player expression, as it literally comprises the game. I agree that it is the job of the designer to understand and be aware of the player’s potential experience. I like how you mentioned the importance of the design team.

Hey Megan! I love that you chose the player experience to talk about because I think that is one of the most important aspects of game design. Ultimately, game designers create the game for the players and they want them to have an experience with the game. The experience is everything and I think that this was a great topic choice! I agree with your point that the experience is the goal and you want players to have a pleasant experience and I think that is a vital part of game design. I thought that the article you discussed was super interesting as well because I did not even know there was a scale to measure player experiences and I thought that was super cool!

Hi Megan, as someone who did their research on the experience that a game brings to its players, I really enjoyed watching your presentation. The experience that a player gets from playing a game is the most important thing that a game designer could worry about, and the fact that you used Schell’s lenses of game design showed me that you took exactly what I took from reading Schell’s book. The experience of a game is what will keep players coming back to it or not, and all of the lenses you included help in bringing a more positive experience to the player.

Hi Megan! I enjoyed watching your presentation on player experience as it connects to the players, us, rather than focusing more on the designing and the developing side. I also really like how you connected your research to Schell’s text, using Schell’s text as a source as I don’t think many of us did that. It helped me understand your research better as we were already exposed to Schell’s lenses and have prior experience with it. Overall, really nice presentation and I enjoyed seeing how you connected the player experience to your research.

Hey Megan,
I found it fascinating how you mentioned Candy Crush and emphasized the significance of analyzing the game experience. It was also intriguing to hear your perspective on Schell’s lenses and how they are implemented in games. I appreciated your reference to relevant texts and their relevance to your research. Overall, great job!

Hi Megan:
You really did a great job! It’s intriguing to hear your interpretation of Schell’s various perspectives and how they apply to a game, and I appreciated how you related it to your own understanding and finding in your research. And I also agree that the player experience should be the primary concern for game designer

Hi Megan!
It seems to be an obvious that designers should value user’s experience, but how exactly? You clearly described those different factors that may affect people’s experience, which one of the most important factors that need t one consider in the game design. But it is also to notice that different players have totally different needs. That is why games are made for a specific group of people but not all. Since if designers try to take care of the needs of all people, it will turn out to be no one is taking care of, since the needs of players may be contradicted to each other.

Hi Megan,

I agree that meaningful choices are seen in the game candy crush when making well-thought out decisions to reach the goal of winning the level with the limited moves and obstacles on the board. The design process having many ideas or points of view is essential to game design and creating meaningful choices.

Hi Ani!

Mirrored Morality is something I have never heard about before but it was fun to learn about. As you discuss in one of your sources, it allows the player to do what they think is morally right in the game and it reflects what they think is morally right when they are not playing a game. I feel like this can be seen and studied for children who play more aggressive games, how will their moral views change overtime the more they might play violent games. This was a very engaging presentation, great job!!

Ani!
I like the research topic you chose because of its creativity and uniqueness. It was also pretty cool that you found an article that was co written by Schell. I liked your last article the most. It is interesting to see the pleasure one gets from having control of making your own decisions. I feel it stimulates a pleasure receptor in the brain that rewards you for making the right choice and getting yourself out of potential trouble.

Hi Ani! I think your topic is very unique and I had never realized the impact of player choices and how they can affect the enjoyment and immersion of a storytelling game. I have played a few storytelling games, but I always forget that there are so many ways they can be played as they depend on the decisions of the player. I thought it was interesting how the first article discussed that meaningful decisions can lead to higher learning outcomes than a game without and I never knew that and I think that is so interesting. I also like how you discussed that a player who has control of their in-game choices often feels more of a sense of ownership and engagement, which I think is important for a player to have a good learning experience as well as having fun. I t thought your topic was extremely unique and I loved learning about it!

Hello Ani, I think your topic is very interesting and your presentation is very well done! Mirrored Morality is something I had not heard of before! Leaving the decisions up to the players is an interesting thing, and allows the game to kind of unfold in a variety of ways, which I find very interesting. I feel that this can contribute to the uncertainty of the game, which draws the players attention even more, as the player doesn’t know what will happen next or exactly how the game will go.

Hi Ani,
I really liked the way you structured your video, going source by source and building off each one. I thought that you explained your points very clearly and it is clear that you conducted your research very thoroughly. I liked your topic of choices in games, since it is something that I read about for my research too, and I agree that choices definitely enhance the player experience and what the player is able to take away from the game. I especially found the topic of Mirrored Morality to be interesting.

Hello Ani, I enjoyed learning about game aesthetics, player choice and player competition. I think that you connected your sources thoughtfully. Player agency is so crucial to include in game design because having the ability to control your gameplay adds to the player experience.

Hey Ani! I really enjoyed your research presentation regarding player choice and immersion. Your presentation was well structured and I was able to follow it through with ease. It was also really interesting to see how one of your sources was cowritten by Schell, who’s works that we were exposed to. The fourth source involving mirrored morality was really interesting, as it presented the idea that video games reflects real-life values of the players, and that emotional connections play a part with the choices that the players make within the game. Overall your presentation was really interesting and well structured.

Hi Ani:
I really like the way you strucuture your video. Each slides in your video is sequentially built upon each source. After watching your persentation, I realized that the player choice and player competition is really a important factor in game design because it will directly shape the players’ experience. Also, I like the way that you connect Schell’s book with your research source. Excellent work!

Hey Ani,
I liked the topic of game choices and decision-making as a part of your research because we tend to focus on game designs that involve rewards after our accomplishments in puzzle solving or defeating an enemy rather than based on making good decisions. The game Life is Strange (2015) is the perfect example for this topic because it allows players to make their own decisions in this game and the option to move back in time to make up those decisions that they’re not happy with. This not only enhances players’ emotions in making certain decisions but also enhances the consequences of the decisions they made in the game that may result in changes that can be good or bad to the player’s choice.

Hi Ani!
This is a really specific field in game design. How to make players more involved in the game by appealing to players’ decision making strategies. We can see this from an economic perspective. Risk averse can be a good model to analyze people’s behaviors. However, in games, since the consequences of making mistake have been largely reduced, people are more likely to change their strategy and be more brave in attempting. Since in real life people are driven by risk averse and avoid risk, they are more likely to do such attempts in game. This decision-making strategy will need to be considered in game designing. Like to lower the risk of losing to encourage people to do more challenges.

Hi Ani,

I really enjoyed your presentation. I agree that the hypothesis 3 connects directly to player choice. The meaningful choices keep the player engaged and returning to the game. As well as providing agency and autonomy by enhancing the players motivation to stay engaged.

Hi Izabella!

The articles you chose were very interesting and different from each other but had the same theme that virtual reality helps different diseases. In the article about Sports Games it was very interesting that virtual reality has helped people during lockdown and COVID due to people not getting out of the house as much. Their activity levels decreased which has so many unwanted health effects. It was also very fascinating to hear about how virtual reality can alleviate pain. Is there just one type of virtual reality that helps with pain or all types that people use can help with pain? Overall, this was something I would have never researched but it was very interesting to learn about!

Hi Izabella! I really like that you chose virtual reality as a topic because it is so new and advanced and very popular right now. I have always had a very singular view on virtual reality as I have only really thought about it in terms of games however your presentation taught me a lot about the various ways it can be used, in this specific case to help do research on different diseases. I think this is so incredible and shows how gaming technology is becoming so advanced that has the ability to expand into different areas of use such as for research and education.

Firstly, I think researching virtual reality is a great topic because it is something that has definitely gained tons of traction in recent years! I thought your analysis of the effectiveness of virtual reality on walking speed in Parkinson’s disease and as a form of therapy was very insightful. Overall, I loved hearing about your research and findings, and am excited to learn more about the effects of virtual reality.

Hello Izabella, I loved your presentation and your topic! I love the concept of virtual reality, and I have tried the headset once. It is a very modern, up and coming game, so I enjoyed learning more about it in-depth. I was amazed by the amount of places virtual reality is used, or can possibly be used! Very nice work!

Izabella!
I love this research topic! The quarantine example very much applies to me! I found that as it was more entertaining than playing alone, as we were in the middle of a quarantine. I also appreciate that you mention the limitations along with the benefits.

Hi Izabella,
Virtual reality is such an interesting topic, and it was really exciting to hear about all of its possibilities. I found it amazing that virtual reality games can have such a positive effect on such a variety of health related issues. It’s such a new field, so there’s not much established precedent for games, but I definitely agree that if they can be designed in a positive way, that would be the best.

Hello, I love your topic. I think it’s great that you choose this considering how much virtual reality gaming is expanding. I never thought that VR could potentially help patients with mental and physical health issues rather than pure entertainment. Great sources and your presentation is visually appealing too. I also enjoyed listening to you discuss your research questions.

I really enjoyed watching your presentation! You seemed to be well-organized, and the slides were very nicely designed. I’ve always been interested in VR gaming, and the multiple ways that you mentioned that VR games can help their players is very cool to hear. From improving one’s physical health, to helping better one’s mental health, VR games have endless possibilities in improving a player’s quality of life. For example, VR games can help improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease.

Hi Izabella! I really enjoyed your presentation on virtual reality. VR gaming is a part of the game industry that is relatively new, and is constantly evolving. Its a wonderful topic to do research on as research is constantly happening regarding it and it is expanding everyday. I really found it interesting how you mentioned how VR games could be used to treat certain medical conditions. VR games have a lot of potential within them and I really appreciate how you researched into the potential applications of virtual reality other than just games.

Hey Izabella,
This is a great research topic because it is one of the newest technologies. I really didn’t know all of this stuff about virtual reality. I just thought it was about playing games in a different way. This was so interesting to watch and super helpful for understanding the feature.

Hi Izabella:
I learned a lot after watching your presentation. Due to covid, most of us have to stay at home and vitual reality provides a platform for us to entertain and as you mentioned, virtual reality also enable us to engage in sport activities at home. It is really an interesting point and reveals that virtual reality becomes increasingly important in these years. Your presentation also makes me know the importance of virtual reality and video games in health care.

Hi Izabella,
I liked this topic about virtual reality because it’s rarely discussed in the gaming community, in which video games overshadow their ability to provide an immersive experience to players. After watching your presentation, however, I have learned new things about what you can do with virtual reality in terms of providing remedies for those that are enduring pain and other disability, forming an escape route from reality and into a fantasy world, and skill development in sports, and research that was conducted to test the engagement of sports using these devices. I also thought it was interesting that virtual reality can be used to prevent mental health issues, which would be accessible when COVID first emerged in 2020 so that students can maintain their physical and not be consumed by their struggles with anxiety and depression.

Hi Izabella, this was a really cool presentation. In terms of virtual reality being used for non-game purposes, the first thing I usually think of is this one place where they created a VR environment for kids to get vaccines in which the administration of the vaccine was presented in game as some sort of fire-based powerup item in a quest. This setup was to distract them from the pain – so that they thought of it as part of the game rather than getting an injection. So that was really interesting, and I was thinking of that when you talked about the different ways that VR can be used in healthcare. Since VR can be so immersive, it’s really cool to hear about how it can be used in innovative ways to trick our minds – for the better! So this was interesting as well as very well-organized. Great job!

Hi Izabella,

I loved your research presentation. I found your definition of Virtual Reality very informative. As well as, all the research found on the affects of virtual gaming on Parkinson disease, the use of video games on depressive state stroke patients, and virtual reality found to reduce pain in palliative care. I think it is a great improvement and maybe the most profound accomplishment in the gaming world to be able to improve the quality of life of those suffering from disabilities, diseases and disorders.

Hi Scott! I think the player experience was a really great topic to choose! I completely agree that the player experience is the most important thing to consider when going through the game design process as a successful player experience determines the success of a game. I thought your third source regarding the games soundtrack effecting player experience was really fascinating! I have never thought about that before however now that I consider this I do think that I tend to play games with fun audio more often than not as it makes the game more fun and immerses the player into the games story.

Hi Scott, I also did the player experience for my annotated bibliography. I love how you went in-depth about specific effects that will enhance the player experience. As the experience of the player and how the player is feeling/thinking is important, the player experience is a great topic to discuss. I think you did a great job with your presentation, as it is very organized and well-written. Nice job!

Scott!
I liked how you approached your question in a round about way. The model you use was a great use of visual statistics and data. You connected your sources in such a cohesive way that there was a great flow. I enjoyed how the engagement was measured by clicking speed, eye movement, and measures of game mechanics which I found really cool.

Hi Scott,
I liked how you covered such a wide range of topics in your research and managed to keep them all cohesive. The player experience is definitely one of the most important parts of a video game, and knowing exactly what to highlight or change in order to promote that experience is crucial to the game’s success.

Hello Scott, I like the enthusiasm you show while presenting your topic. I think you formed your research questions very nicely. Great job including studies that prove your research proposal. I am doing something similar with my topic as well.

Hi Scott, I think this was a really well-written presentation as well as a relevant one. It’s clear you did a lot of research into the specifics of the game experience, and found interesting experiments that demonstrated this. The one about delays is definitely true, I wonder if there’s a way to connect this to how everyone’s attention spans are getting shorter in general and how the shift from traditional to electronic games is both catering to this and worsening it. Also, I personally really love looking into how soundtracks can affect the audience, so I thought that was a great thing to discuss. Especially since like you mention people often don’t even notice the soundtrack is there, but with the way that music can affect our emotions it’s like a hidden way to add to the experience, which is just really cool. Great job overall!

Hi Scott, I also think player experience is an important part in game design and worth to do research on it. I also like your analysis of how game elements like racing and soundtrack influence player’s experience.I totally agree that soundtrack will make player immersed in game! Your presentation is well organized and well written! Well done!

Hi Scott!

I particularly found the study on soundtracks interesting as my own presentation was focused on music. My research was focused on static, predictable music compared to adaptive music, but I cannot imagine playing a game without any music at all. If repetitive music is less immersive, I have no doubt that no music is even more so.

I also agree with the study finding less realistic game mechanics more enjoyable. People go to games to escape from reality as well as do and experience things that are impossible to do in real life. If driving in a game as the real world, there would be no real incentive in playing the game then.

Hi Alexis!!

I really liked how you discussed so many different topics that make a game come to life. It was really intersting to learn about how importance character voices actually are and how villains have a stereotypical voice most of the time compared to the other characters. Finding out that warm lighting allows the player to play better and prefer a game more than cool lighting. A lot of these things can be studied from psychology as I have learned from some of my other classes so it was cool to see how these things affect gamers’ performance! Great job!!

Hi Alexis! I love your topic and I am also super interested in virtual game worlds! I think they are so cool and can give players a sense of freedom that we may be lacking in our daily life. I thought the article you discussed regarding integrating educational aspects into virtual game worlds is amazing and I think that virtual worlds can be super beneficial in teaching people of all ages, particularly younger kids who like playing games. Collaboration is an important part of life as humans are naturally social so teaching collaboration through games can help teach children these vital life skills. In addition, I think we often forget that learning doesn’t have to be miserable and that it can also be fun and I think these virtual worlds can bring education to another level. I like how you talked about the character voices because I had never realized that I am also influenced by a character’s voice. It was an AHA moment for me because I realized just how impactful someone’s voice can be. For example, hearing a soft and kind voice can make you trust a character. I thought your topic was super interesting and I loved learning about it! You did a great job at presenting!

Alexis!
My favorite part of your presentation is how you integrated education into your research. Your conclusion supports my findings that games in learning can be flexible and adaptable to teach what is needed to any group of people. I also found your comment on the impact of control in the game experience to be very interesting as it was not something I considered to be so important. YOu brought into attention many factors of game design in virtual reality that effects player perception and experience.

Hi Alexis,
I agree that the game world is one of the most important elements of the game for me. I also discovered in my research that game worlds can promote education, and I think it’s very interesting that the educational messages in these games should be subtle. I also found it surprising that players are more easily affected by these messages when they are in a game.

Hi Alexis! Firstly, I like how you chose your topic based on what you enjoyed the most about gaming! Designing a virtual game world can be a complex and challenging task for designers that requires a lot of creativity, technical skill, and attention to detail, so I found the slide about the actual game experience the most fascinating. It was interesting to learn about how the smaller aspects (that may otherwise go unnoticed) actually make a huge impact on the enjoyment of the game!

Hello, this is a great topic. I actually considered doing this because virtual worlds are very important to me when I play a game it adds to the games endogenous value. Thank you for explaining what aspects make virtual worlds so enjoyable. I think you did a great just explaining each feature that is in a game world that makes it so immersive for the player.

Hey Alexis! I really enjoyed your presentation. Like you, virtual games make me excited and would make me want to play the game. Virtual game worlds are implemented in many different types of multiplayer games and role-playing games, and it creates immersion that is much more intense than other games. The aspects of virtual game worlds that you mentioned really make the game enjoyable and immersible. Also, I really found it interesting how you integrated educational aspects into virtual game worlds, as in a sense the game world serves as a secondary reality, allowing players to experience problems and collaborate together to solve them. Overall, great job on explaining virtual game worlds, I really enjoyed it!

Hey Alexis,
I really like your explanation of virtual game worlds. I never really thought about games that have a world where everything is influenced by the player. I usually play games that are very linear. This was a very great presentation. You were very clear and specific about what. you were trying to represent.

Hi Alexis, I really like the topic that you chose. Virtual game worlds are so prominent in so many games of all genres and have accumulated large audiences. I really liked how you started off talking about the elements that make the virtual game world more enjoyable. Each player has their own preferences so looking at the story, graphics, length, sound, and control is all important to refine when designing a game. Personally for me, I think that control is the most important for me. Furthermore, your point on character voices connects the players to the characters and allows for more variability in the game world.

Hey Alexis,
I enjoyed your presentation covering different aspects of games that make up the virtual world for players. I agree that virtual worlds play a huge part in a storyline where players can investigate the world at their own expense and come upon discoveries of the game that relate to the story, which is often solved through various puzzles or after defeating an enemy. I liked that you mentioned the significance of sound when discussing virtual worlds, in which we rely on sound to hear character interaction, the sound of objects being moved or broken, the sound of weapons clashing/shooting, footsteps, and the sound of an enemy approaching. The illumination of light is also significant in video games because it allows us players to explore the considerable details of the virtual worlds where we find valuable items in small spaces and find things that are surprising such as an easter egg or reference from movies/video games.

Hi Alexis!

I also think that game worlds are one of the most enticing parts of games. I thought it was interesting how you said that games taught players about things in the real world. I have never thought about it like this, but I can see how that can be true. I also found the lighting detail fascinating. I prefer warm lighting to cool lighting myself, but I did not think it could affect people even in games, and even to the point of affecting their performance. Game worlds really are complex and deep fields.

Hi Alexis,

I enjoyed your research presentation. I agree that virtual game worlds make the fantasy aspect of gaming engaging by providing a fun virtual environment. The players are able to have control over what happens in the game by their own decision making, provides a sense of autonomy. At the same time keeping the player coming back out of curiosity of whats next when moving forward in the virtual world.

Hi Robert,
This was such an insightful presentation! I really liked how you brought in examples from a game and used them to structure your presentation and present your arguments. Music definitely has the effect of creating a more immersive story, and I have also shut it off a lot of times to listen to my own music. However, especially in an adventure type game like Pokemon, I think it’s important to fully experience what the game has to offer.

Hi Robert! This was a really cool presentation! I really enjoyed how you used really game music audio videos from popular games to provide your audience with examples of what your presentation was going to discuss before you started your content. I think it allowed me to understand and immediately be drawn into the presentation. I really liked how you emphasized not only the importance of music in games, but the right music such s your example of needing intense music for situations such as on a pokemon battlefield. The way you explained how the music in a game is supposed to reflect the feelings that the game designs want to feel in that particualar moment was really insightful and shows how intricate and thoughtful the4 game design process of game music truly is and how important it is to enhancing the players experience.

Hi Robert! This is a very interesting topic and I enjoyed your presentation very much. Music is not something I paid too much attention to while playing a game, but after watching your presentation, I realize its importance. Music is a big part of the game itself and also a big part for the player. I feel like the music that goes along with the game is there for a reason, and we should stick to the music that is in the game while playing the game. Sometimes when I play those games on my iPhone, the game pigeon or candy crush, I turn the sound off. However, I do feel the music is important and has been incorporated into the game for a valid reason!

Hi Robert! I liked watching your presentation because I had never realized the impact that music had on a game experience. I am not usually a fan of music so I often don’t listen to it, but in games, I usually have it on and I never realized how much it impacted the game experience. For example, when I am in an intense fight or battle and there is battle music, it intensifies the experience and makes it that much more immersive. I like how you played sound examples, like that from Pokemon, and I thought that definitely helped me understand your point! Music can cause certain emotions to come up, such as sad music in a game can make you feel sad and peaceful music in a game can make you feel calm. I thought your topic was super important as music is a huge part of audio in a game and I had never realized how much of an impact it can make on gameplay!

Robert!
I loved your presentation. Even just from the music in your presentation you proved your point in the importance of music in gaming. Just from those audio clips your video was already engaging, but to put that in perspective of games, all the more proves your point. I think the most applicable personal experience I have is Minecraft music, especially when it differs from biome to biome.

Hi Robert, I really enjoyed watching your presentation. It’s not secret that having a banger soundtrack in your game does wonders for enhancing the overall experience of the player. The fact that you opened by showing Pokemon background music perfectly highlights that the music doesn’t have to be crazily bombastic all the time. The music needs to reflect what’s going on in the game. The most important thing that a designer must consider is a player’s experience, and music is a huge part of that – without it, the player experience would probably be pretty mundane. This was a great topic to research, good job on the presentation.

Hi Robert! I enjoyed learning about the various kinds of music in games and the impact they can each have on the player experience. I have never played Pokemon before, but I definitely agree with the emotions you assigned with each sound. Different music can help to create an immersive atmosphere that draws the player into the game world but also reinforce the gameplay, which was a point that I found the most interesting. As you mentioned in your Pokemon example, the music in game design can provide cues for when the player is in danger or signal a change in the game’s pacing. Great job!

Hi Robert! I really enjoyed learning about the different types of music in games that you presented. I was so hyped to see that you included Pokemon music as it is a big part of my childhood and brings so much nostalgia. I think that this feeling of nostalgia shows just how powerful music is in games overall. I like how you described how music is a huge part of the experience and influences the player’s mood and is one of the largest factor in the emotional connection. Great presentation!

Hi Robert, I went to watch your presentation after you mentioned in your comment on Christiana’s that you researched music as well, because I really am super interested in this and I gotta know. I think you did do a great job though!! I liked that your presentation was more like a YouTube video essay than a typical slideshow, because it’s just more interesting that way, haha. I definitely agree that music is as essential a part to video games as it is to other forms of media, which is proven by the fact that you were easily able to find and play those clips for us from YouTube – people love soundtracks so much they’ll listen to them without the game (I’m included in this people lol). The point you introduce that playing a certain style of music can affect mood is really significant as well, because then matching the music to the desired mood of the game is really important. And it is sort of hard to imagine playing an intense action based game with nice peaceful music in the background. It would be interesting to know if there are studies about whether this makes you actually better at the game. Awesome job!

Hi Robert!

Your presentation caught my eye because I also focused my research on music so I definitely agree that music is integral to games. It really aids in the immersive experience by having the variety of music such as the intense battle music and the peaceful ones you mentioned. I agree that music has to be thought out as well. My own presentation focused on adaptive music, where the music changes based on ever nets, which I think addresses the problem of the same background music you mentioned. Overall, this was a fun presentation to listen to!

Hi Ethan,
I really enjoyed your presentation! I feel like our research topics are pretty similar, except you take narratives a step further by applying them to player learning. After my research on narratives, I definitely agree that they are powerful elements of a videogame that can be used to teach them something important, mainly because of the immersion aspect that you mentioned. If a player is immersed in learning something, then that makes for a very positive experience overall.

Ethan!
I like how you approached the topic of game based learning from the perspective of how narration enhances the effects and efficiency of it. It is interesting to see how so many different simple aspects can have such a big impact. Overall, I liked the execution of your research presentation as it was well organized and pleasing to watch.

Hi! I think researching the impact of narratives in game-based learning is a great topic for this project. Throughout your presentation, I like how you kept your focus on the three elements of plot hooks, immersion, and storyline and showed how each element plays a vital role in creating a successful game. The slide about the study conducted on college students’ pre-test and post-test scores result that showed that most students felt the PlannetAdventure system was beneficial to English learning was a great way to prove your research question further!

Hello Ethan, I enjoyed watching your presentation. The graphics are very nice, and I think that you did a great job discussing the elements that make narrative effective in based learning.

Hey Ethan,
Your research presentation on the impacts of narrative game-based learning on plot hooks, immersion, and the storyline has on players. I liked the structure of your production as it provides a well-organized presentation structure. Narrative game-based learning promotes players to be immersive during the gameplay and gain a positive experience, in which they learn something after playing the game.

Hi Ethan, I think this presentation was really interesting because it took an idea that most people only associate with conventional games and showed how that could apply to learning as well. Most game-based learning concepts I can think of off of the top of my head are pretty simplistic and definitely don’t have a story – they’re mostly focused on increasing motivation with rewards and engagement through participation. So it was really cool to learn about how introducing a story and character can actually be beneficial, and now in retrospect it does make a lot of sense. This type of game could probably be better for older students as well, since it’s a little more complex. I also really liked these slides, or I might just like this shade of pink. Either way, great presentation!

Hi Ethan!

I found your topic as interesting as the story is the most enjoyable part of games for me. The plot hooks that you mention are definitely important in creating a good story in games as that is the part that always makes me curious and engaged. I like how you included studies in your presentation as well, even the failed one. It showed how narrative-based learning games are not foolproof and there is always room to improve.

Hi Ethan!
The slides are well made, it is enjoyable to watch your presentation.
About the topic, narratives are more like a soul to a game, since it contains the theme of a game. And it is also the main factor to keep people play the game. It has a deep connection with how people understand the world. Sometimes things happened randomly around us; however, people are still trying to find the logic behind those random things. Since it is how people understand the world, through stories. Why people are so obsessed with their dreams, since dream happens with no beginning and ending, and so that people are trying so hard to find the cause-effect behind it while they may never succeed. To make the game-based learning with narratives is definitely a good way. However, is it really a effective way for studying? If there are too many game feature involved in the learning process, will the nature of the game-based learning change into game that people can learn something, which make the game no longer a learning process but a real game. It is something that worth notice when we apply those laws on games into learning process.

Hi Ethan,

I really enjoyed your research presentation. Th plot hook does keep the player engaged, I agree cut scenes like seen in the game Call-of-Duty provide ongoing narrative for players. I agree that all seven factors used to measure immersion are important in determining the level of involvement with the game. As well as having a well-designed structured storyline.

Hi Kangwei! I have actually never heard of a MOBA game so this was a really interesting presentation/topic to me! I think this kind of game sounds really detailed and it seems as though a lot goes into it. It’s cool how this game type is strictly team based with a required number of team members (5) as it is not often that you see games with such specific requirements. I appreciated you use of pictures to showcase all of the parts of MOBA games and all of the detail and decision making that goes into it, it was very insightful!

Kangwei!
The only MOBA game I am familiar with is league. I had not known that there were various games that follow this similar format. I enjoyed this presentation as you poked fun at some aspects of league that are far too familiar, like the mid-game frustration and the constant checking of the kda to measure your self efficacy in game. It is funny that there is a research article on the psychology of league players because of the culture around league rage.

I’ve never personally played a MOBA game before, so it was cool to be able to learn about them! They seem like they could be a really fun experience, and you did a great job at explaining the ins and outs of these types of games. The fact that you used League of Legends as an example of a MOBA game helped me familiarize myself with the genre a bit more, as before watching your presentation, I really didn’t know of any of these types of games by name. The qualities of these types of games like achievement and progression make them unique for sure!

Hey Kangwei,
I liked the topic of MOBA games because I had never heard of these types of games before. However, I have seen game tournaments that pertain to MOBA games in which games, such as League of Legends, require a team of players to strategize with each other to beat the other team to win a match/competition. MOBA games, such as League of Legends, create an experience for players to work as a team where they strategize, make decisions, and assign a role to each player on the team that will provide them the ability to defeat the other team to win a match. However, games like this are very challenging where it requires practicing playing the game, such as looking up videos of professionals playing the game to get better at it. It’s not only the players engaging as a team that will provide a good experience; it’s what they get out of it, such as achievements and the rewards when the team accomplishes defeating the other team.

Hey Kangwei,
Out of all of the games that I have played, I have never played a MOBA game. This is super interesting because you are very informative and this helps me understand the player base and the way MOBA games are played. I think you did a very good job of using visuals and explaining. Great Job!

Hi Kangwei! I really like the topic you chose as it is really similar to the first podcast that I listened to and I remember you also listened to that podcast in the following week. In my opinion, I think that MOBAs are one of the most hard to design games with the many possibilities, team compositions, characters, class systems, abilities, and so much more. It is almost impossible to perfectly balance a game like that. I like how you delved into the emotional experiences of players when playing MOBA games and talked about the various elements that could influence this. Great presentation!

Hi Kangwei!

I have never heard of MOBA games, but I am a bit. familiar with League, so I could understand a bit as to what you meant by that. I was not aware there was a specific term/genre to describe these games, which is fascinating. I also found it interesting that player experience depended on whether they were affected by forces outside of their control or their achievements. I wonder, though, if the negative experience has more to do with player’s skill than outside forces.

Hi Rachel!!

Hearing everything that goes into video games is very fascinating. From this class alone I have learned so much but your video really puts it into perspective what goes into player engagement. Along with your examples, it shows how you connect that to real life and how so many players play these games because they are immersed in the game based on past experience. Hearing a familiar game allows for much positivity to occur with the visuals and enhancing them. Great presentation!

Hi Rachel! I really liked your topic of visuals because, personally, I find visuals an important part of a game when I decide if I want to play. I think good visuals can elevate a game and make it more immersive for a player, which will in turn give them a better experience. I really liked the photo you included where it showed how much visuals have improved in the past until today. I love visuals in a game and they definitely impact my game experience because if I think a game looks ugly, then it will deter me from playing it. I like how you connected the various artistic styles to uniformity because I think uniformity is important for game design because if the art of a game looks all over the place it can negatively impact the experience and immersion. If the artistic styles are very different throughout the game, it may not look like one game, but many different games are all bundled up. I think your presentation is fantastic and I loved how you used many different examples and I thought the self-involving interactive fiction section of your presentation was fascinating as I love Hogwarts Legacy which is one of the examples you showed. Overall, I really enjoyed your presentation and I think you did a great job!

Rachel! I loved the addition of the musical background to your presentation. It was very engaging and connected to other research presentations about the engagement from auditory additions. The overall presentation was wonderfully put together in a cohesive matter. I liked the exploration of the japanese subculture because there is a culture around anime that draws players in that niche. Player engagement is very much dependent on visual aspects because of the sensory stimulations. I also find that visuals impact the aesthetics, which then creates a vibe of the game that some players are attractedt o.

I love this topic! I thought the mention of the “Hogwarts: Legacy” game was a great example of how visual and aesthetic elements in game design can create an immersive and engaging game world. Something as simple as lighting can influence the mood of the game. Based on how important visual representation is on player engagement, I wonder what other games, like card games, for example, have to incorporate to compensate for the lack of visuals!

Hello, great topic and I like the background music you included in your presentation. I think having great visuals included in game design is imperative to the users experience because visual impression is the first thing that is noticed. If the game is dull, less people would feel the urge to play it. I also enjoyed learning about the different aspects of visual expression that is in games

Hi Rachel!

I really enjoyed your presentation. I like visuals but I would not say I am any expert, so it was fun learning more about it. I enjoyed, fittingly, the viudasls you included. It really helped me see the visual expressions you were discussing. I particularly enjoyed the music you included. It helped me get immersed and in the right headspace to watch your presentation.

Hi Rachel, awesome presentation! I like the music you added, which I think others’ presentations have already pointed out is a way to increase engagement. So wow, you’re already doing great. I actually draw a lot and have tried to make a game using those skills so this was definitely an interesting topic for me. When I think of visuals one of the first things I think of is how some games try to just add as many cool looking effects as possible without thinking of how this affects the actual game experience. I know that one of the games you have as an example illustration, Persona 5, has such convoluted graphics that it’s actually distracting and hard to look at in-game, even if it looks really cool in screenshots. At the same time if your game looks bad people probably won’t look at it twice, so it’s a hard balance to strike. I really liked the in-depth examples you talked about in terms of how the visuals built an immersive experience, not only inside the game but also in affecting peoples’ behavior, such as the example of people wanting to pursue a career in Japanese. Great job!!

Hi, Rachel!
I like you add music in your presentation, which is a strong support for Christiana’s topic. It improves audiences’ experiences and so that it is more memorable.
Your presentation is inspiring in many ways. Visual effect is so related to the experience of the game, in fact, it is usually most expensive and time-consuming part of game production. As you mentioned, visual design has many considerations, different strategies in design can lead the game into a different direction. Those design is also shaping the players’ aesthetic view. I am appealing to your example that Japanese game made people want to learn Japanese. Indeed, I am. I am interested into Japanese culture and I have been studying Japanese for years now. It is not just the visual component that influences me, it is the cultural influence behind the game. It weakens people’s strangeness of Japan. Like what Hollywood movie for US culture, K-pop for Korean culture. Through those special visual characteristics, people will be more acceptable to the different culture. It is breaking fences between culture, seeking a union cognition that all human are related. So that it may have a positive effect in reducing conflicts between countries and culture.

Hi Rachel,

I loved your research presentation. I found self-involving interactive fictions very interesting as it allows the character to be person-centered and unique experience for the player. The inclusion of Japanese videos and their subculture was very informative.

Hi Christiana! I think your topic is very unique and I love the way you discussed the impact of music on a player’s experience and immersion. Before watching the presentations, I had never realized how much music impacts game experience and immersion. I usually have music in games turned on, but I never stopped to realize how the intense music during battles and the peaceful music during games such as StarDew Valley can set the mood of the game. I like the example you used in Skyward Sword and I think it did an amazing job of elevating your point and presentation. I also liked learning about the AMS system as I did not know what that was and I thought it was really cool that it makes a decision on when and what music should be played. Overall, I really enjoyed your presentation and you taught me a lot about music and its effects on players’ experience and immersion.

Hi Christiana,
I really enjoyed watching your presentation! The slides themselves were really pretty and immersive, which made the entire presentation more engaging. I found the difference between traditional and adaptive music to be really interesting, and your example helped in solidifying my understanding of the topic. I didn’t realize how much went into creating the music for a game, especially one that uses an algorithm to determine what music should be played and when.

Hi Christiana! I really enjoyed your presentation on the effect of adaptive music. I found it interesting how you introduced the element of music into your study as this is something that I feel is frequently overlooked. I realize that when I play games with music, it feels so integrated into the experience that I do not even know that it is there even though it is creating a sense of immersion. Furthermore, there are some games where if I hear the music somewhere later on, it will create a sense of nostalgia, showing that it had a positive impact on my experience. Finally, I thought that the adaptive music system you talked about was really interesting and I would like to know more about the development of it. Overall, great job on your presentation!

Hi Christiana! I really enjoyed your presentation, beautiful graphics and I really like the topic that you chose. Music is a really big part of the gaming experience – which can be both lyrical or instrumental. You mentioned Adaptive soundtracks, and as you said this type of music sets the mood for certain scenes in games, changing as the battle progresses and as the scenery changes. I also really found it interesting how you mentioned music coming out of a radio within the game – it shows how music is an essential part of immersion within games. Overall, really nice presentation!

Hey Christina,
I really enjoyed your post and the visuals you provided. You did a great job of describing music in games. I actually did my project on the same thing. I found an abundance of research on how music can make the player feel and found it very interesting. You did a better job then me lol!

Hi Christiana, I’m super interested in how people can use soundtracks in innovative ways instead of just playing background music, so this was an awesome presentation to me. The importance of varying up the music is usually the point that’s brought up a lot there in general, so it was interesting to see more in-depth analysis on that. At the same time, there’s a big element of reptition in good music, so the end goal is usually to create themes and motifs that can be reused in different creative ways throughout the soundtrack. Also, it’s crazy that there’s an actual algorithm for this. I feel like they make algorithms for everything these days. I think it was cool that you included an actual excerpt of music rather than just telling us about it, haha. Great use of visuals and very organized information, great job!

Hi Christiana!
I totally agree with your theme that music is important for the success of a game. To decide whether a game is good from a players’ perspectives, it is the experience they had while playing. Then what is the component of experience, it is the emotion. So, if a game can cause players to emerge a complex feeling and emotion, the game can be considered as a good game. What is helpful to form a complex feelings? It is about senses. Hearing, touching, sight, smelling and taste. The more senses it is involved in the process of generating emotion, the emotion will be more complex and memorable. That is why a good writer needs to know how to control its audiences’ senses. Like more description about the smell of someone’s perfume or a specific environment, how is the meal tastes like, what is the music may sound like etc. Game design follows the same rule. So, music is the major component of hearing experience of players. A good music performance is equally important as other main factors in the game.

Hi Pragya! Your presentation was very unique and I have actually never heard of gamification so this was a really cool topic to me! I think it’s awesome how you tied in our class as an example as that made this topic a lot easier for me to relate it to something that we all are currently participating in.

Hi Pragya – this is a very interesting topic! Very organized, unique, and well-written! Ethics is not a topic I would associated with games, but after watching your video, I see the correlation between the two very much!

I honestly think you did a great job with your presentation – the slides were nicely designed and visually appealing, and I really enjoyed how you connected gamification to the item shop that we have for our class. This helps in driving your message across, and the example might help people in the class who weren’t familiar with gamification beforehand. an example of the ethics of gamification that you mentioned that I enjoyed was the gamification of labor. While everyone has different views on their ethical standards, I think the gamification can help some people, while hurt others. Like you said, you’re still doing work, so it would depend on how the person views their work.

Hey Pragya,
The presentation was intriguing and educational, particularly in its exploration of gamification and ethics. You made a compelling connection between ethics and work, emphasizing the importance of following rules and considering the consequences of our actions. This presentation expanded my knowledge of video game mechanics, as I often prioritize winning over ethical considerations. I appreciate how the presentation highlighted the potential consequences of unethical gameplay, which can ultimately hinder one’s success in the game. Great Job!

Hi Pragya!

I really enjoyed presentation. The gamification of real life is something I am not familiar with at all, so it was really interesting to learn more about it. While it does initially seem cool and unique, I ah=gree that there are definitely problems with. That does not mean it is bad but, like you said, some things may need to be elaborated on. I also really liked how you not only addressed the issue not presented solutions as to how to go about solving this situation. Overall, it was a very thoughtful and informative presentation!

Hi Pragya，I never heard of gamification and it is really a good topic to do research. Your presentation is well-orgranized and well-written. I learned a lot after watching your presentation. You pointed out the importance of following the rule and ethic while playing games. People might ignore this because they often value winning the game higher than following ethical issues.
All in all, Good job!

Hi Pragya!
It is really interesting to see you are doing a similar topic as I did, but you are approaching this from a more formal and decision-making perspective. Your presentation is detailed and everything is well explained, so good job! Gamification is a trend in society I admit since some features in game have been proved to be really useful in controlling people’s mind. Game is invading the our reality, and it fundamentally changes how people think and behave. It is a very controversial topic that how much should people study into human’s mind. As the development of psychology, scientists have discovered so many behavior patterns of human beings, or in other word, the weakness of human nature. As it is moving forward, more advanced mechanisms were designed to make people addicted into something. It is a process of making new God in the secular age, like what happened in the book American Gods. People spend half of their daytime facing the black screen, computer, phone, iPad etc. And since those mechanisms are so well designed, people can hardly to find a way out. So during the process scientists discover new treatment for mental diseases, there are new diseases generated, how irony it is. Those mechanisms are like filters, to separate people into different classes and levels. Upper class has the ability to make sure themselves away from those addictive elements, and keep themselves awake. However, lower class can hardly resist themselves from those drugs. Like fast food, like soap opera. So, is it ethical to investigate human’s mind, is it helping for slavering people? It can be medicine, but it can also be opium.

Hi Pragya,

I enjoyed listening to your research presentation. I agree that this game writing class is relevant to gamification, being that we have a motivating option of earning points for item shop when completing assigned task. Gaming interest can be very addictive in real life situations which affect humans negatively. Can contribute to stress, and or debt from gambling.

Hi Shamar! This was a really great topic to choose and your presentation was super engaging and well organized, especially with the graphics you used. This was a great topic choice as character development is a huge part of game design and can make or break a games success depending on how much thought and effort goes into these characters stories and how they act throughout the game. I agree with you in that character development has a huge part of engagement in the game. Personally my favorite part of character development in games is seeing the different outfits/powers/personalities of each character because I believe that is what makes the game fun and come to life.

Hi Shamar,
I really enjoyed watching your presentation! Characters are definitely one of the most important elements of a video game for me, because that’s where most of the emotional attachment that I have comes from. I really liked your last point about how characters evoke empathy and can reflect on modern day issues, as I think that’s where one of the values of video games come from. They are not just hedonic experiences that provide instant gratification, but they are capable of being an emotional and educational experience, and characters certainly are at the center of that.

Hello Shamar! Like many others have said, your graphics were very nice and engaging! The character or characters are a significant part of a game. Character development is an essential aspect of a game as well, and something that keeps the player interested in the game itself. Very well done!

Hi Shamar!

I feel like so much of the time when it comes to characters, people always feel a connection to a certain one with the one they choose. Depending on what they choose they might have some type of relatable thing towards the characters backstory. It is also very interesting to see which character a person plays because a lot of time that shows who they are. Not only this but it is cool to learn about how much time and effort there is to coming up with a character and designing them in a game. Great presentation!

Hi Shamar! I really liked your presentation and I think you did an amazing job at breaking down the design of the characters’ development process in video games. Characters are a huge component of many different kinds of games and there can be many different types and I think this is very interesting to see how characters can impact a player and their experience. I like how you broke down the different aspects of character design, such as the sketches and technical and artistic skills. I liked your slide that discusses the characters’ influence on story-based games because I think characters can have a huge impact on a player’s experience and immersion. When players become more connected with your game and the characters within it, this makes the game more immersive for the player and an immersive game is a great way for your player to feel freedom and have a good experience. Characters are also a great way to bring emotion into a game, such as making a super kind character be killed or making an evil character turn good, these character developments can bring out many emotions in players which can make them even more immersed. I think your presentation topic was fascinating and I really learned a lot from watching your presentation! I enjoyed the topic and I think you did a great job at explaining the development process of characters in game design!

Great job with the presentation. You seemed to be pretty well-organized, and the slides were visually appealing. I enjoyed learning about your topic as well, as all of our favorite video game characters have gone through a lot of development to become the way they are now. There’s a lot that goes into this – their personalities, appearances, voices, stories, and so much more – all of these things have to be well-fleshed out. Having good characters is very important, and you want people to be able to identify with them, which in my opinion is why this topic is such an important one.

Hi Shamar! I really enjoyed your presentation, your presentation was created beautifully and I really enjoyed the graphics in your presentation. I also really like the topic that you chose regarding character development in games, as I personally really get attached to characters in games. I really enjoyed how you went over the entire character development process and what goes into each step of the design. There are many skills that go in to designing characters such as graphic design and story writing. These characters are essentially tools to convey what the designers want to present to their players. I really enjoyed your research project on character development!

Hi Shamar!

I like how you chose to focus your presentation on characters. I feel like people like to gloss over characters in games simply as aesthetics but they are actually integral to the game and the story. I like how you focus on how important it is for characters to connect with the players. After all, is is the characters that they are playing as. I relate to this because if the plot and thew characters do not hook me in, it is harder for me to get into a game. As seen through your presentation, fully developing characters is evidently non-negotiable for a good player experience.

Hi Shamar! I really like the research topic that you chose! Characters are one of the biggest parts of games as they develop emotional connections with the players, drive the story, and teach players valuable lessons along their own journeys. I like how you broke down the character development process with the sketches, graphics, and audio for each character. It really put into perspective how much work people put into designing characters. I also like your connection to story based games as a good character with a good story will always connect with the players more deeply. It expresses a player’s emotions and creates an immersive and memorable experience overall. Great presentation!

Hi Shamar! This was a really good presentation, as well as nice to look at. I think character design is an interesting topic since as you mention, they should ideally be unique and complex, but at the same time you want people to connect to and resonate with them. So it can sometimes be hard to do both at the same time, since the more unique you make a character the less people the character will connect to. Sometimes you even see audiences wishing that the creators didn’t include a certain aspect of a character because they actively don’t like it, let alone don’t connect with it. So it’s interesting to see the kind of thought that has to be put in to character design. I think it’s a good point to mention the importance of including some sort of weakness or flaw, because that’s what will create investment in the end. A character that always is great just isn’t interesting, the same way that playing an overpowered character probably won’t be fun for anyone. Awesome job!

Hi Shamar, your presentation is well-organized and I really like the graphics in your slides and background! I believe characters are essential to the game and its storyline since the game and are the solid base of the game. Your presentation also let me know the whole process of developing characters in game. Also, I agree that characters will directly shape player’s experience since player need to control the character. A good character will make the game become more appealing to players. Great work!

Hi Shamar!
Character design is a very interesting topic. It contains much more elements than we think. It is easy to build a character, but the thing is how to make them more lovable for players. Like in most RPG games players are asked to play the role of the characters, and if they don’t like the character they are acting, they will simple just quit the game. Not just in game design, character design has been a controversial topic among all of the creative subjects, like novels, movies and animations. There is one book I read before which helped me a lot when I used to design my character which is called “45 master characters”. It is a book which contains almost all possible characters we might meet or have met. And they are inspiring. Like you are targeting a certain type of audiences and hope they can like your characters, then you can see which master character is a better fit to your goal.

Hi Ziyang! This was a really interesting topic and I really enjoyed the presentation. Game addiction is a super prevalent issue in today’s day especially in children. I liked how you talked about the effects of game addiction such as depression as this topic in my opinion is not talked about enough especially the mental and physical health issues that are caused due to game addiction. My favorite part of your presentation was your slide regarding ways to prevent game addiction as most people accept that gaming can e addicting however there are solutions that can make a serious difference and that is super important to talk about.

Hi Ziyang! I think your presentation discusses an important topic about how game designers need to understand the impact of their game before they release it to others. I think your topic is very important to discuss with game design. I never knew how big of a problem game addiction was before watching your presentation and you taught me a lot about it. I never knew that there was a relation between game addiction and mental diseases. I agree that it is a controversial topic, but it needs to be discussed so everyone knows the impacts. I thought the elements that make addictive games slide were very interesting and eye-opening because I see many of those elements, even multiple within a single game, in many of the popular games in our current era. However, this makes me ask the question, is it necessarily the game designer’s fault that a game is addictive? For example, some of the elements in addictive games are just simply good elements for a game in general, such as social components and competitive aspects. These can simply be aspects of a good game, but the game designer may not necessarily intend for a game to be addictive. Overall, I think your presentation brings up a lot of good points and things that people in the game design field should be discussing and becoming aware of. I think you did a great job!

Hello Ziyang, this is a very interesting presentation and a very unique topic. It is something we don’t think too much about it, but it should be thought of more often. I wonder if it is the game itself that is truly addictive, and if so, is that the game designers fault? I feel like it can be difficult to achieve that balance of creating a very good game, but also a game that isn’t going to be so addictive. I do think it is something that must be discussed and thought about though, as it does seem to be an issue! Very well done!

Really cool topic, and definitely something I haven’t considered before! It is interesting to think about why game designers continue to produce addictive games that may exploit human psychology in order to keep the players hooked. I thought the slide about the elements of addictive games was very insightful. I wonder if the designers of these addictive games started implementing features that encouraged players to take breaks or limit the amount of time that players can spend in the game would make it more ethical!

I think this was a good topic to cover, as addictive video games have become all too prevalent in the world of gaming. Games designed for mobile phones are made to be super simple and addictive, with microtransactions and other predatory mechanics. Becoming addicted to games, like you said, can lead to depression and other harmful psychological states. Gamers need to be careful to stay away from addictive games, and designers should more carefully consider the ethics of game design. They should be held responsible for their addictive designs.

Hi Ziyang! I really like your research question of whether it is ethical or not to produce addictive games. Its a very prevalent topic in our society today, as there are so many games that are addictive for players. There is a very vague line between whether the addiction is intentional or not, as the goal of the game designers is to make games “fun” and to bring players back – but the fact that they are doing their jobs addicts players and impacts then in a negative way. It is almost as if games are drugs, as it is hard to stop after starting. As you mentioned, designers can implement some sort of mechanism to regulate playtime, which is a very common method in the market today. Many mobile games have stamina limits to limit players to a certain amount of playtime a day, and in order to break that limit they need to pay some sort of currency. Overall I really enjoyed your presentation and it was a really interesting topic!

Hi Ziyang!

I think it is really interesting how you paint games in the same light as in products such as food. It is true that anything that is being sold to the public most be regulated and have certain rules and guidelines they must follow. Since gaming, or at least gaming as we know it today, is a recently emerging field, I think a lot of people still do not take it seriously or recognize it as something big enough so as to cause harm. I like how you call attention to it, though, and not even completely demand for a complete removal of the addictive part of games but suggest that a balance be struck. Reasonable measures must be taken so as to ensure that the fun and enjoyment of games are not compromised.

Hello Ziyang,
I found your topic very interesting because I fall victim to becoming addicted to a game. The game I chose to write my first project on was a game that I was addicted to. So in my opinion it is completely real. I also agree with your statements on how it can cause depression. It happened to me when I wasn’t playing the game I was addicted to at the moment.

Hi Ziyang! Your presentation was actually really interesting to me since I was actually looking into a similar topic, but rather than looking into what makes certain games addictive I just started with the assumption that some parts of games are problematic and then talked about the implications of that. So it was actually really cool to see some more in-depth research about what actual elements make games addictive. The most interesting part was definitely that it can cause actual chemical changes to your body over time, since people usually think of addiction as something that needs a substance to go along with it. I think you did a really good job explaining the more scientific aspects of it in an understandable way.

Hi Ziyang! I like the approach that you took on this research question. I always knew that games made people addicted and always placed the responsibility on the player on how much they should be playing, but I never considered the ethical view on the designer side of the game. I like how you talked about the impact of game addiction and the negative long term effects. I also like how you provided solutions from your sources and showed that designers could implement strategies that prevent players from going to far. For example, Candy Crush has a life system that doesn’t allow you to play too long. Great presentation!

Hi Joeun!!!

I really enjoyed your presentation and how you delivered your information. There is an instant gratification when playing a game and getting a question correct and earning a reward. In this class, I want to comment on people’s post to get more rupees, which is an instant gratification. Reinforcement goes a long way in terms of learning and games. Another example that I can think of is Duolingo, even though it was a meme for a while more people used it and for me, I still use it because I do not want to break my streak and that is a form of reinforcement. Great presentation!

Hi Joeun,
I really enjoyed watching your video! I really liked the way you structured the video, and it was easy to understand and be engaged because of the visual presentation. Game learning is a really interesting topic, and I thought it was really unique that you brought up games like Quizlet and Kahoot, which I sometimes forget are games because they are so linked to education. The point that stood out to me most was the idea that morality can be taught by games, whereas it is very hard to teach through a textbook. They create an environment for the player to almost be molded in a way, which I thought is something that all game designers should keep in mind.

Hi Joeun! I agree, I think games are a great way to enhance learning. Especially with the advancements in technology, tools are becoming more and more accessible to make everyday life much easier. I personally am an avid consumer of Quizlet and can’t image studying for an exam without it! It just goes to show why game-based learning is a powerful tool for students and motivates them to continue learning.

Hi Joeun! I really enjoyed your presentation on games in learning environments. I worked on a research question similar to this one as I delved into the specific elements that enhances the learning experience. Through your presentation, it was interesting to see how many different types of games there are that promote learning as they could appeal to several more people with differing learning preferences. I also liked how you included the six elements that help players learn (interest, motivation, engagement, understanding, participation, reinforcement). These are the elements that narratives in learning seek to achieve in order to promote learning. Overall, I really enjoyed your presentation! Great job!

Hi Joeun! I really liked your presentation, about games in learning. Games are an essential outlet of learning in the present day – Quizlet is a really great example. Games create ways for students to enjoy learning, creating a motive and a driving force. The 6 points that you mentioned regarding the effect of games in learning was also really helpful in reinforcing my understanding of your research. Personally when I study, I also like to think of it as quests and goals rather than tasks, and give myself a reward when I complete it just like what happens when you win a game. Games are really a wonderful way to aid individuals in their learning experience.

Hi, Joeun!

The podcast episode I chose to listen to a few weeks ago was about educational games, so it was really interesting to see your presentation expand on what I learned. Your presentation really reminded me of Study Island, in which there was not only quizzes and assignments, but learning games as well. Your point on educational games being interesting and engaging is definitely true as the games on there really provided me a break from the tediousness of the assignments but still kept me actively involved. They may seem straightforward but your presentation proved that educational games really are much more complex than they seem!

Hi Joeun! I think it’s awesome that even though a few people did presentations on learning, they were all unique and engaging in their own right. So this is a compliment to you and them as well. It goes to show you how much there is to explore in this area, which is really important as the way you learn can affect your whole outlook on life. Your presentation was very well organized – the slides with the different categories on them made it really easy to understand the different types of games and the different elements of them, and by the takeaway slide I felt like I had an understanding of the topic. I think the most interesting part was where you brought up how games can be leveraged to introduce concepts which are hard to teach, like moral decisions, since usually when people bring up game-based learning it’s about concepts which could be taught but would just be more interesting as a game, like math or science etc. It’s a great way to promote game-based learning also since it’s something unique it has to offer. Great job!

Hi Joeun! I like the topic you chose for presentation. To see games as an educational tool which can help students is really interesting and there are a lot more waiting game designers to explore. Like the examples you made in the slides, those games are comparatively simple game which means their rules are simple and straight forward. However, it really reminds me something that what can be defined as a game. I know it may sound stupid since we have already read Schell’s book and he gave the definition already. But is the subject “game” containing too much? Like quizlet, I would say it has some game feature but is it really a game? Learning is still very different from gaming. I think it is important to distinguish the two rather than connecting them too much. Learning can be a fun process for sure, but most of time, it is suffering. But gaming is an enjoyable process, and people’s motivation is to have fun, not passing exams or writing essays. So, yeah, I think the topic is interesting, but still “game” is a very dangerous weapon we have to consider more before we really connect it to learning and study.