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1 – 10 of over 55000Zhanna Belyaeva, Anait Petrosyan and S.M. Riad Shams
The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the video game ecosystem development in the context of socioeconomic and technological progress while analyzing the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the video game ecosystem development in the context of socioeconomic and technological progress while analyzing the role of stakeholders in the video game industry for regional markets' growth.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper exploits technological and socioeconomic data in 25 countries grouped into the regions, as a methodological approach that allows identifying and evaluating the determinants of the video game industry's ecosystem development. The authors applied econometric modeling to understand technological, economic and social determinants forming video gaming industry growth in regional markets.
Findings
Different types of stakeholders are involved in the video game industry performing particular functions. Using econometric modeling for advanced and developing economies countries, we have found that different stakeholder groups and their engagement dynamics in the video gaming industry directly depend on socioeconomic and technological effects in certain regions of the world.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the knowledge within forming creative clusters around video gaming industry in developed and developing economies countries. The findings bridge the gap between quantitative and qualitative research in stakeholder-related characteristics, and key factors affecting the development of the video gaming market. The analyzed database of industry revenues within specific global regions shed the light on the future functionality of the ecosystem development in the new normal world.
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Erkki M. Lassila, Sinikka Moilanen and Janne T. Järvinen
The purpose of this paper is to concern the use of analytics as a calculative engine enabling coordination and control for the development process in a creative digital business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to concern the use of analytics as a calculative engine enabling coordination and control for the development process in a creative digital business environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs an explorative field study approach, using interview data from professionals working with free-to-play mobile game development. Drawing on the concepts of cycles of accumulation, accounting as an engine and mediating instruments, this study examines how organisational actors using the analytics in a digital business environment participate in the data generation that accumulates knowledge about and new insights into the desired outcome.
Findings
The real-time metrics provided the means for organisational actors to continually monitor, visualise and if necessary intervene in the creative “good game” development process. Timely quantification and visualisation of user actions, collected as digital traces, enhanced the cycle of information accumulation. This new knowledge resulted in a desire for improvement and perfection, which directed the actions towards the organisational objectives.
Originality/value
This study furthers our understanding of the performativity of accounting as an engine and the user behavioural data trace as its “fuel” in a digital product development. It highlights the role of analytics as a “fact-generating” device, capable of transforming the raw user behavioural data, the fuel, into powerful explanations through visualisations of ideals. The real-time metrics, understood as mediating instruments, enable the generation of new insights and accumulation of knowledge guiding the further development towards the desired outcome, the “good game”.
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Carole Tansley, Ella Hafermalz and Kristine Dery
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the use of sophisticated talent selection processes such as gamification and training and development…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the use of sophisticated talent selection processes such as gamification and training and development interventions designed to ensure that candidates can successfully navigate the talent assessment process. Gamification is the application of game elements to non-game activities through the adoption of gaming tools, and little is known about how candidates (“talent”) struggle to learn about the structural mechanics of gamification as they engage with the hidden rules of talent selection, such as goals, rules, “levelling up”, feedback and engagement in competitive – collaborative activities. The term “talent development gamification” is coined and used as an analytical tool to consider how young talent are supported by development interventions in their inter-subjectivity as they learn how to survive and win in talent selection games.
Design/methodology/approach
Studying hidden dynamics in development processes inherent in gamified talent selection is challenging, so a cult work of fiction, “Ender’s Game”, is examined to address the questions: “How do candidates in talent selection programmes learn to make sense of the structural mechanics of gamification”, “How does this make the hidden rules of talent selection explicit to them?” and “What does this mean for talent development?”
Findings
Talent development in selection gamification processes is illustrated through nuanced theoretical accounts of how a multiplicity of shifting and competing developmental learning opportunities are played out as a form of “double-consciousness” by potential organizational talent for them to “win the selection game”.
Research limitations/implications
Using novels as an aid to understanding management and the organization of work is ontologically and epistemologically problematic. But analysing novels which are “good reads” also has educational value and can produce new knowledge from its analysis. In exploring how “Characters are made to live dangerously, to face predicaments that, as readers, we experience as vicarious pleasure. We imagine, for example, how a particular character may react or, more importantly, what we would do in similar circumstances” (Knights and Willmott, 1999, p. 5). This future-oriented fictional narrative is both illustrative and provides an analogy to illuminate current organisational development challenges.
Originality/value
The term “talent development gamification in selection processes” is coined to allow analysis and provide lessons for talent development practice in a little studied area. Our case study analysis identifies a number of areas for consideration by talent management/talent development specialists involved in developing talent assessment centres incorporating gamification. These include the importance of understanding and taking account of rites of passage through the assessment centre, in particular the role of liminal space, what talent development interventions might be of benefit and the necessity of appreciating and managing talent in developing the skill of double consciousness in game simulations.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the casino development and regulation in Macau and Singapore. The paper also seeks to assess the potential for casino development in Asia…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the casino development and regulation in Macau and Singapore. The paper also seeks to assess the potential for casino development in Asia, with a particular focus on the prospects of Japan's casino resorts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews the gaming history, gaming/tourism policies and casino regulations of Macau and Singapore. The key aspects concerned with the casino development in Asia are also examined.
Findings
The paper identifies the fundamentals that have contributed to the prosperity of casino resorts in Macau and Singapore, as well as highlights the potential and challenges for the casino developments in Japan and other Asian destinations.
Research limitations/implications
A number of legal and tourism-related factors are identified to be the determinants of casino development. However, more research is needed to examine the political, economic and socio-cultural factors associated with casino gaming.
Practical implications
The paper, discussing the casino development and regulation in Macau and Singapore, provides practical implications for the design of gaming/tourism policy and casino control in Japan and other prospective gaming jurisdictions.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the growing body of literature on the gaming law and casino development in Asia and provides insights for policymakers contemplating the adoption of casinos as a strategic policy for tourism development and economic growth.
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Bill Kapralos, Stephanie Fisher, Jessica Clarkson and Roland van Oostveen
The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel undergraduate course on serious game design and development that integrates both game and instructional design, thus providing an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel undergraduate course on serious game design and development that integrates both game and instructional design, thus providing an effective approach to teaching serious game design and development. Very little effort has been dedicated to the teaching of proper serious game design and development leading to many examples of serious games that provide little, if any, educational value.
Design/methodology/approach
Organized around a collection of video clips (that provided a brief contextualized overview of the topic and questions for further exploration), readings, interdisciplinary research projects and games, the course introduced the principles of game and instructional design, educational theories used to support game-based learning and methods for evaluating serious games. Discussions and activities supported the problems that students worked on throughout the course to develop a critical stance and approach toward implementing game-based learning. Students designed serious games and examined potential issues and complexities involved in developing serious games and incorporating them within a teaching curriculum.
Findings
Results of student course evaluations reveal that the course was fun and engaging. Students found the course fun and engaging, and through the successful completion of the final course project, all students met all of the course objectives. A discussion regarding the techniques and approaches used in the course that were successful (or unsuccessful) is provided.
Research limitations/implications
It should be noted that a more detailed analysis has not been presented to fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the course. A more detailed analysis may have included a comparison with, for example, past versions of the course that was not based on an online problem-based learning (PBL) approach, to better quantify the effectiveness of the course. However, such a comparison could not be carried out here, given there was no measure of prior knowledge of students taken before they took course (e.g. no “pre-test data”).
Originality/value
Unlike the few existing courses dedicated to serious game design, the course was designed specifically to facilitate a fully online PBL approach and provided students the opportunity to take control of their own learning through active research, exploration and problem-solving alone, in groups and through facilitated class discussions.
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Robert VanWynsberghe and Caitlin Pentifallo
This chapter coins the term Development through Mega-Events (DME) in order to propose a next step for developing social legacies in accordance with the principle of social…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter coins the term Development through Mega-Events (DME) in order to propose a next step for developing social legacies in accordance with the principle of social development.
Design/methodology/approach
This chapter’s argument for DME is developed using quantitative, indicator-based data from the Olympic Games Impact (OGI) study as well as relevant literature from the sub-fields of Sport for Development and Peace and Sport Mega-Events.
Findings
We discuss the absence of a baseline understanding of the properties of sport mega-events. Also absent are progressive efforts to achieve sustainability by means other than competition among prospective bidders. We recommend that hosts tie social legacies to public policy objectives that are concomitant with the properties of the sport mega-events. Retrospectively applied, OGI data from 2010 reveals social inclusion as one potential social legacy that reflects the nature of the Olympics and the policy realm in the host region.
Originality/value
This chapter is original work. It would be of interest to potential host communities, policymakers, and researchers.
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Andrew Hogue, Bill Kapralos and Franc¸ois Desjardins
Problem/project‐based‐learning (PBL) approaches have traditionally been shown to be effective for learning within many professional programs that are directly related to the…
Abstract
Purpose
Problem/project‐based‐learning (PBL) approaches have traditionally been shown to be effective for learning within many professional programs that are directly related to the students' future career. The PBL approach has been adopted for over four decades in such fields as medicine and engineering and studies have demonstrated that students working in a PBL context have improved their skill levels over students enrolled in traditional lecture‐based classes. In spite of these successes, PBL has not yet been often considered in computer science/IT‐related academic programs. This is due to a variety of factors, including lack of support from faculty, historical approaches precluding such innovation, and lack of motivation to innovate beyond the dominant and more traditionally known approaches. This paper presents a case study that outlines a particular approach that was adopted to attempt to overcome these limitations in order to introduce PBL to IT‐related studies. The context of this study is a particular program that involves students in industry‐relevant practices while learning the necessary theory and honing their skills. It aims to discuss how PBL has been integrated into the IT Game Development and Entrepreneurship program at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, a laptop‐based institution. It also aims to provide qualitative results that would support the effective applicability of this PBL approach.
Design/methodology/approach
A novel method for learning technical game development (theory and practice) is illustrated using a PBL pedagogical approach. The primary objective is to maintain academic integrity, improve critical thinking and problem‐solving skills, and introduce students to the theory of designing and developing video games.
Findings
Preliminary results indicate that the proposed PBL method has improved students' skills and expanded their knowledge both theoretically and practically within their area of study. With the integration of this approach into the curriculum, the authors have seen a higher retention rate, increased motivation, and the development of higher quality work from students.
Originality/value
This paper provides a discussion on the role of PBL in IT settings with practical and positive implications on student learning, involvement, and retention. The approach is innovative in higher education and provides a framework that can be easily adapted to other fields of study.
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The purpose of this paper is to briefly outline the relevance of flow, a core concept of positive psychology increasingly applied in leadership development and in serious gaming…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to briefly outline the relevance of flow, a core concept of positive psychology increasingly applied in leadership development and in serious gaming. The author presents an innovative simulation game designed to teach and train how to manage and lead people based on the principles of “flow-based leadership.”
Design/methodology/approach
This paper briefly describes the flow theory; it relates to leadership theory and why it is increasingly applied in the context of serious games. Then an extensive review and presentation of the features of an innovative serious gaming solution is presented to demonstrate that simulations are a fruitful area into which positive psychology and leadership science are being extended now.
Findings
Despite the growing market segment and various areas of training applications of serious games, very few games have been developed for leadership development. A detailed report presented the conceptual and practical aspects of such a new serious game.
Research limitations/implications
The author’s contribution did not focus on testing a particular framework nor did it aim at exposing new numeric data findings. Instead, the author presented an in-depth case study as an inspiration for future, similar developments. Also, research questions for future analysis of data collected during the leadership development game were outlined.
Practical implications
Readers were informed about a new, innovative serious game application, which is successfully used for leadership development, and in particular to teach the practice of flow-based management concepts.
Social implications
Flow is a concept applied in many fields of life such as sports, music, arts, recreation and work-life. The positive benefits of happiness, creativity, outstanding performance and joy can lead to a fulfilling life which is a paramount value, across all cultures globally. This leadership development game can be applied in other countries and cultures. As a result, the quality of leadership across various cultures can be improved. Researchers are invited to join the outlined new research network and program.
Originality/value
Flow theory is probably the best known concept of positive psychology across related scientific domains such as management, arts, sports, education and spirituality. Professor Csikszentmihalyi – a global figure head – laid the scholarly foundations decades ago, but now the concept is constantly evolving and being adopted into new and changing environments. This necessitates a review – such as this contribution – where the theoretical elements also apply in the new areas of application.
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Business games are often more costly and require more effort to implement than traditional programmes. However they are rapidly gaining favour as management development tools…
Abstract
Business games are often more costly and require more effort to implement than traditional programmes. However they are rapidly gaining favour as management development tools. Games incorporate a case history of the relevant industry and organisation; a set of realistic rules guiding business decisions; a computerised mathematical model which simulates a dynamic market. They offer possibilities for experiential learning in strategic planning and policy making, functional integration, financial analysis and control, team planning, “what if” analysis and interpersonal behavioural training. Games allow managers to experience failure without personal or organisational consequences. Methods of administering a game are explained and the learning process discussed. Case histories of game use in the Southwest Mat Processing Corporation Headquarters, the Southern Chemical Company and educational establishments in Honolulu are described. Emerging trends are discussed.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore and emphasize the impact of academic computer game studies programs on library services and collections.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and emphasize the impact of academic computer game studies programs on library services and collections.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the literature related to the relationship between gamers, game studies, and libraries, precedes discussion of the background of academic computer game studies programs. The potential challenges and opportunities concerning collection development, information literacy instruction, and reference within academic libraries are addressed along with highlights of emerging best practices.
Findings
The paper provides analysis of game studies as an emerging academic discipline and of the scholarly communication within this field. It also highlights emerging practices within academic librarians serving students and faculty in this field.
Research limitations/implications
Because game studies is a new discipline, best practices to meet users' needs are just beginning to be established for academic libraries. Further research is needed in the area of information‐seeking behavior, perception of game studies' students and faculty, and their information literacy skills.
Practical implications
This is an opportunity for librarians who serve students and faculty in game studies to learn about the history of this discipline and what several academic librarians are currently doing to meet their needs in collection development, information literacy instruction, and reference services.
Originality/value
While discussing the history of game studies as an academic program, the paper also highlights the issues related to library services and collections for the emerging academic discipline of game studies in an effort to support academic librarians who work with game studies students and faculty.
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