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Video game players, equipped with image capturing and rendering features, are taking photographs within digital worlds. This study examines video game photography as a documentary practice. By considering the experiences of a gamer-turned-photographer, this study offers an initial synthesis of this new document phenomenon and provides considerations for categorizing such photos.

To discover the attributes of video game photography, this study utilized an auto-hermeneutic approach with self-interviewing and picture-sorting techniques. The resulting data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Without tangible artifacts to commemorate gaming experiences, photographs empower the player to document and artistically reconstruct moments from purely digital worlds. The three themes from this study's findings – that video game photographs act as (1) vehicles for storytelling, (2) creative trophies, and (3) aesthetic tokens – reveal how personally meaningful documents emerge from this medium. Furthermore, the findings uncover the fuzzy boundaries between play, artwork, and documentation.

This study explores techniques for categorizing in-game photographs and eliciting gameplay memories. The methods outlined may assist video game researchers, conservators, and archivists with organizing photographs as context materials.

By considering the lived experiences between one individual and their video game photographs, this study expands document theory into the underrepresented hobby of video games.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether distinctive modes (observation vs control) of presenting diverse content differentially influence users. To achieve this goal, The authors first conceptualize empathy as social cognition and discuss the possible psychological mechanisms for divergent associations between observation-based media (i.e. video media) and control-based media (i.e. game media).

In total, 300 adults (150 females) participated in this study through an online survey.

Time spent with video media (television and film) was positively associated with empathy, which in turn was associated with enhanced social connectedness. However, time spent on game media (video games, computer games, and smartphone games) was negatively associated with empathy, which in turn was associated with inferior social connectedness.

While previous studies on the effects of media have focussed mainly on content, the present study focusses on the effects of mode. The mode-focussed approach presents evidence contradictory to the content-focussed approach.

This article aims to discuss the relevance of building video game collections in academia to support research and learning on campus and to propose useful criteria for building video game collections in academic libraries.

The authors examined collection development policies of selected academic libraries as well as research discussing the cultural, historical, and educational value of video games. The authors also examined video game playback devices, games and their packaging, and popular game web sites.

The authors outline selection considerations for developing video game collections and propose the following criteria for selecting games: physical characteristics, teaching and learning principles present in the games, subject matter and content, and the cultural and historical value of a game.

Establishing video games in libraries is not a new topic, but most discussions have been focused on public libraries or the entertainment value of video games in academic libraries. This article focuses on games as serious objects of study in academia and provides best practices for video games collections development.

Researchers have argued that video games have great utility for learning. Games promote experiential learning and can be used to facilitate active learning. This paper examines the potential of video games in education. In particular, it examines the benefits of game modding compared to playing and/or creating games. However, video game classes have been primarily attended by male students. This paper looks further into the gender issue regarding the use of video game modding in education. This is demonstrated through a course developed by the authors on game design. The main goal of the course was to introduce middle school and high school female students to IT and assist them in acquiring five basic IT skills. During the course, survey data was collected from participating students. Results from the surveys as well as analysis of student projects and anecdotal evidence suggest that using video game modding is successful in increasing self‐efficacy and motivation as well as teaching female students basic IT skills.

The PGA Tour/Tiger Woods golf series was examined for brand and product placement and found to have 2,100 identifiable brand images, with all but one occurring in the final three years. Brands appearing most frequently included Oakley, Nike, adidas, TW Nike and Tag Heuer. By product category, Nike was leader in equipment (36%) and Oakley in apparel (31%). The results indicate that video games are increasingly seen as viable marketing avenues.

Empirical studies using the technology acceptance model (TAM) have mainly focussed on utilitarian technologies. The purpose of this paper is to extend the TAM in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of the family dynamic around video game acceptance within households.

This paper proposes a new and unique adaptation of the TAM to study the acceptance of hedonic technologies in the context of parents’/carers’ acceptance and integration of video games within family-life dynamics. This adaptation of the TAM attempts to shed light on the social influences and intrinsic motivations behind parents’ and carers’ intentions to purchase video games for their children’s consumption.

The usefulness of video games lies in how enjoyable and entertaining they are, and this seems to be influenced by the convenience and ease of use that ultimately affects the behavioural intention towards video games. Convenience of use brings in social influences on perceived enjoyment and on parents’ actual behaviour towards video games. Some social influences seem to play a direct role in affecting children’s behaviour towards video games.

The authors acknowledge that using Facebook as a tool for data collection has limitations attributed to selection bias. Another limitation is not giving voice to the children to account for their own subjective experience of video games and relying on their parents’ perceptions on the matter.

This study advocated extending TAM within a hedonic framework in the context of examining parents’/carers’ acceptance of video games, while re-validating past theories of TAM and introducing new contextual variables adapted to address hedonic technologies.

Empirical studies using TAM have focussed on the utilitarian nature of technologies and very few considered hedonic technologies. This study’s key contribution to research lies in explaining the effects of parents’ perceived enjoyment, ease of use and convenience on the intention to purchase and play video games. The findings feed into work on the ethics and developmental issues around the marketing of video games to and for children.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case for including and expanding the use of video gaming in the library to support the educational, recreational and democratizing goals of the institution.

An examination of traditional models of the understanding of libraries and how video games fit into the picture.

Video games can be seen to support educational, recreational and democratizing goals of the library.

While many public libraries in the USA use video games for a variety of purposes, there are still many librarians who resist the trend. Even those who see the value of gaming in the library often have a limited view about how video games can be used in the library setting.

This paper examines video games in contexts beyond the recreational and young adult uses.

The Thai video game domain has witnessed substantial growth in recent years. However, many games enjoyed by Thai players are in foreign languages, with only a handful of titles translated/localized into the Thai locale. Some Thai video game enthusiasts have taken on the role of unofficial translators/localizers, contributing to a localization domain that accommodates both official and unofficial translation/localization efforts. This general review paper aims to outline the author's experiences in collecting data within the domain of video game translation/localization in Thailand.

Using a descriptive approach, this general review paper employs the netnography method. It sheds light on the complexities of video game translation/localization in Thailand and incorporates semi-structured interviews with a snowball sampling technique for the selection of participants and in-game data collection methods.

The netnography method has proved instrumental in navigating the intricacies of this evolving landscape. Adopting the netnography method for data collection in this research contributes to establishing more robust connections with the research sites. “Inside” professionals and individuals play a significant role in data gathering by recommending additional sources of information for the research.

While netnography is conventionally applied in the market and consumer research, this paper demonstrates its efficacy in unraveling the dynamics of video game translation/localization in Thailand.

Researchers in information studies have examined fictional depictions of libraries in various mediums because these images can reflect and influence real-life experiences and attitudes. Video games, despite being relatively overlooked, are increasingly culturally relevant and can indicate library users' real needs and desires. This study investigates the ways in which video games depict characters using libraries to seek and use information.

A qualitative content analysis approach incorporating methods from information studies and game studies was applied. Tancheva's (2005) semiotic analysis of fictional libraries and Carr's (2019) textual approach provided the framing for the unique aspects of video games and their meanings. Carroll (2021)'s character analysis and Chatman (1996)'s theory on insiders–outsiders dynamic underpinned the data collection and analysis. The purposive sample included 15 video games released since 2010.

Video games depict game characters visiting libraries to solve short-term problems, to gain knowledge to improve themselves or to bond with others. Protagonists are often depicted as adventurers or outsiders who must adapt to unfamiliar places and situations to achieve their wider objectives. In these games, libraries provide useful documents, spaces or helpful guides and intellectuals who assist the protagonists. As outsiders, the protagonists seek information in libraries to help them learn about their environments and to immerse themselves in the local histories and cultures in their worlds. Overall, these depictions highlight both short- and long-term benefits of library use.

As with existing studies, the ways in which fictional library use appear in video games can suggest real needs and desires among library users. The findings from this study emphasise the importance of library services and spaces that help users both address short-term problems and immerse themselves in local concerns, with longer-term goals. Applying different research methods or lenses to analysing video games could deepen our understanding of what library users think and feel when they seek and use information in libraries.

This study investigates three issues associated with playing sports video games: the correlates of participation (and its intensity) in this type of activity, their complementarity with traditional sports and their perception as sport. Given the scarcity of data on esports participation, these results can be seen as an initial approach to these issues with regard to esports.

Sequential, two-part and regression models are estimated using a sample of 11,018 individuals from the Survey of Sporting Habits in Spain 2015.

First, the association of the correlates follows different patterns for participation in sports video games and its intensity. Second, complementarity with traditional sports is found using different approaches. Third, young people consider this activity as a dimension of their overall interest in sports.

The different association of the correlates with participation in esports and its intensity can be used to define marketing and brand investment strategies. The complementarity between esports and traditional sports should influence how the actual stakeholders in sport define future strategies to favour the growth of both industries. Finally, the increasing perception of esports as a sport should influence the future organisation of multi-sport events like the Olympic Games.

Using sports video games participation as a proxy of esports participation, this study is the first to provide empirical evidence of the relevance of distinguishing between participation in esports and its intensity, their complementarity with traditional sports and their perception as sport.