Games in Asia project

June 19, 2017 | Autor: V. Chen | Categoria: Video Games, Usability and user experience, Cultural Differences
Share Embed


Descrição do Produto

CHI 2006 • HCI Overviews 2

April 22-27, 2006 • Montréal, Québec, Canada

Games in Asia Project Vivian Hsueh-hua Chen School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718 [email protected]

Beth Kolko Department of Technical Communication, University of Washington 14 Loew Hall, Box 352195 Seattle, WA, U.S.A. 98195-2195 [email protected]

Henry Been-Lirn Duh School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 369798 [email protected]

Leo Sang-Min Whang Department of Psychology Yonsei University Seoul 120-749, KOREA [email protected]

Abstract The new technologies associated with computer games have more than an entertainment component; they also bring tremendous changes in human life at both the individual and societal level. Since Asia is the largest market for game consumption around the globe, this project seeks to understand the social, cultural, psychological, economic and educational implications of game playing in different Asian regions. Besides investigating the social impacts of gaming in respective countries, comparison among different countries is also of interest.

Keywords: Computer game, user interface design, social impact, users’ in-game behavior, cross-cultural comparison. ACM Classification Keywords

Michael Ching-Hui Fu Gamania INC 12F.-2, No.736, Zhongzheng Rd., Zhonghe City, Taipei County 235, Taiwan [email protected]

Copyright is held by the author/owner(s).

K.8.0 [Computing Milieux]: Personal Computing --General; J.4 [Computer Applications]: Social and behavioral sciences; D.2.2 [Software Engineering]: Design tools and techniques---User interfaces.

Introduction According to Business Wire, the Asia Pacific region will become the largest market for online games. The Asia/Pacific's wireless gaming market is expected to reach US$1.3 billion by 20081. Since Asia is the largest

CHI 2006, April 22–27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada. ACM 1-59593-298-4/06/0004. 1

Business Wire. March 9, 2005

291

CHI 2006 • HCI Overviews 2

April 22-27, 2006 • Montréal, Québec, Canada

market for game consumption around the world, The Games in Asia Project (GAP) seeks to understand the social, cultural, psychological, economic and educational implications of game playing in different Asian countries. At the same time, comparison among different countries in and outside of Asia is also of interest.

HCI domain This project views computer games as an HCI application and focuses on user and intercultural issues. Based on the findings, it attempts to develop models and frameworks for international user interface design.

Project overview

GAP is an interdisciplinary and transnational research project which involves researchers from different fields including communication, design, psychology, and human factors as well as researchers from the game industry. It attempts to fill a critical need to facilitate integration of recent research and practice in both academia and industry. Past research has focused on effects of computer games on people’s violent orientation or behaviors [1]; application of computer games to learning for adults and children [8]; training [2], social activities and community building [5]. However, little research has looked at the how cultural factors influence gamers’ behaviors and the game interface. Cultural factors play a significant role in human life. People’s thinking process, communication styles, behavior patterns and habits vary from culture to culture. In other words, culture can affect the ways in which games are designed and marketed as well as how gamers respond to games and their gaming behaviors. Failure to consider cultural factors in the production and distribution of computer games could lead to great loss of profits for game companies. For example, the online game EverQuest (Sony Inc.) is

popular in the U.S., but relatively unpopular in South Korea and China. A similar online game Lineage (NCsoft Corp.) however is popular in South Korea, but not in the U.S.. In Taiwan, the design of Lineage was modified based on local cultural orientation and games’ behavior. Consequently, it was successfully accepted by local gamers. This project acknowledges that the cultural context of gaming is an important factor to be considered. Focus/themes The goal of the current project attempts to investigate the relationship between cultural factors and gamers’ behaviors in different cultural contexts. Specific themes include: 1. To understand game playing phenomena, including gamers’ profile, gaming patterns, and motivations for playing computer games across cultures. 2. To develop a framework to understand the relationship between computer game players’ realworld cultural values, personal relationships, lifestyle [7] and their behaviors, values and attitudes in the game world. 3. To understand the impacts of gaming as an activity and communication medium in people’ daily life [4]. 4. To evaluate how cultural factors influence gamers’ preferences for game design and narratives in order to identify key issues in the process of localization of imported computer games [6]. Organizational setting GAP is initiated and supported by Singapore Internet Research Center (SIRC) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. The center conducts research related to the Internet and technology across Asian countries. Faculty associates of the Center engage in wide variety of collaborative research efforts with other researchers around the globe. History and major process of GAP In 2003, Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of

292

CHI 2006 • HCI Overviews 2

April 22-27, 2006 • Montréal, Québec, Canada

Singapore revealed that the household computer ownership rate is 74%, and 48.4 % of internet users download or play online computer games in Singapore2. Due to the high ratio, IDA expressed interests in understanding social impacts of gaming to SIRC. GAP was therefore begun as SIRC’s efforts to focus on gaming culture. An international and interdisciplinary research team was formed. Dr. Kolko participated due to her research cross-cultural comparison of gamers’ behavior. Dr. Whang joined the project because of his interests in psychology and culture of game worlds. The team identified four major themes above. The scope of the project concerns profiles and gaming behavior of gamers, gamers’ online and offline social life, and gamers’ responses to games as a communication medium and as designed environments. Future plans GAP is an ongoing project which seeks international and interdisciplinary collaborators. Short term goals include 1) seeking research collaborators in academia and the game industry who are interested in the Asian context and cross-cultural research, and 2) seeking funding from various government agencies. One grant proposal was approved. Long term goals include 1) establishing close collaboration with game industry, and 2) investigating innovative application of computer games and the impact of those games. Potential area of research might include, but not limited to economics, education, public relations, and cultural heritage.

Background/Project participants

Participants in this project come from three different countries. Vivian Hsueh-hua Chen is an assistant professor in School of Communication and Information at NTU. Her research focuses on how cultural factors

2

http://www.ida.gov.sg/idaweb/factfigure/infopage.jsp?infopag ecategory=&infopageid=I3350&versionid=6

influence the way people communicate and build relationships with each other via various communication mediums. Henry Been-Lirn Duh is an Assistant Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NTU. His research interest focuses on human-computer interaction, interface design, virtual and augmented reality. Together they lead an interdisciplinary research group involving faculty members from the Educational psychology and research assistants from various related disciplines. Beth Kolko is an Associate Professor at University of Washington, U.S.A.. She investigates intercultural and gender issues in games. She is the group director of digital gaming research group (DGRG). Group members include research associates from Technical Communication, Information Science, Cognitive Studies, and Educational Technology. Leo Sang-Min Whang is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Yonsei University, Korea. His research for the past several years has focused on lifestyle, psychology of virtual worlds, and gamers' behavior. He worked as consultant to NC Soft, Itembay, and Game Infinity in Korea.

Specific projects

This project starts with demographic analyses and fact finding about gamers, their motivations, gaming patterns and cultural values (Study1). Study 2 develops a framework to understand how computer gamers’ real-life cultural values influence their in-game cultural values and lifestyle through survey work. Study 3 assumes gamers’ in-game social behaviors reflect national cultural orientations. Through focus-group and surveys, study 3 identifies gamers’ relationship among their real life cultural orientation and their in-game social interactions, relationship building among gamers and gaming strategies. Study 4 utilizes interviews to understand what game-playing experiences are like and how gaming fits into people's lives. Study 5 localization of games. It analyzes the content, visuals and values embedded in successful and failed foreign games in order to improve game localization. All of the

293

CHI 2006 • HCI Overviews 2

April 22-27, 2006 • Montréal, Québec, Canada

Study of Uzbekistan." Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association. Utrecht University. [4] Mitchell, E. (1985). The dynamics of family interaction around home video games. Special Issue: Personal computers and the family. Marriage and Family Review 8 (1-2), 121)-135. [5] Muramatsu, J. & Ackerman, M. S. (1998). Computing, social activity and entertainment: A field study of a game MUD. The Journal of Collaborative Computing, 7, 87-122. [6] Thayer, A. & Kolko (2004). Localization of digital games: The process of blending for the global games market. Technical Communication, 51 (4), 477-488. [7] Whang, L. S. & Chang, G. (2004). Lifestyles of virtual world residents: Living in the on-line game “lineage”. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 7, 592-600. [8] Wolfe, J. (1998). New developments in the use of simulations and games for learning. Journal of Workplace Learning, 10 (6), 310-313.

above research outcomes will be compared across countries (See figure 1).

Key Publications and Products

The collaboration among these group members has just begun, but individual researchers have published significant work in this area including an exploratory study on addiction and aggression at the World Cyber Games 2005 in Singapore and work listed in this proposal [3],[6],[7].

References and Citations

[1] Anderson, C. A. & Dill, K.E. (2000). Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [2] Butterfield, J. & Pendegraft, N. (1996).Gaming techniques to improve the team-formation process. Team Performance Management, 2(4), 11-20. [3] Kolko. B.E., Thayer, A. (2003)."Games as Technological Entry Point: A Case

Culture Game industry / market

Gamers Study 1: Gamers’ profile and gaming behaviors

Social Life

Study 5: Localization of games

Real life Cultural values, attitudes, beliefs and lifestyle

Study 3 The relationship between online gamers’ real-life cultural orientations and in-game social

Study 4: Impacts of gaming in people’s daily life

Study 2 The relationship between online

Social interaction and Gaming strategies

Gaming world

In-game values, attitudes

gamers’ real-life cultural values and

and lifestyle

their in-game values and lifestyles.

behaviours and gaming strategies.

Figure 1. Five specific projects

294

Lihat lebih banyak...

Comentários

Copyright © 2017 DADOSPDF Inc.