Assessment 2 – Annotated Bibliography
Research Topic 2:
Critical areas within software development (Game development)
Team members:
Santosh and Subash
Introduction
The focus of our research is on current trends in game development. The area of game development is changing more rapidly than ever before. The gaming landscape encompasses a range of delivery options, such as console, mobile, virtual reality, and augmented reality. The games industry is a multimillion-dollar industry that is highly competitive. Many new gaming trends are coming to light, which means that game developers need to adopt the developments in order to succeed as the industry is constantly changing. In our research, there are six key gaming trends in 2020 that games developers should consider for their development roadmap. These are 1) streaming games, 2) Apple Arcade, 3) Big Franchises, Small Screens, 4) handheld consoles, 5) Inclusivity in games, and 6) Holographic Gaming. In our research, we are focusing on inclusivity in games design.
Annotation 1
Wilhelmsson, U., Engström, H., Brusk, J., & Östblad, P. (2017). Inclusive game design facilitating shared gaming experience.
Journal of Computing in Higher Education. 29. DOI: 10.1007/s12528-017-9146-0.
This article presents the result from a study comparing the perception and understanding of a game story between sighted and visually impaired players playing the same game. The paper focused on whether sighted and visually impaired players could experience and recount the same story construed from the plot elements that are either manifested by audio and graphics in the case of sighted players or primarily by audio in the case of visually impaired players. The researchers used a a graphical point-and-click adventure game for iOS and Android devices that aimed to show how inclusive game design may be used to facilitate a shared gaming experience between sighted and visually impaired players. The game provides players with audio feedback that enables visually impaired players to interact with and experience the game, but in a manner that does not interfere with the overall appearance and functionality of the game. The game has been designed to be fully inclusive to both groups of players and to give the same gaming experience when it comes to story content. The game has been evaluated through formal user tests where subjects have been asked to play the first chapter of the game followed by an interview. The study shows that the perception of the story was almost identical between the two groups. It was shown in the study that it took visually impaired players a little longer to play the game but they also seem to listen more carefully to the dialogue and hence also build a slightly deeper understanding of the characters. The study also shows that the sighted players did not respond negatively towards the inclusive game design employed in the game. This is helpful in our research as it provided clear design features about inclusive games. Also it showed that non visually impaired players did not mind having an inclusive game design. I will use this for definitions on inclusive game design in my final report.
Annotation 2
Shliakhovchuk, E. (2018). Using Video Games in Intercultural, Diversity and Inclusive Education. 11th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville, Spain. 12-14 November, 2018, 1, 10326-10336. DOI: 10.21125/iceri.2018.0946 ·
There is growing attention to using video games for educational purposes, however, many educators struggle to find the right context to bring video games in the classroom. This article focuses on how to use games in education. In the paper, several video games were used to challenge the learner to play with cultural identities, to experience new cultures and life circumstances interactively, and to take actions to help change the situation for better in real life. Some of the areas covered were global challenges, including migrant issues, refugee problems, human rights, world peace, and intercultural communication. Some advantages and disadvantages of these video games are discussed, but not in great detail. Several learning elements common to video games that could be used in intercultural, diversity and inclusive education are presented, but again this paper did not really go into the software development aspect. This paper really focuses on the end-user experience. It is good background for a game designer on how a game can impact upon learning. It will be used as an example in my final report.
Annotation 3
Brooks, A.L., & Brooks, E., (2020). Games, Gamification and Accessible Games.
Interactivity, Game Creation, Design, Learning, and Innovation,
pp.363-369. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-53294-9_24.
This book chapter provides a useful overview of games and games development. It provides a detailed background on games as entertainment, leisure, recreational, serious or otherwise where game-based designs of use such as gamification are discussed alongside access and inclusion for all to be able to enjoy and play and have fun. The chapter discussed at how games can be designed to be inclusive. The chapter also examines the mechanics and motivational factors of game design that are both intrinsic and extrinsic. The authors look at the factors that cause a person to want to play a game and how to have flow in a game. It also looks at immersion in a game as a design feature and how such factors can impact on human emotions. This chapter is a very useful overview of games development, why people play games, and games design. It will be used in the introduction and background of my white paper assessment.
Annotation 4
Grammenos, D., Savidis, A., & Stephanidis, C. (2007). Unified Design of Universally Accessible Games.
Applications and Services: 4th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction, UAHCI 2007 Held as Part of HCI International 2007 Beijing, China, July 22-27, 2007 Proceedings, Part III (pp.607-616).
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-73283-9_67.
This conference paper describes how the Unified Design method, originally conceived as a means for developing universally accessible user interfaces, can be adapted and applied to the development of universally accessible games. This is relevant to our research on inclusivity in games design as it covers accessibility in games design. The basic steps for applying the Unified Design method are presented and explained through illustrative examples. Furthermore, the key differentiations between designing turn-based strategy games and action games are highlighted and the related impact to the application of the design method is explained. This paper is very relevant as it gives practical guidelines on how to design an inclusive game. It is a little bit out of date now as it was published in 2007, but the principles of game design are still relevant.