Francisco L. Gutiérrez

From Usability to Playability: Introduction to Player-Centred Video Game Development Process

While video games have traditionally been considered simple entertainment devices, nowadays they occupy a privileged position in the leisure and entertainment market, representing the fastest-growing industry globally. We regard the video game as a special type of interactive system whose principal aim is to provide the player with fun and entertainment. In this paper we will analyse how, in Video Games context, Usability alone is not sufficient to achieve the optimum Player Experience. It needs broadening and deepening, to embrace further attributes and properties that identify and describe the Player Experience. We present our proposed means of defining Playability. We also introduce the notion of Facets of Playability. Each facet will allow us to characterize the Playability easily, and associate them with the different elements of a video game. To guarantee the optimal Player Experience, Playability needs to be assessed throughout the entire video game development process, taking a Player-Centred Video Game Design approach.

Evaluation of phagocytic capacity with a modified flow cytometry technique

Phagocytic capacity was determined in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes with a modified flow cytometry technique. The advantages of this method include simplified sample preparation--the assay is done using whole blood--and quantification of phagocytosis with a phagocytic index obtained by comparison with controls, which obviates errors arising from non-specific adherence.

Playability: How to Identify the Player Experience in a Video Game

Nowadays Video Games occupy a privileged position in the leisure and entertainment market, representing the fastest-growing industry globally. In this paper we will analyse how, in video game development, Usability alone is not sufficient to achieve the optimum Player Experience. We argue that the concept of Usability needs broadening and deepening, to embrace further attributes and properties that identify and describe the Player Experience. We present our proposed means of defining Playability, its attributes and properties and how associate them with the different elements of a video game.

Collaborative Learning by Means of Video Games: An Entertainment System in the Learning Processes

New Technologies have been incorporated to schools as learning tools some time ago. In this paper we remark some advantages of video games as educational systems and how we can use them as a tool of CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) into classrooms. Moreover, we consider that learning process is important enough to be measured in addition to the solution. So, we are interested in this scope and we present a first step towards our method of collaboration analysis in VGSCL (Video Game - Supported Collaborative Learning): a messages categorization

Using videogames in special education

Consideration has arisen on the use of video games as learning tools since they are deemed as active elements in classrooms. New game technologies have helped creating alternative strategies to increase cognitive skills in the field of Special Education. This paper describes our experience in video games design and in new forms of human-computer interaction addressed to develop didactic games for children with communication problems such as autism, dysphasia, ictus or some types of cerebral paralysis.

Pervasive games: giving a meaning based on the player experience

The evolution of technologies has allowed that every day more and more games are available on our mobile devices. These games have evolved in many ways depending on their field of application. Thus, one of those kinds of games is pervasive games (PG). Each one of those fields has its own features and targets, which is the reason why researchers have defined pervasive games in many different ways. This is comprehensible from a technical point of view because each research field needs to implement their own properties. In this paper, we present a general overview of the meaning of pervasive games in different areas in order to check and collect their particularities. We also give a conceptual relationship diagram and a general definition that considers the users pervasive experience found in the results of game experience design.

Continuous Assessment in Educational Video Games: A Roleplaying approach

Evaluating competency-based learning requires a continuous assessment process which enables the skills and capabilities that students develop to be detected. Using video games allows a great deal of information to be recorded and merged effectively, which makes them an advantageous option in assessing this kind of learning. Consequently, in this paper we present a design process for educational video games to enable learning and assessment on the basis of competencies. In addition, a mechanism to assess education and games is presented, which allows feedback to be given to students in a similar way to role-playing games, as well as informing the teacher about the learning progress of players. Both proposals have been applied to a video adventure game designed to foster the competency of reading comprehension.

Design guidelines to foster cooperation in digital environments

A number of researchers argue that cooperative learning can promote greater productivity and more caring, supportive and committed relationships between students, active learning, critical thinking, the achievement of long-term learning objectives, conceptual understanding, long-term retention of information and high levels of student satisfaction. However, to obtain these potential advantages something more than forming and assigning them a common goal is needed: cooperation has to occur. This paper presents guidelines for designing group activities to foster cooperation by focusing on three elements of cooperative learning: (1) positive interdependence, (2) equal participation and (3) individual accountability in both individual and group learning scenarios. The authors also describe a software tool designed according to the model proposed in which some design guidelines have been implemented in order to support cooperative learning activities and allow the cooperative process to be monitored. The preliminary results show that the participants who have interacted with this software tool have obtained good cooperation scores and cooperative abilities have been fostered: participation, engagement and communication during learning activities.

Design of Adaptative Video Game Interfaces: A Practical Case of Use in Special Education

The use of new technological and learning methods that help to improve the learning process has produced the inclusion of the video games as active elements in the classrooms. Video Games are ideal learning tools since they provide training skills, promote independence, increase and improve students’ concentration and attention. For special education students with learning difficulties, it is very important to adapt the game to each student’s cognitive level and skills. The present work describes our experience in the design and the use of video game as new forms to create didactic learning tools to pupils with serious communication problems as autism, dysphasia, ictus, or cerebral palsy.

Adaptive and Context-Aware Hypermedia Model for Users with Communication Disabilities

Technological advances improves our every-day life, and should be beneficial for all, and mobile technology gives new opportunities to user with special needs [2]. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Systems [10] provide devices and techniques to improve the communicative ability of a person whose disability makes it difficult to speak. The causes may vary from one person to other for different reasons (sensorial, physical or psychical disabilities), it can be a temporal or permanent disorder and the population is very heterogeneous. There are several AAC systems, which are being used by different communities: sing languages (deaf people), pictorial languages, templates and communicators (e.g. Alphatalker using the Minspeak language [1]). One of the collectives demanding such systems is children diagnosed as having autism. Autism is considered a lifelong neurological disorder characterized as follows [7]: These children have difficulty with social relationships and with verbal and non-verbal communication. The pathology and its manifestations vary from one child to another. Each child manifests different behavior, capabilities and expectations. The child is strongly influenced by his environment, preferring predictable situations. Changes in environment could provoke unpredictable changes in the child behavior.