The paper outlines the advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet to collect data concerning both online and offline gamers. Drawing from experience of a number of studies carried out online by the authors and by reviewing the available literature, the authors discuss the main issues concerning data collected from video game players. The paper examines a number of areas, including recru...

The emergence of online games has fundamentally changed security requirements for computer games, which previously were largely concerned with copy protection. In this paper, we examine how new security requirements impact the design of online games by using online Bridge, a simple client-server game, as our case study. We argue that security is emerging as an inherent design issue for online g...

We present an educational math game, including a teachable agent and a social chat, that trains basic arithmetic skills with a focus on grounding base-ten concepts in spatial representations. It employs a board-game design with a variety of different sub-games, game modes and levels of difficulty. When a student has learnt to play one of the sub-games, she may teach it to her Teachable Agent (T...

In the social network of a web-based online game, all players are not equal. Through network analysis, we show that the community of players in a online social game is an example of a scale free small world network and that the growth of the player-base obeys a power law. The community is centred around a minority group of “hardcore” players who define the social environment for the game, and w...

In this paper, we first attempt to review user acceptance theory and then discuss the four common models. Second, this study intends to assess the relationship of Users’ Informational-Based Readiness (UIBR), the tendency to adopt Internet banking services JIBC August 2009, Vol. 14, No. 2 2 as an innovation and whether or not it contributes to the prediction of an individual’s intention (decisio...

For the aim at exploring differences on personality traits between excessive online game users and non-excessive users in Japan, an online survey was conducted using psychological scales measuring addictive tendencies for online gaming, depressive tendencies, aggression, and selfconcealment. The results revealed that that excessive online game users having addictive tendencies in Japan had lack...

The aims of this paper are to: (1) modify the theory of consumption values in order to investigate online game users’ perceived value of purchasable game items, and (2) develop a new construct – the ‘‘integrated value of purchasing game items’’ – based on the modified theory of consumption values. We found that the enjoyment, character competency, visual authority, and monetary values are appro...

The implementation of game mechanics (like points or leadersboards) in a serious context is called “gamification”. In this explorative analysis of a single case participants of an online idea competition were asked about their motives for participation, flow, enjoyment, task involvement and their perception of game mechanics with respect to flow, enjoyment and task involvement. The results indi...

The Endless Forest [1] is described by its creators as a “multiplayer online game and social screensaver”. Although it is an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game, it runs on only a single server. The game is implemented as a Windows screensaver. Development of the game was funded by several artistic cultural institutions, including Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, which also hosts the ser...