MSc Thesis – Gaming Experience Research
MSc Thesis – Gaming Experience Research
My MSC in HCI, I did various quantitative analysis and experiments researching on gaming experience concept of immersion. How does behavioral change happens when gamers engage in games, analyzing the performance, immersion and personalization of controllers were some of the focus areas.
Overall Process
All the below experiments were written for CHI paper submission and the experiments were conducted and analysed for quantitative data. The targeted audience were gamers who are new to expert level
Study One : Effect of Personalized Settings on a Controller for Player Performance in a Car Race Game
Aim : To identify whether users when they make personalized settings in the game controller and play a game, will it make them more immersive in the game. Measured the user performance in car race video game and how immersed users are in their preferred controller setting.
Process
In a study with 15 participants, performance and immersion level was measured for controller settings such as default (which comes with the games), scrambled (hard settings which challenges cognitive and physical balance) and personalized (users preferred control mappings on the controller). A consent form, Pre test questionnaire, Post test Questionnaire, Test Questionnaire, Finding and Inviting Participants, Test Lab setup, Data Analysis and Report were some of the activities in the project. And this is an individual project.
A significant relationship was found between personalized settings, using the IEQ and performance over all controller settings. Participants who played with personalized settings were able to easily use the controls than those with scrambled or default settings. Based on this recommendation can be provided for game designers, or controller designers in the future.
Study Two : The Role of Embodiment in Engagement in Digital Games
Aim : While playing we are doing something physically as well as mentally. The inner feelings, the strategies, and the actions we make in playing digital games lead to experience higher levels of involvement. But little is known about the body movements and its influence on the gaming experience. As an attempt to understand the body movements and the engagement in games, this project reports two experiments.
Process
Both the experiments had the following activities : A consent form, Pre test questionnaire, Post test Questionnaire, Test Questionnaire, Finding and Inviting Participants, Test Lab setup, Data Analysis and documenting the Report. This is an individual project.
Results
Body movement taxonomy and other body movements while playing with three different forms of controls were identified. Which controller had the player made easy immersed in the game was also identified and reported. This report can be used as a guidance in designing engaging body movement games.
