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Full-Text Articles in Education
Ethically Notable Videogames: Moral Dilemmas And Gameplay, Jose Zagal
Ethically Notable Videogames: Moral Dilemmas And Gameplay, Jose Zagal
Jose P Zagal
In what ways can we use games to make moral demands of players and encouraging them to reflect on ethical issues? In this article we propose an ethically notable game as one that provides opportunities for encouraging ethical reasoning and reflection. Our analysis of the videogames Ultima IV, Manhunt, and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn highlights the central role that moral dilemmas can play towards creating ethically notable games. We discuss the different ways that these are implemented, such as placing players in situations in which their understanding of an ethical system is challenged, or by creating moral tension between the …
Rounds, Levels, And Waves: The Early Evolution Of Gameplay Segmentation, Jose Zagal, Clara Fernandez-Vara, Michael Mateas
Rounds, Levels, And Waves: The Early Evolution Of Gameplay Segmentation, Jose Zagal, Clara Fernandez-Vara, Michael Mateas
Jose P Zagal
This article explores the early evolution of the structure and management of gameplay in videogames. We introduce the notion of gameplay segmentation to capture the role that design elements like level, boss, and wave play in videogames, and identify three modes of segmentation. Temporal segmentation limits, synchronizes and/or coordinates player activity over time. Spatial segmentation breaks the game’s virtual space into sub-locations. Challenge segmentation presents the player with a sequence of self-contained challenges. We describe each mode, and additional sub-modes, by analyzing vintage arcade games. Our analyses illustrate how these games represent a “primordial soup” in which many current game …
Collaborative Games: Lessons Learned From Board Games, Jose Zagal, Rick Jochen, Hsi Idris
Collaborative Games: Lessons Learned From Board Games, Jose Zagal, Rick Jochen, Hsi Idris
Jose P Zagal
Collaborative mechanisms are starting to become prominent in computer games, like massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs); however, by their nature, these games are difficult to investigate. Game play is often complex and the underlying mechanisms are frequently opaque. In contrast, board games are simple. Their game play is fairly constrained and their core mechanisms are transparent enough to analyze. In this article, the authors seek to understand collaborative games. Because of their simplicity, they focus on board games. The authors present an analysis of collaborative games. In particular, they focus on Reiner Knizia’s LORDOFTHERINGS, considered by many to be the …