Meaningful Play 2012 Conference Proceedings

Overview

Meaningful Play 2012 took place October 18 - 20, 2012 in East Lansing, MI, USA on the campus of Michigan State University. It was hosted by the MSU Serious Games Program.

Peer Review Process

All paper submissions were peer-reviewed by at least three members of the program committee (see below) specializing in the area of the paper topic.

Top Paper Awards

Paper submissions were considered for Top Paper awards by the program committee. Top Paper awardees were invited to submit a modified manuscript to the Meaningful Play 2012 Special Issue of the Journal of Games and Culture. The Journal of Games and Culture is a peer-reviewed, international journal that promotes innovative theoretical and empirical research about games and culture within interactive media. The journal serves as a premiere outlet for ground-breaking work in the field of game studies and its scope includes the socio-cultural, political, and economic dimensions of gaming from a wide variety of perspectives.

Papers

Below are the papers included in the electronic proceedings. Follow the links to view the abstracts or complete papers when available.

  • Beyond Just Crunching Numbers: Games for Learning Math and Science

    Designing a Game-based Social Application for Mathematics Education
    By: Toru Fujimoto, Tadashi Misono, Kaoru Takahashi, Yusuke Otuji, Hisashi Suzuki and Yuhei Yamauchi
    view abstract- view paper

    Gaming the Classroom
    By: Antonia Szymanski and Matthew Benus
    view abstract- view paper

    Levelling Up on Stereotype Threat: The Role of Psychological Connection to Avatar in Math Performance
    By: Rabindra Ratan and Young June Sah
    view abstract- view paper

    Results from a controlled study of the iPad fractions game Motion Math (Top Paper Award)
    By: Michelle Riconscente
    view abstract

  • Classroom is a Game: Technological and Educational Insights for Games for Learning

    Mobile Media Learning Classroom Practices and Integration
    By: Seann Dikkers, James Mathews, Breanne K. Litts, Chris Holden
    view abstract- view paper

    Playing History: How Ars Magica Players Develop Historical Literacy
    By: Jessica Hammer and Kaitlin Heller
    view abstract- view paper

    Simulations and Games for Teaching Law: What's Possible?
    By: Michael Edward Lenert
    view abstract- view paper

    Status and Learning in The Sims Community
    By: Jeremy Dietmeier
    view abstract- view paper

  • Game Design and Designers

    Co-op Play
    By: Stephen Sniderman
    view abstract- view paper

    Empirical Game Design for Explorers
    By: John Quick and Robert Atkinson
    view abstract- view paper

    Once More with Feeling: Game Design Patterns for Affective Learning (Top Paper Award)
    By: Claire Dormann, Max Neuvians and Jennifer Whitson
    view abstract

  • Game Evaluation

    Evaluating Game Mechanics To Convey STEM Concepts
    By: Annie Conway
    view abstract- view paper

    Holistic Evaluation of Serious Games and Simulation
    By: Aleshia Panbamrung
    view abstract- view paper

    Supporting an Interval Training Program with the Astrojumper Video Game
    By: Andrea Nickel, Hugh Kinsey, Tiffany Barnes and Zachary Wartell
    view abstract- view paper

  • Game Mechanics and Design Principles

    A model for creating simulated medical equipment in a situational gameplay context: The virtual ventilator
    By: Marge Zielke, Judy Leflore, Valarie Broderick and Ryan Zeigler
    view abstract- view paper

    Beyond kWh: Myths and fixes for energy competition game design
    By: Philip Johnson, Robert Brewer, George Lee, Yongwen Xu, Carleton Moore and Michelle Katchuck
    view abstract- view paper

    Dispensable, Tweakable, and Tangible Components: Supporting Socially negotiated Gameplay (Top Paper Award)
    By: Gifford Cheung, Alison Lee, Kevin Cheng and Hae Jin Lee
    view abstract

    Research Directions for Pushing Harnessing Human Computation to Mainstream Video Games (Top Paper Award)
    By: Peter Jamieson, Lindsay Grace and Jack Hall
    view abstract

  • Games and Data: Between Design and Research

    Data-driven design in social gaming: Community perceptions in a shifting landscape of code and information
    By: Florence Chee, Peter Chow-White and Richard Smith
    view abstract- view paper

    Game Data Piracy: How Players Abduct Data in Order to Transform their Gameplay Experiences
    By: Ben Medler
    view abstract- view paper

    How's my driving? Modeling player navigation in the Games United League of BZFlag
    By: John Paolillo
    view abstract- view paper

    That Game Is So Meta! An Open Source Tool for Gathering Metadata through Games
    By: Mary Flanagan, Peter Carini and Geoff Kaufman
    view abstract- view paper

  • Games, Ethics and Rhetoric

    Democracy has arrived! A Model for Ethical Decision Making of Players in MMOs
    By: Patrick Prax and Mikael Laaksoharju
    view abstract- view paper

    Deterritorializing RISK
    By: Jonathan Lee
    view abstract- view paper

    Dizziness and Disorder: Aporia as Genre in Roger Caillois
    By: Peter Mcdonald
    view abstract- view paper

    Rhetoric, Embodiment, Play: Game Design as Critical Practice in the Art History of Pompeii
    By: David Fredrick
    view abstract- view paper

  • Games: Legal, Economic, and Policy Insights

    Endless Supply? An Ecocritical Perspective on Crafting and Resources in Minecraft
    By: Kristopher Purzycki
    view abstract- view paper

    Fighting a New Monster: Tracing DRM Issues in Diablo 3
    By: Dean Holden
    view abstract- view paper

    The Commodification of Play in Diablo 3 - Understanding the Real Money Market Place
    By: Patrick Prax
    view abstract- view paper

  • Gamification

    Journalism and games: Just a spoonful of sugar for the news?
    By: Irene Serrano Vazquez
    view abstract- view paper

    Reification and Real Life Goals as Facilitators of Progression in Digital Games
    By: Niels Peter Rasmussen, Sandra Dogg Gudnadottir, Christian Toft, Thomas Saaby Nielsen and Henrik Schoenau-Fog
    view abstract- view paper

    Serious Games. Serious Learning.
    By: James Bonus and James Bonus
    view abstract- view paper

    Strategies for Meaningful Gamification: Concepts behind Transformative Play and Participatory Museums
    By: Scott Nicholson
    view abstract- view paper

  • Gaming for the Sake of Healthy Mind and Body

    Accessorized Therapeutic Game Experiences for Tablets
    By: Alex Restrepo, Jonathan Engelsma, Thomas Parker and John Farris
    view abstract- view paper

    Creating MindGamersTM: Building Communication, Design and Development Process with Clinicians, Game Faculty and Students
    By: Stephen Jacobs, Laurence Sugarman and Robert Rice
    view abstract- view paper

    Will Violent Content in an Active Video Game Make You Move More Vigorously?
    By: Wei Peng, Karin Pfeiffer and Brian Winn
    view abstract

    Zombie Yoga - Subjective Game Design
    By: Doris Rusch
    view abstract- view paper

  • Gender and Games

    Examining behavioral effects of player sex in two large-scale MMOs
    By: Chandan Sarkar, Rabindra Ratan, Daniel Allen and Jackson Hopcroft
    view abstract- view paper

    League of Gendered Game Play Behaviors: Examining Instrumental vs Identity-Relevant Avatar Choices
    By: Rabindra Ratan, Tracy Kennedy and Dmitri Williams
    view abstract- view paper

    Sex & Video Games: How Super Princess Peach reclaims the Vibrator
    By: Chris Cruz-Boone
    view abstract- view paper

  • Innovation in Game Design

    Concept Model for designing engaging and motivating games for learning - The Smiley-model
    By: Charlotte Larke Weitze and Rikke Orngreen
    view abstract- view paper

    Incorporating Coherent Terrain Types into Story-Driven Procedural Maps
    By: Elizabeth Matthews and Brian Malloy
    view abstract- view paper

    Information Seeking Behaviour and Failure in First Person Shooters
    By: Andy Keenan
    view abstract- view paper

    The Deduction Engine: Adapting the Holmesian Method into a Computer Game
    By: William Hart
    view abstract- view paper

  • Is it the Age of Dragon Age?

    Computer Games as Meaning Creating Rituals
    By: Ulf Palmenfelt
    view abstract- view paper

    Gameplay and historical consciousness in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II (Bioware)
    By: Cecilia Trenter
    view abstract- view paper

    Giving Meaning to Dragon Age: Origins. A Linguistic Approach
    By: Hedda Gunneng
    view abstract- view paper

    The Worldliness of the Dragon Age: Origins Game World
    By: Lars Wangdahl
    view abstract- view paper

  • Modding: Design and Analysis

    A Video Game Selection Process for Supporting Modding Projects
    By: Eric Boivin, Francois Bernier and Stephane Bouchard
    view abstract- view paper

    Cross-case analysis of IT learning trajectories in a game-modding affinity space
    By: Shree Durga
    view abstract- view paper

    Hysteria: An experiment in historic interactive game narrative
    By: Lisa Hermsen and Elizabeth Goins
    view abstract- view paper

    Patterns of Production in the Making of a Civilization Mod
    By: Shree Durga
    view abstract- view paper

  • Motivation, Engagement, and Enjoyment during Gameplay

    Leveling Up: Game Enjoyment Threshold Model and Player Feedback on the Design of a Serious Game
    By: Hua Wang, Marientina Gotsis, Maryalice Jordan-Marsh, Donna Spruijt-Metz and Thomas Valente
    view abstract- view paper

    The Use of Video Game Achievements to Enhance Player Performance, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
    By: Lucas Blair
    view abstract- view paper

    Understanding Engagement in Educational Computer Games
    By: Fiona Nah, Yunjie Zhou, Adeline Boey and Hanji Li
    view abstract- view paper

  • Observe, Listen, and Learn: Studying Games Using Ethnographic Methodology

    A case study of a five-step design thinking process in educational museum game design
    By: Paul Gestwicki and Brian McNely
    view abstract- view paper

    Serious by Design? A study on serious game designers and their perspectives on serious games
    By: Konstantin Mitgutsch
    view abstract- view paper

    Surviving Millionaire City: Class Consciousness, Vertigo, and Empire in Browser Based Games
    By: Jessica Crowell, Aaron Trammell, Sean Leavey and Camille Reyes
    view abstract- view paper

    Temporality in games-based learning spaces: A comparative case study
    By: Shree Durga, Elizabeth King and Barbara Johnson
    view abstract

  • Social Gaming and Collaborative Play

    Humanism, Collaboration, and the Future of Serious and Educational Games
    By: Owen Leach
    view abstract- view paper

    Social systems in virtual worlds: Building a better looking raid loot system in World of Warcraft using the Institutional Analysis and Design (IAD) framework
    By: Travis Ross and Lauren Collister
    view abstract- view paper

    Uncovering Play Through Collaboration and Computation In Tabletop Gaming
    By: Sean Duncan and Matthew Berland
    view abstract- view paper

  • The World of MMOs

    Sink or Swim? Learning and Social Capital in Massively Multiplayer Online Games.
    By: Joshua Clark
    view abstract- view paper

    The Holy Trinity: Creating Definitions, Defining Creations
    By: William Broderick
    view abstract- view paper

    Understanding systems problem solving: what sets competent vs. expert players apart at high-level game play
    By: Yu-Tzu Debbie Liu
    view abstract- view paper

  • Thinking Differently about Games 4 Learning

    Deep Learning Games through the Lens of the Toy
    By: Malcolm Ryan, Brigid Costello and Andrew Stapleton
    view abstract- view paper

    Feeling right about how you play: the effects of regulatory fit in games for learning (Top Paper Award)
    By: Yu-Hao Lee, Carrie Heeter, Brian Magerko and Ben Medler
    view abstract

    Interest in the Game Citizen Science
    By: Matthew Gaydos and Amanda Barany
    view abstract- view paper

    SciGames: Guided Play Games to Enhance Science Engagement and Learning
    By: David Kanter, Sameer Honwad, Ruth Diones, Adiel Fernandez and Michelle Riconscente
    view abstract- view paper

  • Understanding Games through the Lens of Narrative

    Child's Play: Researching Meaning-Making in Transmediated Worlds
    By: Meagan Rothschild
    view abstract- view paper

    Establishing Literary Merit in Metal Gear Solid: A close critical reading
    By: Christopher Yap, Shigeru Kashihara and Suguru Yamaguchi
    view abstract- view paper

    Untangling narrative involvement in serious games and interactive environments
    By: Angeline Sangalang
    view abstract- view paper

Organizers

Organizing Committee

Program Committee

  • Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University
  • Rachel Bailey, Indiana University
  • Heidi Boisvert, futurePerfect lab
  • Maura Bouca, IT University of Copenhagen
  • Peter Brinson, University of Southern California
  • Alex Chisholm, Learning Games Network
  • Sandra Crespo, Michigan State University
  • Julia Crouse, Michigan State University
  • Charles Cusack, Hope College
  • Drew Davidson, Carnegie Mellon
  • Claire Dormann, University of Ottawa
  • Shree Durga, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  • Douglas Eyman, George Mason University
  • Rick Ferdig, Kent State University
  • Simon Ferrari, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Tracy Fullerton, University of Southern California
  • Lindsay Grace, Miami University
  • Jessica Hammer, Columbia University
  • Elisabeth Hayes, Arizona State University
  • Carrie Heeter, Michigan State University
  • Peter Jamieson, Miami University
  • Barbara Johnson, University of Minnesota Duluth
  • Michael Katchabaw, University of Western Ontario
  • Geoff Kaufman, Tiltfactor Laboratory, Dartmouth College
  • Elizabeth King, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  • Belinda Lange, Institute for Creative Technologies
  • Yu-Hao Lee, Michigan State University
  • Michael Lee, University of Houston - Clear Lake
  • Jih-Hsuan Lin, Michigan State University
  • Brian Malloy, Clemson University
  • Eric Maslowski, University of Michigan 3D Lab
  • Bruce Maxim, University of Michigan-Dearborn,CIS
  • Peter Mcdonald, University of Chicago
  • Ben Medler, Georgia Institute of Technology / Electronic Arts
  • Konstantin Mitgutsch, The Education Arcade / Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Scott Nicholson, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
  • Michael Nitsche, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Casey O'Donnell, Michigan State University
  • Charles Owen, Michigan State University
  • Wei Peng, Michigan State University
  • Andrew Phelps, Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Patrick Prax, Uppsala University
  • John Quick, Arizona State University
  • Clark Quinn, Quinnovation
  • Rabindra Ratan, Michigan State University
  • Joseph Reinsel, University of Michigan-Flint
  • Michelle Riconscente, New York Hall of Science
  • Nora Rifon, Michigan State University
  • Travis Ross, Indiana University
  • Doris C. Rusch, DePaul University
  • Malcolm Ryan, Centre for Autonomous Systems
  • Dan Sarkar, Michigan State University
  • Bobby Schweizer, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Magy Seif El-Nasr, Northeastern University
  • Patrick Shaw, Michigan State University
  • Mei Si, Department of Cognitive Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
  • Elizabeth Taylor Quilliam, Michigan State University
  • Aaron Trammell, Rutgers University
  • Steffen P. Walz, RMIT University, GEElab
  • Ethan Watrall, Michigan State University
  • Charlotte Lærke Weitze, Charlotte Weitze
  • Brian Winn, Michigan State University
  • Kevin Wise, University of Missouri
  • Donghee Yvette Wohn, Michigan State University
  • Jose Zagal, DePaul University