The serious games industry needs game engines, or frameworks, that have been developed specifically with this sector in mind. This paper discusses the criteria that such engines need to adhere to in order to support viable solutions. These criteria are illustrated on the basis of SimPort, a novel multiplayer management game framework. SimPort has shown to be very powerful, functional and easy to use in the development of MV2, a game module simulating a major expansion project, the Maasvlakte 2 area, of the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands [8]. In addition, from MV2 real-life usage so far, players and tutors have concluded that this game is not only rather educational, but also a lot of fun to play.
The term escapism tends to be used in game research without providing any extensive definition of what it means or acknowledging its composite nature. In this paper, the authors question the possible conceptualizations of escapism and the extent to which gamers identify with them. Beginning with a theoretical deconstruction of escapism, the authors developed a framework that they applied in an empirical study with three focus groups. Respondents in these groups completed a survey and participated in a group discussion. The resulting data allowed the identification of eight different discourses of escapism in the context of playing multiplayer computer games. In addition, the study showed that citing escapism as a reason for playing games elicits debate and emotional responses. Given the existence of multiple interpretations and connotations, this paper concludes that escapism is problematic for use in surveys, interviews, and other research techniques.
Numerous researchers have written about the social dynamics of player communities in multiplayer online games. Following a systematic review of refereed empirical research publications from 2000-2010, this article synthesizes the key methods and concepts researchers have used to study and characterize player communities, as well as the aspects and operationalizations they have concentrated on. The analysis shows that qualitative approaches have been more popular than quantitative. The concepts used to characterize player communities were often not clearly defined or overlapped in meaning. Yet they revealed a prevalence of micro (groups or teams), meso (guilds or organizations) and macro (communities and networks) perspectives. Eighteen different aspects and operationalizations of player communities were identified. Six of these were clearly most popular, i.e. social structuring, rationale, culture & social norms, used ICTs, number of members and time of existence. The article concludes with several perspectives and suggestions for future research.
LINK
