Passive tracking systems are used in the gaming industry to measure and improve the player experience. Gamasutra has an article by Philip DeRosa, the Director of Quality Assurance at BioWare Corp., detailing how the experience of using target audiences (potential customers) along with iterative processes of experimentation and observation to help improve product quality in Sesame Street led to establishing the tracking systems used by BioWare today.

Through trial and error, the television producer of Sesame Street perfected a process that has made the show the long lived hit it is today: “-hire an expert, define a test process, test the product with the target audience, objectively observe and recording findings, review, improve and repeat as needed.” Applying this model to interactive entertainment software is more difficult because each experience is different in non-linear games and there is much more data to aggregate and analyze.

The article describes the elements BioWare used to build their own passive tracking systems. It details the team of people needed to implement the process and the tools and technology necessary to gather, aggregate and analyze all the information. Finally it explains the testing processes and reports needed to interpret feedback used to improve game design.

via Gamasutra

War is hell, and apparently violent video games can help you deal with it. So the army is getting into it.

This is all according to an article on The Strategy Page, an obvious pro-military site which, oddly, does not cite any specific sources for the information. But if indeed it’s accurate, the army has been increasingly using violent video game to help soldiers deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a common stress-related reaction to being in combat.

The article states that troops have been playing violent video games after going into combat to help them unwind, and it evidently helps them relax. And historically, soldiers have sought stressful entertainment to help them cope with the battles.

Assuming that violent video games successfully treat PTSD, it would help to open up a new way of dealing with and studying the psychological effects of violent video games. The traditional thinking is that there are certain children who are, without a doubt, psychologically unbalanced and should be kept away from violence. But maybe there’s a necessity in playing them which helps people deal with it.

via The Strategy Page

Silicon Knights, creator of the up-and-coming Too Human filed a lawsuit today against Epic Games (Gears of War) for allegedly selling sub-par licenses of the Unreal Engine 3 to developers.

Denis Dyack, founder of Silicon Knights, stated “We stand behind everything in our complaint and believe it is highly unfortunate that Epic forced us into this situation. We would rather spend our time focusing on making great games, but as stated in our complaint, Epic simply refuses to acknowledge the inadequacies of the Unreal Engine 3 code it provides to its licensees,” he said, “and refuses to accept the fact that its code has caused serious damage not only to Silicon Knights, but a number of other developers in the industry. We look forward to successful resolution of our claims in this court proceeding.” Silicon Knights wants Epic Games to relinquish all profits from Gears of War sales as compensation for damages to the Too Human development.

Too Human was originally in development for the Playstation, and has been delayed through the heyday of the PS2, and the launch of the PS3, before finally being slated for the Xbox 360. Silicon Knights claims that these delays were caused by Epic’s distribution and coding of UE3. During E3 2006, Too Human was initially brushed aside because of their use of the UE3 for it’s graphic’s engine. Dyack claims Silicon Knights “has lost revenue as a result of the considerable delay in developing its video game for the Xbox 360 because Unreal Engine 3 did not work as Epic represented it would and, moreover, Epic has been unable or unwilling to fix it.” The lawsuit also states that Epic Games used a more posh version of the engine for their title, Gears of War, keeping secret the functionality of the engine while garnering all of the positive press.

Denis Dyack is angry to be sure, but keep checking back as more information on this lawsuit develops, and Dyack keeps running his mouth before the actual court date. His lawyer needs to put the hush hush on him. It is interesting to note though that in the Unreal Engine 3 terms and conditions, it states that the “engine will not build itself,” as with all other licensed graphic engines. Could this lawsuit be the main reason for Silicon Knights delaying Too Human again? Sounds like it.

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A guy calling himself Captain Bob has put out this short video explaining one way the Wii controls could be changed for first-person shooters. He proposes the Wii-mote be used to aim a reticule that remains in the center of the screens, while the Nunchuk controls movement, through a “doorknob” motion which turn the camera 90 degrees. It’s a pretty interesting idea, but I’m not sure how well it would work in practice, since it still leaves the problem of turning being less precise than most shooters. Also if more developers start making games for the Wii Zapper, this control scheme wouldn’t work so well with the Nunchuk strapped down. Still, it’s an interesting proposition though.

Did you know that you’re more likely to be aggressive if your avatar has dark clothes on? And if you come across something you’re not entirely sure has testicles it will make your behavior uneasy?

TerraNova writer Dmitri Williams has an interesting post involving how we behave toward and as avatars in video games citing some recent sociological studies. One of the most interesting points which is brought up in the post is that we go through a process every time we run into something like a robot. We ask ourselves these questions:

1) is this thing human?
2) what is its gender?
3) is it compatible with me intellectually and socially?

The next time you approach someone else you don’t know online, ask yourself, “Am I just trying to talk to this person because I think she’s a girl?”

Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Texas published a study they performed to determine whether playing video games affected adolescents’ time spent reading and doing homework. Their unsurprising results: adolescents who play video games spend less time doing homework and reading than their non-gaming counterparts. They took a sample of 1,491 youths aged 10-19, 36% of whom regularly played video games, and had them keep logs of how they spent their rime. Compared to the non-gamers, the young people who played video games spent 30% less time reading and 36% less time doing their homework. The study also found that boys tended to spend more time playing games than girls. However video games did not seem to alter their social lives, as the time they spent with parents and friends wasn’t impacted.

I’m surprised they needed to do a full-blown study for this. Try this some time: go into an online game — almost any online game — and try to start a discussion on any book that hasn’t been made into a movie. I can practically guarantee that you’ll be met with a mixture of outright ignorance and verbal abuse; possibly a racial and/or homophobic slur or two.

Want your opinion to finally count for something? Help an AI developer improve future games by answering this question: What are examples of actor behaviors that impress you in a game? Think of MUD dungeons. Five AIGameDev T-shirts will be given out for the most interesting comments to posts.

For all of you amateur game developers out there here is a contest you won’t want to miss. In addition to the T-shirts, AIGameDev is giving away a video of AI in Game Development: From Good to Great originally given at Apply AI Innovations 2007. All you have to do to enter is write a review of the AIGameDev site on StumbleUpon.

Here’s some news that is music to my ears, and I bet you’ll like it too. The Federation of American Scientists has gone on record saying that kids need more, not less, video games.

The report, which was compiled with input from education, science, and game industry experts, actually calls for federal funding of video game research and development. The report argues that games help prepare students for a competitive global market. They “can teach higher-order thinking skills such as strategic thinking, interpretive analysis, problem solving, plan formulation, and execution, and adaptation to rapid change. With many technology companies farming out lower-level work to countries where employees come more cheaply, these are the sort of skills American students will need to possess once they hit the workforce.”

The FAS was formed by a group of atomic scientists who had just finished off the Manhattan Project. Hey, I’m kind of glad they’re on our side! Seriously though, it’s good to see some research done into games that doesn’t involve violence and negative effects, but rather highlights the good things that gaming instills in people, both kids and adults.

This one is happening in my own hometown of Redlands, California, so give props. Dr. Ernie Medina founded something called the XRTainment Zone last September. In an attempt to show seniors that exercise can be fun, he created a Virtual Gym that works out both their minds and bodies. Games played include Wishi Washi (using the EyeToy), Jackie Chan J-Mat Fitness and Wii Bowling, but I’m guessing DDR is out of the question at this point.

Medina’s inspiration didn’t come from seniors however; it came ten years ago from seeing a young girl excitedly and actively playing a video game. He looked into games that fit his so-called “exer-gaming model” with plans of helping children fight obesity, then realized it might work just as well with seniors. 78-year-old Angie Cosme is hooked. She says of the exercise, “This is fun… Also it’s much easier than doing your own windows at home.” Dr. Medina feels that while they lightly exercise, they’re required to concentrate on the game, which increases cognitive function.

A European consortium called PRESENCCIA, made up of researchers from Graz University of Technology in Austria and University College London (UCL), has created a virtual world and device where paraplegics can navigate using only their mind. The device uses electrodes attached to the scalp and electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment monitor electrical activity within the brain. After the system is taught to identify different neuronal activity, it can pick up on what the user wishes to do, such as move their left leg and respond in the virtual world.

After initial testing with a healthy user, a paraplegic used the system with a 90% success rate. There are hopes for the system to be used in wheelchair technology to make the chair move without outside influence, or to help those that have just suffered a stroke regain movement. According to UCL’s Doron Friedman, “The patient loved it. He said it was a great feeling to think about moving his feet and to actually ‘move’.”