Annakaisa Kultima presented two research papers at Future Play 2010 Conference, Vancouver May 6 – 7, 2010:

Kultima, A.  “The Organic Nature of Game Ideation: Game Ideas Arise from Solitude and Mature by Bouncing”

Kultima, A. & Stenros, J. “Designing Games for Everyone: The Expanded Game Experience Model”

First paper presents the results of interview study of idea generation habits of Finnish game developers. The main finding is that the process of coming up with ideas is mainly solo activity, but the maturing process of the ideas is more social. Game developers were talking about “bouncing the ideas”. The ways and tools vary among individuals, but even though it may seem that there is no method, individuals have developed intuitive ways to enhance their processes. The sources for new ideas lie also outside the digital entertainment realm, as many interviewees reported that they seek inspiration constantly from everyday activities. Paper also implies the need for educating game developers even more about ideation methods.

Second paper discusses the expanding nature of game experiences, not only because of the “casual turn” but also because of the rise of social games (Facebook and similar) and games turning into services. The paper presents theoretical model “Expanded Game Experience, EGE”, that we have been working on in several projects, including Gamespace and GaS research projects.

Here are the slides for both of the presentations. Papers will be available at ACM digital library later this year.

Advertisement