title: Extracting game-play metric data from audio/video processing: A practical solution for game studies research

authors: Marczak, Raphaël

subjects: videogame classification

abstract: Today videogame classification works to a set of guidelines initially designed for, and more conducive to linear mediums (film, television and literature). As a result, digital games receive an age restriction rating based on both their depiction of harmful content and its prospective impact on players. Not accounting for the medium’s interactive qualities means that envisaging the player’s experience and the nature and impact of interactions between players and game texts remains a largely inferential practice and an exercise in caution. Given the medium’s interactive nature, we argue that classification processes would be supported by research that provides empirical accounts of the interactive experience of games. In order to take into account the unique experiential properties of games, a mixed methodological approach located at an intersection between humanities, social sciences and computer science is being employed in a large-scale study of player experiences. This paper presents one of the earliest challenges for this study: the capacity to gather game-play metric data from game texts that are selected by participants as an ongoing process throughout the course of the study. With no real advance knowledge of game choices, access to source code or game developers, a pragmatic solution was required to capture player interactions with game texts. This paper presents the beginnings of a method of gathering game-play metrics through utilizing audio and video processing and its required synchronization with other forms of data output.

text: Extracting game-play metric data from audio/video processing: A practical solution for game studies research Today videogame classification works to a set of guidelines initially designed for, and more conducive to linear mediums (film, television and literature). As a result, digital games receive an age restriction rating based on both their depiction of harmful content and its prospective impact on players. Not accounting for the medium’s interactive qualities means that envisaging the player’s experience and the nature and impact of interactions between players and game texts remains a largely inferential practice and an exercise in caution. Given the medium’s interactive nature, we argue that classification processes would be supported by research that provides empirical accounts of the interactive experience of games. In order to take into account the unique experiential properties of games, a mixed methodological approach located at an intersection between humanities, social sciences and computer science is being employed in a large-scale study of player experiences. This paper presents one of the earliest challenges for this study: the capacity to gather game-play metric data from game texts that are selected by participants as an ongoing process throughout the course of the study. With no real advance knowledge of game choices, access to source code or game developers, a pragmatic solution was required to capture player interactions with game texts. This paper presents the beginnings of a method of gathering game-play metrics through utilizing audio and video processing and its required synchronization with other forms of data output.

year: 2012-07-21

title: Jailcraft: Exploring informal knowledge and practices of corrections staff in custodial spaces

authors: Rayner, Kristyn

subjects: corrections

abstract: Custodial officers have one of the most complex, high-risk jobs within our society. The job is formally guided and bound by organisational policy, national law and international law. However, in Aotearoa, New Zealand, the role of a custodial officer is held by a range of people to support the diverse prison population in an array of contexts, which requires nuance as not one model will be optimal for all needs. The present research aims to identify and understand the informal knowledge and informal practices held by custodial officers. Seven custodial officers employed by Ara Poutama Aotearoa from across Aotearoa, New Zealand, were interviewed for this research. These interviews were analysed using constructivist grounded theory. The theory states that a custodial staff’s experiences of recruitment and initial training will shape the attitudes they adopt and the subsequent practices they engage in. The data shows that two operational attitudes on the floor will contribute to the formal and informal behaviour of custodial officers and that tension arises out of these differences that contribute to rates of staff turnover.

text: Jailcraft: Exploring informal knowledge and practices of corrections staff in custodial spaces Custodial officers have one of the most complex, high-risk jobs within our society. The job is formally guided and bound by organisational policy, national law and international law. However, in Aotearoa, New Zealand, the role of a custodial officer is held by a range of people to support the diverse prison population in an array of contexts, which requires nuance as not one model will be optimal for all needs. The present research aims to identify and understand the informal knowledge and informal practices held by custodial officers. Seven custodial officers employed by Ara Poutama Aotearoa from across Aotearoa, New Zealand, were interviewed for this research. These interviews were analysed using constructivist grounded theory. The theory states that a custodial staff’s experiences of recruitment and initial training will shape the attitudes they adopt and the subsequent practices they engage in. The data shows that two operational attitudes on the floor will contribute to the formal and informal behaviour of custodial officers and that tension arises out of these differences that contribute to rates of staff turnover.

year: 2025

title: “Seeing” Kāpō Māori: Making visible the experiences of Kāpō Māori during and after COVID-19

authors: Masters-Awatere, Bridgette

abstract: A scoping project focused on the intersection of Māori and the framing of vision impairments (disability) within the context of a pandemic response (in this instance COVID-19). Specifically, we were interested in the experiences of kāpō Māori during and post COVID-19 in order to centre the cultural and health needs of kāpō Māori in a culturally responsive manner. We highlight the aspirations that kāpō Māori have for themselves and their whānau, and to identify the facilitators and barriers that kāpō Māori and their whānau face in achieving these

text: “Seeing” Kāpō Māori: Making visible the experiences of Kāpō Māori during and after COVID-19 A scoping project focused on the intersection of Māori and the framing of vision impairments (disability) within the context of a pandemic response (in this instance COVID-19). Specifically, we were interested in the experiences of kāpō Māori during and post COVID-19 in order to centre the cultural and health needs of kāpō Māori in a culturally responsive manner. We highlight the aspirations that kāpō Māori have for themselves and their whānau, and to identify the facilitators and barriers that kāpō Māori and their whānau face in achieving these

year: 2021