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Investigating Experiences and Attitudes Toward Videogames Using a Semantic Differential Methodology

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Evaluating User Experience in Games

Part of the book series: Human-Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

Abstract

There exists a growing concern in the game design community related to the understanding of the multifaceted nature of players’ experiences. This chapter addresses this relevant need by focusing on the attitudinal aspect of experiences and presents the differential semantic approach as a relevant and powerful methodology. Given the importance of attitudes orienting the cognitive and behavioral stance toward objects in general, and games in particular, researchers need to acquire the proper conceptual and methodological tools in order to investigate these significant aspects. This methodology allows researchers and designers to probe many aspects and questions related to attitudes toward games such as how do players perceive a game, a game genre, or a particular game episode. This chapter details the methodology, presents empirical results gathered using this approach, and offers fertile considerations regarding how a better understanding of attitudes toward games enlightens the gaming system and may help game designers develop innovative games tailored to their intended audiences.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The R statistical package was used to perform both graphical and numerical procedures; available at http://www.r-project.org, it is an open-source software similar to Splus.

  2. 2.

    The exact statistical results are not shown for the two 7×26 tables, for a matter of concision; they are available on request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ludosys, 486 chemin de l’Église, Fatima, QC, Canada, G4T 2N8

    Philippe Lemay

  2. Ubisoft Montréal, 5505 St-Laurent Blvd, Montréal, QC, Canada, H2T 1S6

    Martin Maheux-Lessard

Authors
  1. Philippe Lemay
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  2. Martin Maheux-Lessard
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Correspondence to Philippe Lemay .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherches en, Informatique de Toulouse (IRIT), Université Toulouse III, route de Narbonne 118, Toulouse CX 4, 31062, France

    Regina Bernhaupt

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Lemay, P., Maheux-Lessard, M. (2010). Investigating Experiences and Attitudes Toward Videogames Using a Semantic Differential Methodology. In: Bernhaupt, R. (eds) Evaluating User Experience in Games. Human-Computer Interaction Series. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-963-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-963-3_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84882-962-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84882-963-3

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