Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertation No. Ôç À o Zu« uì±uouo Uou§«±Zo GZu£Zí Z« S±¶Z±uo Ah±ê±í by JZZ RZf¶«h Department of Computer and Information Science Linköpings universitet SE- Ô ç Linköping, Sweden Linköping òýÔý © Jana Rambusch is dissertation was typeset with LATEX òε, using a modied version of André Miede’s package classicthesis. Available at http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-âçý ò ISBN ÀÞ-ÀÔ-ÞçÀç-ò ò-ç ISSN ýç¥ -Þ ò¥ Printed by LiU-Tryck, Linköping òýÔý ABSTRACT is thesis addresses computer gameplay activities in terms of the physical handling of a game, players’ meaning-making activities, and how these two processes are closely interrelated. It is examined in greater detail which role the body plays in gameplay, but also how gameplay is shaped by sociocultural factors outside the game, including dierent kind of tools and players’ participation in community practices. An important step towards an understanding of these key factors and their interaction is the consideration of gameplay as situated activity where players who actively engage with games are situated in both the physical world and the virtual in-game world. To analyse exactly how players interact with both worlds, two case studies on two dierent games have been carried out, and three dierent levels of situatedness are identied and discussed in detail in this thesis, on the basis of existing theories within situated cognition research. Keywords: computer gameplay, situatedness, embodied cognition e work presented in this thesis was supported by the University of Skövde, Tillväxt Skaraborg and Skövde municipality. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS e work presented in this thesis could not have been done without the support and assistance of many people. Firstly, my sincere thanks are due to my advisor, Professor Tom Ziemke, for encouraging me to undertake a PhD and for his continued strong support, guidance, and positive attitude during this time. I am also grateful to my co-advisor, Doctor Tarja Susi, for being an inspiring mentor and colleague and for her untiring guidance and active role in much of the work presented here. A heartfelt thank you is also due to my second co-advisor, Doctor Ulf Wilhelmsson, for being an honest critic and for giving valuable advice on the topic of games and cognition. I would also like to thank Professor T.L. Taylor for agreeing to be the opponent for the dissertation defence, and the examination committee – Professor Arne Jönsson, Docent Jonas Linderoth, and Professor Robert Ramberg – for their work and critical comments. A special thanks to Docent Agneta Gulz for reading and commenting on the rst complete thesis dra. I am also indebted and appreciative to Daniel Pargman and Peter Jakobs- son, for many interesting and stimulating discussions and fruitful collab- orations. Further, this work would not have been possible without the participants in my case studies and the people who contributed to their success; here I want to thank Mikael Lebram, om Orahim, and Kim Syn- nerborn especially, for their valuable work and assistance. A shout out and thank you is also due to Joel Parthemore for comments and suggestions on earlier work. I am grateful and indebted to my colleagues and fellow graduate students at the University of Skövde, especially Anna-Soa Alklind Taylor, Maria Nilsson, Jessica Lindblom, and Henrik Svensson, for the continued interest in my work and all the discussions we have had. I am also fortunate for being part of the Cognition & Interaction Lab (COIN) and the Interactable Game & Media Lab (InGaMe Lab), the two coolest supportive research groups around. v On a personal note, I am grateful to omas Fischer for his loving support and constant encouragement throughout this thesis writing pro- cess and for introducing me to the wonderful worlds of Linux and LATEX. e nal version of this thesis would not have been possible without his computer ‘hacking’ skills. Finally, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my immediate family. To my parents and my brother, for their continued loving support and concern for my well-being, and for always believing in me. vi LISTOFPUBLICATIONS&PRESENTATIONS B CZ£±u§« Susi, T. & Rambusch, J. (to appear) Kognition och Verktyg (Cogni- tion and Tools). In: M. Jensen and J. Allwood, (Eds.) Introduktion till Kognitionsvetenskap (Introduction to Cognitive Science). Lund: Studentlitteratur. Dahlbäck, N., Susi, T. & Rambusch, J. (to appear) Distribuerad Kog- nition (Distributed Cognition). In: M. Jensen and J. Allwood, (Eds.) Introduktion till Kognitionsvetenskap (Introduction to Cognitive Sci- ence). Lund: Studentlitteratur. Gulz, A., Jensen, M. & Rambusch, J. (to appear) Lärande (Learning). In: M. Jensen and J. Allwood, (Eds.) Introduktion till Kognitionsveten- skap (Introduction to Cognitive Science). Lund: Studentlitteratur. Rambusch, J. & Susi, T. (òýÔý) Serious Learning While Having Fun. In: H. Risku & M. Peschl (Eds.) Kognition und Technologie im koop- erativen Lernen. Vom Wissenstransfer zur Knowledge Creation. (pp. ÞÞ-Àý) Göttingen: V & R unipress (Vienna University Press). Rambusch, J. & Susi, T. (òýý) Situated Play. In: B. Hardy-Vallé & N. Payette (Eds.). Beyond the Brain: Embodied, Situated and Distributed Cognition. (pp. òÔ –òòâ) Newcastle, U.K.: Cambridge Scholars Pub- lishing. Cu§uhu PZ£u§« Rambusch, J., Susi, T., Ekman, S. & Wilhelmsson, U. (òýýÀ). A Literary Excursion into the Hidden (Fan) Fictional Worlds of Tetris, Starcra, and Dreamfall. In B. Atkins, H. Kennedy, & T. Krzywinska (Eds.), Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and eory. Brunel University, Ôst September - ¥th September òýýÀ. vii viii Rambusch, J., Jakobsson, P., & Pargman, D. (òýýÞ). Exploring E- sports: A Case Study of Game Play in Counter-strike. In B. Akira (Ed.), Situated Play (pp. Ô Þ–Ôâ¥). Tokyo: e University of Tokyo. Susi, T. & Rambusch, J. (òýýÞ) Situated Play – Just a Temporary Blip? In B. Akira (Ed.), Situated Play (pp. Þçý–Þç ). Tokyo: e University of Tokyo. Rambusch, J. (òýýÞ) Sikta, skjuta, samarbeta. Om att utveckla kun- skap i dataspel. [Aim, Shoot, and Cooperate – About Skill Develop- ment in Computer Games]. Unga och nätverkskulturer: Mellan moral- panik och teknikromantik (pp. Ô –ò¥). Ungdomsstyrelsen, òýýÞ. Rambusch, J.(òýýÞ) Riding a Bike in Paperboy: A Case study of Embodied Human-Computer Game Interaction. In P. Hernwall (Ed.), e Virtual - Designing Digital Experience, Nr ¥:òýýÞ (pp. Ô¥¥–Ô Ô). Södertörn: Södertörn University. Rambusch, J. (òýýâ) Situated Learning and Galperin’s Notion of Object-Oriented Activity. In: R. Sun (Ed.) Proceedings of the òth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. ÔÀÀ–òýýç). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Rambusch, J. & Ziemke, T. (òýý ) e Role of Embodiment in Situated Learning. In: B.G. Bara, L. Barsalou and M. Bucciarelli (Eds.) Proceedings of the òÞth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. Ôýç–Ôý). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Rambusch, J., Susi, T. & Ziemke, T. (òýý¥) Artefacts as Mediators of Distributed Social Cognition: A Case Study. In: K. Forbus, D. Gentner and T. Regier (Eds.) Proceedings of the òâth Annual Con- ference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. ÔÔÔç–ÔÔÔ). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. J¶§Z PZ£u§« Rambusch, J. & Susi, T. (òýý) e Challenge of Managing Aor- dances in Computer Game Play. Human IT À(ç), pp. ç–ÔýÀ. ix P§u«u±Z±« &W§«£« Rambusch, J. (òýýÀ) An Ecological Approach to Games and Fan Fiction. SweCog Conference, April ò¥-òâ, òýýÀ. (Lidingö Stockholm; Poster presentation) Rambusch, J. (òýý) Game Play in terms of Activity and Cognition. SweCog Kick-O, September òò, òýý. (University of Linköping ) Rambusch, J. & Susi, T. (òýýÞ) e Challenge of Managing Real and Virtual Aordances in Computer Game Play. Game in’ Action, June Ôç-Ô , òýýÞ. (Gothenburg University, Sweden) [Ôç pp.] Rambusch, J.& Susi, T. (òýýÞ) Serious Learning While Having Fun. Learntec òýýÞ, February Ôç-Ô , òýýÞ. (Karlsruhe, Germany) [À pp.] Rambusch, J. (òýýâ) e Embodied and Situated Nature of Com- puter Game Play. Workshop on the Cognitive Science of Games and Game Play, July òâ, òýýâ. (Vancouver, Canada) [ pp.] Rambusch, J. & Ziemke, T. (òýý ) Embodiment Aspects in Human Computer-Game Interaction. e European Conference on Comput- ing and Philosophy, E-CAP òýý . (Västerås, Sweden). [ò pp.] TëZ§o« ±u PD Rambusch, J. (òýý). Situated Play. Linköping: University of Linköping. (Licentiate esis) Rambusch, J. (òýýâ). e Embodied and Situated Nature of Computer Game Play. University of Skövde. (Research Proposal; Unpublished) CONTENTS Tu«« Oêu§êuë Ô Ô Introductionç Ô.Ô What is esis is Aboutç Ô.Ô.Ô Computer Games and Cognitive Science¥ Ô.Ô.ò e Problem of Designating a Unit of Analysis Ô.Ô.ç Aim & ContributionsÞ Ô.ò What is esis is Not About Ôò Ô.ç A Few Clarications Ôç ò esis Map ÔÞ S±¶Z±uo PZí Tu§í òÔ ç A Cognitive Science Perspective òç ç.Ô Historical Background & Current Trends ò ç.ò Embodied and Situated Cognition ò ç.ò.Ô Denition(s) and trends òÀ ç.ò.ò Central Assumptions çý ç.ç Concluding oughts ç ¥ Situatedness – A Complex Concept ¥Ô ¥.Ô It’s Not Just Hands ¥ç ¥.ò Interactions with the World ¥ ¥.ò.Ô Tooling Up ò ¥.ò.ò e Social Mind Þ ¥.ç Concluding oughts À Making Sense of the World âÔ .Ô What Aordances Aord Us âç .ò Beyond Aordances ÞÔ .ç Concluding oughts Þâ xi xii CONTENTS S±¶Z±uo PZí P§Zh±hu ÞÀ â Two Games, Two Case Studies Ô â.Ô Methodological Questions Ô â.ò Ideas and Underlying Premises ç â.ç Closing Remarks Þ Playing Paperboy Þ Þ.Ô Method & Setting À Þ.ò Analysis & Results Àò Þ.ò.Ô