Engaging game characters: Informing design with player perspectives

The behavior of characters in current computer games is generally scripted and predictable. This paper discusses some issues related to creating game characters that enhance player engagement and identifies the need for a more player-centered approach to game character design. This paper reports the results of a focus group that was carried out with experienced game players to determine what game character behaviors would enhance their engagement in a game. The four general areas of concern that came out of this discussion were consistency with context, player expectations, social interactions and consistency with the environment. This paper discusses these issues and their implication for game character design with a view to creating engaging game characters. © Springer

Small firm internationalisation; understanding the practice through an interpretive approach

The unit of analysis in firm internationalisation studies is the firm but this overlooks the importance of the individual in the internationalisation process. An evaluation of the dominant theories of firm internationalisation highlights an implicit dualistic ontology, that is, where research subject and object are considered to be separate and independent. Implications of this assumption are discussed after reviewing the dominant literatures on firm internationalisation. An alternative approach is proposed that focuses on understanding internationalisation of the firm from an individual practitioner’s perspective. It is suggested that contemporary firm internationalisation research has been hindered by its basic assumptions and its inherent researcher orientation. An interpretive phenomenographic approach is proposed as a means of achieving a first-person, practitioner’s perspective of the process of firm internationalisation, specifically in the context of the small firm. Preliminary interpretations of interviews with owners/managers of small Australian wineries are presented.