Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Music

This dissertation explores sonic signifiers of injury, disease, and mental illness in 8- and 16-bit video game soundscapes. The immediacy and invasiveness of the medium makes game sound uniquely positioned to influence players' personal identification and immersion within the narrative, and incorporation within the body of the avatar. Games replicate social discourse about the meanings of bodies, and tell stories that matter in a medium that engenders an unusually deep personal engagement. In order to confront these sonic signifiers, I subject my own transcriptions of game audio to analysis drawing on disability studies, ludomusicology (the study of music and play, usually focusing on video games), and music cognition literatures to implicate games in broader discourses of human difference and media representation. In games, bodily impairments are treated not as part of a nuanced spectrum of lived experience, but as obstacles to overcome. Game sound often represents these mechanics in the abstract, to communicate changes in game states to the player, and so the soundscape becomes a vital arbiter of meaning and action. Players' responses to these aural cues is to seek a cure, reading disabilities as temporary setbacks in performance, cues to restore the avatar to “normal.” Game sounds reinforce ableist ideals, promoting an unrealistic view of the idealized normative body and mind as achievable constants and reflecting deep cultural anxieties about the implications of bodily difference.

Committee: Arved Ashby Ph.D (Advisor); Graeme Boone Ph.D (Committee Member); David Bruenger Ph.D (Committee Member); Neil Lerner Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2018, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

With video game usage--and criticism on its activity--on the rise, it may be helpful for the psychological community to understand what it actually means to play video games, and what the lived experience entails. This qualitative, phenomenological study specifically explores user behaviors and decisions in the simulated life video game, The Sims. Ten participants completed one- to two-hour long semi-structured interviews, and the data was transcribed, organized into 1,988 codes, which were clustered into 30 categories, and from which six themes ultimately emerged. These resulting themes are: self-representation; past, present, and future; purpose for play; self-reflection; co-creation; and familiarity. The essence of playing The Sims includes a degree of self-representation through gameplay choices, projecting one's own past, present or future into the game, and play that is motivated by distinct reasons or benefits. Gameplay in The Sims also involves a sense of familiarity, the interaction of inspirations coming from both the user and the game, and the users' reflections on the connection between themselves and the game. Relationships between the six resulting themes and the current literature on video game psychology are reviewed, and future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Committee: Jude Bergkamp Psy.D. (Committee Chair); Kirk Honda Psy.D. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Fanning Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Psychology

MA, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences

The ease of online video game functionality has made online video game play the norm in research studies, but offline video game settings are still exercised today among friends. Video game play has grown exponentially as a favorable leisure activity not just among adolescents, but adults as well. This study sought to assess how relationship quality among emerging adults varies with offline video game play with friends. At Kent State University, 222 undergraduate students across multiple disciplines were recruited to complete an online survey on perceived friendship quality and video game play. Of those, 123 reported video game play and their responses were used to analyze support and strain received from friends based on the MIDUS II Support and Strain Scales. In addition, game genre and frequency of play answers were recorded as potential moderators between support and strain received from friends and video game play. Linear regressions revealed no significant association between support and strain receive from friends and offline video game play. Four linear regressions were used to analyze game genre and frequency of play respectively between support and strain received from friends and video game play. Although results showed no significance within these moderator regressions, time with friends was associated with support received from friends.

Committee: Kelly Cichy (Advisor); Aryn Karpinski (Committee Member); Scott Tobias (Committee Member) Subjects: Families and Family Life; Health Education

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2017, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a substantial part of the multibillion dollar gaming industry. Millions of people of all ages across the globe engage in game play. With the average gamer logging 26.6 hours a week online instead of engaging in real world activities and responsibilities, this genre has created an international epidemic. In the last ten years the literature on this topic has gained interest and momentum. Researchers continue to explore the innumerable reaches of MMORPGs and how the gamer and their community are affected. The aim of this study was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how the gamer relates to their world, both virtual and real, on a social level. The participants were gathered online mostly from within one particular MMORPG, Perfect World International. This study surveyed 103 participants with an online questionnaire. They were and given compensation in the form of virtual money. The electronic version of this dissertation is available free at Ohiolink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Brett Kia-Keating Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Karen Lehman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nickolas Jordan Ph.D., LMFT (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Psychology; Mental Health; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Popular Culture

Retro video game collecting has seen an increase in popularity in the recent decade, however, with the increase in popularity of digital gaming and digital media the retro video game collectors are an endangered subculture of the video gaming industry due to the increase in digital gaming and the disappearance of the physical commodity. This research takes an autoethnographic approach and uses theories such as, Pierre Bourdieu's theories regarding capital and the field, Karl Marx's theory of commodity, and Ray Oldenburg's theory of the Third Place to explain the importance of this subculture and why retro video game collecting is worth researching.

Committee: Kristen Rudisill Ph.D (Committee Chair); Jeremy Wallach Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Epistemology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Video games constitute a massive global industry, and with the scope of this industry comes the need to continue to localize these titles for markets in other countries. The localization of Japanese titles into English is especially prominent within the industry and brings with it a number of unique challenges. These challenges have been met with a variety of creative, adaptive strategies that can be seen when comparing Japanese titles to their localized versions, making it clear that localization is far more than a simple translation. In this thesis, I will be examining the localizations of three game titles: Fire Emblem, The World Ends with You, and Hotel Dusk: Room 215, paying careful attention to the strategies and concerns exhibited in their localizations via a parallel comparison of the original Japanese text to its localized rendition. In doing so, I hope to explore how these same strategies can illuminate some of the underlying factors influencing localization practices, all while considering how they can contribute to a successful, well-received localization that engages and captivates players from start to finish. As a supplement to my own findings, I have also included interviews with Brian Gray and Alan Averill, the localizers for The World Ends with You and the editor for Hotel Dusk: Room 215, respectively.

Committee: Charles Quinn (Advisor); Etsuyo Yuasa (Committee Member); Patricia Sieber (Committee Member) Subjects: Foreign Language; Language

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2022, Economics

An old, signed baseball mitt or your first tickets to a concert often hold more personal value than you originally spent on them. Nostalgia is a powerful force that can drive a consumer to purchase a product for the sole purpose of remembering a past time. This paper posits that one of the ways businesses in the video game market can utilize nostalgia is by timing the release of remakes. Using observational data on video game sales with information on genre, sequels, and remakes for each observation, I estimate that the length of wait time that generates the most sales for the release of a remake is between 9 and 20 years.

Committee: Mark Tremblay (Advisor); Gregory Niemesh (Committee Member); Peter Nencka (Committee Member) Subjects: Economic Theory; Economics

Bachelor of Science of Media Arts and Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2022, Media Arts and Studies

Prosocial video games and, by extension, non-player characters are positively associated with empathy and learning prosocial values. Therefore, if designed with believability in mind, persistent non-player characters can create unique player-focused stories that inspire real-life change. Companion is a role-playing game that focuses on cultivating believable relationships between the player and non-player follower characters to increase empathy and teach players prosocial values that will transfer into reality.

Committee: Beth Novak (Advisor); John Bowditch (Advisor) Subjects: Multimedia Communications

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Musicology

Video games are ubiquitous in American culture, and their sounds have worked their way into the popular soundscape over the past half-century. At the same time, game songs continue to grant musicians and audiences a safe space in which to try out new identities, and a forum in which to engage in critical commentary. Combinations of game concepts and themes with other styles like symphonic music present opportunities for new types of audience experiences. No longer just one part of a video game, these sounds and narratives have influenced numerous musical genres, provided outlets for identity exploration and community building, and become entities unto themselves. Aural aspects of video games are just as important as visual ones in creating feelings of immersion for the player, and many people today share feelings of enthusiasm, nostalgia, and joy for the bleeps and bloops of early consoles as well as for the sound effects emitted from more modern gaming systems. Sonic cues from games weave their ways into popular culture, so much so that Pac-Man's “wacka wacka” sound and Mario's “game over” music take on new meanings. Sometimes they infiltrate dance music or establish platforms for parodies and tributes, providing bases for new musical communities and subcultures. They also work their ways into the realm of contemporary classical music, sparking experiments that combine game-inspired sounds, concepts, and images with various musical forms and genres. Additionally, game sounds give us an aural connection to the expanding relationships between new technologies and popular culture. In this dissertation, I consider what happens to game sound when it is reframed and experienced outside of an in-game context, and examine how musicians have used game sounds to reshape the cultural coding of video games in America. My primary interest here is not the in-game functions of sounds themselves, which have been discussed extensively elsewhere, but how different subcultures (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel Goldmark (Committee Chair); Susan McClary (Committee Member); David Rothenberg (Committee Member); Kurt Koenigsberger (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Mass Communications; Music

Bachelor of Science of Media Arts and Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2012, Media Arts and Studies

Examination of the history, development, and future of adaptive, dynamic, and interactive music in video games. Discussions include nonlinear music historical developments, compositional approaches for adaptive music, generative music, testing methods in the compositional and implementation stages, the evolving industry of adaptive music composition, future technological developments in music production and gaming, and adaptive music beyond games. Also included is an appendix of video game case studies, as well as an appendix of professional insight from game industry veterans.

Committee: Eddie Ashworth (Advisor); Arthur Cromwell Dr. (Other) Subjects: Communication; Composition; Mass Media; Music; Technology

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Career and Technology Education/Technology

The problem of the study was to evaluate current distracted driving video games for teen drivers based on a best practice checklist of effective strategies. The best practice checklist was generated from game metrics, game models, and theorists that specialize in digital game-based learning (DGBL) games. The DGBL model was designed to help teach teen drivers all the distracted driving challenges teens presently face that the driver's education program does not hit on. The DGBL game model was designed from all the evaluated distracted driving video games. All the current distracted driving video games were evaluated with the best practice checklist. After all the current distracted driving video games had been evaluated, they were ranked and put into a list. If a driving game has a certain criteria from the checklist it would get a check mark for that game criteria. Whichever game got the most check marks would be first and thus down the line of games. Once the list was completed all the games were be reviewed to see if there was one game that fits all the criteria for a complete DGBL game model. If one game happens to fit the criteria it would be used for the DGBL model. The results from objective two were analyzed and ranked. They were ranked based on how many of the criteria they met. At the end of the ranking process, there were two games that not only had the same amount of game metrics, but also had the same game metrics as well. Both of them had all of the game metrics, except rewards. Both of the top two ranked distracted driving games were especially well done and had in-depth story lines, many challenges, and immediate feedback, and were motivating, engaging, and interactive. The researcher's game model was based off of the Distractology game model with rewards being added to make it a true well-rounded DGBL game model.

Committee: Terry Herman Dr. (Advisor); Larry Hatch Dr. (Committee Member); Paul Cesarini Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Education; Educational Software; Educational Technology

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), University of Findlay, 2024, Education

E-sports, or online gaming, is a relatively new phenomenon taking place on high school campuses across the country. While many view online gaming through a negative lens, there is a growing body of research that E-sports participation provides similar benefits and detriments to those of traditional sports. The purpose of this paper was to identify factors that students, parents, staff and school stakeholders report as being important to participation on an E-sports team and how that compares to traditional sports. This qualitative case study consisted of interviews held with members from a rural Ohio high school E-sports team, members of traditional sports teams, coaches, parents and school district stakeholders. The findings of this study indicated that the benefits and detriments of E-sport and traditional sport participation were very similar. However, E-sport athletes described their participation through a personal, singular lens while traditional sport athletes explained their experiences through a shared group viewpoint. The findings of this study supported the literature in that there are shared benefits and detriments of E-sport participation with traditional sports, but there is also a great need for future research into how athletes perceive these similarities.

Committee: Dr. Jeremy Coles (Committee Chair); Dr. Scott Grant (Committee Member); Dr. Amanda Ochsner (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Research; Technology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2024, College-Conservatory of Music: Theory

The filmic experience of animated multimedia can be deeply understood if sync points are identified for their functions. My methodology combines Sergei Eisenstein's film editing concepts with music theories of rhythm and meter to contribute a sync point analysis framework for studying rhythmic audio (music) and visual (image) interactions in multimedia such as American and Japanese animated musicals as well as mobile rhythm games. In this framework, music shows what image is synchronized to, while image shows how music is synchronized. I argue that applying the study of film rhythm to music-theoretical frameworks of phrase structure, formal function, and rhythm and meter helps understand the creation and consumption of films. While music theory and film theory each have specialized terminology and limitations, I connect shared concepts between fields to develop an encompassing interdisciplinary framework. This dissertation focuses on identifying sync points in animated multimedia. At the same time, I seek to push even the most on-the-nose synchronicity, commonly known as mickey-mousing, beyond its status as a mere plot accessory or visual gimmick. My use of “synchronicity” refers to precise moments when image and sound closely and rhythmically mirror each other in fluctuating periodicities. I place audio and image on equal grounds to explore how music-theoretical and visual film-editing techniques define the sync point functions. I argue that functional sync points feature visually marked moments that support musical functions, whether formal, rhythmic, metric, or cadential. That is how sync points pinpoint audiovisual relationships that are reciprocal, equal, and functional when audio and image are perceived together. In the initial chapters, I develop a framework for sync point analysis that (1) differentiates synchronous from nonsynchronous audio-image relations and (2) assigns labels to describe sync point functions. This system's originality lies (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cristina Losada Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Samuel Ng Ph.D. (Committee Member); Christopher Segall Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, Economics

This study attempts to estimate direct network effects within the online video game platform Steam. To overcome Manski's ``reflection problem" in identifying this effect, I use three holidays - the Chinese National Day in 2023, the American Thanksgiving in 2023, and the American Martin Luther King Holiday in 2024 - as exogenous regional shocks and employ the differences-in-differences method on time and players' location. Using data from Steam API, I estimate a model of daily playtime and the choice of whether to play at all, allowing utility to vary with players' own location, day of the week, and their friends' locations. This model permits the localized nature of network effects observed in the data. However, because of the limited number of observed US-to-non-US and Chinese-to-non-Chinese friendships on the platform, the data is underpowered to detect an effect.

Committee: Charles Moul (Advisor); Josh Ederington (Committee Member); Peter Nencka (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Music

Video game developers aim to create immersive experiences, generally described as those which deeply engage an audience member so much that they feel like they are part of the virtual world. Many factors contribute to successful immersion in video games, though this dissertation focuses primarily on the audible domain with references to visual elements when relevant. The core of this dissertation is a taxonomy of Immersive Audio Techniques (IATs) that categorizes twenty-three unique techniques into five categories based on their incorporation into a game's sound design and its resulting immersive effect. Some techniques rely more on a player's subconscious processing of audio information, while others assist immersion through their interpreted meaning. Video games are perhaps the most common form of interactive multimedia, meaning that they afford some level of agency to the player and respond to their input. In video games, sensory stimuli relay information to the player, influencing their further actions, which in turn affects the continued sensory feedback. This results in a continual feedback loop that is crucial to gameplay. While still maintaining a degree of indeterminacy, interactive multimedia design is highly intentional and the resulting experiences can be analyzed to understand what techniques are involved in the design process. Principally, I examine how audio is used by itself or in combination with audio streams within the broader sound design of a game to deeply immerse a player. I pull primarily from literature in ludomusicology and music theory, with references also from film studies, ludology, and psychology. Most theories regarding cross-modal synchronization come from film studies, usually focused on audio-visual interaction, and it is well-known that game developers have historically been inspired by cinematic design. Concepts such as the “magic circle” and the “immersive fallacy” originate in ludology and consider an individual's own agency (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anna Gawboy (Advisor); Scott Swearingen (Committee Member); Jeremy Smith (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2023, College-Conservatory of Music: Theory

Genres in popular music, particularly post-2000s popular music, are constellations of components that may or may not be active on any given track. In addition to this, recording techniques and technology also significantly impact the concept of genre because as they grow and evolve, so do the genres they are employed in. This creates a musical repertoire that is constantly changing and that is dependent on the technology and trends around it for its definition. Because of the evolutionary history of genres in popular music and because of their fluidity, there will always be some degree of component overlap between genres. This overlap of components between genres is of particular importance when the music is examined from the listener's perspective because each individual listener brings their own background knowledge to hearing a song. As a result, different musical connections may arise for different listeners based on what music they typically listen to. The presence of these two characteristics suggests that analysts may want to examine this repertoire from the listener's perspective. To carry out this type of examination, I have created a two-pronged analytical tool comprised of Meta-Categorical Frameworks and Genre Experience Maps that approaches the music from the listener's perspective. The tool allows the listener to track not only what components they hear as propagating the genre of the song, but also allows them to visually depict musical associations they uncover. The first step, Meta-Categorical Frameworks, are charts that help the analyst break a track down into its genre components and gather their thoughts. The second step, Genre Experience Maps, are visual webs that place the components from the Meta-Categorical Framework into nodes so associational lines can be added to connect related components, emphasizing relationships the listener hears in the music. To demonstrate the wide range of analytical applications for Meta-Categorical F (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christopher Segall Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Stephen Meyer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Cristina Losada Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

The ease of interacting with objects typically depends on how the object (the stimulus) fits with the effector (what makes the response). For example, reaching towards a right-handled mug handle may feel more natural with one's right hand than with one's left hand, a phenomenon known as Stimulus-Response Compatibility (SRC) in which a stimulus shows a slower response when it is incompatible with the response. In order to investigate SRC influences on activities involve a series of actions that achieve a broader goal over time (e.g., sports, playing a video game, etc.), in the present study I used a virtual-reality task in which hand-held controllers moved virtual tiles in a sliding-puzzle task where the left-hand controller moved tiles leftward (compatible condition) or rightward (incompatible condition) or vice versa. Participants completed puzzles more slowly in the incompatible condition than in the compatible condition, suggestive of SRC influences on temporally extended tasks.

Committee: Tehran Davis Ph.D. (Committee Chair); John G. Holden Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kevin Shockley Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Experimental Psychology

MA, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Time spent gaming and depressive symptoms are both variables that the extant literature has identified to have associations with gaming disorder. However, most research that examined time spent gaming as a variable of interest have relied on participant self-report. This study incorporates objective measures of time spent gaming via logged behavioral data, specifically examining longitudinal relationships between time spent gaming, depressive symptoms, and gaming disorder. Additionally, behavioral activation level was examined as a potential mediator of these variables. 98 North American League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics players (82.7% male), with an average age of 22.34 years (SD = 3.67), were recruited to complete three waves of measures assessing negative emotion and game play characteristics over the course of two weeks. The participants also provided consent to link their accounts' behavioral data to their responses. Meaningful differences between objective logged data and subjective self-report estimates of time spent gaming (absolute difference = 5.20 h per week, SD = 7.66) were observed. Self-reported time spent gaming was associated with decreased levels of behavioral activation which in turn were associated with elevated gaming disorder symptoms. Similarly, depressive symptoms were associated with increased gaming disorder symptoms via lower behavioral activation levels. These effects were no longer significant when baseline values of subsequent variables in the mediation path were controlled for. Logged data on time spent gaming did not demonstrate the same pattern of results as self-report. Substantial differences between objective logged data and subjective self-report estimates of time spent gaming align with previously reported discrepancies observed in other studies examining technology use. Significant longitudinal relationships were observed for subjective self-report estimates of time spent gaming and depressive symptoms on gaming disorder (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: William Lechner (Advisor); Mary Himmelstein (Committee Member); John Updegraff (Committee Member); Joel Hughes (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Popular Culture

The horror genre is infamous for its representation of marginalized groups, such as women, people with disabilities, and people of color. Though this was most prominent in historical contexts, these negative images associated with marginalized groups are still heavily ingrained in the genre. Using Julie Krestvias' Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, this thesis focuses on how the genre's abject female bodies are villainized. Marginalized groups of women, such as Transgender, Fat, and Black women, are all treated as villains, with their bodies being the center of their evilness. Though their villainization is shown differently throughout the texts, they are still displayed as negative stereotypical images of the groups they belong to. Transgender women's bodies in horror have a focus on their masculinity, while Fat women are more closely connected to the idea of gluttony and sin. Black women, however, have limited appearances in horror, though what is displayed in horror has continued to be the same throughout film history.

Committee: Becca Cragin Ph.D (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Brown Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Gender Studies; Womens Studies

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Music Composition

Hero's Awakening is a sixteen-minute, four scene micro-opera for soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor, piano, and visual projector. The work explores a video game world where one of the in-game characters, also known as a non-player character (NPC), seeks to control the game. The libretto was written in collaboration with author Sean Penzo. Hero's Awakening is organized into four scenes that follow three video game characters. Rowan is the egotistical and rude human player of the game. Kay is an in-game NPC who is Rowan's sidekick. The Merchant, another in-game NPC, initially seems to be a simple salesperson. As the story develops the Merchant schemes to replace Rowan. By the end the Merchant has achieved their goal, but at the price of Rowan and Kay's lives. The harmonic and melodic language of this work is primarily tonal. Each scene contains shifting tonal centers, but harmonic progressions don't always follow common practice period tendencies. Non-harmonic tones frequently appear in the piano to portray emotions ranging from whimsical to ominous. The vocal lines are triadic and chromatic in nature, smoothly shifting between these changing tonal centers using common tones shared between distantly related chords. Rhythm plays an important role in depicting the video game world by setting underlying rhythmic patterns the characters converse against. When characters break the fourth wall, the rhythmic texture strays from these rhythmic motives and be molded to fit the characters' emotions. Visual backgrounds immerse the audience in the video game, especially in the opening and Scene IV, where the seemingly mundane game menu plays an important role in the story. In the opening the game menu establishes Rowan as the only character who can control the game as they start a “New Game”. However, in Scene IV, the Merchant's efforts to defeat Rowan are depicted in their fight to control the menu. The Merchant's ability to control the game is most clearly shown in t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elainie Lillios DMA (Committee Chair); Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers DMA (Committee Member) Subjects: Music; Performing Arts