Presentation of "User-centered Approach in Creating a Metadata Schema for Video Games and Interactive Media" by Jin Ha Lee, Hyerim Cho, and Andrew Perti at the 13th Annual ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL).

1. User-centered Approach in
Creating a Metadata Schema for
Video Games and Interactive Media
Jin Ha Lee, Hyerim Cho,Violet Fox,Andrew Perti
JCDL 2013

2. How do we organize and describe these games?

3. How LCSH
does it

4. WorldCat

5. How the Web does it

6. Problem
• Game information on theWeb is often
unstructured, cumbersome to navigate,
unvetted and unverified
• Due to the traditional focus on
books, non-book materials
often get described primarily by
form rather than content
• Traditional library standards have
limited applicability
www.wallpaperfo.com

7. How can we provide more
intelligent access to
video games?
Create a metadata schema that
can capture the essential information
about games in a standardized way
www.lewallpaper.com

8. Our approach
Creating Metadata Schema & Encoding Schemes for
Video Games (Autumn 2011, 2012)
• Document-based analysis:
collecting and evaluating metadata elements from
various catalogs or game-related websites
• User-based analysis:
– Personas (Player, Parent, Collector,Academic,
Game developer/designer, Curator/Librarian)
– User interviews
hdwallpapers4desktop.com

9. User interviews
In-depth interview of 24 gamers
• Ranging from casual to hardcore players
• Collectors, parents, educators, etc.
• 21 males/3 females
• 11 in their 20s, 11 in their 30s, 2 in their 40s
• About their gaming experience, information
needs and seeking behaviors, etc.
hdwallpapers4desktop.com

10. • “Genre alone can be somewhat misleading about
how the game is actually designed to be played”
• “it had great plot twists… betrayal, love,
excitement… It really felt like a very complicated
story, even more so than a book or a movie.”
• “That’s why I like the action-adventure, because
there’s usually a story to be told, it’s not just
“here’s a gun, go kill that guy” kind of thing.”
Genre and more

11. • “I can forgive the frustrating game
mechanics in order to keep playing because
the aesthetics are good, the storyline is
good, the goal is compelling.”
• “character is the most memorable thing for
the video game’s appearance”
• “Mainly watching game play video is the
most important (thing)…”
http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2012/07/18/heres-a-beautiful-shadow-of-colossus-painting-for-your-eyes/
Artistic or visual style of the game

12. Information on the companies
involved in creating and
distributing the games seemed
to be highly valued by users
http://cdn3-www.craveonline.com/assets/uploads/2013/06/Final-Fantasy-VII-Advent-Children-desktop-wallpaper.jpg
Companies and franchise

13. Users show divided reaction:
“I read the review (to find out) if it’s worth to buy,
worth to pay… I believe the general user is right.”
“There are some games that get terrible ratings
by other people that I absolutely love and some
that get amazing ratings by other people that I’m
not a big fan of.”
User ratings and reviews
http://digitalcrashart.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/d3_demonhunter_01.png

14. www.hongkiat.com
Multiple stages of info needs
After announcement: Official description of the game
Before purchase: Email reminders
At the time of purchase: Screenshots & gameplay videos
Playing:Avoid game cheats/descriptions
After the gameplay: Similar games

15. • Title
• Edition
• Platform
• Format
• Developer
• Publisher
• Retail release date
• Number of players
• Online capabilities
• Special hardware
• Genre
• Series
• Region
• Rating
• Language
• Identifier

16. • Alternative title
• Franchise/Universe
• Distributor
• System requirements
• Game credits
• Official website
• Price/MSRP
• Controls
• Packaging
• Customization options
• Difficulty levels
• Achievements/Trophies/
Awards
• Box art/cover
• Screenshots
• Trailers
• Gameplay videos
• Style
• Plot/Narrative
• Theme
• Setting
• Mood/Affect
• Temporal aspect
• Presentation
• Point of view
• Character names
• Character types
• Link to historical events
• Type of ending
• Visual style
• Purpose

17. Challenges
• Background knowledge of games
• Source of information
• Subjectivity of information:
estimated time of completion,
user rating/review
• Level of description
total-wallpapers.com

18. Application
videogamegallery.blogspot.com.au

19. • Series: Super Mario Bros.
• Franchise/Universe: Mario
• Genre:Action
• Style: Platformer
• Artistic style: Retro
• Mood: Quirky
• Temporal aspect: Real-time
• Plot/Narrative:
– Protagonist-explores-world
– Protagonist-defeats-bosses
– Protagonist-rescues-princess
• Theme: Fantasy – Princess
• Type of ending: Finite
www.planetminecraft.com

20. • Series: Persona
• Franchise/Universe:
Shin Megami Tensei
• Genre: RPG
• Style: JRPG
• Artistic style: Anime/Manga
• Mood: Dark
• Temporal aspect:
Turn-based; Calendar-based
• Plot/Narrative:
– Protagonist-develops-friendship
– Characters-confront-self
– Characters-prevent-apocalypse
• Theme: Supernatural – Demons
• Type of ending: Circuitous,
Branching

21. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SI7m0JsqYm0/UKK3oOJpiAI/AAAAAAAAAVU/o51uBzMOmAk/s1600/Journey.jpg
• Catalyst for discussion
in the DL community
• Issues discussed here
are also applicable to
other artifacts
from popular culture:
apps, comics, webtoons,
animations, video clips, etc.
Conclusion

22. Future work
• Improve the structure of the metadata schema
• Develop controlled vocabularies
• Provide detailed instructions and examples
• Conduct a large-scale user survey
http://blogs.halowaypoint.com/Headlines/post/2013/02/27/The-Halo-Bulletin-22713.aspx

23. Thank you!
http://nintendoenthusiast.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Okami___The_Sun_Rises_by_Hardedge_Maelstrom.jpg