Personality traits and risky decision-making in a controlled experimental task: an exploratory study

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886906000547

In this study, we examined decision-making to rewarding or punishing stimuli in individuals with psychopathy (n = 21) and comparison individuals (n = 19) using the Differential Reward/Punishment Learning Task. In this task, the participant chooses between two objects associated with different levels of reward or punishment. Thus, response choice indexes not only reward/punishment sensitivity but also sensitivity to reward/punishment level according to inter-stimulus reinforcement distance. Individuals with psychopathy showed significant impairment when choosing between objects associated with differential levels of reward but also significantly greater impairment when choosing between objects associated with differential levels of punishment. However, the two groups were comparably affected by inter-stimulus reinforcement distance. The results are discussed with reference to current models of psychopathy.

Double-Fine finds success through Kick starter

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure

Prospect Theory

http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~camerer/Ec101/ProspectTheory.pdf

Expected utility theory was widely considered as the normative model of ration choice concerning making decisions under risk, until an alternative model “Prospect Theory” was proposed in 1979 by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky [4]. Prospect theory expands on expected utility theory, overcoming shortcomings that are outlined in the paper that presented prospect theory: “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk” [4]. One of the sole inadequacies of expected utility theory discussed was that most people will prefer outcomes of higher probability than those with lower probability. This suggests that outcomes with the highest utility may still be less desirable than those with lower utility based on the perceived probability of each outcome; this tendency is called the certainty effect. Under this model a person may be risk-averse or risk-acceptant depending on the amount of possible gain, under expected utility theory a gambler would take the risk with the highest value, but with prospect theory a gambler may decide to be risk-aversive and take a lower value outcome with a higher chance of realization than the highest value outcome with a lower chance of happening.

PS Vita Hopes To Prevent Piracy with Closed Memory Format

http://kotaku.com/5896965/sony-killing-psp-games-to-prevent-vita-piracy

*Outrage over expense of Sony’s new card, but Sony say it prevent piracy

*Substitutes for internal memory, hold game saves dlc and other files, ensure security

*Plans to not allow users to hook it up to pc as mass storage, unlike SD cards

*PSP sticks could be mass storage, which led to hackers loading custom firmware, circumvent security protections

*Shimada argues that this will be more convenient for users, and they won’t have to deal with folder systems, similar to programs like iTunes

*Bad for mac users as the software will only be available for Pc when it launches, although mac version in the works

*Prices considerably higher than standard memory: $24.99 for 4GB, $39.99 for 8GB, $69.99 for 16GB, and $119.99 for 32GB. PS Vita system purchases ($249 for Wi-Fi only, $299 for 3G) will not include the cards.

Piracy Non-Issue For Valve

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-11-28-valve-piracy-a-non-issue-for-steam_9

Valve: piracy a "non-issue" for Steam by Robert Purchese (Eurogamer)

*Gabe Newell believes piracy stems not from price but convenience, and as Steam offers so much, piracy is no problem

* "In general, we think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy," "Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem.

*"For example, if a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24x7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate's service is more valuable. Most DRM solutions diminish the value of the product by either directly restricting a customers use or by creating uncertainty.”

*"Our goal is to create greater service value than pirates, and this has been successful enough for us that piracy is basically a non-issue for our company.”

*Newell added, "prior to entering the Russian market, we were told that Russia was a waste of time because everyone would pirate our products. Russia is now about to become our largest market in Europe.”

*Steam requires a download and log in, something many DRM services are criticised for, it also ensures games are up to date as well as offers multiplayer matchmaking, friends lists, achievements and a community

*Many top end publishers opt to have steamworks tools implemented, for use of multiplayer, cloud saving, authentication, so they can be built into the game early on

*Half-life started steam in 2004, but wasn’t until 2005 steam got its first third party, now 7 years later, it dominates the pc/mac digital distribution market.

Awesome looking hacking game

I really like the look of this game, the way the second cross wiring example shows careful level design so that the right timing can be achieved is amazing, I wonder how many outcomes the developers had to work out while making it, or maybe theres ones even they don't know about?

Moral Decision Making in Fallout

http://gamestudies.org/0902/articles/schulzke

Moral Decision Making in Fallout

by Marcus Schulzke

Abstract

Many open world games give players the chance to make moral choices, but usually the differences between good and evil paths through a game are slight. In order for moral choices in games to be meaningful they must be fairly calculated and have significant consequences. The Fallout series is one of the best examples of how to give players thoughtful moral problems and multiple paths to resolving them. This essay looks at the series, and Fallout 3 in particular, as examples of how moral choice can be incorporated into video games. One of the oldest fears about art is that it may corrupt observers and lead them to immorality - a criticism that has resurfaced with attacks on video games. Fallout 3 does the opposite. It encourages players to think about the morality of their actions in the virtual world, thereby teaching them the practical wisdom that Aristotle considered essential to being a moral actor.