A Comparative Study of Gaming Interfaces and Impact on Players

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate how different gaming interfaces compare and impact the players' general experience with games. Forty-seven (n=47) students were selected randomly to participate in the preliminary study. A brief questionnaire was administered after participants experienced three different game interfaces. The preliminary results showed that there were statically significant differences between the players' experience with the different game interfaces. Based on initial observation, the calculated means, and statistical analysis, we can postulate that when designing a game interface, it is not always best to utilize a simplistic interface design and that a complex interface may be more desirable in creating a positive impact for players. This is a work in progress, and with extended experimentation with a larger number of participants and a larger variety of games could potentially provide more accurate details in responding to our research questions.