Rock Band: a case study in the design of embodied interface experience

ABSTRACT

There has been a recent surge of novel interface devices available for home gaming systems. With the rise in popularity of games like Guitar Hero and consoles such as Nintendo's Wii comes new opportunities for game design at the interface level. In this paper we propose three interrelated dimensions for the analysis of embodied and gestural game interface hardware devices. We demonstrate how gestural and embodied interactions can be understood as ludic, kinesthetic and narrative experiences. We ground this discussion in a close analysis of the interface affordances of the game Rock Band and demonstrate how these three dimensions allow us to understand more clearly the place of the interface in the design and the experience of games.

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Index Terms

• Human-centered computing

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)

    • HCI theory, concepts and models

    • Interaction devices

      • Haptic devices

      • Touch screens

    • Interaction paradigms

  • Interaction design

    • Interaction design process and methods

      • User centered design

    • Interaction design theory, concepts and paradigms