The Gamer's Eye
Into The Video Game Industry
Track your favorite games and get notified when new information appears online about them.
Problem Statement
Because of the large number of video games being released annually and their long development timeframes, staying up-to-date about video games of interest and sorting through all the information released by video game developers can be time-consuming and challenging for gamers.
Problem Description
There is no fast and easy way for gamers to "watch" games and stay up to date with information about current and unreleased video games they like. Many gamers often eagerly wait for new video games, waiting for any kind of new developments. Often, it is hard to keep track of all these games and regularly searching online in order to find information gets tiresome after some time, especially over the long development timeframes that many games have.
Problem Characteristics
Thousands of Video Games
Thousands of new video games come out every year across multiple platforms such as the PC, consoles, and mobile phones [1][2]. Gamers might want to play many of those new games but staying up to date about so many games can be time consuming.
Video Games Have Long Development Timeframes
Because video games can be in development for several years, staying up to date about them might become tiresome over such long timespans. It is not uncommon for gamers to forget about some games, only to discover them again later while having missed new information about them.
It Can Be Hard to Keep Track of Indie Games
Due to the sheer number of new video games that come out every year, it can be hard for gamers to keep track of all the video games they might want to play. Indie games by smaller studios might be affected by this, as they have smaller marketing budgets, and with less exposure gamers thay might have come across them may forget about them as time goes on.
Information About Video Games Is Very Decentralized
Information about video games can be all over the place. Video game studios post information and new developments on their own websites, many post on social media such as Twitter and Reddit, and then there are news on video game news websites and platforms such as Steam. Different information may be posted on each, and gamers might need to look at all these different sources for new information.
Background
Gamers often eagerly await for new developments in video games they are looking forward to playing or
games that they own and still have interest in. However, video games often take years to develop. In
order to maximize sales, games are marketed years before they are out to the public. By releasing
information regarding new developments on a game periodically, developers can ensure that
gamers will not lose interest in their game. Due to the periodic release of new developments,
gamers will be more likely to purchase a heavily marketed game due not losing interest in the game.
Developers often apply the same principle to paid downloadable content (DLC) in order to keep gamers
interested in a game that they have already purchased.
Overall, the dissemination of new information
about video games from developers to gamers is very important, both for the developers because
revenues can increase, and for the gamers, who wish to learn more about the video games they want to
play or are currently playing.
Figures 1 and 2 below show the correlation between Google Shopping interest and Google News interest
for Grand Theft Auto V, the third best-selling video game of all time. Based on the graph, there is a correlation
between shopping interest and news interest, as news and shopping interest increase and decrease together.
Grand Theft Auto V, shortly before and after its release.
Data source: Google Trends [7].
Grand Theft Auto V, several years after release.
Data source: Google Trends [7].
The Solution
The solution is GameEye, a platform where users can search for and “follow/watch” games. By following a game, they will be sent notifications whenever news articles or new content (e.g. screenshots and official videos such as gameplay and trailers) are released on the internet. Users will have their own personal watchlist and be able to easily get updated about the status of current and unreleased games they like (e.g. potential release date delays and new updates).
Track Your Favorite Games
Is there a video game you want to stay up to date about? Just add it into your personal watchlist and GameEye will keep track of it for you.
announcement
Notifications for New Content
Whenever news articles or new content appears on any of the sources that GameEye uses, you will be notified. Some examples of what GameEye will notify about are game updates, patch notes, new screenshots, and new videos.
Content Organization
GameEye will organize new video game content so that it is easier at a glance to see what is new. See all the new video game news articles, tweets, Reddit posts, images and videos from one place.
Content Categorization
GameEye will use machine learning to categorize new video game content and will know whether a news article, tweet, or Reddit post is about a release date announcement, a release date delay, a major game update or about something else. GameEye will also determine whether the material is important for you to know or not.
Information Extraction
GameEye will utilize natural language processing to analyze news articles, tweets, and Reddit posts to extract the relevant and important information that you need to know about.
Impact Scoring
GameEye will use machine learning to analyze and score news articles and tweets based on how impactful the news they describe are for a game and its players.
Search for Video Games
GameEye will allow you to search for video games to add to your watchlist via simple to use search box powered by auto-completion.
Most Popular Games
GameEye will display a list of the most watched games on the platform so you can see what people are waiting to play or are currently playing. Maybe you will see a game you did not know about which is worth keeping an eye out for!
About Us
We are team yellow in CS411W at Old Dominion University.
Angelos Angelopoulos
Project Lead, Full Stack & ML
Program of Study
Angelos is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at ODU and will be graduating in Fall 2020.
Employment, Extra-Curricular Activities
Angelos is an undergraduate research assistant at the Center for Real-Time Computing and has been for two years now. There he works on medical image computing, high-performance computing, parallel mesh generation, and machine learning applications. He also worked as a software engineering intern at Torrential Data Solutions where he worked as a full stack developer. Before these two positions, he was a system administrator in the ODU CS Systems Group. Angelos has experience in C#, C++, Java, Python, JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
Hobbies
Angelos in his free time enjoys listening to music, playing video games, and working on programming side-projects.
Jacob Cook
Backend Developer, Databases
Program of Study
Graduating from ODU in Fall 2020, Jacob is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Cybersecurity.
Employment, Extra-Curricular Activities
Jacob is a data center technician at Microsoft's largest cloud facility. He works 3rd shift with a diverse, dynamic team to support 24x7x365 cloud infrastructure. He performs network, hardware, and software troubleshooting; configures proprietary server technology; and coordinates with internal and external teams to resolve incidents. Previously, Jacob served as a math substitute with two years of experience teaching Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus at Bluestone Senior High School in Skipwith, VA. In addition, he tutored in Calculus, Java, C++, Physics, and other subjects at Southside Virginia Community College in Keysville, VA.
Hobbies
Jacob's free time consists of spending time with friends and family, playing electric guitar, and doing mathematics for fun.
Christopher Diasanta
Backend Developer, Web Scraping
Program of Study
Christopher is a senior pursuing a Bachelors in computer science at ODU and will be graduating in Fall 2020. He is interested in pursuing a career in software development to learn new ideas, practices, as well as putting his skills to the test.
Employment, Extra-Curricular Activities
Christopher is currently an assistant manager at 7-eleven as well as a small scale e-commerce manager.
Hobbies
Some of his favorite past times include video games, modifying cars, photography, traveling, collecting sneakers, and tinkering with hardware.
Jonathan Epps
Frontend Developer, UI/UX
Program of Study
Jonathan is a senior majoring in computer science.
Employment, Extra-Curricular Activities
He has work experience at the UPS Store where he has sorted mail in the correct boxes and stacked packages in the back of the store.
Hobbies
His hobbies are making 3D models with blender, playing Nintendo games, and drawing.
Ben Hund
Backend Developer, Endpoints
Program of Study
Benjamin Hund is a senior of computer science. He is a transfer student from Tidewater Community College to Old Dominion University. He is currently seeking both a computer science major, and a cyber security minor. He holds education in the C++ and Java programming languages as well as experience using the linux operating system. His degree has progressed to obtaining an associate degree. Another substantial course that's been taken is intro to cyber security.
Employment, Extra-Curricular Activities
Current Ben Hund is a part-time student with a part-time job in frying and maintenance in fast food.
Hobbies
Some hobbies include video games, anime, action movies, and novels to a lesser extent.
Brenden Lewis
Backend Developer, Web Scraping
Program of Study
Brenden is senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Cybersecurity at ODU; he is expected to graduate in the Fall 2020 semester. Initially started programming in high school with an interest in game development, Brenden is now pursuing a possible career in the Airforce after graduation. Brenden is knowledgeable in C++, Java, C#, SQL, and HTML.
Employment, Extra-Curricular Activities
Currently a full-time student, Brenden has background work experience in military simulation training and in the food industry.
Hobbies
Brenden's hobbies include playing video games, exploring and listening to music, drawing, and weight-lifting.
Adrian Wilson
Frontend Developer, UI/UX
Program of Study
Adrian is a senior at ODU, pursuing a Bachelors in Computer Science with a minor in Computer Engineering.
Employment, Extra-Curricular Activities
Currently a stocker at Walmart, and has worked other retail jobs in the past.
Hobbies
He most enjoys his free time exercising, playing video games, and watching sports.
References
- [1] Anderton, K. (2019, June 26). Video game market share and growth. Forbes. [Infographic]. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2019/06/26/the-business-of-video-games-market-share-for-gaming-platforms-in-2019-infographic/#54a8e8787b25
- [2] Dietz, J. (2011, June 23). 30 Games That Emerged from Development Hell. Statisa. https://www.metacritic.com/feature/games-that-shed-vaporware-status
- [3] Gough, C. (2019, August 9). Number of games released on Steam 2018. Metacritic. https://www.statista.com/statistics/552623/number-games-released-steam/
- [4] Gough, C. (2019, August 9). Number of gamers worldwide 2021. Statisa. https://www.statista.com/statistics/748044/number-video-gamers-world/
- [5] Gough, C. (2019, October 9). Google Play: Number of available games by quarter 2019. Statisa. https://www.statista.com/statistics/780229/number-of-available-gaming-apps-in-the-google-play-store-quarter/
- [6] Humphries, M. (2019, September 18). Twitch Acquires Gaming Database Website IGDB. PCMag. https://www.pcmag.com/news/twitch-acquires-gaming-database-website-igdb
- [7] Rose, M. (2014, May 15). How the surge of Steam releases will affect game developers. Gamasutra. https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/217583/How_the_surge_of_Steam_releases_will_affect_game_developers.php