The Studios User Research Group at Microsoft Studios has been pioneering the adaptation of usability and psychological testing to the entertainment software field. Their mission is to improve games with consumer feedback using controlled research methods.
For more information about Games User Research contact gur@microsoft.com. If you would like to participate in the MGS Playtest/Usability program, sign up here! If you have children aged 3 to 17 that would like to participate in age appropriate game testing, please sign them up here!
If you are attending Gamefest 2011 in Seattle, WA our own Deborah Hendersen will be speaking at the conference this year. The talk will focus on our working with young children during development. The talk is titled Kinect and Kids: Pitfalls and Pleasantries.
Phillips, B. (2010). Peering into the Black Box of Player Behavior: The Player Experience Panel at Microsoft Game Studios., GDC 2010
Phillips, B. (2009). Staying Power, Game Developer Magazine (June) and online at Gamasutra.com
Playtest Labs : Get your gaming voice heard, by Laura Foy. Online Channel 9 Video. (Featuring T. Nichols)
Microsoft to Debut Final Halo Game, by Kaufman. NPR Radio. (Audio - Featuring R. Pagulayan & J. Hopson)
Halo 3: How Microsoft Labs Invented a New Science of Play, by Thompson. Wired Magazine. (Featuring R. Pagulayan)
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Last Updated: May 24 2011