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The development of a relevant model for measuring user enjoyment of video game play has received a great deal of attention in game-based and flow-based literature. EGameFlow, a self-report scale instrument created from the original game enjoyment framework proposed by Sweetser and Wyeth, provides a necessary and potentially useful tool for game enjoyment researchers. However, the scale itself is quite new. The utility of EGameFlow cannot be determined until its rigorousness has been verified. The purpose of this study was to test the validity, reliability, and applicability of EGameFlow for measuring players’ experiences in video game play. A total of 167 participants played an interactive video game and then evaluated their game playing experiences via the refined 27-item EGameFlow scale, which included the following seven dimensions: concentration, goal clarity, feedback, challenge, autonomy, immersion, and social interaction. Confirmatory factor analysis, reliability testing, and discriminant validity checks were administered. Empirical results indicated that the refined scale was both valid and reliable. Implications of these findings and direction for future research were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We surveyed homeowners with residential landscapes in Las Cruces, N.M., to determine design features participants valued in their landscapes, their attitudes toward the landscape use of desert plants and opinions on factors that would encourage respondents to reduce landscape water use. We also determined whether the willingness to use desert plants in their landscapes related to the length of residency in the southwestern United States. At least 98% of respondents landscaped to enhance the appearance of their home and increase their property value. About hall (50.6%) of the participants strongly agreed or agreed that the main reason to landscape was to display their landscape preferences. Many participants indicated they would use desert plants to landscape their front yard (80.3%) and back yard (56.3%), but relatively lower percentages of participants actually had desert landscapes in their front yard and back yard. Regardless of their property value, respondents were more likely to use desert plants in their backyard the shorter their stay in the desert. Data revealed that participants rank water shortages as the factor that would most likely cause them to reduce the amount of water they applied to their landscapes. We conclude that homeowners report willingness to use desert plants but desert-type landscapes are not a widespread feature of managed residential landscapes. Furthermore, water shortages and the length of time respondents spent in a desert environment would most likely influence water use in their landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]