Game time tracker

131 GAME TIME TRACKER Nishavi Samaraweera1, Shantha Puhulwella2 1University of Sri Jayewardenepura, rumenn[email protected] 2University of Sri Jayewardenepura, [email protected].lk Background Organization and Business Domain Game Time Tracker does not focus on any specific organization or business domain. The younger generation is the target group of this. However, anyone can use this application if they have some interest to manage their time properly while protecting from game addiction. Overview of the Existing System How the existing system functions: There are some existing semi-automated applications to track the usage time of various software which we use for our day to day life such as Smarter Time, Save My Time. And most of them are mobile applications. Problems with Existing System: Protecting students from game addiction is not the purpose of most existing applications. Those are general applications to track the usage time of different applications. But Game Time Tracker addresses a unique purpose in order to provide a solution for a social problem these days. Accordingly, the purpose of Game Time Tracker is to control and manage the game playing time of individuals to protect them from getting addicted to playing games. 132 System Analysis Problem Analysis By today most of the students are addicted to playing video games without considering the time they spend on video games (Chih-Hao, 2014). It negatively impacts their education, personality, and their personal relationships (Liu, 2013). Although there are some existing systems to track the usage time of some applications, still any of these could not address the exact problem of society. Therefore, still we can hear some bad news about the incidents which are raised due to over usage of aggressive and addictive video games (Ramayah, 2007). So, the problem is remaining, and society is looking for a good solution to manage the game playing time of individuals. Requirement Analysis The main requirement of Game Time Tracker is to provide a proper solution for the above-mentioned problem while achieving the purpose and these objectives; Properly manage user accounts with easy access, Provide password reset features, Track the game playing time, Generate warning alerts and closing alerts, Auto close the games after a specified time by the users, Create tables, charts and print them according to the user’s requirements, Maintain user-friendliness, the effectiveness of the system and user interfaces. And these are the Functional Requirements of Game Time Tracker in order to achieve the above objectives, The system should allow to create multiple user accounts, to change passwords, to add installed games into the user accounts, to remove the installed games from user accounts, to view installed games, and it should have ability to automatically save the game playing time, it should generate reports and charts, it should allow to print reports and charts, it should allow to set reminders, it should supply instruction to work on the software, it should have the ability to 133 automatically close the gaming software, and system should allow users to change and set every reminder and auto close option. System Development Development Methodology used: Game Time Tracker is a stand-alone system which is developed using Waterfall Model as the software process development model. Technologies used: Game Time Tracker has developed using several software applications, languages, and technologies. ‘MySQL’ was used to create the database of the system through ‘MySQL Workbench’ application. ‘Apache NetBeans 11.1’ was used as the IDE while using the ‘Scene Builder’ to develop attractive user interfaces. As well as, ‘Adobe XD’ was initially used to design these interfaces. Also, ‘MVC’ Framework was used to code in a clear and understandable way. Then, Java, Java FX and CSS were used as the programming languages and styling languages in order to develop the Game Time Tracker system in an effective and efficient way. Conclusion Achievements It could be developed as an accurate, reliable, and effective application for tracking and managing the game playing time of individuals in order to reduce and control the game addiction. Limitations As a game time tracking system, it is better to have the ability to identify the game paused time when calculating the total playing time. But Game Time Tracker does not have this ability because of differences between various gaming applications and their security restriction. 134 Future Enhancements Game Time Tracker can be further developed by adding the facility of automatically identifying and adding the games into users’ accounts which are installed to the computer, facility of adding online games into Game Time Tracker, and developing a mobile version of this. References Chih-Hao Ku, M. K. K. M. Y. Y. V. Y., (2014) 'A Study of the Influence of Gaming Behavior on Academic Performance of IT College Students'. 20th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2014, p. 11. Liu D, L. X. S. R., (2013) 'Digital Games and Beyond: What Happens when Players Compete?'. MIS Quarterly : Management Information Systems, (37), p. 14. Ramayah T, R. T., (2007) Why Are They So Addicted? : Modeling Online Games Addiction Behavior Among University Students. Dhaka, Bangladesh, s.n.