The discovery and retrieval of video games in library and information systems is, by and large, dependent on a limited set of descriptive metadata. Noticeably missing from this metadata are classifications of visual style–despite the overwhelmingly visual nature of most video games and the interest in visual style among video game users. One explanation for this paucity is the difficulty in eliciting consistent judgements about visual style, likely due to subjective interpretations of terminology and a lack of demonstrable testing for coinciding judgements. This study presents a taxonomy of video game visual styles constructed from the findings of a 22‐participant cataloging user study of visual styles. A detailed description of the study, and its value and shortcomings, are presented along with reflections about the challenges of cultivating consensus about visual style in video games. The high degree of overall agreement in the user study demonstrates the potential value of a descriptor like visual style and the use of a cataloging study in developing visual style taxonomies. The resulting visual style taxonomy, the methods and analysis described herein may help improve the organization and retrieval of video games and possibly other visual materials like graphic designs, illustrations, and animations.

User studies in the music information retrieval (MIR) domain tend to be exploratory and qualitative in nature, involving a small number of users, which makes it difficult to derive broader implications for system design. In order to fill this gap, we conducted a large‐scale user survey questioning various aspects of people's music information needs and behaviors. In particular, we investigated if general music users' needs and behaviors have significantly changed over time by comparing our current survey results with a similar survey conducted in 2004. In this paper, we present the key findings from the survey data and discuss 4 emergent themes—(a) the shift in access and use of personal music collections; (b) the growing need for tools to support collaborative music seeking, listening, and sharing; (c) the importance of “visual” music experiences; and (d) the need for ontologies for providing rich contextual information. We conclude by making specific recommendations for improving the design of MIR systems and services.

Despite the growing interests in video games as consumer products as well as objects of research, current methods for accessing video games are limited. We present Vizmo as a new way of browsing video games based on their visual style and mood. In order to test the usability and usefulness of Vizmo, we asked 19 video game experts to evaluate their interaction with the tool. The results show that experts perceived Vizmo as a novel and aesthetically pleasing game discovery tool which would be most useful for game research on historical and aesthetic aspects. We discuss five key points for improving the design of Vizmo as well as our future plan for the next iteration of this prototype game browser.