Game platforms have different impacts on player experience in terms of affective states and workloads. By studying these impacts, we can uncover detailed aspects of the gaming experience. Traditionally, understanding player experience has relied on subjective methods, such as self-reported surveys, where players reflect on their experience and effort levels. However, complementing these subjective measures with electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis introduces an objective approach to assessing player experience. In this study, we examined player experiences across PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Meta Quest 2. Using a mixed-methods approach, we merged subjective user assessments with EEG data to investigate brain activity, affective states, and workload during low- and high-stimulation games. We recruited 30 participants to play two games across three platforms. Our findings reveal that there is a statistically significant difference between these three platforms for seven out of nine experience factors. Also, three platforms have different impacts on play experience and brain activity. Additionally, we utilized a linear model to associate player experience aspects such arousal, frustration, and mental workload with different brain regions using EEG data.

Mixed reality (MR) technologies enable users to experience computer-generated content within the physical environment through spatial computing and head-mounted displays. By supporting real-time interaction through speech, gesture, gaze, and movement, MR offers new opportunities for game design beyond productivity and educational applications. However, relatively few studies have examined interaction modalities in MR games. In this paper, we present the design and deployment of four MR games on the Microsoft HoloLens 2: three that use monomodal input (speech, gaze, or gesture) and one that uses multimodal input (speech, gaze, and gesture). We conducted a study with ten participants and evaluated player experience using subjective self-reports of task load, emotional engagement, and comfort alongside objective measures, namely brain activity data collected with a five-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) device. Our preliminary findings suggest two clusters of interaction modalities based on subjective measures, a pattern that is also reflected in the objective EEG measures. Our analysis combining subjective and EEG data indicates that interaction modality influences task load and emotional engagement. Additionally, our functional connectivity analysis showed links in activity across the prefrontal, temporal, and occipital brain regions for different input modalities in the MR games.