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Chrysler's serious game teaches teens to drive
Video games. Is there anything they can't do? Not if you believe advancements in the emerging serious games market, which has produced programs aimed at doing everything from teaching cancer awareness and medical practices to treating veterans for posttraumatic stress disorder. Now Chrysler and developer SBK Interactive have come along and developed their own game aimed to teach teens what to do when they get behind the wheel. According to a NBC report, the freely downloadable game, called Streetwise, is part of the group's larger Road Ready Teens program, and is designed to teach "new drivers lessons on the road without ever venturing outside." We're interested to see what sorts of drivers this game turns out, though the idea of teens cutting their driving teeth on the same format that gave us Burnout makes us inclined to lock the doors and order out for pizza.
GlucoBoy turns diabetes blood-testing into a game
A new glucose monitor targeted at children with Juvenile Diabetes hopes to entice its young users by doubling as a video game. The GlucoBoy tests small amounts of blood for glucose levels, just like a normal glucose self-diagnosis device. Upon plugging it into a Game Boy Advance or DS, however, GlucoBoy rewards players for routine glucose checks or having correct blood sugar levels by giving them points, which can be used to unlock mini-games on the cartridge.Interestingly, we originally reported about GlucoBoy way back in 2005, with Engadget having reported on it first in 2004. Due to the device's small market, its inventor Paul Wessel has spent three years trying to get approval from Nintendo to produce the device. GlucoBoy launched in Australia on World Diabetes Day, with plans to bring the glucose-testing device to more regions soon.[Via Next-Gen]
Joystiq interview: America's Army's Marsha Berry
America's Army is without question the most widely recognized name in serious games. The game, which started off as a tool for Army recruitment, has become something of a marvel, bridging the emerging serious games market and the larger mainstream video game industry. According to those helming the project, since America's Army's initial launch for the PC in 2002, players have taken part in more than 212 million hours representing some 3.6 billion rounds of online gameplay. In addition, the game, which now has players in over 60 different countries, has been downloaded more than 40 million times, and has received more than 24 different releases, including new missions and gameplay additions. There's strong, and then there's America's Army strong. Later this month Ubisoft and developer Red Storm will release the latest game in the America's Army franchise, America's Army: True Soldiers, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Army exclusively for the Xbox 360. We recently sat down to speak with America's Army software manager Marsha Berry to discuss this game, as well as America's Army's possible console future, and who exactly is being targeted with this and future games in the series. %Gallery-9943%
Re-Mission devs HopeLab cause serious Ruckus
DDR and the Wii have done a good job getting kids (and adults) off the couch and moving. Now HopeLab, a prominent contributer to the growing 'serious games' movement and developer of the surprisingly fun third-person cancer awareness shooter Re-Mission, has announced Ruckus Nation, a new online competition looking to award more than $300,000 for game-related product ideas designed to increase physical activity in children and young adults, with one one grand prize brainstorm netting the submitter a cool $75,000. HopeLab will develop and test one or more of these ideas, turning successful prototypes into broadly distributed serious gaming products. Individuals and teams of up to six people can register at the Ruckus Nation website until October 15, with registration limited to 1,000 teams who then have until November 20 to submit their ideas online. Semifinalists will be announced in February, with winners being called out the following month in March. Maybe we've finally found an outlet to pitch our idea for a For Your Eyes Only cross country ski trainer/FPS using the Wii Zapper and balance board.
Persuasive Games' Ian Bogost on Colbert Report tonight
Fans of serious games and/or snarky conservative satires should tune in to Comedy Central's The Colbert Report tonight, as faux-Republican Steven Colbert will be talking with Ian Bogost, game designer and author of the recently-released Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames.According to Bogost's blog, he'll be talking about his book, and his company of the same name, which has been producing news-oriented games for the New York Times' online Times Select section. The Colbert Report airs tonight at 11:30 PM EST. Who's gonna post the YouTube video? Anyone?Updated the time; thanks to everyone who corrected this.
Companies looking to make work more like games
Wish you could play games at work? You know, without having to sneak around? Soon you might be able to. Entrepreneur.com has a short report on the growing number of companies and government agencies that are making their work interfaces more like games.The article doesn't go into much detail, but organizations from IBM to Microsoft and even the military are looking to integrating games into their work processes. The move comes partly because an increasing part of the workforce are growing up with "neuropathways ... being formed around game logic," according to John Beck, co-author of The Kids Are Alright.It's fine in concept, but we're skeptical that any game can make the drudgery of cubicle life more enjoyable. Regardless, playing games at work will bring a new meaning to the term daily grind. *rim shot*
Slate: Serious games are seriously boring
For all the bluster about serious games being the wave of the future, most examples of the form thus far are missing that key element of ... what's the word ... oh yeah, fun! Slate takes a withering look at the state of the serious games industry by asking the simple question: "Can a game still be called a game if it isn't any fun?"It's a good question, and one that doesn't reflect kindly on many of the serious games out there. The author is especially derisive of training games that mirror the repetitive, mindless nature of the workplace -- games that are "less alluring to people who love games and more alluring to people who don't. Your boss, for example."The author suggests that developers who want to make learning fun should focus on the fun first and the learning second. We couldn't agree more. We learned more about urban planning from SimCity than we ever learned about arithmetic from Math Blaster -- mainly because we kept playing SimCity long after Math Blaster got donated to the secondhand store. In other words: you can lead a player to an educational game, but you can't make them play. They have to want to do that.
NY Times now publishing Persuasive's newsgames
The New York Times has begun publishing Persuasive's newsgames on the opinion page of their website. Currently, a title called Food Import Folly can be found under the Times Select heading.As Persuasive founder Ian Bogost note, this move by the New York Times is unprecedented. "I think it represents another important shift in videogames as a medium ... The fact that the Times is often considered the national newspaper of record makes this moment even more notable, and gratifying," he said.Indeed, exposure to serious games on the face of such a prestigious and prominent publication marks a bold step for games as an interactive medium. Can games be used as editorial much in the way political cartoons convey their message in a noninteractive manner? Bogost recently discussed such a topic at this year's Living Game Worlds conference.In Food Import Folly, players "protect the United States from contaminants found in foreign food imports." Previous newsgames by the developer had been published by Addicting Games and Shockwave under the series name The Arcade Wire.
Acclaimed Israel-Palestine sim gets commercial release
Peace Maker, a serious game concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is now commercially available via independent games publisher Manifesto Games. The simulation / strategy title places you as either the leader of Israel or Palestine as you face situations inspired by real events.Created by a team of American, Palestinian and Israeli students at Carnegie-Mellon University, Peace Maker has won USC's Public Diplomacy Games Contest and was a finalist for Ashoka's Entrepreneuring Peace Contest. It has been highlighted by NPR and The New York Times. Said Manifest CEO Greg Costikyan, Peace Maker "takes on one of the most difficult world issues, presents it without bias or prejudice, and challenges players to think about the issues, to do better than the real-world leaders."The game is available in English, Hebrew and Arabic for Windows and Mac OS X for $20. A demo is available for download; trailer embedded after the break.[Via Game Politics]
SXSW: Serious Games: Can Learning Be Hard Fun?
When you combine the words "serious" "learning" and "hard" in the same sentence, chances are you're going to end up with something that gamers won't like. But that's what the Serious Games Initiative is all about, developing games for "non-entertainment" purposes. Of course, the problem is games for non-entertainment tend to scare people away faster than the phrase "edutainment."That's the main problem facing Serious Games, how do they make it seem like they aren't hiding the broccoli under the meatloaf? All of the games shown off were educational in one form or another, having to do with zapping cancer cells inside the human body, or how to interact with people in the workplace. Seriously, there is a game about the proper way to run a meeting, collaborate with coworkers, and generally function in an office. Too bad it's not running on the Unreal Engine. Zing!
McGonigal's new ARG looking for answers to oil crisis
At her Serious Games keynote this morning, Jane McGonigal, ex-lead designer for alternate reality game big shot 42 Entertainment, announced her new ARG, World Without Oil. McGonigal calls the game -- which lets players share their ideas for better life during an international oil shortage -- a way to shift from alternate reality games to games that alter reality. The idea behind the ARG is something called Collective Intelligence, the idea that together we can come up with better solutions to problems than we could alone. In citing examples of CI, McGonigal mentioned games like I Love Bees, even science-fiction novels, but for a great example, just think of Wikipedia. Who, all on their own, would ever know the population of Argentina and the gestation period of a Humpback whale?
NoE confirms Cooking Navi localization
It's a good time to be a DS gamer, especially if you think games could be serious business. In an interview with German financial magazine Finanzen, NoE's Laurent Fischer talked about the Wii shortage as well as the success of the DS, and the impact of bringing the talking Cooking Navigator to European handheld owners. Unsurprisingly, the cooking simulation, which guides users through recipes, is seen as a follow-up to Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training. We can't wait to see the English-language version in action![Via Kiff News]
GDC '07: Square Enix demos game-development game [Update 1]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Square_Enix_shows_DS_game_about_developing_games'; [Update: Gamasutra reports that the presenter was Ichiro Otobe, and that Tadashi Tsushima is leading the project. Also, and this is the best part, rather than designing it from the outset as an internal-only project, SE has yet to decide whether or not to release this to the public when it's finished. So there's a chance!] One of our loyal readers is at the GDC Serious Games Summit, where he sat in on a Square Enix presentation about their "serious game" for the DS, called Project GB, used to teach game design. The game was developed by a small team, and allows "players" to first mod a Space Invaders-type shooter, then develop their own simple games that can then be shared with other players over the internet. Presenter Tadashi Tsushima Ichiro Otobe indicated that this had a negative effect on productivity.We all need to get jobs at Square Enix so we can play this thing. It sounds absolutely amazing. Famitsu has some washed-out pictures of the game. Check the link if you'd like to go squint at them.[Thanks, Jason!]
Help mtvU design AIDS Awareness game, win $5,000
In an effort to promote discussion and raise awareness of AIDS as a problem, mtvU and the Kaiser Family Foundation have begun Change the Course of HIV Challenge, a contest "aimed at reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people in the United States."The full rules can be found on the contest main page. Entrants need not make the game themselves but are expected to have a fleshed-out idea that meets the listed criteria. The winner will receive $5,000 and the chance to help mtvU create the final game. Those with a few brilliant ideas and the determination to make a design need to complete the application form by March 16.Last year's contest, where entrants were asked to make a game about the crisis in Sudan, spawned the oft-discussed title Darfur is Dying. You can play the game here.[Via Game Politics]
Using games as specialized learning
The Chicago Tribune recently published an expose on the efforts of David Williamson Shaffer, an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a long and accredited background in education. Shaffer is pushing to use video games as a means of teaching kids new specializations, as opposed to enhancing currently-covered curriculum (e.g., Math Blasters).Shaffer, who just released a book How Computer Games Help Children Learn, argues that we should utilize interactive entertainment to better prepare children for the real world. "We already choose to have our kids think like historians [in history class]," he said, "or like cartoon scientists ... In thinking like a journalist or an urban planner or a lawyer in society, you prepare kids to enter the workforce as more prepared citizens."We await the day where our descendants enjoy a round of Mario Teaches Electrical Engineering.See Also:Our coverage of the Serious Game Summit 2006[Update 1: It's Shaffer, not Shaffen -- I used both. Sorry for the confusion.]
Games for Health design competition opens
Envision a game that makes a difference, and your idea could net you a clean conscience (and some cash). The Games for Health competition is looking for game designs "aimed at improving aspects of health and health care." The best student / organization storyboards will win $5,000 apiece, and the best prototype / health game will win $20,000 (presumably the money will go toward more development).The contest kicks off today and ends April 1, 2007. Winners will be announced in May. No programming skills are necessary; if you have an idea, some determination, and a few hours, you could make a difference (or at least a few thousand dollars). More information can be found at the competition website and you can find a list of requirements on the entry forms. See Also:NPR talks "Games for Change" conferenceScientists recommend educational gamingA non-violent first person Hindu shooter using the Unreal engine?
Scientists recommend educational gaming
The Federation of American Scientists have concluded that gaming can provide skills useful in the job market and attributes that would facilitate learning. Making logical deductions, staying on task, staying motivated and goal-oriented despite constant failure, and infinite patience are all abilities gamers have and students need. Can we somehow converge gaming and education in such a way as to retain motivation while providing an educational environment?Following a Summit on Educational Games, FAS has released a report (PDF file) that calls on the government to fund research into educational games: establishing new approaches to educational games, evaluating their merit, and working with established game developers to devise new strategies. FAS also calls on business leaders to put a greater emphasis on educational software, particularly in the K-12 school system.Formed in 1945 by Manhattan Project scientists, FAS is endorsed by 67 Nobel Laureates. They have in the past developed three games: Immune Attack, Discover Babylon, and Mutli Casualty Incident Response.[Via ars technica; thanks, jayntampa]
NPR talks "Games for Change" conference
NPR's Marketplace introduced the segment saying, "They're often accused of wasting your time or promoting violence but a conference in New York City this week wants games to be known for something more." The ongoing Games For Change conference is part of the larger Serious Games initiative, but is focused specifically on using games to encourage social change. NPR profiled three of the games on display at the conference, including: Peace Maker - "a one-player game in which the player can choose to take the role of either the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President. The player must react to in-game events, from diplomatic negotiations to military attacks, and interact with eight other political leaders and social groups in order to establish a stable resolution to the conflict before his or her term in office ends." A Force More Powerful - "simulates nonviolent struggles to win freedom and secure human rights against dictators, occupiers, colonizers, and corrupt regimes, as well as campaigns for political and human rights for minorities and women. The game models real-world experience, allowing players to devise strategies, apply tactics and see the results." Darfur is Dying - MTV's "narrative-based simulation where the user, from the perspective of a displaced Darfurian, negotiates forces that threaten the survival of his or her refugee camp. It offers a faint glimpse of what it's like for the more than 2.5 million who have been internally displaced by the crisis in Sudan. A far cry from the hysteria-prone coverage the mainstream media typically adheres to and great exposure for a group of gamers working to not only foster social change, but to evolve the educational potential for video games. Follow coverage of the conference by monitoring the 06-G4C del.icio.us tag.
A look at the McDonald's Serious Games hoax
The shadowy tricksters behind last week's McDonald's hoax at the International Serious Games Events go by the revolutionary moniker the McDonald's Resistance Collective. MTV News follows the machinations that led up to the stunt, beginning with a case of mistaken identity related to Italian consortium Molleindustria's McVideoGame, who then coordinated with a French McDonald's protest group, who in turn enlisted the assistance of culture-jamming super-group The Yes Men. Got it?Taking advantage of the event's lax security, the McDonald's Resistance Collective delivered their message: "We wanted people to imagine a real popular uprising as a possible and necessary thing. We wanted people to imagine that change. We wanted them to imagine it is coming from McDonald's." That sounds all well and good; however, not everyone in attendance was impressed with their choice of venue. One detractor said, "They have damaged a fledgling event that was organized by a university, not an 'evil' [corporation], personally embarrassed the organizers, potentially annoyed other keynote presenters and, when small companies like mine are struggling to gain contracts to pay our staff, hurt those that could perhaps help them the most. To that extent, I have to say that I think it was ill-judged."Ouch! The Yes Men at WTO this was not. Like The Yes Men though, they're hoping to put a movie together about the stunt. Good luck with that, fellas.
McDonald's in serious games hoax
"Today I'm going to tell you the story of a game so serious that it changed the direction of a company."Grave words indeed, delivered at the International Serious Games Event on Monday. However, as Water Cooler Games explores, the delightful speech about games causing environmental change was, in fact, a set-up.Related to the anti-McDonald's game we reported on back in February, the hoax presentation is a subtle and brave attempt at needling a large corporation, although others at the Serious Games Event may disagree with the choice of platform. Regardless of its (lack of) authenticity, the closing remark from the speech is a noble sentiment: serious software can change the world.[Via Wonderland]
