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Games for Health 2014 includes keynote by Papo & Yo dev
Vander Caballero, the creative director at Papo & Yo developer Minority Media, will be giving a keynote speech at this year's Games For Health conference. Caballero's speech will focus on his work creating Papo & Yo - which was based largely on Caballero's experiences growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father - as well as Minority's upcoming game about bullying (and terrifying crow people), Silent Enemy. This year is the 10th for the annual Games for Health conference, which aims to "foster awareness of, education about, and development of games that make a positive impact on the health of communities and health care," according to the official site. Games for Health will run June 18 - 20 at the Back Bay Events Center in Boston. Registration is now open for those hoping to attend. [Image: Minority Media]
Health games big business, experts push for exergaming in schools
Thanks to the success of games such as Wii Fit, EA Sports Active and Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009, the medical community is starting to take games seriously as a means to pump you up keep us healthy. Reuters reports that at this year's fifth annual Games for Health Conference in Boston, a bolstered attendance brought health experts together to talk about these games, and you'd be surprised how much money these titles generated last year. "Healthcare is 18 percent of the GDP of the United States and so games for health is probably the largest sector of activity in the serious games field long-term," said Ben Sawyer, a co-founder of The Games for Health Project. He added, "If you add up the 18 month sales of Wii Fit and the sales of EA Sports Active, Konami's Dance Dance Revolution and other healthy games, the worldwide retail numbers are over $2 billion." That's not a bad slice of the $22 billion pie that gaming lovingly prepared last year, if we may say so. Some experts think the government should look into offering these types of games in schools to help kids learn the importance of exercise, while others think that a public service campaign should be started and backed by the president, Congress, and other federal agencies. We'd comment, but we really only play Wii Fit for the hulahoop game.
Games for Health Conference presenter on Japan's training game market
Games for Health is a conference organized by the Serious Games Initiative on the subject of games' application in the health care field. Serious Games Japan's Toru Fujimoto gave a presentation at this conference offering an overview of Japan's serious games market. Naturally, the DS came up, as it would in any discussion of either serious games or games in Japan.Echoing Yoshiki Okamoto's statements, Fujimoto believes that the Japanese DS library has been flooded with too many nongames. "It looks attractive because of Brain Age sales, but if you're not Nintendo, it doesn't sell," Fujimoto said. "Nintendo has the top 7, 8 sellers in the top 10. You need a good game, a good customer base and a marketing budget." He also suggested that these training games are being put together with lacking (or no) research, offering a quote from Dr. Ryuta Kawashima about potential liability from serious games. Could bad training games hurt people as well as the DS?
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?
PC impressions: Re-Mission
Surprisingly fun. Re-Mission is a third-person shooter from Hope Labs where you play Roxxi, a cancer-killing nanobot, as she moves through the human body hunting down and destroying cancer cells. In the one level we played, we were informed that we must kill all the lymph node cells. However, the catch is that we must spare all the white blood cells, so one must be careful to aim precisely. The control scheme hearkens back to Descent, which works well -- the mouse aims, the keyboard moves through 3D space. There are multiple weapons, the voice acting and tongue-in-cheek dialogue works, and the visuals are pretty. We found ourselves enjoying this game, despite its academic value.While playing the title at the Games for Health booth, we also learned of the research done around this game. Among cancer patients who played Re-Mission (as opposed to those who just played other games): Their cancer knowledge increased. Their reported quality of life increased. Their self-efficacy (how well they come to terms with their situation) increased. Their antibiotic usage increased. Their consumption of oral chemotherapy stayed consistent, whereas the control group declined in taking their medication. The facts are impressive and praise-worthy, but what sets this game apart is its general entertainment value and mass appeal. Take away its connection to cancer research, and you still have a fun title. You can view a trailer and order the game through the game's website.See Also:Games for Health: the industry's unsung heroes
