serious-games
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Mommy Tummy and me: A Tokyo Game Show story
This year marks my first year at the Tokyo Game Show. It also marks the first time I've ever been to Japan. I've heard stories about how different it is, of course, and I've seen Lost in Translation more than once. So, before I arrived in Tokyo, I had considered the possibility that there might be a crazy adventure in the works. I've now experienced Mommy Tummy, a "serious game" project from Kosaka Laboratory – part of the Kanagawa Institute of Technology – and let me tell you: Scarlett Johansson ain't got nothing on me.
White House courts devs to make healthy eating games
In a video presentation at the Game Developers Choice Awards, White House chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra discussed the Apps for Healthy Kids project, a plan to encourage game developers to collaborate with government to work against childhood obesity. The latest component, an Apps for Healthy Kids contest tasks game developers with creating games that help encourage good exercise and diet habits among kids and give parents information about what their children eat -- with $40,000 in prizes for the winning games. The apps, to be submitted in either "tool" or "game" categories, will integrate the data from MyFoodapedia.gov, a database of the caloric content of common food. In a letter, First Lady Michelle Obama told game devs, "You know better than most the power of games to deeply engage our nation's youth. Today I'm asking you to dedicate your creative energy skills to address one of America's biggest challenges and help make healthy living fun, exciting and relevant for kids." [Via Gamasutra]
Canadian public health group makes safe sex game
The public health unit in London, Ontario has put together a trivia-based video game called Adventures in Sex City, a sort of comic-book inspired quiz with some ... stiff penalties for failure. You can play it here, but if you're at work, you probably shouldn't. According to Shaya Dhinsa, manager of sexual health at the Middlesex-London Health Unit, the game is "a launching pad for the discussion." So, if you're not at work, maybe you and we can have a frank, NSFW video discussion about this game right after the break.
You too can be a ban-happy Australian politician
Australians have gotten the short end of the gaming stick for some time now, with several games either receiving edits or simply being banned because of the country's lack of an adult classification. Now you can be the one doing the stick shortening thanks to the free downloadable title Ban This Game!, which lets you click on arguably offensive materials to ban them while South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson and Minister for Broadband and Communication Stephen Conroy look on approvingly. (We've got a brief video after the break if you'd like to see it in action.) If you'd like to take your activism beyond clicking 50 Cent and giggling, there's loads of more info on the game's Facebook page. [Via GamePolitics]
The metagame and its importance to MMOs
What is the metagame? It can mean a lot of different things depending on context, but all of the meanings share the sense that the metagame is not the game itself, but something above and affecting the game as a whole. In a casual game of poker, the metagame could be as simple as one of the players having an exceedingly poor poker face which makes betting that much easier. On a more complex scale, you have things such as the entire Band of Brothers incident on EVE Online, which has been called by some as what amounts to a forum war that was fought out over the space of the game. That's a Terrible Idea recently had a post regarding the problem of MMOs as "serious" games due to how they interact with the entire concept of the metagame. As the post outlines, you're first cut out from the endgame by the leveling game, which is changing the variables of the game itself, and when you finally reach the end of the curve most of the strategy involves memorizing specific character builds and raid strategies. The metagame, in this case defined as "the process of strategizing and conceptualizing out of the game," thrives on the viability of different strategies and the necessity of discussion. While there are certainly sites devoted to this sort of theoretical work, they frequently involve simply boiling everything down to a single optimal setup. Take a look at the article (and, if needed, the supplementary piece on terminology), as it's interesting for anyone with an affection for the genre and its overall development.
AMD doles out grants for educational game push
Perhaps as penance for all the brains it's helped to rot with WoW, Counter-Strike and Dolphin Olympics over the years, AMD has announced that it has awarded three grants for the creation of educational or "serious" games to build skills in science, technology and math.There are, of course, no specific games being talked about, but we've got some killer ideas if anyone wants to break us off a piece of that sweet, sweet grant money. (Oh, a sneak preview? How about a fully 3D version of Mathman? Yeah, we thought so.)
Knight News awards to recognize serious games, zombies
We weren't sure what to expect when we rolled up to the first annual Knight News Game Awards, wearing our finest armor and eager to graciously accept our much-deserved award for sharpest swords. It turns out the ceremony, named for its sponsor -- the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation -- is designed instead to recognize a new genre of games, namely those that are "journalistic and enhance people's ability to make decisions in a democracy." Boy, were our faces red, not that you could tell beneath our newly-polished helmets. The awards presentation is set to kick off as part of the Games for Change Festival this week, which runs from May 27-29 in New York City. Event organizers today announced the finalists for the awards, which include a handful of socially-conscious games including Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City, Play the News and the controversial September 12th – A Toy World. Our pick: The Budget Maze, where players navigate a dungeon while quizzing zombies on city or state budget processes. Who better to consult on financial planning than the undead?
South Korea serious about serious games, invests $64 million
The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, Tourism and Starcraft (okay, we made that last one up) plans to invest ₩80 billion ($64 million) in serious games. The Korea IT Times reports that the ministry is trying to grow the market to ₩500 billion ($400 million) by 2012. Minister Yu In-chon notes that the serious games market is at an early stage and is an "emerging blue ocean." Oh, look who's jumping on the hot topic business bandwagon.The "Blue Ocean Strategy" is a concept where a company sets up shop in an unknown space, rather than compete in a cluttered market. For gamers, obvious examples of applied Blue Ocean Strategy would be Nintendo's entire marketing of the Wii, and developers who jumped on the iPhone app store. Currently, Korea has no specific serious games projects announced, but likely applications are based in the medical, educational and military fields. [Via GI.biz]
LGJ: Serious games with serious regulations
Each week Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games: One of the areas in which the law firm I work for focuses on is international trade, which many of us might assume doesn't have a significant impact on the video game industry. Surprisingly, there is a growing sector of the industry that has a great potential for international trade problems. That sector is often referred to as "serious games" (or games with a purpose other than pure entertainment). In fact, there are a few specific areas that serious game developers need to be particularly wary of to avoid problems with US Customs.Before getting into the specifics,let's delve into a brief overview of international trade regulation. After all, the new administration has noted trade enforcement as a top priority, so it could potentially impact many different people in the community; like it impacted the mod chip importers not too long ago. In short, the primary areas of trade regulations are on imports and exports, although other related areas like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act are starting to get a lot more attention. Imports (in other words, anything you bring into the country) have to be classified so that the proper taxes can be paid on the goods. Exports (anything you send out) have to be classified so that the government can track and prevent certain products from going to certain people and places. These are two different concerns, but if you don't follow the rules, it can land you stiff fines, penalties, and even a prison sentence.
Get fired for playing Layoff: The Game
One of the first things we were going to do as soon as we became super-private-island rich was to create a giant chess game where the pieces were played by people. Well, we were actually planning on man-sized Bejeweled, because chess so often makes our think-meat sore. Tragically, we've been beaten to the punch by tiltfactor's new release, Layoff: The Game, which lets you save companies billions by laying off matching sets of workers. We suspect there's a deeper message to be taken away from it, but we're a little busy wondering how we're going to make man-sized Zuma. [Via Game Politics]
UK Lord looks to video games for climate awareness
As chair for the UK's Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill, Lord David Puttnam has been a voice for raising awareness about issues affecting the environment. Now the film maker and Labour Party politician is looking to video games as a means to help educate people about dangers impacting the world's changing climate. "Serious games based upon real-life geography should be vital tools in our fight against climate change," said Lord Puttnam in a statement, adding that "Educating people about the impact of prolonged changes to our climate in an accessible way is the best catalyst for action I know." Socially conscious games have enjoyed a wider spotlight in recent years, with developer Red Redemption specifically addressing climate-related topics in its serious games Operation: Climate Control and Climate Challenge. We imagine Lord Puttnam is hoping however to put the issue on a grander stage, as it's all fun and games until someone pokes a hole in the ozone. Oops, too late.
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?
Vicious Engine made available to Indiana University students
Developers Vicious Cycle Software have offered up the studio's cross-platform Vicious Engine middleware to students attending the Indiana University School of Education, giving those aspiring to a life of game development some helpful hands-on time with real-world tools. But don't go expecting the university to churn out the next Puzzle Quest or Dead Head Fred, as according to the school, students will be using the engine to make so-called 'serious games." Students' games will be "designed to teach various subjects of their choosing," and will be part of a larger university study on "how people learn through games." Even so, we imagine the experience will likely prove invaluable for those students wanting to eventually grease the wheels of game development with their sweat and blood.
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.
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]
