The term “Serious Gaming”, refers to games that are used not only for entertainment purposes but are also used for “training, advertising, simulation, or education”, and allow the user to learn new skills as well as developing and honing ones they already have. They “can be of any genre, use any game technology, and be developed for any platform” The Game Impact theory states that there are 5 main reasons that are driving the adoption of game technologies in recent times, they are;
- Cost advantage of hardware platforms,
- Sophistication of software applications,
- Social acceptance of game tools,
- Successes in other industries, and Innovative experiments in the adopting industry.
This concept is not only aimed at primary and secondary education level, but also can be an incredible tool for businesses that are willing to try new and “adventurous” routes to improve their staff’s skills. It is intended to provide an engaging, self-reinforcing context in which to motivate and educate the players”. By playing around in the simulation, people can learn how to make better decisions in the real world. This allows people to start talking about different issues whilst allowing them to increases their capabilities in a very short space of time.
Serious Gaming also allows for mental stimulation through “Novelty, Variety, Challenge, Practice” and “Brain Fitness” and if used regularly, they can and will improve attention, memory, and stress management.
In the past games were not seen as “serious” tools, and for this reason businesses shied away from using them, as well as the fact that until recently the technology was simply not as advanced or developed, and could only be used on a very basic level, and therefore it was not able to lead to much change or growth. Games however have become part of the modern lifestyle and are much more widely accepted than ever before, this is also due to the invention of multi-player games as it has allowed “games” to become much more interactive. Due to this we shall soon be seeing a new and flourishing market of games aimed specifically at education or “edutainment”
Thanks for this Talya. Most informative:)
Nice read :) Though serious gaming and the infrastructure that surrounds it is perhaps older news than you see it for? I remember playing on a VTec edutainment thing at school exactly 9 years ago. I often try to ”play games” with subjects that I enjoy by simply taking an extra effort to enjoy them. Who knew a stats lecture could ever yield so much fun and learning at the same time? The secret is upping the level of interaction with the media and your brain, for which ”play” is the most accessible/convenient.
We also have American gamers like Jonathan Wendell aka ”Fatal1ty” with an estimated career earning total of $500 000 in prize money alone. Check out his winnings break down
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal1ty
The little brat still went on to create Fatal1ty, Inc which throws its colours onto motherboards, mice, keyboards, graphics cards, coolers etc for royalties while he poses for magazines.
Jonathan is just an individual, but we have CS and DotA teams all over the world too. They compete for huge chunks of money, flying around the country to attend events. The events are televised and streamed on the internet with commentators - hardcore! The whole thing is even funnier when you realise that the computers they play aren’t even theirs - they’re sponsored by the event. All they rock up with is their own mouse, a mousepad (probably costing R200-R500) and maybe a keyboard/headphones.
Funny story that, I’ve gotten good prize money from a serious CS gaming event myself.Apparently Max is a good person to ask when it comes to WOW geeks too :)
Gaming is taking off in a big way and has been for a long time - many games getting money from in-game advertising and MMORPG membership/participation/development. Hugely successful online games like ”Trackmania” won’t even cost the end user to fork out any money whatsoever. I gave “Second Life” a try the other day too - quite interesting! The degree of investment that’s being thrown into this stuff is ridiculous. Second Life is boasting to play host to multi-billion dollar business deals and conferences in the future. Quite scary.