Games are fun and research is serious. Right? Well yes, to an extent but the Venn diagram of these two areas has more overlap than a quick glance might suggest and the idea that games can only tick the fun box is as far from the mark as saying that research can’t be fun...It can.
Firstly it needs to be recognised that games are pretty serious, both as a business (the digital games industry was worth $10 billion in 1990 and $42 billion by 2010 it is growing by ten per cent a year (Chatfield, 2010), and as a social phenomenon (online gaming is close behind searching and socializing as an internet-based activity). According to the Entertainment Software Association, 59% of Americans play digital games and 51% of households own a games console; the average age of players is 31, 48% of gamers are female. In her book Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal suggests that by the age of 21 American children have spent as much time playing games, as they have spent in class since fifth grade.
Second, gaming is not all Halo or Grand Theft Auto. An increasing number of games are being created that seek to ally gaming to a ‘serious’ application, for example in health or education. Damien Djaouti and colleagues have tried to classify ‘serious games’, defining them as ‘any piece of software that merges a non-entertaining purpose (serious) with a video game structure (game)’. Thus a serious game differs from an entertainment game in that the latter is a piece of software featuring only a ‘game’ dimension. With an increasing amount of our lives spent in a virtual space serious games may well represent a sector that is about to see a sharp spike in developer interest.
Serious games have been developed in many sectors, and by many professional groups. There are organisations dedicated to their promotion. Games for Change was established in 2004 facilitate ‘the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts’. Their aim is ‘to leverage entertainment and engagement for social good’. Running in parallel to corporate development and non profit promotion is research into serious gaming through a number of university based ‘serious games institutes’, for example at North-West University in Gauteng South Africa, and Coventry University, UK.
In 2011 the first attempt to collectively explore the application of ‘serious gaming approaches’ to the discipline of biodiversity conservation was undertaken in Cambridge. Its goals are the subject of our next blog post.
Bill Adams
Firstly it needs to be recognised that games are pretty serious, both as a business (the digital games industry was worth $10 billion in 1990 and $42 billion by 2010 it is growing by ten per cent a year (Chatfield, 2010), and as a social phenomenon (online gaming is close behind searching and socializing as an internet-based activity). According to the Entertainment Software Association, 59% of Americans play digital games and 51% of households own a games console; the average age of players is 31, 48% of gamers are female. In her book Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal suggests that by the age of 21 American children have spent as much time playing games, as they have spent in class since fifth grade.
Second, gaming is not all Halo or Grand Theft Auto. An increasing number of games are being created that seek to ally gaming to a ‘serious’ application, for example in health or education. Damien Djaouti and colleagues have tried to classify ‘serious games’, defining them as ‘any piece of software that merges a non-entertaining purpose (serious) with a video game structure (game)’. Thus a serious game differs from an entertainment game in that the latter is a piece of software featuring only a ‘game’ dimension. With an increasing amount of our lives spent in a virtual space serious games may well represent a sector that is about to see a sharp spike in developer interest.
Serious games have been developed in many sectors, and by many professional groups. There are organisations dedicated to their promotion. Games for Change was established in 2004 facilitate ‘the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts’. Their aim is ‘to leverage entertainment and engagement for social good’. Running in parallel to corporate development and non profit promotion is research into serious gaming through a number of university based ‘serious games institutes’, for example at North-West University in Gauteng South Africa, and Coventry University, UK.
In 2011 the first attempt to collectively explore the application of ‘serious gaming approaches’ to the discipline of biodiversity conservation was undertaken in Cambridge. Its goals are the subject of our next blog post.
Bill Adams