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About Noah Falstein, Google And Serious Games


Via: TechCrunch - Is Google Getting Serious About Gaming? Noah Falstein Hired As Chief Game Designer

In my previous posts Google+Getting Serious About Games Stream and Google+Games Getting Started: What About Serious Games?, dated mid 2011, I addressed Google’s potential to promote Serious Games scalability and Google+ Games Stream as “a place where results from Gaming (or Serious Gaming, who knows?) would be pulled together”. In addition, my recent post Google Glass Version Of Serious Games, also “futures ”How Serious Games Would Feel Through Google Glass."

TechCrunch yesterday’s post Is Google Getting Serious About Gaming? Noah Falstein Hired As Chief Game Designer also explores this possibility, which is highlighted with the article’s opening statement:

“The search giant, not normally known for its games development, appears to have a major gaming project in circulation, at least something that requires someone as experienced as Falstein at its helm. What that might be we can only speculate. A Google Glass-related augmented-reality game seems a possibility, though there could be something even more serious going on, given Falstein’s areas of interest.”

TechCrunch goes further, debriefing Noah Falstein bio and exploring alternate connections with both entertainment and Serious Games business opportunities:

“Were Google to be working on a new game (or games) led by Falstein, it wouldn't be an entirely new avenue. It already has the mysterious Niantic Labs, maker of Ingress a real-time augmented reality MMO for Android, so perhaps there’s a connection there. Or maybe a similar concept but for Google Glass.”


Google Ingress

“Finally, if we zoom out further and think a bit more laterally, a major interest of Falstein is the field of Serious Games, which he defines as Using Games, Game Technology, or Game Industry Techniques for a purpose other than pure entertainment. The list of Serious Games projects Falstein has been involved in spans anything from using game techniques to improve health and education, to financial projections.”

Noah Falstein’s new role was revealed on his LinkedIn profile: Google’s Chief Game Designer, April 2013 – Present.