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Showing posts from April, 2011

Vanished: MIT Serious Game Makes The Use Of Real Scientific Methods Binding

  Vanished is a special science-mystery Serious Game created by MIT researchers on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, as a novel experiment in alternative science education Via: MIT Comparative Media Studies   - Learning Science Through Gaming Vanished" is a two-month-long game, which debuted the week of April 4 and will end by May 31, 2011, meant to inspire engagement and problem solving through science and intended for middle-schoolers aged 10 ½ - 14 years. Players can sign up any time, since the game provides recaps to cover what was missed. Participating in Vanished is free, and players can spend as much or as little time as they want.   The premise is that people living in the future have contacted us in the present, to answer a question: what event occurred between our time and theirs that led to the loss of civilization's historical records? Students must decode clues in hidden messages, and in response find and provide information about Earth's c

GameDays 2011: Serious Games for Education, Sports and Health

Conference venue: Congress Center of Darmstadt Call for Papers: GameDays 2011 Serious Games for Training, Education, Health and Sports Darmstadt, Germany September 12-13 Via: The International Society for Presence Research (ISPR) - Call: GameDays 2011 – Serious Games for Training, Education, Health and Sports The GameDays have been established in 2005 as “Science meets Business” event in the field of Serious Games, taking place on annual basis in Darmstadt, Germany , aiming to provide an information and cooperation platform that brings together academia and industry and discussing latest trends, challenges and Serious Games potential. Since 2010, the academic part has been emphasized resulting in a first Int’l workshop on Serious Games for Sports and Health with workshop proceedings and a special edition with selected papers in the Int’l Journal for Computer Science in Sport. This year, the spectrum of topics is broadened and the different facets, methods

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation To Support Educational Serious Games

Via: PR Newswire - Gates Foundation Announces Portfolio of Innovative Grants to Develop New Teaching and Learning Tools that Support Teachers and Help Students Bill Gates has long ago stepped into, or at least “been dating”, the Educational "Serious Game" Market. Imagine Cup is the world's premier student technology competition that challenges students to build life-changing projects that can ultimately transform the world. Microsoft created the competition nine years ago as a way to highlight and recognize student innovation around the globe, as well as inspire more young minds to study technology. Each year, the projects have become more inspirational and impactful. Students who participate gain real-world skills that help them in school, in their careers or even as they commercialize their projects, all while tackling global problems. Over the years, project teams have had the chance to share their world-changing Serious Games, where players

PlayGen Journey From Serious Games To Not So Serious Play

Following my prior post Surfing PlayGen Website Is A Serious Game , addressing how PlayGen website improves audience engagement by “scoring” their visits, an early Gamification embryo so-to-speak, PlayGen has just uploaded to SlideShare the presentation Gamification Is Psychology - Our Journey from Serious To Not So Serious Play. The presentation explains how Playgen expertise in Psychometric Gaming has propelled them to create engaging Social Games and applying Gamification that creates results. H ere is the full presentation -  Gamification Is Psychology .

David Wortley Becomes The Serious Games Strategist For Game2Growth

 Game2Growth is a private company within the Serious Games Institute, Coventry University Technology Park, specializing in the design and development of Serious Games for Training, Marketing and the Non Profit sector. G2G takes care of the whole project, from analysis of the user’s needs through the study of the methodology and of the underlying model to the creation of the personalized Serious Game that best fits the needs of the customer. G2G is proud to introduce its new Serious Games strategist David Wortley , who declared "I am delighted to announce that I have reached an agreement to work with the Serious Games Institute based start-up Serious Games company Game2growth .” 3 years ago David was nominated to set up, launch and develop the Serious Games Institute as an International Centre of Excellence for Serious Games and related technologies. As the Director of the Serious Games Institute (SGI) at Coventry University, David Wortley has translated my per

The Value Of Realness: Social Serious Game To Simulate Running A Real Country

Via: Serious Games Source - Playmatics Secures $1 Million For 'Real-World' Social Game On my prior posts EpicWin: Serious Games And Real Life Colliding In Unique Ways and Anecdotal Evidence: Serious Games As Persuasive Game-Life Integration ,  I stated that Jesse Schell’s talk at Dice 2010 did represent a “stake in the ground” for game designers getting sensitive to the rising of new core values for game creation, among them the value of "realness", the value of rewarding game-life achievements and the value of embedding games in our everyday lives. H ere is a brand new piece of hard evidence.   Introducing Shadow Government Shadow Government is spearheading an entirely new form of social gaming based on the gamification of real countries, systems, and worldwide events. PRESS RELEASE Social Mobile Gaming Start-Up Shadow Government Closes $1 Million Angel Round New York City, NY – April 21, 2011 – A social mobile gaming start-up, called Shado

Earth Day: Save the Environment One Facebook Serious Game at a Time with Ecotopia

Via: Talkie Talkie, an independent studio creating a highly engaging new breed of cinematic, story-driven social games, has launched its first game, Ecotopia™ in a private beta-test, on Facebook on April 4th. Ecotopia , a free-to-play Serious Game with a social conscience, advances the popular city-building game model as it aims to wrap fun and compelling gameplay with philanthropy and real-world involvement via the world’s largest social networking site. To add to the game’s philanthropic message, gamers who perform real-world acts of sustainability and upload photos and video will be rewarded with in-game points Ecotopia is the first social game to encourage and empower users to conduct environmental good in the real world which can be redeemed for rewards in the game world. In this eco-friendly heroes-versus-villains Facebook adventure, Ecotopia players begin with a dirty, uninhabitable environment and must generate resources by completing immersive in-game

Gamification: The Path For Innovative Organizations Emulate Serious Games

Via:  Gartner Inc -   Analysts Explore the Role of Enterprise Architects in Gamification at Gartner Enterprise Architecture Summit 2011, May 9-10, London, and June 22-23 in San Diego "Where games traditionally model the real world, organizations must now take the opportunity for their real world to emulate games. Enterprise architects must be ready to contribute to gamification strategy formulation and should try at least one gaming exercise as part of their enterprise context planning efforts this year”, says the Gartner report. Catching up on last week’s headlines, April 12 Gartner Research released a report stating, as opposed to Forrester analysts,   that half of all organizations which 'manage innovation processes' will gamify those processes by 2015.  According to Gartner research, using gamification business models in consumer services and applications can dramatically increase user engagement levels and improve revenue. Adding in these game mechanism

Serious Games For Sailing Novices Develop Offshore Racing Strategies

Via: Dassault Systèmes – Offshore Racing With Most Highly Awarded Solo Sailor Michel Desjoyeaux – "Serious Game" Dassault Systèmes have just launched a "Serious Game" which has been created in the context of a project with Michel Desjoyeaux, the world’s most highly awarded solo sailor: "Offshore Racing with Michel Desjoyeaux". In the new "Serious Game", sailing novices and enthusiasts alike can discover all the strategic challenges involved in a race. They will learn how to handle and maneuver their boat in all types of weather – including when things get rough! Learn about life on board the 60 foot monohull Foncia. Manage properly and as quickly as possible the various stages of life on board the ship. Plan your race strategy - Develop your strategy to finish the race as quickly as possible. To do this, find the best route between the starting point and ending point and then adapt your sailing according to the wind.

Next Week Submission Deadline: 2nd European Best Learning (Serious) Game Competition

Last year, Serious Games Interactive educational game Playing History won the 1st European Best Learning Game competition in the category Best Professional Game Via: Ludus Knowledge Node - 2nd European Best Learning Game Competition (EBLGC 2011) The new deadline to submit your game or game idea / concept / storyboard/ to t he 2nd European Best Learning Game Competition (EBLGC 2011) is April 22nd, 2011. There are in total four possible categories under which a game or a game idea can be submitted: EBLGC is a European-wide competition organized in the context of project LUDUS and open to all interested individuals, companies and organizations that are involved in the development of Serious Games. The 2nd European Best Learning Game Competition seeks to expand the understanding and capabilities of developing and using Serious Game applications for learning and training and to promote a debate of Serious Games as factor of regional development.  The su