The “Serious Games” Landscape
An overview of why we’re here…
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All Games Are Serious!
(applause)
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Why we’re here?
> We love games!> We know we’ve got a better solution> Killing time until Half-Life 2> We need new markets for our skills> We scammed a free press pass > We have questions about this area> Woot! free day off from work!> Face it the PC games market sucks> We want to reach for bigger things
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Call to Arms!
>We can hit a tipping point We’re a fad until we aren’t
>A rising tide can lift all boats We need a flood not an arc
>This is studio-centric market Publishers not needed
>Lots of roles to play
Searching for a Definition
What are serious games?
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Problems…
> Solving problems is what humans do> Entertainment is a solved problem> There are other problems…
Teaching People
Figuring out the Right Policies
Putting Robots on Mars, Venus and Mercury
Overthrowing Dictators
Responding to Threats
> Problem solving is a big business!
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Games are Solutions
> Play has been used since dawn of mankind> Playing is problem solving> At times we’ve even been very deliberate in
what and why we play Chess, Checkers, Go
The OlympicsWar Games
Roleplaying
Simulations
Game Theory
> And now… computer games
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So What are Serious Games?
1. Serious Games are Solutions to Problems
2. Serious Games =“Any computerized game whose chief mission is not
entertainment – (K-12 + advertising games) + all entertainment games which can be reapplied to a different
mission other then entertainment.”
Why “not” K-12?The market is a mess and K-12 is a partial stigma
Why “not” Advertising?Derivative market and “placement” is not a game
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Why is Computerized important?
> We gain a lot of comparative advantage We can do things we couldn’t before
Allows us to make complex single player experiences
Distribution can happen via the Internet
Modifications and customization
Ability to do automated assessment
How else to fit into e-learning revolution?
Where the people are…
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Serious Games
Government
Military
Games for Health
Higher Ed
Eduware
Prep/K-12
Home SchoolCorporate
NGOFoundations
Non Profits
Trade Associations
Individuals
Federal State LocalUser Map
Political Statements
Hobbyist/Mods
Advergaming
Training
Analytics
Past & Present Perspective
From games to serious games
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A History of Games
-8000 -7000 -6000 -5000 -4000 -3000 -2000 -1000 0
"Bocce"
Senet
Backgammon
Go
Olympics
Chess
Monopoly
Space War
Pong
Atari
Energy Czar & Scram
Balance of Power
SimCity
We’re just getting started!
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Then & Now: Oregon Trail
1985 2004
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Then and Now: Flight Simulator
2004
1987 Evans & Sutherland
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Then and Now: Half-Life
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Created So Far?
> SimHealth> Close Combat:
Marines> America’s Army> Battle Site Zero> Virtual U> Environmental
Detectives> Hungry Red Planet> Catch the Sperm> Virtual Leader> Under Ash
> Hidden Agenda> Balance of Power> SimCity> Other Sim Series> Flight Simulator> Rollercoaster Tycoon> Capitalism> Surgeon> Civilization> Railroad Tycoon> President Elect> Korsun Pocket
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What has this gotten us?
> Mostly one-off titles sponsored by enlightened third parties Foundations, Non-profits, Military, Higher-Ed
> Majority developed in the last five years> A plethora of traditional games which
can be repurposed by savvy teachers> The K-12 eduware ghetto> Few commercial pioneers past & present
Most focused on traditional training markets
> No sense of defined industry But some emergence we can build on this
week
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Current Position
> A project history to build from> Incredible technology looming
Graphics tech faster then Moore’s Law
New consoles by 2006
Portable market hypergrowth
> More academics & programs contributing> Increased industry cooperation> Invigorated press; highly interested> Bracing for the assessment explosion> Poor PC games market> An opportunity to accelerate growth
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Broadbased Industry Support
> IGDA> ESA> GDC> E3Expo> ELSPA> NASAGA> DiGRA
A Closer Look
Space by Space
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Government
> “A democratic society depends upon an informed and educated citizenry”
- Jefferson
MassBalance & BudgetUtah, Waterbusters
> Fed, state and local Different degrees of funds and accessibility
> International: More activist governments
> The “CYA” factor and controversy Escape from Woomera
> Could play a role of generalized industry support in some cases
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Edutainment/K-12
> Established retail market Riverdeep, Infogrames, Leapfrog
> Lots of online stuff PBS Kids, Scholastic
> Is there an independent business model?> Crossover games used periodically> School districts are “broke”> Home schooling shouldn’t be discounted
1999: Home Schooling 850,000 (experts 2M)
New York Times: Not just religious conservatives
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Higher Education
> Less constricted by standards> Able to take more risks> Better technology infrastructures> Better budgets
Seen the price of textbooks lately?
> Struggling with “E-instruction”> Academic Contributions & Research> Will build lots of stuff themselves> Great potential partners
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Health Care
> Games for Health: Documented Uses Game as Carrot Model
Health Education & Media
Patient Treatment• Asthma, ADD, Motor Skills, Psychological,
measurement, Biofeedback
Create/instill/measure conditions in research
Administrative/Professional Training
Technology Transfer
> Medical issues w/games Clinical Trials and protocols
Violence? Repetitive Stress Injuries, Eyes, Seizures, Obesity?
> Market Possibilities
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Corporate
> Larger Pen & Paper contingent> Fractured vendor community
Number of mom & pop shops is staggering
> Uses Training (not just for workers)
Analytics• Breakaway
Advergaming• YaYa Games
> What will be the effect from LMSes and E-learning?> Big companies plan budgets far in advance> The “near mythical” ROI issue
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Military I
> Huge e-learning commitment> Obvious crossover opportunities> Training & advergaming> Contracting process> Examples:
Close Combat Marines
Full Spectrum Command
Full Spectrum Warrior
Spearhead II
Army Game Project
DarWars
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Military II
> More Examples: Guard Force (National Guard)
Joint Force Employment• Crossover into Real War commercial release
SIMSar2• Coast Guard Search and Rescue
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Non Government Organizations
> Fundables and funders> Dollar Per Impact> Examples:
Markle Foundation• SimHealth
Leimondt Foundation• Hidden Agenda
Global Kids• Policy Slam
Sloan Foundation • Virtual U
NAHB• Building Homes of Our Own
> Risk Takers!> Transition the funding axis
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Other
> Journalism> Artistic
Trigger: Game Art
> Editorial Newsgaming
Fix Your Commute• Smashing Ideas
> Propaganda &> Political statements
Eyewitness
A Serious Games Network
Who’s doing what and where?
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> Timeline Started 2002 First meetings spring 2003 Listserv founded February 2003 Lounsbery Funding July 2003 Currently over 240 members Games For Health 2003
> Goals Help policymakers and administrators Organize greater serious games community Support other projects and independent efforts
> Results Lots of press and growing network Useful resource for government agencies Contributing to legitimacy of space Serious Games Summit 2003!
Growth of Serious Games
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Serious Games ERTS
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Who’s Else is Out There?
> Games to TeachEducation Arcade> ETC @ Carnegie Melon> IC2 @ Austin> ICT @ USC> Moves Institute> Army Game Project> DARPA> Microsoft Research> Academic Co-Lab> MediaX (Stanford)> Variety of Independent Evangelists> Lots of new projects incubating
The Broader Marketplace
This stuff doesn’t grow on trees
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Lots of Potential Markets
> U.S. Textbook Market $3 Billion> Corporate Learning $66 Billion> Government Training $40 Billion> IBM Training Budget $700 Million> U.S. Army Training $7 Billion+> E-Learning $10 Billion+> Government Simulations $3 Billion> Leapfrog $680 Million> Foundation payouts $20 Billion+> Business Analytics $5 Billion+> 1% of all of this? Priceless…
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A competitive environment
> Other major media Books
Film
TV
Music
> Other forms of teaching Lectures
Textbook
Multimedia
E-Learning
“Pen & Paper” Games
Outward Bound
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We have some hurdles to jump
> Structural “game developer” isn’t in the yellow pages
There is no sense of standard practices
Emergent community means it’s fractured
Education institutions are mixed bag
> Antipathy Games are “kids stuff”
Costs are “expensive”
Timeframe is “too slow”
> Inexperience Not everyone speaks “game”
Production management is not the forte of most potential clients
Many developers unable to stomach the bizdev
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More hurdles…
> Published reports and Perception Games didn’t help science test scores (2001)
> We haven’t defended ourselves well This is just a military thing
Let me see those games!
What other influences were there?
> Yet another fad… We are until we aren’t
> We’re in the midst of a generational shift…
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Average Age of a…
> U.S. Representative 54> U.S. Senator 59> U.S. Governor 49> U.S. Teacher 43> School Principal 48> Corporate CEO 56> College Dean 36> Military Colonel 45+> General/Admiral 50+> Physician 48> Gamer 29
A Typical Colonel
A Typical CEO
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A Typical Gamer
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Who else wants a piece of this?
> Traditional simulation companies Evans & Sutherland, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Anyone got a spare SGI 32 Processor System?
> Major consultants Deloitte & Touche
• Cannon fodder approach.
> Military Industrial Complex Grumman, General Dynamics, Etc.
• We’re in charge around here.
> E-Learning Industry Apollo Group, Brainbench, Click2Learn
• More text and Java Applets Anyone?
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Why have previous efforts failed?
> They went to the wrong people! EA and Activision are great GAME publishers Commercial market growing too fast – no incentive
> Tech wasn’t mature enough Many times ideas often outpace the platform
needed No way to do cool team and multiplayer
> Market wasn’t ready You think the antipathy is bad today?!??
> Sales strategy hard to work How to recoup expensive unfunded development? Money is in projects vs. products No Internet, no easy marketing system
> Hard to raise capital for game companies
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What’s our story now?
> Things have matured> We have many things others don’t
“You don’t ask a landscaper to build you a house”
We have a unique audience share
Cutting edge visuals and interface design
Great AI and storytelling capabilities
We make stuff ubiquitous
Best a online communities
A history of world building
> Games are becoming mainstream Entertainment & culture
Sheer numbers of devices staggers the uniformed
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What about crossovers?
> True Crossover Full Spectrum Warrior
> Crossover for Distribution Help America’s Army
> SimHealth Sold about 35,000 copies
> Co-publish/Self Publish Virtual U sold about 1000 copies
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Stories from the Front
> “That’s what we spend on toilet paper!”> We can run a contest!> Lets make it massive-multiplayer!> This is Phil from the Mailroom> Put more programmers on it> My beta report: You spelled thas wrong… > How do I print?> What’s DirectX?> Will this run on my Mac?> We don’t have sports in Australia> We’ll build this stuff with students
Building a Project
From games to serious games
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Typical Serious Game Project
> Mission is to effect some change or insight> Combination of developer and subject
matter experts> Often requires many disciplines to work
together> Funded by client; third-party funds; or as a
b2b sale. Not retail!> Commonly avoids SOTA target platforms> The market may not be in the software itself> Has unique engineering needs> Long (and arduous) run-up to go-decision
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Typical Project Stages
> “The Meeting”: AKA the Braindump> Pre-sell process: Fundamentals, Plan A> Ramp up: Committees, Experts,
Funding> The snag: Jump through proverbial hoop> Go ahead: Someone sent a check!> First Playable:Can they get it?> Alpha: Can they augment and test?> Beta: TEST! TEST! TEST!> Gold Master: Is everything else done?> Project Launch: What’s everyone’s role?> Post Mortem: Can we show it worked?> 2.0? If we only had more time!
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Everyone but the Developer
> Education Experts Implementors (teachers, trainers, tutors,
evangelists) Instructional designers
> Content Assistance Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) Testers & Steering Committee
> Internal Internal Production & Management Steering Committee & Advisory Board The person who writes the check Marketing & PR
> Others Third Party Consultants Co-marketing & Distribution
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Different Deal
> Most projects are work-for-hire> IP ownership is about continuation and
product support not “sequelitus valuation” for publishers
> Deals take much longer to incubate> Handholding client is critical – you
manage them as much as they manage you
> Budgets are (for now) much lower
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Construction Issues
> Design for the instructor> Adaptability & Modding> Distribution> Educational Standards
All over the map!Federal & StateDoesn’t 100% translate to curriculumHave to constantly keep referencing them
> Assessment tools & LCMS> Transparency> How important Cross Platform?
Commercial Game
Player
Serious Game
Facilitator
Player
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Targeting the audience
> We should look at consecutive levels of impact
> Our ability to make complex situations accessible is key
> Your best users may not come from your highest target
> How you implement usage will determine success at each point
All stakeholdersincluding general public
All Students
All Faculty
Faculty Chairs
University Presidents
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A Small Note on Platforms
> Windows Dominates (duh!) Government especially Older PC architecture still a concern
> Macintosh still prevalent in education 16% marketshare in “education market” All 7th & 8th graders in Maine have Powerbooks Virginia's Henrico County (All Students) 30% of portable market in education Virtual PC for Mac does a great job (but for how
long?)> Accessibility & 508 Standards> Educators “under using” the technology> Portable market too fragmented
Interesting work by MIT’s TEP with PDAs Companies not standardizing (yet)
A Typical Governor
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Developer Recommendations
> Don’t wait for the mountain to come to you Contact local elected officials
Get out in your business community
Learn these markets
> Prepare for a long haul> Spend time helping with fundamentals> Work with outside experts
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Customer Recommendations
> Use professionals How to evaluate them…
Learn how to augment and enhance them
> How much game for your $$ Not how much $$ for your game
> Protect your ability to maintain the product but be flexible on IP
> Don’t forget about the meta-project
Building A Case
Don’t take no for an answer
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What to sell?
> Sell the game last! 1. Sell the space
• Comparative advantages
2. Sell the technology• Comparative advantages
3. Sell your skills• Exclusivity
4. Sell your approach• Comparative advantages
> Then sell your solution> Leave room to maneuver if plans change.
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Keep Hammering on Comparative Advantages
> Dominant media form of a new generation
> Can be played alone> Asynchronous
multiplayer groups> Instantly transferable
(i.e. digital distribution)
> Potentially modifiable and adaptable
> Best Visualization> Able to juggle more
factors at one time
> When was the last time you saw a boardgame for 1 person?
> How often can people meet at the same location for extended period?
> How often can roleplaying take into account 50 factors?
> What does a textbook bring to life?
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Will it be Fun?
Content & subject critical
Undefined
Demographically DiverseNot captured in a bottle!
Game players?
Fun to whom?
Subject fans?
More fun than XHierarchy of motivatorsLearn 4 career
Interested in subject
Assignment
I know it when I see it!
Fighting FiresManaging Fisheries
Blowing up Aliens
Final Thoughts
Are we there yet?
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My 10 Commandments
1. Solve the problem
2. Focus on comparative advantages
3. Don’t sell transference. Sell skill, process, insight
4. K-12 is a third rail unless you can find a backdoor
5. Build networks, lay foundations, partner3
6. Be as creative with your project as your product
7. Beware of other ways problem could be solved
8. Though shall not retail
9. We need to think big
10. This is not the game business as you know it
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Futher recommendations
> Build an industry face & Attract things collectively
> Identify and root out preconceptions Create legitimacy through education Push back properly against detractors Promote professional development
> Push for big projects and problems “We will not be successful with 50 $100K
projects”
> Catalog things better Social Impact Games, Weblab, Teachers Arcade Games for Health
> Think Global, Act Local Elected representatives, local companies,
grassroots
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Future Events
> NGO Group Meeting NYC, April, time & place TBA
> Education Arcade E3 Expo, May 9-10, Los Angeles
> Games For Health University of Wisconsin, September 16-17
> D.C. Serious Games Day II Fall 2004
> Serious Games Summit 2005 Spring 2005, Time & Place TBD
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Next Efforts
> IGDA SIG Possibility> More Serious Game Subgroups> Expanded Web site features> More frequent issues of SNAGGED> Serious Games Annual 2005> Games for Health Literature Review> Drive down cost of ramp-up> Expand Serious Games.org
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Resources
> www.seriousgames.org Serious Games Mailing List
S.N.A.G.G.E.D.
> www.educationarcade.org> www.gamesforhealth.org
Games for Health List
> www.socialimpactgames.com> www.acm.org/pubs/cie.html> Books
Gee, Aldrich, and Prensky
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My Preamble…
> The are likely exceptions to everything I will say.
> I do not pretend to know everything about this space.
> I am not aware of every last project.
> My ideas are only part of the answer we’re constructing.
> I am trying to speak as much from experience as I can.
> I did not start out here. I am new to this area.
> Please laugh at my lame attempts at humor.
> And finally…
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Detour on SCORM®
> What the heck is this!!?!@?! Shareable Courseware Object Reference
Model
> The LMS or LCMS Learning Management System
Learning Content Management System
> It’s almost all Web based HTML, XML, Javascript, Java, Flash
> How do games fit in? Can we retrofit high-end C++ .exes with
SCORM and LMS Systems?
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Don’t Take ROI for an Answer
> Fire Department My building burned down…
> Jumbo Jets & Rocket Ships What’s this button do?
> Can you really teach this with a book? Strategy?
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Who’s Who and what’s their role?
> Development StudiosFind projects; educate client; make games
> Learning & Instruction Experts Provide research; design help; content expertise; assessment
tools
> Publishers Provide tech/industry support; look for crossover possibilities
> Facilitators Ensure learning experience is fulfilling; build with and on top of
our creations
> Capital Sources Fund us both philanthropically and commercially
> Customers & Users “The problem”; support; funds; expertise; feedback;
adaptations
> Other Partners Co-marketing; expert consultants; etc.