www.sofos.nl

1

GS4D - GAMING/SIMULATION FOR DEVELOPMENTBUILDING AND APPLYING GAMES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ISAGA - International Simulation and Gaming Association42nd Annual Conference, 11-15 July 2011, Jachranka, Poland

Pieter van der Hijden MScSofos Consultancy

www.sofos.nl

2

AGENDA

www.sofos.nl

3

1. INTRODUCTION

www.sofos.nl

4

1. INTRODUCTION – ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pieter van der Hijden MSc

Sofos Consultancy Ict for development,

government and learning A.o. Gaming/simulation,

Cyberdam, Fab Labs, Moodle.

www.sofos.nl

5

1. INTRODUCTION - ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Titles of assignments as WordleTM cloud

www.sofos.nl

6

1. INTRODUCTION - DEVELOPMENT

Suriname, as example Location: North coast of

South America Area: 5 times NL Population: 0.5 million <15 year: 25% Settlements:

70% Paramaribo+ 20% rest of coastal strip 10% hinterland (jungle)

www.sofos.nl

7

1. INTRODUCTION - DEVELOPMENT

25% children 40% primary school

or less 50% dropouts in

hinterland education and

training for all no money limited technology

www.sofos.nl

8

1. INTRODUCTION – GS4D

www.sofos.nl

9

2. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

www.sofos.nl

10

2. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

Categories: Frame games that can be loaded with

development specific content Games on global issues and

international cooperation Generic games on development issues Specific games on development issues

www.sofos.nl

11

2. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES – FRAME GAMES

Example: Dharadam, a week in the slums of Dharavi, Mumbai.

Goal: sensitize social work students before they go for practice in the slums.

Type: online role playing game based in Cyberdam.

Author: Pieter van der Hijden & students for ISAGA Summerschool.

http://www.cyberdam.nl

www.sofos.nl

12

2. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES – GLOBAL ISSUES Example: Evoke, a 10-

week “crash course in saving the world.”

Goal: to help empower people all over the world to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems.

Type: social network game.

Author: Natron Baxter Applied Gaming

http://www.urgentevoke.com/

www.sofos.nl

13

2. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES – GENERIC GAMES

Example: HEX, run Hexland during five years.

Goal: tool for learning to allocate resources for developing governments.

Type: board game on three levels.

Author: Richard Duke & students for UNESCO.

http://www.sofos.nl

www.sofos.nl

14

2. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES – SPECIFIC GAMES

Example: Inside Haiti Earthquake.

Goal: experience the earthquake from perspective of survivor, journalist and aid worker.

Type: web-based interactive simulation, part of multimedia campaign.

Author: PTV productions http://www.insidethehait

iearthquake.com/

www.sofos.nl

15

2. DEVELOPMENT ISSUES – CONCLUSION

The examples show: A variety of development issues can be

addressed via a variety of gaming technologies

Game producers need expertise in both domains, so there is a field like GS4D.

www.sofos.nl

16

3. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT

www.sofos.nl

17

3. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT - VISION

Vision – games can make learning more appealing, effective and efficient; both for children and adults

www.sofos.nl

18

3. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT - TEACHERS

Teachers – games help teachers learn the coaching role

www.sofos.nl

19

3. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT - TECHNOLOGY Technology– limited,

but improving “The day the big

antenna was switched on, was the most important day in my life”

www.sofos.nl

20

3. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT - GAMES

Games – yes, when localised!

www.sofos.nl

21

3. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT - CONCLUSION

Conclusion: Great potential Avoid high-tech and

broadband (for the moment)

Go for localization

www.sofos.nl

22

4. BUILDING GS4D

www.sofos.nl

23

4. BUILDING GS4D - LOCALIZATION

Localization = preparing a game for another country, culture or language.

www.sofos.nl

24

4. BUILDING GS4D - LOCALIZATION

How do you use Lego streets? City Rural

area Jungle

www.sofos.nl

25

4. BUILDING GS4D - LOCALIZATION

www.sofos.nl

26

4. BUILDING GS4D - LOCALIZATION

www.sofos.nl

27

4. BUILDING GS4D - LOCALIZATION

Example:Elaboration of the language layer: Conventional

wisdom Symbolic

expressions Jargon Slang Idioms Text

Learning goals

Learning styles

Game patterns

Actions

Objects

Visualisation & sound

Language

www.sofos.nl

28

4. BUILDING GS4D – LOCALIZATION

Focus on individual learner

Focus op collaboration

Source: Jeroen van Merriënboer

Bron: ISAGA Dharadam game-sessie

www.sofos.nl

29

4. BUILDING GS4D - INTERNATIONALIZATION

Internationalization is the process of designing a game so that it can be localized easily.

www.sofos.nl

30

4. BUILDING GS4D – INTERNATIONAL TEAMS

Multidisciplinary team required Local knowledge required international team requiredIssues: Little face-2-face contacts Intercultural communication Time zones

www.sofos.nl

31

4. BUILDING GS4D - CONCLUSION

Localization is key success factor Localization is more than ICT Internationalization and localization are

rather new for gaming

www.sofos.nl

32

SUMMARY

www.sofos.nl

33

SUMMARY

GS4D – Gaming/Simulation for Development Development issues

Interesting and innovative category of games Added value for developing countries not always evident

Development context Great potential when localization is OK Internationalization will be challenge

Building GS4D Internationalization and localization are rather new for

gaming GS4D – Gaming/Simulation for Development

Not a new discipline, but a new specialism Local knowledge indispensable Internaionalizatiom amd localization become hot

www.sofos.nl

34

SOFOS CONSULTANCY

Thank you for your attention!

Pieter van der Hijden MScpvdh@sofos.nl

2011 – Sofos Consultancy / Pieter van der Hijden (pvdh@sofos.nl) - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.