Serious Games for Guidance

1. Dr Andreas Oikonomou Ms Siobhan Neary-Booth Serious Games for Guidance

2. Topics The Games industry Size Trends Serious Games Simulation Education Marketing Current Game technologies Future Game trends & technologies Conclusions & Summary

3. The Games industry today "You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the video games industry sales figures" NPD analyst Anita Frazier, April 2008. Source: NPD Group; ESA; MPAA; BoxOfficeMojo.com; RIAA; IFPI

4. Game industry trends Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

5. Serious Games: Simulation A simulation game is a game that contains a mixture of skills, chance, and strategy to simulate an aspect of reality, such as a stock exchange, a battlefield or a race Simulation games have been predominantly used for training and educational purposes The first ever client for a simulation game was the government of the United States (1965) Simulation games have been used extensively as an effective way to generate new and more complex behaviour among players (e.g. to engender courage among participants exposed to fearful conditions) When deftly used, simulation gaming can produce results which eclipse many other forms of training An example of a modern, multiplayer, simulation game by Microsoft

6. Serious Games: Education An educational computer game has intended educational outcomes targeted at specific groups of learners Video games can aid the development of proficiency by allowing users to interact with objects and manipulate variables Simple types of games can be designed to address specific learning outcomes such as recall of factual content Examples of educational games include the Nobel Prize Foundation website which uses on-line games to aid children in understanding the discoveries made by its laureates by embedding the scientific knowledge as part of the game environment An example of how an educational game is made

7. Serious Games: Marketing Viral Marketing Gives away valuable products or services Provides for effortless transfer to others Scales easily from small to very large Exploits common motivations and behaviors Utilises existing communication networks Takes advantage of others' resources Viral Marketing with games Game available on a website Players are allowed to send links to it Can be played by a small or large number of people simultaneously Exploits the needs to compete and have fun Utilises the Internet Promotion is done by the player rather than the marketer An example of a viral marketing game

8. Current Game Technologies Home Entertainment Sony PS3 11.79M units worldwide Hands on example Microsoft XBOX 360 18.24M units worldwide Hands on example Nintendo Wii 23.89M units worldwide Hands on example PC 822.15M (2005) Hands on example Mobile 96% of all 15 – 24 year olds in UK own a mobile phone Mobile game examples (Command & Conquer, Spyro)

9. Games in the next 10 years Will be social Clans will compete in ladders and leagues Professional gamers will one day entertain millions of fans Will arouse all 5 senses Hardware devices will reach beyond the simple view screen and speakers to stimulate the other senses as well Eventually, there will be some type of hardware display revolution that visually immerses the gamer Such a device, once developed, standardised, and mass produced, will provide the level of realism needed to attract large numbers of consumers to the electronic gaming playground Will be affordable One of the factors that allowed PC sales to explode in the 80’s was the low cost Consoles are affordable today and will be even more so in the future as technology evolves Advertising slogans will be “Keep your little ones off dangerous streets and out of a filthy environment. Try our safe and clean 3D gaming environment” or “Teach your children family values in a our Father/Son Classic Capture the Flag Tournament.”

10. Games in the next 10 years Will be customizable User maps, skins and 3D models trading will grow on the Internet 3D holography files will be a lot bigger and more detailed than the current 3D variety Broadband speed will increase between 2-20 times with the use of ADSL2 & Fiber Optics Will be educational Knowledge in future generations will be instilled through games and gaming platforms Every child will demand/have access to them Educational support will be integrated The didactic power of games will begin to be fully realised The necessity for government regulation will increase

11. Conclusions & Summary The Games industry As big as the music and film industries Further growth is expected Serious Games Simulation Education Marketing Current Game Technologies Home entertainment Mobile entertainment Games in the next 10 years The 5 predictions

12. The UK games industry In 2004 the UK computer and video games industry recorded sales in excess of £2 billion for the 3rd year running (Source: Chart-Track) The UK games industry is one of the fastest growers in the entertainment sector (Source: Chart-Track) In contrast the UK film and TV industries recorded negative balances of £282m and £553m respectively (Source: Screen Digest) The UK continues to be the largest market in Europe and is the third largest individual market in the world, after the US and Japan In 2004 there were 20.8 million consoles and games handhelds in UK homes Between 1994 and 2004, more than 335 million units of leisure software were sold in the UK, which equates to over five titles per head of population (Source: Office of National Statistics/Screen Digest/Chart-Track)

13. Games as an educational tool “There is no reason that a generation that can memorize over 100 Pokémon characters with all their characteristics, history and evolution can't learn the names, populations, capitals and relationships of all the 101* nations in the world.” Marc Prensky 2001. Digital natives, digital immigrants. Characteristics of Game Based Learning (GBL) GBL uses competitive exercises, either pitting the players against each other or getting them to challenge themselves in order to motivate them to learn better Games often have a fantasy element that engages players in a learning activity through a storyline In order to create a truly educational game, the designer/s needs to make sure that learning the material is essential to scoring and winning Attributes of GBL More fun Motivates players to learn Immerses them in the material so they learn more effectively Encourages them to learn from their mistakes *They are actually 194

14. Good Game design principles Continuous Challenge Clear, short-term goals appropriate to the level of the player and the context of the game Each challenge should satisfy at least part of a learning objective Interesting Storyline Encourage players to use games to escape into the information or studies intended Flexibility Allow many different ways to accomplish each goal Let each player (or team) work out their own strategy to the endpoint Immediate and Useful Rewards Reward successful players with new capabilities, a new part of the game to explore or even a new task rather than just “points” Such rewards are surprisingly motivating, as the point of the game is not just to win it, but to keep playing Combining Fun and Realism A simulation without goals and challenges is not a game Excessive realism can also be boring