Week 11 Serious Game

This week is a game week. Not only R685 talked about games, the other course (S516 Human Computer Interaction) that I am taking this semester from School of Library and Information Science also lectured on games and game design. A guest speaker from Microsoft was invited to give us a talk on his experience of designing a serious game for the Fire Department of LA about ten years ago. Before this speech, I never knew that Microsoft has included game design as part of its business to help clients solve real world issues. This speech presents the great potential of implication serious games in diversified areas in the future.

I searched “serious game” online. Wikipedia defines “serious game” as “a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The serious adjective is generally prepended to refer to products used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, religion, and politics”. Interesting examples of existing serious games are:

·        1.  DARWARSAmbush! Convoy Simulator developed as part of DARPA's DARWARS project, designed to create low-cost experiential training systems. 

·        2. EteRNA, a game in which players attempt to design RNA sequences that fold into a given configuration. Designs are evaluated to improve computer models predicting RNA folding, included selected designs actually synthesized to evaluate RNA folding dynamics against computer predictions.

·         3. FloodSim , a flood prevention simulation/strategy game designed to inform the people of the United Kingdom about the dangers of flooding as well as to help gather public opinion on the problem that flooding presents to the UK. The player takes control of the UK's flood policies for three years and attempts to protect the people and the economy of the United Kingdom from damage due to floods.

·        4.  FoodForce , a Humanitarian video game. The UN's World Food Programme designed this virtual world of food airdrops over crisis zones and trucks struggling up difficult roads under rebel threat with emergency food supplies. 

·       5.  IBMCityOne, designed by IBM as part of the IBM Smarter Planet initiative. The game is designed to educate the player of the complex systems and how they connect in a modern city.

·        6. IntelliGym, a series of computer based cognitive simulators that trains athletes and designed to enhance brain skills associated with sports-related performance.

·         7. MicrosoftFlight Simulator developed as a comprehensive simulation of civil aviation. Notably one of the few flight simulation games that does not concentrate on simulation of aerial warfare.

·         8.Time out, is a point and click game dealing with diabetes.

Reading through the descriptions of above games, I think no one would deny the great value of serious games to individuals as well as to the whole society. As a future instructional designer, I believe the power of serious games in education and training. If people can learn new knowledge, concepts, social trends and problem solving skills through playing games, educators should definitely advocate this way of learning and create more learning opportunities of using games, because games provides learners what traditional lecture couldn’t offer , engagement and simulation, two major feature of games which ensure the effectiveness of learning.