Serious Games

Okay well I've always thought they were kinda dry, mixing some arcade game with a different art style to 'inform the player'. BUT. It is a big field similar to what I'm researching so I might as well have a peek.

Games For Heath
This is annual conference with the aims "to improve health and health care." This means not just video games that involve physical activity, but also training health care professionals to better do their job.

This is an early introduction (2006) to the organization. The focus here is on the technology and experience opportunities that video games provide. There is little focus on actual games however. There seems to be a bit of a grey-area around 'video games'. The technology of real time graphics in a interactive world is automatically dubbed a 'video game' weather there is any game or not. It does offer a more rich interaction possibility space, people are able to test things out, train, learn in a different way - but often not as a 'game' - or a very superficial game.

Next on Joel's blog: What is a game and how, or why is it important? Stay tuned in.
Now: Games for Health.




Here's a later video. First part is mixing physical exercise with video games as is. That is physical actions propel an avatar forward, make them dance etc. It seems a bit, superficial but the players apparently really enjoyed it, and had not only the satisfaction of playing a game, but also of exercising.
The second part is about a game called ReMission. It is a third-person type game, but with heavy, information loaded content. It helps those undertaking Chemotherapy understand what's going on, and how to deal with it.