For many people the concept of computer games in the corporate environment sound strange. It is, however, the product of a full academic and business discipline of its own. This area is called ‘Serious Gaming’
We have pasted and edited extract of the Wikipedia entry on Serious Games below. The full article may be read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_games
A serious game is a software application developed with game technology and game design principles for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment.
A number of scholars began to examine the utility of games for other purposes. Additionally, the ability of games to contribute to training expanded at the same time with the development of multi-player gaming. In 2002, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. launched a “Serious Games Initiative” to encourage the development of games that address policy and management issues. More focused sub-groups began to appear in 2004, including Games for Change which focuses on social issues and social change, and Games for Health which addresses health care applications.
There is no single definition of serious games, though they are generally held to be games used for training, advertising, simulation, or education. Alternate definitions include the application of games concepts, technologies and ideas to non-entertainment applications.
A serious game may be a simulation which has the look and feel of a game, but corresponds to non-game events or processes, including business operations and military operations. The games are intended to provide an engaging, self-reinforcing context in which to motivate and educate the players
Development
The concept of using games for education dates back before the days of computers, but the first serious game is often considered to be Army Battlezone, an abortive project headed by Atari in 1980, designed to use the Battlezone tank game for military training.
Game Impact Theory
The very nature of games in Western society makes them a disruptive force. As Parker Brothers discovered in the late 19th and early 20th century, games have the power to influence society, though they must fit within societal norms. Today we see computer games extending their influence into the serious business of military operations, medical education, emergency management training, and many others. In doing this, game technology is jumping the gap between entertainment and work. Throughout the evolution of electronic and computer games, this gap has kept this technology out of business, largely because games were not seen as “serious” tools. Games have often been viewed as toys, not as tools for productivity. But the incredible power of the personal computer, graphics cards, broadband Internet connections, intelligent software agents, accurate physics models, and accessible user interface are making it impossible to ignore the potential of these “toys” to be applied to some very difficult problems in the “real business world”.
In addition to being technologically powerful, these tools and techniques are becoming more socially acceptable, even socially desirable, as the people who experienced games as children become the next generation of leaders in business, government, and the military.
“The forces that hone games, and gamers, have more to do with anthropology than code” (Herz & Macedonia, 2001). As with the games introduced by George Parker over 100 years ago, these forms of entertainment test the edge of socially acceptable behavior and the use of one’s time. They impact the social relationships and cultural norms of a generation. The same can be said of business practices. As a generation of gamers enters the corner office and the oval office, these technologies will continue to gain acceptance.