Æliens

There is a growing need for ICT service management which provides ICT service providers with the basic functionalities to manage complex information systems. Since the early 1990’s the world of ICT infrastructure has been in a state of constant flux due to profound changes in field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The complex interplay between technological innovation and the rearrangements of applications, service oriented architectures, and enterprise integration has led to new service management operations.

Following Huizinga's dictum that in the game we confront a function of the living creature which cannot be determined either biologically or logically, we regard games an an effective learning environment. From a game theory perspective, which we will discuss later, a game not only provides the learner with an environment to learn the rules, but also allows us to re-create to some extent the context that promotes an actual involvement of the player with the world in which to apply these rules.

At Getronics PinkRoccade, ASL and BiSL are instruments in determining ICT strategies in cooperation with clients. The integrated gaming and simulation environment we are developing is meant to train our employees in the use of ASL and BiSL. In developing this application we draw on our experience in business process simulation,  [Simulate], and visualisation,  [Gadgets].

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virtual heroes

Serious games and simulations are poised for a second revolution. Today's children, our workforce and scientists are increasingly playing, learning, and inventing in visually intensive "virtual" environments. In our increasingly experiential economy, immersive educational and training solutions are needed to advance the workforce of tomorrow. Game-based learning and technologies meet this challenge.

criteria for effective games

• rules -- service management protocols
• outcome -- learning process
• value -- intellectual satisfaction
• effort -- study procedures
• attachment -- corporate identity
• consequences -- job qualification

service management game(s)

• scenarios - problem solving service management
• reward - service level agreement

game engine

• rendering system -- 2D/3D graphics
• input system -- user interaction
• sound system -- ambient and re-active
• physics system -- for the blockbusters
• animation system -- motion of objects and characters
• artificial intelligence system -- for real challenge(s)

With regard to the use of 3D we may remark that since ancient times a walk in space has served as a mnemonic device, and as such spatial memory may aid in retention and understanding, which might also provide a decisive argument for the use of 3D in a service management game!

In this paper, we have introduced a game model which served as a reference to discuss the criteria for effective service management games. We have observed that the quality of a game lies both in the general flow of the game experience and in the individual moments during a playing session, which have to be defined both with respect to the (learning) goals set for the (serious) game, as well as the involvement of the player, that is fun. Against the background of these criteria we have indicated architectural requirements as well as technical and artistic issues in the development of service management games.

[Simulate] Eliens A., Niessink F., Schonhage S.P.C.,

van Ossenbruggen J.R., Nash P. (1996). Support for BPR -- simulation, hypermedia and the Web, In Proc. Euromedia\'96, Euromedia, London 1996

[Platform] Eliens A., Huang Z., and Visser C. (2002),

A platform for Embodied Conversational Agents based on Distributed Logic Programming, In Proc. Workshop AAMAS'02, Bologna 17/7/2002

[VULife] Eliens A. and S.V. Bhikharie (2006,

Game @ VU -- developing a masterclass for high-school students using the Half-Life 2 SDK, In Proc. GAME'ON-NA'2006

[HalfReal] Juul J. (2005),

Half Real -- Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds, MIT Press

[Semiotics] Kress G. and van Leeuwen T. (1996),

Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, Routledge

[Control] Van Houten S-P. and Verbraeck A. (2006),

Controlling simulation games through rule-based scenarios, In Proc. Winter Simulation Conference, Perrone L.F., Wieland F.P, Liu J. Lawson B.G., Nico D.M. and Fujimoto R.M. eds.

[ASL] Pols van der R. and Meijer-Veldman E. (2006),

ASL, second generation application management, http://aslfoundation.org

[Ultimate] Sherrod A. (2006),

Ultimate Game Programming with DirectX, Charles River Media

[Gadgets] Schonhage, B., van Ballegooij, A., Eliens, A. (2000),

3D gadgets for business process visualizations, In Proc. Web3D Symposium, pp. 131-138, Monterey CA, USA

[GameDesign] Schuytema P. (2007),

Game Design: A Practical Approach, Charles River Media