topical media & game development

[] readme course(s) preface I 1 2 II 3 4 III 5 6 7 IV 8 9 10 V 11 12 afterthought(s) appendix reference(s) example(s) resource(s) _

serious games in a social context

Anton Eliëns

abstract

This paper provides ...
Keywords and phrases: serious gaming, education, game development

CTSG / replay(s) / utopia / serious.eliens.net

INTRODUCTION

game space(s)

... ever get the feeling that life's a game with changing rules and no clear sides, one you are compelled to play, but cannot win. Welcome to gamespace. Gamespace is where and how we live today.

serious issues

awareness -- world problems / social dilemma(s)
education -- language / mathematics / history
health & wellbeing -- skill(s) & remediation
experience(s) -- playful application(s)

awareness -- game(s) / arg(s) / dilemma(s)
education -- reference(s) / www.mijnnaamishaas.nl
problem(s) -- health / remediation(s)

skill(s) & remediations

team up -- www.girlsinc.org/gc/page.php?id=6.2
dangerous situation(s) -- www.ditto.com.au
communication method(s) -- www.webwisekids.org
muscle rehabilitation -- on the move
physical exercise(s) -- www.silverfit.nl
fitness -- www.virtuagym.com
overcome fear(s) -- www.vrphobia.com

critical

games that depict everyday activities such as communication, social negotiation, caring for elements or characters that are part of a game world, or stabilizing precarious situations have become extremely popular with female players.

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS

serious games as social technology

target(s) -- which (group of) people?
sponsor(s) -- who initiates/pays?
goal(s) -- what behavior(s)/pattern(s)?
instrument(s) -- by what means/technology?

health games

fitness -- www.virtuagym.com
elderly care -- www.silverfit.nl/en
diabetes -- www.gripsugarkids.nl
learn to fall -- nos broadcast (nl)

awareness

world hunger -- www.food-force.com
carabella goes to college -- www.privacyactivism.org
real lives -- www.educationalsimulations.com/products.html
refugee(s) -- escape from woomera
eye witness -- www.mic.polyu.edu.hk/nanjing
university politics -- www.virtual-u.org
sudan -- www.darfurisdying.com

THEORY BACKGROUND

(casual) game mechanics

complex adaptive systems

essential game theory

game matrix

A/B	cooperate	deflect
cooperate	R/R	S/T
deflect	T/S	P/P

T = temptation, R = reward, P = punishment, S = sucker

chicken

A/B	cooperate	deflect
cooperate	live/live	coward/girl
deflect	girl/coward	dead/dead

chicken: T > R > S > P

sucker(s) or saint(s)

prisoner(s) dilemma: $T > R > P > S$
chicken: $T > R > S > P$
leader: $T > S > R > P$
free loader: $R > T > S > P$
war(s) of the sexes: $R > P > T > S$ ?

T = temptation, R = reward, P = punishment, S = sucker

gamification dynamics

appointment(s) -- in which you must succeed / in time
influence & status -- achievement(s) / I want this!
progression(s) -- towards completion(s) / monitor(s)
communal discovery -- cooperation(s) / reward(s)

STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE

structure of the course

introduction(s) -- the team & finding (y)our topic(s)
theoretical background(s) -- narrative(s) & human(s)
miscellaneous -- pitch / design(s) & gamification(s)
game design workshop(s) -- express (y)our idea(s)
student presentation(s) -- concept(s) & plan(s)
reflection(s) -- ethical aspects of serious games
final presentation(s) -- concept(s) & prototype(s)

basic exercise(s)

project utopia -- brief description of ideal society and potential role of serious games
moodspace -- exercise in visual rethorics, preferably in unity

final project(s)

prototype(s) -- with sufficient documention
concept design -- with elaboration of narrative(s) and visual design
trailer -- promotion clip, with documentation and business plan
reflection(s) on societal impact -- with sufficient motivation and depth

deadline(s)


      [R/X]: session 2 -- online presence / portfolio(s)
        [U]: session 3 -- project utopia
        [M]: session 4 -- mood space(s)
        [C]: session 5 -- concept(s)
        [E]: session 6 -- essay(s)
      [P/T]: session 7 -- final project(s) & peer reviews

PROJECT UTOPIA

project utopia

environment(s) -- facilitator(s), infrastructure ...
system(s) -- organization(s), incentive(s) ...
rule(s) -- code(s) of law, civic order ...
(moral) value(s) -- utility, behavior(s), ethic(s) ...

WORKSHOP DESIGN

case study: civic order(s)

(y)our player(s) ... ?
what super power(s) ... ?
invitation(s) -- message(s) !
(mini) game -- mechanic(s) ?
nudge(s) -- re-enforcement(s) ... !?

LET'S BE SERIOUS!

In one of my first papers on this topic [Serious], I observed that -- ICT is not a (simple) game. When speaking about civic order(s), a similar phrase might be either taken as an understatement or even as a warning, given the need expressed all over the world to guide and control (or nudge) the behavior of citizens, in urban areas as well areas threatened by the effects of consumerism, with as a dramatic example the rural areas of the countries I recently visited, China, where pollution due to production and consumption is a number one threat. The China Dream workshop, in which I participated at the end of my stay in China, and in general the activity of JUCCCE is one of the many attempts to deal with such problems, due to, according to many, the rise of a larger and larger middle class as a consequence of the astounding economic growth. What ideals, dreams or aspirations should the people becoming part of this middle class have, and how can we bring about such ideals, or, put more plainly, what civic values should be emphasized and promoted to contain consumerism and te lead people to a better life, in whichb they still enjoy their well-deserved luxury, in good health, which is another latent threat underlying unconstrained consumption.

Our question, as addressed in this paper, is how can we deploy serious games to counteract problems of personal health, order in public spaces, and in general civic behavior that leads to a sustainable society.

theme(s)

urban -- (un)safety in urban environment(s)
climate -- climate change and energy consumption
fitness-- (social network) support for sport and fitness
media -- prevent(ion) of media and information overload
scenario(s) -- emergency / rescue in public area(s)
communication -- exchange(s) in private/public space(s)

CONCLUSIONS

In this paper we have reported on our

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT(S)

Thanks to my collegues from the University of Amsterdam, Jacobijn Sandberg and Frank Nack, for their positive encoragements and support.

REFERENCES

[Creativity] Eliens A. (1979),: Creativity: reflection and involvement, Ninth Int Conf of Aesthetics, Dubrovnic, August 1979
[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, Monterey, USA
[SecondLife] Eliens A. Feldberg F., Konijn E., Compter E. (2007a) ,: VU @ Second Life -- creating a (virtual) community of learners, In Proc. EUROMEDIA 2007, Delft, Netherlands
[Climate] Eliens A., van de Watering M., Huurdeman H.,: Bhikharie S.V., Lemmers H., Vellinga P. (2007b), Clima Futura @ VU -- communicating (unconvenient) science, In Proc. GAME-ON 07, Bologna, Italy
[Replay] Eliens A. and Ruttkay Z. (2008),: Record, Replay & Reflect -- a framework for understanding (serious) game play, In Proc. Euromedia 09, Brugge, Belgium
[Math] Eliens A. and Ruttkay Z. (2009),: Math game(s) -- an alternative (approach) to teaching math?, In Proc. GAME-ON 2009, Dusseldorf, Germany
[Chinese] Eliens A. (2010),: Elements of a Chinese language game, In Proc. GAME-ON 2010, Shanghai, China
[CTSG] Eliens A. (2010),: creative technology -- the CTSG: game design in 7 steps, In Proc. GAME-ON 2010, Shanghai, China

Anton Eliens

(PhD) is lecturer and coordinator of multimedia @ VU University Amsterdam, and works at the University of Twente as professor creative technology / new media. He has experience in web-based interactive media, interactive video, game engines and the application of such technologies in serious games.