Some of what we do...
Posted by Ben Sawyer on 06-05-23One of the big roles the Initiative has played in building out the serious games field is by obtaining press coverage for the field. Here are three recent articles the Initiative helped bring about...
We've orchestrated some big hits lately...
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-05-19-serious-games_x.htm
LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/technology/consumer/gamers/la-he-game15may15,1,1867483.story?coll=la-business-games
SF Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/22/BUG7BIU4EE1.DTL
In some cases we are able to obtain this press just by helping support general journalist inquiries in the field. In a few cases including some of the above this comes about from our pro-active efforts in PR.
PR is critical for an emerging field such as Serious Games because it helps generate feedback to the project in the form of inquiries for involvement. Be it from a potential customer, to a possible collaborator, etc. articles like these draw in more community members who suddenly find a means to produce something they always wanted to do. Often we get emails as a result of stories like these which begin "I always wanted to do this but didn't know there was really a vibrant movement for it..."
Post E3-Thoughts
Posted by Ben Sawyer on 06-05-18Well it's been almost a week since E3. We're finally recovering here. A great event and we thank everyone who came by to visit our booth in Kentia Hall. We hosted about a dozen or so members of the press at our booth and our Games for Health Project had a spectacular conference at USC on Tuesday (for more on this see www.gamesforhealth.org).
So what amazed us serious gamers at E3? In general I think the most amazing thing was the maturity of the quality of games. Everything looked polished and spectacular. This isn't to say everything will be great just that there is less uneveness in the look of most games.
That being said here were the "serious" highlights I saw...
* Crysis from CryTek/EA looked spectacular. As a moddable environment this could be very cool. The game seemed conventional but I'll still proably play it. It's at least a year+ out.
* QuakeWars also seemed spectacular for the same reasons as Crysis. Megatexturing is here for good now. Especially for outdoor environments. I wonder if next-gen team oriented titles like QuakeWars can be used out of the box effectively. There is so much teamwork built into it...
* The Camera attachment and microphone attachment for the PSP. Nothing big to show with it yet but I think it will offer some interesting opportunities. Wonder how easy it will be to hack it via homebrew? I met the Talkman producer from Sony and he's very interested in non-entertainment applications of the technology.
* A card game from Sony that Noah Falstien told me about and Peter Smith got video of (we'll try to post it or find it on YouTube). Basically as you play cards like a Magic the Gathering or a PokeMon the Sony EyeToy camera catches this and then animates a virtual card on screen. It's augmented card game reality. Very cool and innovative.
* In the Singapore booth there was a company showcasing color coded square technology that you can put on objects, people, etc. Take a picture with it with your camera phone and it can be intergrated as a data trigger in your game. Very cool for augmented reality games. People could wear tags denoting their vital signs for a mass casualty sim, objects could become treasures, etc. I'm convinced that augmented reality gaming is one of the next-big-things but the overall infrastructure of mobile devices, data tagging, GPS, WiFi, Edge, and RFID just isn't all pulled together enough.
* A next-gen RTS from Relic (makers of Homeworld among other great games) that seemed pretty sweet. Squad based action. We need more RTS interfaces to play with...
* NeverWinter Nights II looked cool but I needed to play with it more to see how great they've advanced the modding tools and conversation editor.
* Sonica Spanish in the UK pavillion. This is a dance pad game where you learn spanish using a dance mat. PC based with Flash being the game engine. Pad games in flash and language training. I have heard good things about the product but had missed them at GDC Europe. We're hoping to get them over to the U.S. this fall for SGS.
* JesterTek was also at the show. They go back a long way in the camera-based game system world. The EyeToy before there was an EyeToy. Good to see them and we had some good conversations about how much they're being used in the PT world.
Beyond that I have to review the literature I picked up at the show, and go back through more notes. So more post-E3 thoughts soon.
Super Columbine Massacre RPG
Posted by Ben Sawyer on 06-05-06So a long time ago I got a email from someone who said they were working on a social commentary game about the Columbine Massacre. They wanted us to know it was being worked on and they wanted to do something "serious". Imagine at the time not knowing anything more. Needless to say while not being dismissive of it - I left the call as it was. "Thanks for writing and let us know when it comes out" and for the most part it was more "ah yeah - sure thing..." as no one in their right mind would be involved with that knowing anything more then I was told.
Now perhaps it's not the same group, or perhaps it is but this week Super Columbine Massacre RPG debuted. Google it for the link... and Water Cooler Games and other blogs have some good posts on this.
There will be lots of debate on whether this is a subject that should be off limits for a game. What a piece of luck for the developers it comes out the same time we're having the same debate as a nation about Flight 93. What makes the debate about Flight 93 so much more serious is because Flight 93 is a serious movie and seriously well done - don't ask me, I've chosen not to see it for my own personal reasons but I've read and seen the reviews and the point they're making is that this is a great film.
Thankfully for Super Columbine Massacre RPG they've also made a serious work. I've not played it (and probably won't because I don't have the time for now) but I've spent the last day reading on it and it seems flaws and all to be accepted by people who think carefully to be a pretty serious attempt at commentary related to the incident. Like Flight 93 this is good because if we're going to do games about subjects that are tough and questionable we can't make bad games and frankly at this point all we can do is try because unlike film we don't have a lot to build on in gaming yet. Escape from Woomera, Eye Witness, and a few others do exist but for 2006 it may very well by this game which gets dissected the most and despite all the good, bad, and ugly of this project it will be this larger discussion that very well could be its legacy.
I'm not going to pass judgement on whether this game should have been made. Depending on the prism I view it through the answers are yes and no. But I will absolutely applaud the developers for one thing outright - they apparantly didn't make this blindly or to trivialize anything. That's the essence of serious when your goal is to make a game like this. That's why this game deserves to be properly discussed and not dismissed. Flight 93 got the EXACT same treatment. So should this.
Majesco cooks up some DS love
Posted by Peter Smith on 06-05-05
Majesco has announced they are going to bring the odd little cooking title Cooking Mama to DS’s all over America. Cooking Mama is a unique title sometimes referred to as a cooking simulation. Apparently you cook some very Japanese food and the recipes are real. Could this be the perfect way to teach cooking to America’s youth, or will the neglect to change the recipes to more American friendly fair? I guess we will have to wait and see, but this could be one of the coolest little games to come around in awhile. Also, Majesco could really use the hit with their recent good, but poorly selling games like Psychonauts (Which if you have not played you should go buy right now). Considering the success of similar off the wall Japanese imports with serious slants, like Phoenix Wright and Trauma Center, Majesco might have finally found the hit they have been looking for.
Maiden Love Revolution
Posted by Peter Smith on 06-05-05
NEC International has developed the next supper smash hit for young women in Japan, Maiden Love Revolution. Taking its name from Dance Dance, and its art styling from Rub Rabbits, young girls and perverts can play as a supermodel gone fat. In the game players have to manage their diet and exercise programs. I am a bit confused on the game play, but the end result is you get acceptable enough to actually get a boy friend, and not just any boyfriend an anime style feminine male lead style boyfriend. I can barely hold in my excitement. If you’re as excited as I am, you can buy it here. If you want to know more you can read about it here or here.
French Budget Minister taps gamers for help
Posted by Peter Smith on 06-05-02The BBC is running a story about a new game from the French Budget Minister, called Cyberbudget. In the game, players are tasked with the fun filled pleasures of balancing the French Budget. Similar programs have been used here in the States on a State budget level, but this is the first time I have heard of a whole country handing over its budget to gamers. While it would be interesting if the best gamer won the Budget Minister’s job the game is designed to instill empathy in the player for what the Budget Minister has to do to balance the budget. So, most likely, players will have to make decisions like increasing taxes or closing down orphanages and homeless centers. Once the player has their budget ready they can even present it to a virtual parliament for approval. With the capacity for 10,000 concurrent players hopefully someone will figure out how to balance the budget, cut taxes, and save those orphans. Thanks go to Kevin Corti from PIXELearning Limited for bringing this to our attention on the listserv.