The Serious Games Landscape

1
The Serious Games Landscape

• An overview of why were here

2
All Games Are Serious!
(applause)
3
Why were here?

• We love games!
• We know weve got a better solution
• Killing time until Half-Life 2
• We need new markets for our skills
• We scammed a free press pass
• We have questions about this area
• Woot! free day off from work!
• Face it the PC games market sucks
• We want to reach for bigger things

4
Call to Arms!

• We can hit a tipping point
• Were a fad until we arent
• A rising tide can lift all boats
• We need a flood not an arc
• This is studio-centric market
• Publishers not needed
• Lots of roles to play

5
Searching for a Definition

• What are serious games?

6
Problems

• Solving problems is what humans do
• Entertainment is a solved problem
• There are other problems
• Teaching People
• Figuring out the Right Policies
• Putting Robots on Mars, Venus and Mercury
• Overthrowing Dictators
• Responding to Threats
• Problem solving is a big business!

7
Games are Solutions

• Play has been used since dawn of mankind
• Playing is problem solving
• At times weve even been very deliberate in what
  and why we play
• Chess, Checkers, GoThe OlympicsWar Games
• Roleplaying
• Simulations
• Game Theory
• And now computer games

8
So What are Serious Games?

• 1. Serious Games are Solutions to Problems
• 2. Serious Games
• Any computerized game whose chief mission is not
  entertainment (K-12 advertising games) all
  entertainment games which can be reapplied to a
  different mission other then entertainment.
• Why not K-12?
• The market is a mess and K-12 is a partial
  stigma
• Why not Advertising?
• Derivative market and placement is not a game

9
Why is Computerized important?

• We gain a lot of comparative advantage
• We can do things we couldnt before
• Allows us to make complex single player
  experiences
• Distribution can happen via the Internet
• Modifications and customization
• Ability to do automated assessment
• How else to fit into e-learning revolution?
• Where the people are

10
User Map
Federal
State
Local
Military
Government
Games for Health
Higher Ed
Hobbyist/Mods
Serious Games
Eduware
Individuals
Prep/K-12
Political Statements
Corporate
Home School
NGO
Foundations
Advergaming
Analytics
Non Profits
Training
Trade Associations
11
Past Present Perspective

• From games to serious games

12
Were just getting started!
13
Then Now Oregon Trail
1985
2004
14
Then and Now Flight Simulator
1987
Evans Sutherland
2004
15
Then and Now Half-Life
16
Created So Far?

• SimHealth
• Close Combat Marines
• Americas Army
• Battle Site Zero
• Virtual U
• Environmental Detectives
• Hungry Red Planet
• Catch the Sperm
• Virtual Leader
• Under Ash

• Hidden Agenda
• Balance of Power
• SimCity
• Other Sim Series
• Flight Simulator
• Rollercoaster Tycoon
• Capitalism
• Surgeon
• Civilization
• Railroad Tycoon
• President Elect
• Korsun Pocket

17
What has this gotten us?

• Mostly one-off titles sponsored by enlightened
  third parties
• Foundations, Non-profits, Military, Higher-Ed
• Majority developed in the last five years
• A plethora of traditional games which can be
  repurposed by savvy teachers
• The K-12 eduware ghetto
• Few commercial pioneers past present
• Most focused on traditional training markets
• No sense of defined industry
• But some emergence we can build on this week

18
Current Position

• A project history to build from
• Incredible technology looming
• Graphics tech faster then Moores Law
• New consoles by 2006
• Portable market hypergrowth
• More academics programs contributing
• Increased industry cooperation
• Invigorated press highly interested
• Bracing for the assessment explosion
• Poor PC games market
• An opportunity to accelerate growth

19
Broadbased Industry Support

• IGDA
• ESA
• GDC
• E3Expo
• ELSPA
• NASAGA
• DiGRA

20
A Closer Look

• Space by Space

21
Government

• A democratic society depends upon an informed
  and educated citizenry - Jefferson
• MassBalance BudgetUtah, Waterbusters
• Fed, state and local
• Different degrees of funds and accessibility
• International More activist governments
• The CYA factor and controversy
• Escape from Woomera
• Could play a role of generalized industry support
  in some cases

22
Edutainment/K-12

• Established retail market
• Riverdeep, Infogrames, Leapfrog
• Lots of online stuff
• PBS Kids, Scholastic
• Is there an independent business model?
• Crossover games used periodically
• School districts are broke
• Home schooling shouldnt be discounted
• 1999 Home Schooling 850,000 (experts 2M)
• New York Times Not just religious conservatives

23
Higher Education

• Less constricted by standards
• Able to take more risks
• Better technology infrastructures
• Better budgets
• Seen the price of textbooks lately?
• Struggling with E-instruction
• Academic Contributions Research
• Will build lots of stuff themselves
• Great potential partners

24
Health Care

• Games for Health Documented Uses
• Game as Carrot Model
• Health Education Media
• Patient Treatment
• Asthma, ADD, Motor Skills, Psychological,
  measurement, Biofeedback
• Create/instill/measure conditions in research
• Administrative/Professional Training
• Technology Transfer
• Medical issues w/games
• Clinical Trials and protocols
• Violence? Repetitive Stress Injuries, Eyes,
  Seizures, Obesity?
• Market Possibilities

25
Corporate

• Larger Pen Paper contingent
• Fractured vendor community
• Number of mom pop shops is staggering
• Uses
• Training (not just for workers)
• Analytics
• Breakaway
• Advergaming
• YaYa Games
• What will be the effect from LMSes and
  E-learning?
• Big companies plan budgets far in advance
• The near mythical ROI issue

26
Military I

• Huge e-learning commitment
• Obvious crossover opportunities
• Training advergaming
• Contracting process
• Examples
• Close Combat Marines
• Full Spectrum Command
• Full Spectrum Warrior
• Spearhead II
• Army Game Project
• DarWars

27
Military II

• More Examples
• Guard Force (National Guard)
• Joint Force Employment
• Crossover into Real War commercial release
• SIMSar2
• Coast Guard Search and Rescue

28
Non Government Organizations

• Fundables and funders
• Dollar Per Impact
• Examples
• Markle Foundation
• SimHealth
• Leimondt Foundation
• Hidden Agenda
• Global Kids
• Policy Slam
• Sloan Foundation
• Virtual U
• NAHB
• Building Homes of Our Own
• Risk Takers!
• Transition the funding axis

29
Other

• Journalism
• Artistic
• Trigger Game Art
• Editorial
• Newsgaming
• Fix Your Commute
• Smashing Ideas
• Propaganda
• Political statements
• Eyewitness

30
A Serious Games Network

• Whos doing what and where?

31

• Timeline
• Started 2002
• First meetings spring 2003
• Listserv founded February 2003
• Lounsbery Funding July 2003
• Currently over 240 members
• Games For Health 2003
• Goals
• Help policymakers and administrators
• Organize greater serious games community
• Support other projects and independent efforts
• Results
• Lots of press and growing network
• Useful resource for government agencies
• Contributing to legitimacy of space
• Serious Games Summit 2003!

32
Whos Else is Out There?

• Games to Teach?Education Arcade
• ETC _at_ Carnegie Melon
• IC2 _at_ Austin
• ICT _at_ USC
• Moves Institute
• Army Game Project
• DARPA
• Microsoft Research
• Academic Co-Lab
• MediaX (Stanford)
• Variety of Independent Evangelists
• Lots of new projects incubating

33
The Broader Marketplace

• This stuff doesnt grow on trees

34
Lots of Potential Markets

• U.S. Textbook Market 3 Billion
• Corporate Learning 66 Billion
• Government Training 40 Billion
• IBM Training Budget 700 Million
• U.S. Army Training 7 Billion
• E-Learning 10 Billion
• Government Simulations 3 Billion
• Leapfrog 680 Million
• Foundation payouts 20 Billion
• Business Analytics 5 Billion
• 1 of all of this? Priceless

35
A competitive environment

• Other major media
• Books
• Film
• TV
• Music
• Other forms of teaching
• Lectures
• Textbook
• Multimedia
• E-Learning
• Pen Paper Games
• Outward Bound

36
We have some hurdles to jump

• Structural
• game developer isnt in the yellow pages
• There is no sense of standard practices
• Emergent community means its fractured
• Education institutions are mixed bag
• Antipathy
• Games are kids stuff
• Costs are expensive
• Timeframe is too slow
• Inexperience
• Not everyone speaks game
• Production management is not the forte of most
  potential clients
• Many developers unable to stomach the bizdev

37
More hurdles

• Published reports and Perception
• Games didnt help science test scores (2001)
• We havent defended ourselves well
• This is just a military thing
• Let me see those games!
• What other influences were there?
• Yet another fad
• We are until we arent
• Were in the midst of a generational shift

38
Average Age of a

• U.S. Representative 54
• U.S. Senator 59
• U.S. Governor 49
• U.S. Teacher 43
• School Principal 48
• Corporate CEO 56
• College Dean 36
• Military Colonel 45
• General/Admiral 50
• Physician 48
• Gamer 29?

A Typical Colonel
A Typical CEO
39
A Typical Gamer
40
Who else wants a piece of this?

• Traditional simulation companies
• Evans Sutherland, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Anyone got a spare SGI 32 Processor System?
• Major consultants
• Deloitte Touche
• Cannon fodder approach.
• Military Industrial Complex
• Grumman, General Dynamics, Etc.
• Were in charge around here.
• E-Learning Industry
• Apollo Group, Brainbench, Click2Learn
• More text and Java Applets Anyone?

41
Why have previous efforts failed?

• They went to the wrong people!
• EA and Activision are great GAME publishers
• Commercial market growing too fast no incentive
• Tech wasnt mature enough
• Many times ideas often outpace the platform
  needed
• No way to do cool team and multiplayer
• Market wasnt ready
• You think the antipathy is bad today?!??
• Sales strategy hard to work
• How to recoup expensive unfunded development?
• Money is in projects vs. products
• No Internet, no easy marketing system
• Hard to raise capital for game companies

42
Whats our story now?

• Things have matured
• We have many things others dont
• You dont ask a landscaper to build you a house
• We have a unique audience share
• Cutting edge visuals and interface design
• Great AI and storytelling capabilities
• We make stuff ubiquitous
• Best a online communities
• A history of world building
• Games are becoming mainstream
• Entertainment culture
• Sheer numbers of devices staggers the uniformed

43
What about crossovers?

• True Crossover
• Full Spectrum Warrior
• Crossover for Distribution Help
• Americas Army
• SimHealth
• Sold about 35,000 copies
• Co-publish/Self Publish
• Virtual U sold about 1000 copies

44
Stories from the Front

• Thats what we spend on toilet paper!
• We can run a contest!
• Lets make it massive-multiplayer!
• This is Phil from the Mailroom
• Put more programmers on it
• My beta report You spelled thas wrong
• How do I print?
• Whats DirectX?
• Will this run on my Mac?
• We dont have sports in Australia
• Well build this stuff with students

45
Building a Project

• From games to serious games

46
Typical Serious Game Project

• Mission is to effect some change or insight
• Combination of developer and subject matter
  experts
• Often requires many disciplines to work together
• Funded by client third-party funds or as a b2b
  sale. Not retail!
• Commonly avoids SOTA target platforms
• The market may not be in the software itself
• Has unique engineering needs
• Long (and arduous) run-up to go-decision

47
Typical Project Stages

• The Meeting AKA the Braindump
• Pre-sell process Fundamentals, Plan A
• Ramp up Committees, Experts, Funding
• The snag Jump through proverbial hoop
• Go ahead Someone sent a check!
• First Playable Can they get it?
• Alpha Can they augment and test?
• Beta TEST! TEST! TEST!
• Gold Master Is everything else done?
• Project Launch Whats everyones role?
• Post Mortem Can we show it worked?
• 2.0? If we only had more time!

48
Everyone but the Developer

• Education Experts
• Implementors (teachers, trainers, tutors,
  evangelists)
• Instructional designers
• Content Assistance
• Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
• Testers Steering Committee
• Internal
• Internal Production Management
• Steering Committee Advisory Board
• The person who writes the check
• Marketing PR
• Others
• Third Party Consultants
• Co-marketing Distribution

49
Different Deal

• Most projects are work-for-hire
• IP ownership is about continuation and product
  support not sequelitus valuation for publishers
• Deals take much longer to incubate
• Handholding client is critical you manage them
  as much as they manage you
• Budgets are (for now) much lower

50
Construction Issues

• Design for the instructor
• Adaptability Modding
• Distribution
• Educational Standards
• All over the map!
• Federal State
• Doesnt 100 translate to curriculum
• Have to constantly keep referencing them
• Assessment tools LCMS
• Transparency
• How important Cross Platform?

51
Targeting the audience

• We should look at consecutive levels of impact
• Our ability to make complex situations accessible
  is key
• Your best users may not come from your highest
  target
• How you implement usage will determine success at
  each point

52
A Small Note on Platforms

• Windows Dominates (duh!)
• Government especially
• Older PC architecture still a concern
• Macintosh still prevalent in education
• 16 marketshare in education market
• All 7th 8th graders in Maine have Powerbooks
• Virginia's Henrico County (All Students)
• 30 of portable market in education
• Virtual PC for Mac does a great job (but for how
  long?)
• Accessibility 508 Standards
• Educators under using the technology
• Portable market too fragmented
• Interesting work by MITs TEP with PDAs
• Companies not standardizing (yet)

A Typical Governor
53
Developer Recommendations

• Dont wait for the mountain to come to you
• Contact local elected officials
• Get out in your business community
• Learn these markets
• Prepare for a long haul
• Spend time helping with fundamentals
• Work with outside experts

54
Customer Recommendations

• Use professionals
• How to evaluate them
• Learn how to augment and enhance them
• How much game for your
• Not how much for your game
• Protect your ability to maintain the product but
  be flexible on IP
• Dont forget about the meta-project

55
Building A Case

• Dont take no for an answer

56
What to sell?

• Sell the game last!
• 1. Sell the space
• Comparative advantages
• 2. Sell the technology
• Comparative advantages
• 3. Sell your skills
• Exclusivity
• 4. Sell your approach
• Comparative advantages
• Then sell your solution
• Leave room to maneuver if plans change.

57
Keep Hammering on Comparative Advantages

• Dominant media form of a new generation
• Can be played alone
• Asynchronous multiplayer groups
• Instantly transferable (i.e. digital
  distribution)
• Potentially modifiable and adaptable
• Best Visualization
• Able to juggle more factors at one time

• When was the last time you saw a boardgame for 1
  person?
• How often can people meet at the same location
  for extended period?
• How often can roleplaying take into account 50
  factors?
• What does a textbook bring to life?

58
Fighting Fires
Managing Fisheries
Undefined
Blowing up Aliens
Content subject critical
Demographically Diverse
Not captured in a bottle!
Will it be Fun?
Game players?
I know it when I see it!
Fun to whom?
Subject fans?
Hierarchy of motivators
Learn 4 career
More fun than X
Interested in subject
Assignment
59
Final Thoughts

• Are we there yet?

60
My 10 Commandments

• Solve the problem
• Focus on comparative advantages
• Dont sell transference. Sell skill, process,
  insight
• K-12 is a third rail unless you can find a
  backdoor
• Build networks, lay foundations, partner3
• Be as creative with your project as your product
• Beware of other ways problem could be solved
• Though shall not retail
• We need to think big
• This is not the game business as you know it

61
Futher recommendations

• Build an industry face Attract things
  collectively
• Identify and root out preconceptions
• Create legitimacy through education
• Push back properly against detractors
• Promote professional development
• Push for big projects and problems
• We will not be successful with 50 100K
  projects
• Catalog things better
• Social Impact Games, Weblab, Teachers Arcade
• Games for Health
• Think Global, Act Local
• Elected representatives, local companies,
  grassroots

62
Future Events

• NGO Group Meeting
• NYC, April, time place TBA
• Education Arcade
• E3 Expo, May 9-10, Los Angeles
• Games For Health
• University of Wisconsin, September 16-17
• D.C. Serious Games Day II
• Fall 2004
• Serious Games Summit 2005
• Spring 2005, Time Place TBD

63
Next Efforts

• IGDA SIG Possibility
• More Serious Game Subgroups
• Expanded Web site features
• More frequent issues of SNAGGED
• Serious Games Annual 2005
• Games for Health Literature Review
• Drive down cost of ramp-up
• Expand Serious Games.org

64
Resources

• www.seriousgames.org
• Serious Games Mailing List
• S.N.A.G.G.E.D.
• www.educationarcade.org
• www.gamesforhealth.org
• Games for Health List
• www.socialimpactgames.com
• www.acm.org/pubs/cie.html
• Books
• Gee, Aldrich, and Prensky

65
(No Transcript)
66
My Preamble

• The are likely exceptions to everything I will
  say.
• I do not pretend to know everything about this
  space.
• I am not aware of every last project.
• My ideas are only part of the answer were
  constructing.
• I am trying to speak as much from experience as I
  can.
• I did not start out here. I am new to this area.
• Please laugh at my lame attempts at humor.
• And finally

67
Detour on SCORM

• What the heck is this!!?!_at_?!
• Shareable Courseware Object Reference Model
• The LMS or LCMS
• Learning Management System
• Learning Content Management System
• Its almost all Web based
• HTML, XML, Javascript, Java, Flash
• How do games fit in?
• Can we retrofit high-end C .exes with SCORM and
  LMS Systems?

68
Dont Take ROI for an Answer

• Fire Department
• My building burned down
• Jumbo Jets Rocket Ships
• Whats this button do?
• Can you really teach this with a book?
• Strategy?

69
Whos Who and whats their role?

• Development Studios
• Find projects educate client make games
• Learning Instruction Experts
• Provide research design help content expertise
  assessment tools
• Publishers
• Provide tech/industry support look for crossover
  possibilities
• Facilitators
• Ensure learning experience is fulfilling build
  with and on top of our creations
• Capital Sources
• Fund us both philanthropically and commercially
• Customers Users
• The problem support funds expertise
  feedback adaptations
• Other Partners
• Co-marketing expert consultants etc.