A new category of video games is entering the US market: the “serious” video games. They were presented within the “Serious Game Initiative” at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica during the second week of July. These games serve as teaching and training tools not only in the military domain but also in medicine, business (hotels, banks etc.) and education. Children as well as adults seem to learn faster and more efficiently when playing – i.e. when being actively involved in the learning process – than when listening to lectures or reading books. The big challenge for the industry consists in making games informative but fun.

 

Children represent a major target group. Virtual Heroes is presently working on the project “Race to Mars”, which teaches kids about maths, science and engineering. In „Neutromatrix“ by Morphonix the children play in different parts of the human brain: While they deal with balance and coordination in the cerebellum, they deal with memory in the hippocampus. The games by Web Wise Kids ask kids to help a detective solve mysteries while teaching them on Internet misdoings such as piracy etc. A large number of these game companies intend to strengthen their ties with educational establishments and to offer their products as additional teaching programs.

 

Source: Ventura County Star, July 15th 2007