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The Number One Educational Resource for the Game Industry

Session Name: What's Wrong With Serious Games?
Speaker(s): James Paul Gee, Henry Kelly, Ben Sawyer
Company Name(s): University of Wisconsin, Federation of American Scientists, Digitalmill
Track / Format: SGS: Behind the Game

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Overview: There are many who would kill for the positive press and momentum the serious games field has obtained. But before we get too full of ourselves, perhaps we should foster some serious discussion about everything that is wrong with serious games.

Taking a hard look and resetting the expectations for things is the goal of this session. Panelists gather for a frank discussion about the raw problems the serious games field is facing today and in the years ahead. This open conversation focuses on peeling back the promise and looking at the hard issues that can be overcome before it's too late. These include current research shortfalls, funding issues, business model needs, and the lack of a consensus on whether games truly offer any real advantage over other solutions for learning.

In the end it's hard to argue anything is truly wrong with an emergent industry growing as well as serious games. By assembling some of its best boosters to tear it apart we can do so from a constructive standpoint- something critics of serious games are not apt to do.

GDC 2006

James Paul Gee

University of Wisconsin

Henry Kelly

Federation of American Scientists

Ben Sawyer

Digitalmill

free content

SGS: Behind the Game

Serious Games