• What’s a serious game?
• Why is Piedmont Triad Partnership (PTP) requesting proposals?
• How much will this cost my org and me?
• Why, Andrew, are you doing this and why are you asking me?
• This is intriguing and I'll pass it on to others
What’s a serious game?
Okay, personally I don't like this term but it’s stuck. A serious game is a teaching and learning experience. If you believe chess has a place in the classroom, you’re on the right track. If you also believe poker has a place, you’re definitely thinking “serious game”. (Consider: Chess is a game in which both participants know what the other knows. In poker, participants only know some of what the other opposing player knows.) As Richard Boyd of Lockheed Martin explained just a few days ago at the Triangle Game Conference, it’s essentially learning or training relevant practice (a task, a job, a procedure) with feedback (that shows you how to improve). And as Ken Hubbell, a longtime interactive media guy, said, a serious game is not about technology and computers. Humans have been learning through games since the dawn of time. Serious games have been created to simulate war but also to study and explain diplomacy and peace. They have a documented, proven history of accelerating learning and improving literacy, according to the un-warlike American Library Association.
The evil twin of the serious game is Grand Theft Auto and other notorious games you've heard about through NPR. From a high-tech view, they can and often do share similar features. Serious games can be entertaining but that is not their reason for being. Videogames, on the other hand, exist primarily to entertain.
Check out these links to get some details about serious games in general and how they were being explored by Triangle businesses, universities, government and nonprofits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_game
http://www.trianglegameconference.com/apps/schedule/track/4
Why is PTP requesting proposals?
We’re requesting proposals so we can form a community-based project around which we can rally and apply the talents and resources of Triad artists, designers, coders, interactive media folks and “digital natives” towards a nascent interactive media / serious games industry.
In simple terms one can break it down like this: The region cannot thrive without trained technologists. Game technology is among the most complex and interesting cultural, artistic, and technological trends to emerge over the past decades. Given the choice, kids play digital games. This is an international phenomena. But educating kids to understand and control technology means we have to get ahead of the curve. Are we training them to become game technicians? Probably not. But if they understand its complexity and processes, they probably could thrive in any technological (that is, modern, competitive) environment. Our fortunes are also tied to the education of the business community. Like the region’s Center for Design Innovation (CDI), we want to push discussion into action.
I've agreed to oversee a group of educators and others in creating demonstration projects using serious game technology. Piedmont Triad Partnership (PTP) is an industry-education initiative funded by the Department of Labor. Unlike the Triangle, the Piedmont's 12-county region cannot boast over 30 game businesses, over 1200 high-tech designers, artists and coders, an international reputation, and exciting industry and university-based research in animation, sound, game engines, immersive technology, artificial intelligence and related fields.
How much will this cost my org and me?
As you can read from our short survey, very little. We’re asking for your clever, fun, challenging, and provocative ideas. And yes, we do not wish to influence your ideas by giving you examples or extensive reference Web links. How could such technology help your org? What are its biggest problems? Could tech help solve it? PTP is ready to carry the costs of the very tough first stages of review, evaluation and concepting. If we can take it further, we will. At the end of the process your org will have gone through a really cool process. With a complete overview of the technology, you'll be in a position to go after grants and additional funding if you opt to bring the project to completion. And you’ll have met many new contacts and built bridges to new communities.
Why are you asking me and why, Andrew, are you doing this ?
I'm contacting you personally because I know you have a stake in the future of our region. You might be involved in technology, you might not. But you're involved in creative endeavors, progressive educational initiatives, community-building work, or other critical projects that seek to bring positive, much needed change to our area. If you've been involved in technology, you already know how far behind the Triad is.
As for me, I've worked in many educational cultures, I've taught everything from art history to studio and fine art to computer graphics and interactive design. And current issues courses. I've helped create over 100 online games, apps, and downloadable games. I've worked in the studio, classroom, lecture hall, business office, and at home. I've worked with the well off and the down and out. At the moment, I just helped put together 4 new games for Shockwave.com. I spend my extra time working with refugees. Like you, I've seen plenty of promises of “change” come and go through our area. I believe the economic downturn and the windfall of political and social changes we’re witnessing is an opportunity to see some promises become reality. In my view, this project isn’t about trying to replicate what has already happened in RTP and the Triangle. Rather, it is about finding the Piedmont’s own solution to working with interactive media, game technology and high tech. In turn, that solution has to be based on Piedmont people from different disciplines and endeavors coming together.
This is intriguing and I'll pass it on to others
Our call for proposals was just made public. The closing date is June 5. If you have questions, call me at 336-420-3768.
If you think the project could be of interest to others, please feel free to pass on this info on my behalf. The success of our project will be not be based on technology, but on interested people with interesting proposals.
Link to official project proposal online submission.
Link to my invitation to prospective team members.
