MAIN > SPOTLIGHT ARCHIVE > Benjamin_Stokes (Mar 19)

Monday 19th March 2007 11:11 pm

Thoughts from the Game Developers Conference (GDC, San Francisco)

The fourth annual Serious Games Summit at GDC earlier this month raised two significant questions: (1) new platforms, (2) more international collaboration.

Every year in early March, more than 12,000 attendees pack the game industry’s largest conference aimed at developers.  Under that umbrella, over the last four years, the Serious Games Summit adjunct has grown in profile, focusing on “the use of interactive games technology within non-entertainment sectors.” What was different this year?  Two themes emerged that may deserve special attention.  I have framed them as questions for exploration:

(1) Is a platform shift at hand, and important? For years the Serious Games movement has cited statistics of console games (think Nintendo or XBox), even though most serious games are online games or PC-based.  This year felt different, beginning with the keynote by S.J. Klein on the One-Laptop-per-Child platform aimed at poor nations (see Aaron Ruby’s coverage).  There was also much talk of Microsoft’s XNA platform for Xbox Live to allow for console development by “average users.” Are we reaching a turning point?

(2) Is an international shift underway? For the first time, a major Japanese console company is starting a Serious Games division.  The focus of One-Laptop-per-Child is entirely international.  Is a more genuine exchange beginning between the U.S. Serious Games supporters and others around the world?  Are we likely to see more real international collaborations, beyond cross-marketing?

Of course, there were a huge number of amazing sessions beyond the Serious Games Summit.  Check out additional coverage, like that of Eitan Glinert on Henry Jenkins’ blog (in parts one, two, three, and four), or that of Andrew Stern.  If you’ve seen other good coverage, leave a comment link below…

Category: Ecology-of-Games

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Comments

Mechelle De Craene
 James Buchanan Middle School
http://elgg.net/mechelledc/weblog/
Posted on March 21 2007 2:19 AM

Hi Benjamin,

I read this coverage on the Serious Games Summit and wanted to share the links...sounds like it was really cool. Take care.

http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2007/index.php?id=13017

http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2007/index.php?id=12994

Cheers,
Mechelle : )

Adam Sopko
 KQED
http://www.kqed.org/quest
Posted on May 17 2007 4:44 PM

Thought folks might be interested in this spin-off on the evolution of gaming.  From KQED public broadcasting in San Francisco…

http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/276

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