| Overview: |
More than a decade ago, forward thinking industry pioneers recognized and advocated video and computer games as a venue for exploring and promoting themes beyond consumer entertainment. Now known as Serious Games or Games Beyond Entertainment, this rapidly growing market segment is being adopted in the fields of health care, academic research, training, and social messaging, among others. Early experiments and later successes show that serious game development requires not just the same tools and techniques of traditional game development, but also requires a deep integration of the themes, goals, and budgets of the serious game stakeholders that commission them. And, because commercial constraints are less relevant, serious games can innovate and experiment their designs in ways their consumer counterparts can't. This discussion presents an overview of the state of serious games, highlights the key issues differentiating serious and traditional game development, and looks at the diverse and exciting future potential of the genre.
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