Comments on: Trauma Center http://www.moreno-ger.com/2006/07/trauma-center.html A weblog about why and how e-learning should be fun Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:08:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Pablo Moreno-Ger http://www.moreno-ger.com/2006/07/trauma-center.html/comment-page-1#comment-5 Pablo Moreno-Ger Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:30:14 +0000 http://www.moreno-ger.com/wordpress/index.php/2006/07/12/trauma-center/#comment-5 Unfortunately, there is a tendency to interpret "serious games" as "boring games". We see the word "serious", but apply it to the game itself as opposed to its expected results.<br/><br/>It has been known from the dawn of the videogame era that Fantasy is one of the key elements that make a game fun (among other factors such as curiosity or involvement). Malone already mentioned that in his 1981 paper "What makes computer games fun?".<br/><br/>However, any Game-Based Learning initiative will sooner or later need to be presented to a decison-maker probably unfamiliar with the benefits of play in learning. And our natural reaction is to remove from the game anything that may relate it to those "harmful and silly time-wasting videogames" so that the project goes through.<br/><br/>The expected result of such a circumstance is actually sound: we end up developing something that is not a game for someone who never wanted to get a game. We get paid and they are happy with their training product, but sadly we sold our soul in the process. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to interpret “serious games” as “boring games”. We see the word “serious”, but apply it to the game itself as opposed to its expected results.

It has been known from the dawn of the videogame era that Fantasy is one of the key elements that make a game fun (among other factors such as curiosity or involvement). Malone already mentioned that in his 1981 paper “What makes computer games fun?”.

However, any Game-Based Learning initiative will sooner or later need to be presented to a decison-maker probably unfamiliar with the benefits of play in learning. And our natural reaction is to remove from the game anything that may relate it to those “harmful and silly time-wasting videogames” so that the project goes through.

The expected result of such a circumstance is actually sound: we end up developing something that is not a game for someone who never wanted to get a game. We get paid and they are happy with their training product, but sadly we sold our soul in the process.

]]> By: Federico Peinado http://www.moreno-ger.com/2006/07/trauma-center.html/comment-page-1#comment-4 Federico Peinado Sun, 16 Jul 2006 15:21:32 +0000 http://www.moreno-ger.com/wordpress/index.php/2006/07/12/trauma-center/#comment-4 Nice reflections. I love the idea of separating "serious" learning from "realistic" environments and storylines.<br/>Why not? I mean... maybe that could be THE problem we are suffering with game-based learning systems nowadays. <br/><br/>If you are trying to develop a game, it must to be fun... and fantasy usually plays an important role on that. It is not trivial and maybe polemic, but I am sure we can find the way to create fantastic but useful environments for learning... at the end of the day, those enviroments have been always in our minds during our childhood (the most exciting stage of human learning!). Nice reflections. I love the idea of separating “serious” learning from “realistic” environments and storylines.
Why not? I mean… maybe that could be THE problem we are suffering with game-based learning systems nowadays.

If you are trying to develop a game, it must to be fun… and fantasy usually plays an important role on that. It is not trivial and maybe polemic, but I am sure we can find the way to create fantastic but useful environments for learning… at the end of the day, those enviroments have been always in our minds during our childhood (the most exciting stage of human learning!).

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