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Serious games are games or equipment used for purposes other than entertainment, such as teaching or training. They can be aimed at different audiences and include simulations for specialized skills, marketing scenarios, and fitness or learning games. Serious games can also be used for recruitment or advertising purposes. They have evolved from pre-computer simulation games and are constantly evolving to include new applications.
Serious games refer to those games or equipment that may accompany gaming systems or computers used to play “games” where the primary intent is not entertainment or pleasure. Instead, these games may have multiple goals and be built for different audiences. They can be mainly teaching oriented games, which are also sometimes called edutainment and can be mainly aimed at a younger audience, or they can be for those people who possess high-level skills in certain areas, such as surgery or fighting. and the game allows simulation of the actual equipment or maneuvers performed. Some serious games involve multiple players in complex marketing scenarios where people learn to persuade and others are created to advertise a company’s products.
Typically, the modern definition of serious games includes software and hardware on any computer game platform that is required to run the game. However, there were many serious games that pre-existed the widespread development of the computer, including numerous simulation games. Unlike a simulation game that might be played for fun, military simulation games, or those employed by organizations like NASA, were intended to teach, so that actual play could translate into higher-order skills.
Today, however, most serious games are designed for use with computers, and there are still agencies such as the military that exploit this type of game. The medical field also has a large number of these games. Other times, simulations are used in the game style to help plan cities or lead marketing strategies, and these can be part of college training for these fields.
However, the field of serious games is constantly evolving and not only for the training of highly specialized subjects. The average person might own many of these games such as “brain stimulation” games meant to enhance learning and maintain cognitive abilities. Another popular game style is the fitness game. Wii Fit ® is a fitness-oriented program using the Nintendo Wii®, where the result tends not to be fun, but fitness. There are also many learning games, sometimes called game-based learning, on gaming platforms that can teach languages, boost math or reading skills, or master trivia.
Sometimes the goal of a serious game is to recruit or persuade someone. There are several games that may subconsciously or very consciously try to recruit people into different agencies, especially military ones. These are sometimes called persuasive games.
Another type of game called an advergame can be experienced on websites that offer people the opportunity to play arcade-style games. This is not altruistic but a chance for that company to market products; therefore the games played in these sites are theoretically serious. Years ago, one of the most successful advergames was the Sega Genesis® game Cool Spot®, which featured a game using the red dot 7-Up® as a character. This game, while played for fun, was technically serious in intent because it was a constant advertisement for the drink.
