There’s been quite a bit of soul-searching in the serious games community as of late. Some smart, dedicated people are wondering why the serious game market hasn’t taken off yet, why it isn’t swimming in funds (governmental, non-profit, or corporate), and why developers generally don’t take this stuff, well… seriously.
Unfortunately, the phrase “serious games” has come to encapsulate so much that I find it difficult to say anything meaningful on the subject. For example, I think developments in the “games for health” space are quite promising (and I know that corporations like Nintendo, Sony, and Konami would agree.) On the other hand, the “games for education” space — arguably the standard-bearer for the serious games movement — is really struggling. So I’m going to focus this post on games for education.
The educational game movement has a problem. Most people on the street can’t name a “commercially-successful” educational title. Those who can will inevitably name Oregon Trail or Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, neither of which were actually all that educational. And they’re both so old! What’s up with that?
