THE NEW ROLE OF GAMING
HOW GAMES MOVE OUTSIDE ENTERTAINMENT
Anders Frank, Nicklas Lundblad
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration & Swedish Research Institute for Information
Technology
Abstract: The potentials of using games and gaming for other purposes than just
entertainment are very promising. While today initiatives mainly are focusing
on the learning capabilities of games and gaming there are many other
potential uses. This new use focuses on combining the advantages of gaming
(motivation, stimulation and engagement) while in the same time solving
different "serious" and time critical tasks. But along with promises comes
economic and cultural differences between the game industry (the developers)
and the traditional industries (the users). Even though many of these problems
can be avoided by setting up projects differently the biggest challenge is to
perhaps to fight the prejudices and preconceptions surrounding both camps.
Key words: Games, gaming, support technologies, modelling & simulation
1. Introduction
Last decade economic growth and technical development of the game
industry has created an interest from industries and organisations outside
entertainment:
Research institutes are being established focusing on how to use
games for military purposes [1], [2].
Visual simulation companies see the potential of using cheap and
effective game technology in their solutions.
Educational sector see the potential of using games as a learning
method to students in all ages [3].
The original version of this chapter was revised: The copyright line was incorrect. This has been
corrected. The Erratum to this chapter is available at DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35660-0_65
© IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 200
R. Nakatsu et al. (eds.), Entertainment Computing
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