Gaming & DocumentariesTrue love or forced marriage?

PhD Simon Egenfeldt-NielsenCEO Serious Games Interactive

27. September 2008, Malmö

“…develop games which contain advanced content, operate according to sound pedagogical principles, enable classroom customisation, and create real excitement within the core game market”

- Henry Jenkins

Background and team

SGI was founded in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark

The company focuses on developing serious games for educational institutions

We develop high-quality games that contain an inseparable combination of “playing”, “learning” and “story-telling”.

This is done by a unique cross-disciplinary team with strong roots in research

SGI has been steadily growing and employs 14 people today (CEO, Commercial Director, Producer, Game Director, Lead Programmer, Programmer, Lead 3D animator, 3D artist, Character artist, testers etc.)

Our company

Background and team

Commercial titlesGlobal Conflicts: Palestine (complete)Global Conflicts: Latin America (complete)

Client projectsBolivia Brænder (complete)Mayas Eventyr (complete)Babus Hold (complete)Time Machine: Darwin (complete)

Our company

PressOur company

The basic formatGames & Documentary - Why do it?

Dilemma

Immersion

Perspective

Player choice

Consequences

Constant feedback

Documentary (viewer)

Game (player)

The potential gainsGames & Documentary - Why do it?

Never only one truth…Hearing, seeing & doing

Problems & barriersGames & Documentary - Why do it?

Format• Games are NOT real• Playing means doing…!• Scenarios rather than reality• Credible choices in a realistic setting• Evidence, documentation & recording

Commerical market• Budgets are challenging• Distribution are challenging

Numerous doc gamesExamples of documentary games

World without OilKumaWarWaco ResurrectionParis RiotsJFK Reloaded Escape from WoomeraUnder the AshUnder The Siege

Checkpoint!

Trailer Palestine

”I learned more history from this game in one day than I have learned from the teaching the last 6 months”

Oliver Hansen, Student, 16 years

Primary target group

Subjects:

What is the product

Danish 8th graders using the game early 2006.

Global Conflicts: Palestine target students of 13-19 years

Primary: Citizensship & History Secondary: Media, religion, ethics,

geography & communication

(Small TV2 movie)

Seconday target groupWhat is the product

Serious gamers taking on the challenge.

Global Conflicts: Palestine target mature people with an

interest and engagement in current issues

• Watch documentaries & debate programs• Consider themselves knowledgable• Often females above 30 years• Have an above average education• Have an above average income• Use IT but not necessarily gamers

f

Welcome to the reality

Material from Global Conflicts: Palestine online learning resource.

Welcome to Global Conflicts: Palestine

In-game shots from the game Global Conflicts: Palestine

Build trust by understanding and exploring different perspectives to get people’s personal story

Feel and understand the tense atmosphere and problems of the conflict of Palestine

Students explore and learn from detailed and scary environment - they see the inside of the conflict

Freelance journalist

Get the best article

Find informants

Gain their trust

Get their story

Dig out best quotes

Put together article

Highest journalist level

Gameplay

You

Goal

Means

Winning

What is Global Conflicts: Palestine

Contents

Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Content): Experience everyday life in the conflict through real personal accounts on the conflic’ts core issues.

Human rights, terrorism & media’s role (Themes): In the game there will be regular references to human rights, terrorism, and the media.

Source criticism & writing article (Skills/Methods): Students have to be aware of the right angle, the agenda of sources, and article writing.

Perspective-taking, critical thinking & bias awareness (Competences): A variety of perspectives on the same events and issues, which force students to shift between perspectives while thinking critically of bias.

What is Global Conflicts: Palestine

Closing

“You can keep your demon-lords, your sinister schoolgirls, and

your tentacled Cthulhoid abominations. None of them are half

as chilling as a 15-year-old Palestinian lad with an unhealthy

interest in martyr cards ("They are like your Pokemon trading

cards"), Paradise, and Israeli café culture.“

Buy the game: www.globalconflicts.eu

www.seriousgames.dk | | sen@seriousgames.dk Trailer GC:LA