Serious Games is an initiative “to help usher in a new series of policy education, exploration and management tools utilizing state of the art computer game designs, technologies, and development skills.” (Serious Games: About from “Our Goals”). the project is directed by David Rejeski of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. They talk about the “emergence of a serious games industry”. I feel about serious games what I feel about the hype around games in education – it isn’t really a game anymore when you “play” it in a utilitarian context. What makes playing a game is the entering into a non-utilitarian context where invented rules apply. Of course, any game, in the sense of a technology or instatiation (like Monopoly) can be “played” for reasons other than fun, and that is the beautiful irony of the phrase “serious games.” It is a contradiction that provokes sense.
In the philosophy of play we have the problem of professional poker playing. Is a card-shark still playing the game of poker if he/she does it for the serious purpose of making money? Some would say that the shark is not playing poker, but working at poker. Are games of chance played for money now serious? How does the money change the play? Tough issues.
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