[games_access] UN CRPD - what are games?

[Thomas Westin]

The term "serious games" is bad and I prefer not to use it at all  The same issue is with "casual games" etc. Any game can be used seriously, casually, hard core etc. But the term "serious" is problematic in itself; any game can be considered serious, and any type of playing a game can also be used for non-entertainment purposes (the latter which was intended by Ben Sawyer et al when they coined the term). 

So, how to say it in a better way? I prefer replace "games" with "gaming". I.e. serious gaming or casual gaming. Then the focus is on the use of the games, not the design of the games. E.g. in two projects I've been involved in at a school between 2003-2012, we have been using e.g. WoW and now SWToR for pedagogical purposes, without modifying the games (which you can't with MMORPGs anyway).

Of course you could also say "use of games in non-entertainment contexts", to have a more academic description, but in daily talk, it is just too awkward. 

Mvh / Best regards
Thomas Westin
Stockholm University :: dsv.su.se :: +46 73-707 86 86

On 8Mar 2012, at 6:31 PM, Sandra Uhling wrote:

> Games
> * Hobby and Culture
> * Service (online games)
> 
> Serious Games
> * Education (schools, work) and Information
> * Using Game Technology for serious products

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist7.pair.net/pipermail/games_access/attachments/20120309/0c21c04c/attachment.htm>