G4C: Strategies & Methodology

Aug 31, 2012

Developed with E-Line Media

- $60B Global business

- 97% of teenagers in America*

- Average Facebook player is a 39 year old female*

WHY GAMES?

Pew Report, Nielsen, PopCap

Games are expanding:

Arguably the most dominant media form of

the 21st Century

GAMES AND LEARNING

Federation of American Scientists & National Science Foundation:

* National Summit on Educational Games

“Games offer critical attributes for 21st century learning.”*

21st CENTURY SKILL BUILDING

Playing and making games foster critical skills necessary for success in a rapidly changing 21st Century world.

+ Systems thinking+ Digital media literacy+ Iterative process+ Creativity+ Problem solving + Team building + Planning & execution+ Collaboration

Computer and video games are being embraced by leadingfoundations, non-profits, universities, and government agencies

to further their public interest and educational goals

www.gamesforchange.org

Latest Trends

MAINSTREAM ADOPTION

Vice President Al Gore

Supreme Court JusticeSandra Day O’Connor

Former US Chief Technology OfficerAneesh Chopra

DIRECT ACTION GAMES

wetopia by Sojo Studios

DEVELOPING WORLD AUDIENCES

College/Professional

High School

Middle School

Elementary School

Game Design

Commercial Modding

Tools

C++

Programming

Scaffolded / Constrained Un-scaffolded / Unconstrained

YOUTH CREATING GAMES

TRANSMEDIA ‘FOR GOOD’

Strengths

10 reasons why games are a powerful platform for highly

engaged learning and social impact

1. PARTICIPATORYGames are interactive, ‘lean-forward’: players make

decisions with consequences resulting in player agency

2. ROLE PLAYINGGames enable players to step into different roles

in different worlds, building awareness & empathy

4. FUN TO FAILGames enable players to try & fail in a safe environment;

experimenting at their own pace until they succeed

3. CHALLENGES & REWARDSGames engage players deeply through a delicate

balance of challenges & rewards leading tohighly focused, sustained engagement

6. GAMES AS SERVICEGames are increasingly becoming on-going services that

can be continually optimized for engagement and impact

5. SOCIALGames are increasingly networked, fostering

peer-to-peer, collaborative learning

8. BITS AND ATOMSGames are increasingly crossing over into the real-world

through new input devices, mobile & location-aware platforms

7. COMPLEXITYGames require players to navigate and understand

complex systems, interfaces & rules

9. MOTIVATION

Good games create a deep desire to learn.

10. UBIQUITY

XBOX 36027M

Wii45M

Mobile devicesBillions

PCsBillions

Sony PSP42M

Nintendo DS96M

Play power $10TV computer

Wii Ware Sony PSNNetwork

XBLA Sony PS319M

Sony PS250M

Challenges

+ =

Organic alignment between what makes game fun & financial / impact objectives

Many fail: “chocolate-covered broccoli”

MAKING IMPACT GAMES FUN

Many fail: misalignment of platform/genre and audience

COMPLEX ECO-SYSTEM

XBOX 36027M

Wii45M

Mobile devicesBillions

PCsBillions

Sony PSP42M

Nintendo DS96M

Play power $10TV computer

Wii Ware Sony PSNNetwork

XBLA Sony PS319M

Sony PS250M

Project Team

Technology

Business &Fundraising

Production GameDesign

Art &Design

ContentWriting

Many fail: team does not have necessary skills to execute

ENGAGING QUALIFIED TEAMS

Many fail: under-resourced, especially games as service that require on-going resources.

Game as Product Game as ServiceGame released,

customer support fortime-bounded period

Social Networking

Virtual Worlds

Game continuallyupdated, enhanced,

supported 24/7

Downloaded Software

Boxed Software

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS

Many fail: Marketing / distribution / contextnot baked into design.

Audience(1)

Sustaining(5)

Context(2)

Platf orm(4)

Assessment (8)

Gameplay(6)

Executi on(7)

Impact(3)

PUBLISHING STRATEGY

Our methodology to create games that

have meaningful social impact

G4C THE 8 STEPS

Developed in partnership with

Audience(1)

Context(2)

Who is it designed for?R e g i o n , a g e , d e m o g r a p h i c , p s y c h o g r a p h i c , m e d i a a n d

g a m i n g a c c e s s i b i l i t y a n d a b i l i t y

When & how is it played?M o d e r a t e d v s . u n - m o d e r a t e d , h o m e , s c h o o l , a ft e r - s c h o o l ,

l i b r a r y , c o m m u n i t y c e n t e r

Impact(3)

Platform(4)

What is the goal?J o b s k i l l s , 2 1 s t c e n t u r y s k i l l s , m o ti v a ti o n , a w a r e n e s s ,

f u n d r a i s i n g , b e h a v i o r c h a n g e , r e a l - w o r l d a c ti o n

What is the right technology?C o n s o l e , c o n s o l e d o w n l o a d , h a n d h e l d , P C , F a c e b o o k , m o b i l e

(5)

Gameplay(6)

Understanding the fi nancialsC o s t t o l a u n c h , c o s t t o s u s t a i n , c o s t t o u s e r ,

i m p a c t - f r i e n d l y r e v e n u e m o d e l s

What is the design?O r g a n i c a l i g n m e n t o f w h a t m a k e s g a m e f u n a n d

w h a t m a k e s g a m e i m p a c tf u l

Sustainability

(7)

Assessment(8)

From concept to launch & beyondTe a m - b u i l d i n g , r a p i d p r o t o t y p i n g , t r o u b l e s h o o ti n g ,

m a r k e ti n g , d i s t r i b u ti o n & s u p p o r t

How to measure success?R e a l - ti m e & e m b e d d e d a s s e s s m e n t m o d e l s ,

p o r tf o l i o m a n a g e m e n t

Execution

Thinking Strategically

A tech platform to create multiple titles with clear separation between back-end and content / GUI.

A GAME ‘ENGINE’

Multiple titles, multiple platforms, lowering the risk.

A PORTFOLIO APPROACH

ProjectLeadership

Assessment Partners

ImpactPartners

DomainExperts

Researchers

Game Development

PlatformExperts

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Case #1:Games in the

classroom

iCIVICS

REACH (since August 2009):- 1.2 million players- 12,000 classrooms- 50 states and Washington DC

EVALUATION:- 78% of students gained a better understanding of how their government worked.- 47% continued playing at home for fun!

Case #2:Games in the

developing world

FREEDOM HIV / AIDS

REACH:- 67 million devices- 10.3 million play sessions- India and 6 East African countries

EVALUATION:- Significant increase in learning- Changes in attitude and safer sex practices

Case #3:Direct action

games

FREE RICE

HOW DOES IT WORK?A multiple choice quiz, for every question you get correct, 10 grains of rice are donated to the World Food Programme.

ON A DAILY BASIS:- 8 million page views- 45 million grains of rice: enough to feed 2,500 people

Case #4:The power of

the many

FOLD IT

TIME MAGAZINE:

U.S. gamers … have helped unlock the structure of an AIDS-related enzyme that the scientific community had been unable to unlock for a decade. The solution represents a significant step forward in the quest to cure retroviral diseases like AIDS.September 9 2011

Case #5:Youth

making games

College/Professional

High School

Middle School

Elementary School

Game Design

Commercial Modding

Tools

C++

Programming

Scaffolded / Constrained Un-scaffolded / Unconstrained

NATIONAL STEM CHALLENGE

SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS

Case #6:Evaluation &

brain research

RE-MISSION

CONCLUSIONS:

The video-game intervention significantly improved treatment adherence and indicators of cancer-related self-efficacy and knowledge in adolescents and young adults who were undergoing cancer therapy. August 2008 edition of the medical journal Pediatric.

RE-MISSION

BRAIN RESEARCH:

Several key brain regions were activated when playing Re-Mission, including neural structures involved in emotion and motivation, and learning and memory..

10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine (ICBM)

Your game here_

www.gamesforchange.org

michelle@gamesforchange.org // @mbyrdasi@gamesforchange.org // @aburak