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  • 2007 Serious Games Summit GDC: Jane McGonigal On ilovebees, ARGs This latest Serious Games Source feature covers a keynote by alternate reality game creator Jane McGonigal presented during the recent 2007 Serious Games Summit, during which she stated “I design games from the future,” and offered insight into the creation of Halo 2 ARG ilovebees.
  • Serious Game Engine Shootout In the march up to the Serious Games Shootout panel to take place in March during the Serious Games Summit in San Francisco, writer Richard Carey presents a comparative analysis of several prominent engines currently used for developing serious games, as well as quotes from the companies behind the technologies.
  • Playing with Fire: Enemy Dolls In this latest Playing with Fire feature, Powerful Robot Games' Gonzalo Frasca offers his unique insight into the perception of conflict in games, as well as in other media, and notes how looking at events through the eyes of the opposition could lead to better understanding.
RWJ Foundation Awards $1.85 Million for Health Games Research[11.05.09]

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded more than $1.85 million in grants dedicated to researching links between gaming and positive health behaviors.

The grants, provided as a part of RWJF's Health Games Research national program, funded nine research teams located in the United States. Each team will lead one- to two-year studies of video games that promote physical activity, encourage disease prevention, and result in positive changes in physical, social, or cognitive skills.

RWJF-funded research groups will also investigate educational games that instruct players in chronic disease self-management and the procedures of medical treatment plans.

The nine grant recipients, detailed on the official Health Games Research website, include the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Long Island University, Teachers College at Columbia University, the University of California at San Francisco, and the University of Southern California.

Two additional grants were awarded to research groups at the Michigan State University. The Michigan teams will study the effectiveness of exergames and the use of group dynamics to boost motivation to exercise.

Health Games Research investigates the quality and impact of educational games in the health sector, and is supported by an $8.25 million grant from RWJF's Pioneer Portfolio. The program is directed by University of California, Santa Barbara communication researcher Debra Lieberman, Ph.D.

"Digital games are interactive and experiential, and so they can engage people in powerful ways to enhance learning and health behavior change, especially when they are designed on the basis of well-researched strategies," said Lieberman. "The studies funded by Health Games Research will provide cutting-edge, evidence-based strategies that designers will be able to use in the future to make their health games more effective."

By Danny Cowan
November 5, 2009 01:47:00 PM PT