The gates of Gamesom have been open since yesterday. At the largest gaming fair in Europe, 505 exhibitors from 33 countries present their highlights from the gaming world. The rush to the Cologne Exhibition Centre is huge – by Saturday evening the organisers expect more than 245,000 visitors.
A glance into the exhibition halls quickly reveals that the topic of toa team summoners war gaming has long since ceased to be dominated by violence and social isolation. Anyone who still associates gaming target groups with young, pale hardcore gamblers is making a huge mistake, because PC, console and especially online games attract masses from all parts of society. The colourful hustle and bustle at Gamescom is dominated by three themes:
The classic PC and console games are still the most important revenue generators in the industry, but the huge profits of recent years are history. In the first half of 2010, sales of computer games fell by 4 percent to EUR 632 million compared to the previous year, explained the Federal Association for Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU).
To counteract the negative trend, Microsoft and Sony promise new gaming experiences with Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move, in which the player can control the game completely via his movements.
Developments in the 3D area are also intended to bring dynamism into the declining console market. Nintendo is introducing a new model of its mobile game console 3DS, which enables 3D effects even without shutter glasses. The device is expected to be launched in spring 2011.
Developers and operators of online games, on the other hand, do not have to worry. Recent studies, among others by the auditing and consulting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers, show that the future of the industry lies in the web. Millions of people of all ages and socio-demographic backgrounds are already playing online, from schoolchildren and students to professionals, housewives and seniors. The strongest growth drivers in this segment are browser-based online games, which are available free of charge on the Internet without the need to install any software. These include first and foremost:
“In the course of dynamic growth, online games are also becoming increasingly interesting for the advertising industry,” says Daniel Siegmund, Managing Director of GAN Game Ad Net, online marketer in the gaming environment. “The high reach and broad target groups make online games an attractive advertising environment. In addition, the user is in an active, positively charged state and acts within a linear framework, which makes him very open to advertising messages”. For customers from the consumer goods and telecommunications industries, the Hamburg-based company has been implementing campaigns in browser-based online games for more than three years: from standardized display ads to interactive brand stagings. You can read more about this topic in our free Adzine Newsletter. Simply register.
The learning method of the future is called Mobile Serious Games.
Will a new system for knowledge transfer soon replace teachers, coaches and lecturers?
The 14-year-old student stands in front of a venerable cathedral in historic surroundings. Class trip to Barcelona. He holds his smartphone in his hand, which he has been staring at for a few minutes with his head down. Not an unusual sight in times of Facebook, WhatsApp, Youtube and other social networks. But a closer look reveals something. His eyes wander, from the device to the cathedral and back again – always alternating. The teacher also seems to be completely absorbed in his mobile device, which he uses to evaluate the results of a digital scavenger hunt that is coming to an end. Another teacher is sitting at his laptop in the youth hostel. He receives the last results of the school groups digitally. In a few minutes, the winner of the City Rally will be announced. The school class is excited.
Through puzzles, stories and a competition, the young people got to know the history of Barcelona with its most important buildings and monuments. Playful knowledge transfer with a sporty approach in which it is not the teacher who sets the tone, but a smartphone.
Away with the blackboard in the classroom, here with the Smartphone and the suitable scenery. That is history instruction 3.0. The new form of learning is already present.
Mobile Serious Games is the name of the software on telephones and tablet PCs, which uses a playful approach to convey knowledge from all areas in a strategic, team-building and motivating way. Quite simply and incidentally. There are them for different target group applications, as for instance for the routistic use, in addition, as cloud-supported Business application, which use enterprises for coworker trainings or their goal and model finding process. “That does not save the process companion, gives however an innovative and varied, often even an inspiring note to the Workshop , means Michael Haufe, inventor of the new learning method. Different forms of multiple Choice, decision or open questions change the hard facts into exciting mysteries. Many employees or students find it easier to access them. The newly acquired knowledge is stored faster and more sustainably in the brain. Effectiveness is the magic word. If one combines the puzzle with a suitable playing field, an interesting place, the “serious game” is created.
