Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 22, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Serious games are games that use technologies from the entertainment-software field for applications that do not primarily serve entertainment. In Germany, serious games have so far remained a niche topic, but one that is becoming increasingly important. Following the successful launch of the Serious Games Conference in 2007 on the subject of “Educational Games”, the focus of this year’s event is “Serious Games in Healthcare”.
Ellen LaPointe (HopeLab Foundation, USA), among others, will use the example of “Re-Mission” to show how therapeutic treatment and digital gaming can be combined. The game, which has been used successfully in a pilot project at numerous American clinics, was developed for the therapy of young people with cancer. Sara de Freitas, head of the research department at the Serious Games Institute at Coventry University in Great Britain, will provide an overview of the various applications of new game technologies in healthcare. Nintendo demonstrates that physical and mental fitness can also be trained through play: at the Serious Games Conference, the company will present Wii Fit for the TV-connected Wii console and the latest training games for the mobile Nintendo DS Lite. The organisers were able to secure the renowned “Center for Advanced Media Research Amsterdam” (CAMeRA for short) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam as a partner for shaping the content. The full programme and registration options can be found at http://www.seriousgames-conference.de
nordmedia – Die Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH is organising the Serious Games Conference in cooperation with the German Trade Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU). This year’s event is supported by Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). As a modern healthcare service provider, TK is pursuing new paths and is involved, among other things, in health-promoting computer games. In July 2007, it already organised the discussion session on the topic Games meets health, and at Games Convention 2007 TK gave the starting signal for the Fit for Games campaign.
Please note that the number of participants is limited and there is no guarantee of participation. We therefore ask you to register early. We will send you the CeBIT admission ticket by post at the beginning of March. Please activate the ticket online in advance at http://www.cebit.de. Catering is provided at the event venue. If, after registering, you are unable to attend the Serious Games Conference, we ask you to return the ticket to nordmedia, Expo Plaza 1, 30539 Hanover.
We would be delighted to welcome you to CeBIT in Hanover!
