SGS D.C. Developer Showcase
SGS D.C., which was produced by The CMP Game Group (which also runs Serious Games Source and sister site Gamasutra), recently took place on October 30 and 31 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA. The event featured multiple sessions focusing on a wide variety of topics within the serious games space, provided a platform for those involved to speak out about the state of serious games development. The conference also played host to an event called Developer Showcase, which aimed to bring potential serious game developers and program managers together to network and demonstrate game content to interested parties. Serious Games Source recently spoke with several of the companies that participated in the showcase to get their perspective on what it, as well as the Serious Games Summit event as a whole meant to their organizations. In our continuing interview series, the site spoke with Mathew Georghiou, CEO and lead simulation/game designer for MediaSpark, a company whose products are highlighted by the e-learning GoVenture educational game and simulation line of “serious” products. What is your company's current perception of the 'serious games' market? Serious Games will revolutionize learning. More change will happen in education and training in the next 10 years than the past 100. What does MediaSpark contribute to this space? We believe that our GoVenture products are one of the most extensive lines of educational games and simulations in the market today. We were one of the first companies to gain solid traction in formal K12 and Post-Secondary education by being able to solve the challenges of getting serious games purchased and used in schools. We have been doing R&D in this area since the mid 1990s, launching our first serious game in 2000.
What do you feel is the most important outcome of your participation in the Serious Games Summit conference? Direct contact with potential customers. To what degree do you feel you accomplished this objective? Between good and very good. What do you feel that companies such as yourself have or are continuing to do right within the 'serious games' market? We feel we really understand what is needed to bridge gaming and education in a way where our products are actually purchased and used in formal education and training environments. We have a strong understanding of what features are needed and which are not, thereby enabling us to work with reasonably-sized development budgets that can generate a positive return on investment. Overall, as an industry, we need to help the end customer better understand what serious games are.
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