SGS Feature: 'Serious Games And The Japanese Toilet'

In this design-oriented article penned for Gamasutra sister site Serious Games Source, which deals with games created for training, health, government, military, educational and other uses, researcher and serious game developer Gonzalo Frasca outlines how you should "design your serious game with your core audience in mind, but without forgetting that there is a secondary audience that you can also cater to." In particular, Frasca explains of the market for 'serious games': "...Companies can commission serious games for quite unexpected purposes. However, most of the time their main goal is to be able to train employees in both an effective and engaging way. By definition, training accomplishes short-term goals: it helps employees to learn or practice a new skill. If your game manages to deliver exactly that, then your job is done. Unless, of course, that you want to deliver 110%. That extra 10% is not about training but deals with long term goals: it can deal with work culture, public relations and even education, or hopefully all of the above. ...Trust me: you may think that you are creating a serious training game for new employees, but the fact is that your game is likely to be played by every single employee and potentially their families and their friends. Chances are that it will play a PR role too, and may be shown to the company's clients and visitors." You can read the full Serious Games Source feature on the subject, including more intriguing opinions and concepts from Frasca (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).