in Education, Arts, Technology, and Entertainment

We are witnessing a mad rush to pour educational content into games in an ad hoc manner in hopes that players are motivated to learn simply because the content is housed inside a game. A failure to base serious game design on well-established learning theories as proposed by wellrespected educators like Robert Gagne and James Keller, increases the risk of the game failing to meet its intended educational goals, yielding a player base who is entertained but who have not acquired new skills or knowledge. Well-developed video games certainly engage players, but games designated as educational are not always based on sound educational principles and theories, thereby potentially losing power as an educational tool. We contend that if content learning is to take place as a result of playing serious games, a new design paradigm design must be developed. We also contend that educational effectiveness needs to be integrated as a goal from the start of the design process and that sound educational practices need to be formally incorporated into all serious games