Gaming for Development―Building and Applying Gaming/Simulation in the Context of Developing countries―

Abstract

Gaming for development comprises both gaming/simulation applied to development issues and gaming/simulation applied in the context of developing countries. The first category might be really tempting with its popular games, international profile and state-of-the-art technology. The second category is lesser known with its niche games, local content and down to earth technology. Nevertheless, the social contribution of this second category might be the highest, as well as its relevance for gaming professionals. We will focus on this second category here. The main challenge for gaming in the context of developing countries is the lack of resources: gaming expertise, access to technology and funding. On the other hand, expertise on local conditions is high, crafting is widely spread and local labor is relatively cheap. The real challenge is finding the right balance in this mix of opportunities: developing games that can be applied in developing countries. Software firms paved the way in developing applications to be used in different countries, languages and cultures. They introduced the concepts of localization and internationalization. Localization is adapting a product to a specific context (country, language, culture). Internationalization is making a product independent of a specific context and easy to localize. Although a certain analogy of games and software applications might be evident, there exist huge differences as well. In general games pay much more attention to the user experience and apply a range of multimedia to improve that. This makes localization and internationalization of games quite complex. Gaming for education and training can have a great potential for developing countries. It can make learning more attractive, efficient and effective, both for children and for adults. Localized games are indispensable to realize this potential. Internationalized games are indispensable to level efforts, expertise and costs.