1. Why Educational Games Fail Based on a research paper from The University of Ballarat

2. Educational Games Do not fair well in the market place Are preferred by only 2% of players Lack the emotive response mechanisms which make other games attractive Lack the quality of graphics and gameplay of other games

3. Why Educational Games Fail content tends to come at the expense of the gameplay. control is taken out of the hands of the player. Game buyers are wary of edutainment. Thus, game developers are less inclined to include "educational" content in their products.

4. Findings The most important principle which emerged from the evaluation was the importance of allowing control to reside with the player. When the player feels in control of their role, they fully immerse themselves in the narrative.

5. Findings Moreover, immersion in the narrative lessens the chances of the combative relationship developing between the player and the game. This combative relationship also undermines the possibility of the player accepting the learning that the game offers.

6. Findings Engaging gameplay was presumed when the actions of the player were motivated by the demands implied by the narrative. Conversely, gameplay that was interrupted or truncated was presumed not to be engaging.

7. New Directions Brenda Laurel: “I believe we should draw more on the power of the imagination, through narrative and games.”

8. New Directions The Wild project is an interactive CD-ROM game which is being developed through a collaboration between the University of Ballarat and Australian Business Theatre Ltd in Melbourne. The project is funded by a 1996 APA (Industry) Award for development of artificial intelligence, and a 1996 DIST (Graduate Linkage) grant to develop 3-D graphics generating software. In addition, the development team consists of an expert on animal behaviour and a game designer.

9. References How can computer games offer deep learning and still be fun? A progress report on a game in development. (A research Project of The University of Ballarat) http://www.ascilite.org.au/conf96/14.html Media Scope http://www.igc.org/mediascope/fvidviol.htm