"Serious" Games

My organization, the entity that runs the National Museum of the U.S. Army, falls under the leadership umbrella of the department that manages Army installations and the resources they offer to soldiers and their families. About once a quarter, Army administrative departments get together in "town halls" to discuss the current initiatives. They talk about the current green projects that the Army is working on at various bases around the world. In a recent town hall, a high ranking civilian Army leader mentioned some of the initiatives involving "serious games". Most in the audience were old career Army folks, so an explanation of "serious games" was needed. As she toggled through her Powerpoint slides, some of my coworkers scoffed; they're stuck on the  the old school belief that games are mere entertainment. I know better, so I smiled to myself. I wanted to stand up and shout out that games are transforming the way we learn! This innovation isn't just happening in schools. I know this post is short on specifics, and I regret that I can't share more about the content of the Army serious games initiatives, but suffice it to say that the Army is using "serious" gaming  technology to train soldiers. As I was being slowly Powerpointed to death, I thought to myself, "if the Army is hip to serious gaming, this stuff will soon be mainstream".