PIXELearning’s Top Ten Birthday Lists

As some will know it’s our 10^th Birthday today, don’t we feel old? It feels like yesterday that we in our strollers building our PIXEL cubes.

It’s been a great decade of working on some fantastic projects, designing epic games and working with great colleagues and customers…you know who you are.

So to celebrate we are sticking with the theme of 10 and so we decided to provide you with our very own top tens:

• Top 10 Serious Games
• Top 10 Blogs for Serious Games and Simulations
• Our Top 10 Competitors in the industry
• Our birthday Number 1 singles
• Out Top 10 Twitterers

Here we go….

Gamification, Simulations and Serious Games: They are different

We have recently come across this blog piece by Linda King, Head of Communications at G2G3, focusing on the differences of gamification, simulations and Serious Games.

Now as I’m sure you are aware, our blog views haven’t been the kindest to the term Gamification, and Linda shares some of our concerns particularly around differentiating between the three. However we both understand it is a hot topic and we need to help share the understanding of what Gamification isn’t and how best to use it.

In this post, Linda indicates the main differences between the terms which provides great clarity  of what each one really is. An extract of what Gamification, Simulations and Serious Games are can be found below. To view the full blog post, by Linda, please click here:

Gamification:

Leverages ‘game mechanics’ such as points, levels and badges to non-game activities

Simulations

Place people in a risk free environment which supports their engagement in an authentic experience which contextually demonstrates benefits and consequences.

Serious games

Use traditional gamecraft techniques around serious concepts such as business, education, environmental or social issues.

The full definitions provide great clarity and ones that really help provide insight into how and when to use gamification, simulations or serious games

PIXELearning’s – Chris Chadwick

The Lead Artist
(written with biased views, big-headedness
& historical inaccuracies throughout)

Good morrow weary traveller. Sit and warm your bones by the fire. Let me tell you a story of old, the story of the lead artist. Our tale begins in the small town of Accrington where Chris was raised.

“Accrington Stanley.”
“Who are they?!”
“Exactly.”

One warm summers eve our hero stumbled across a magical elixir. It was said that he who drinks from the cup would become clear of mind and have great wisdom, far beyond their years*. While homing his skills on an old alter of Megadrive, our hero, a rather inebriated fat lad, lays down his beer. Stops talking toot with his mates. And decides to pursue his true calling. Computer games.

The year was 2005-ish and following his epiphany a stick and bundle was tied holding the necessities; a six pack, clean underwear and a tooth brush. He kissed his Mother goodbye and set off down the long and winding road which lead to university. A dusty and dangerous road said to be filled with thieves, men at arms and boilers of bunnies.

The old market town of Huddersfield was the destination, where training would be lengthy and strenuous, requiring many a late night and ample student loan for things such as pencils and grog. Luckily for our hero his time spent in local taverns had taught him well, the skills, that he would need for the difficult and messy journey which lay ahead.

Years of training past…

Studying montage. Every shot showing a little improvement, to show it all would take to long. Always fade out in a montage, if you fade out, it seems like more time has passed in a montage. **

Our hero’s training had paid off and he went on to work with some of the largest game companies in many different fields including console, advertising and social media. But never was there such a prestigious position as this, at the highly esteemed and world renowned office of PIXELearning. Where legend is told far and wide of his great achievements in the field of serious games. Some even say that his artwork has helped elevate even the dullest of teachings in a way that was engaging and fun for all who played. Huzzarh!

Now, this is merely a prologue. Cross my hand with silver and my lips with ale and I’ll gladly continue the tale of Chris The Great and his adventures at PIXEL.

“I’m the Lead artist here at PIXELearning, it’s an honour to work with such talented people and be a part of the most experienced serious games company in the UK.“ – Chris

——————-
*Carlsberg don’t do career advice but if they did, it’d probably be the best career advice in the world.
** Even Rocky had a montage – “Montage” Team America.

New Online, International Directory for Serious Games Industry Offers

LOS ANGELES – March 27, 2012 – The Serious Games Association today announced a new, international resource for developers, providers, analysts, educators and consultants, the Serious Games Directory.  All listings and access will be available free in 2012.

The Serious Games Directory will cover commercially available

o   Games and sims
o   Developers interested in contract work
o   Technology and tools

2000 students from 60 schools compete in Mosaic Enterprise Challenge

The Enterprise Challenge, run by Mosaic Network has just completed its fourth competition after seeing an increasing number of students take part from over 60 schools nationally.

A record number of 2,000 students entered this year’s competition to compete for a place in the final. To be in the final, students needed to have achieved the highest possible scores playing PIXELearning’s The Business Game, combined with an ethical business strategy.

Finals took place at Hogan Lovells where the top five teams were invited to come along and pitch their business idea to a room full of people including Mary Nightingale

PIXELearning wins European Seal of e-Excellence 2012

PIXELearning

are pleased to announce they have been awarded the highest honour of a Platinum Seal from EMF – The Forum of e-Excellence. This prestigious European and global award honouring ICT and Digital Media companies is awarded to those demonstrating an excellent track record in innovative marketing.

Announced today at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany, the ceremony see’s 42 winners from 18 countries

Is technology changing the way you educate students or the way you may learn as a student: The six trends identified by Horizon Report in Education.

The recently release NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition looks at emerging technologies that will impact education through adapting the way in which education is delivered and received.

Categorised into time-to adoption – when they are expected to enter the classroom – these technologies will look to enhance learning experiences, engage the learner, introduce

2011 to 2012 – What a difference a year can make

So our closing statement of 2011 is shaping up to be a wild ride was certainly true and what a year 2011 was. It started with major changes to PIXELearning, it saw new additions to the team and it end with the busiest run up to Christmas we have ever seen.

Before we dive right in to 2012 (or at least before we dive too deep) we thought we would provide a round up on what’s been going on in the world of PIXELearning.

All change

It was a rocky start to 2011 but soon all turned around and the busy year started from April with the Acquisition of PIXELearning

Come see us at Learning Technologies 2012 stand 57

January 25-26^th see’s PIXELearning and Intellego’s first event of the year and it’s gearing up to be one that’s not to be missed.

Learning Technologies is in its 13^th year and is one of the leading conferences for learning and emerging technologies in Europe. With a growing number of attendees and exhibitors we have taken this opportunity to get our names and skills back out there in the world of workplace learning.

By attending the conference you will have the opportunity to attend a wide selection of free seminars one of which is being delivered by PIXELearning’s very own Helen Routledge and guest speaker Kate Smith, of Capella Associates. This seminar will look at using serious gaming for Six Sigma training.

When: Wednesday 25^th January 2012 at 14.00

Where: Theatre 3

Overview: Our natural tendency when faced with a problem of any description is to try to solve it, leading to changes that either don’t solve the problem or that are not sustainable. Six Sigma helps avoid this by providing a method and a toolset to improve any process in any sector.

What better way is there to raise awareness and capability in Six Sigma to your organisation than by playing an on-line game that engages learners in an exciting case study, reinforces principles, stretches knowledge and provides feedback for CPD planning?

The mechanics and methodology behind the game will be reviewed as we explore this approach for learning and you will hear how this highly effective, low-cost solution for improving performance can be applied in your organisation.

PIXELearning will be at stand 57, showcasing demos and presentations of elearning, serious games and mobile apps.

Together we are building the next generation of digital learning and bring about a step-change in the way organisations and individuals learn, develop and improve.

It would be great to see you there, please drop by the stand for a chat or arrange to meet us there.

You can register to attend the event for free by clicking here: http://www.learningtechnologies.co.uk/register-now/

3D Graphic Artist (Serious Games)

Job role: PIXELearning is interested in offering a full time position in graphic design. Our primary requirements are in 3D environment and character development, 2D interface, asset and texture creation, multimedia development (CGI videos for cut scenes and sales demonstrators). Flash ActionScript development is a desirable skill.