Serious games...and less!

Many of us first heard the term "serious games" a couple of years ago at GDC (Game Developers Conference), the premier gathering place for game developers, publishers and industry hopefuls. As it happened, a colleague of mine thought he would take a peek into the room where a talk entitled "Serious Games" was being held. Expecting to see only a few people attending, he was amazed to find that it was standing room only! The use of game engines for non-game related applications had generated an inordinate amount of interest among a group of people normally known more for destroying grotesque aliens with absurdly proportioned weapons than reproducing mundane or real-life tasks in 3D.