Health and Games in Houston

November 9, 11:57 AMHouston Game ExaminerGregory Gauthreaux

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    With the Wii's revolutionary introduction of the health benefits of games to the public there has been an outcry for more resonating within the industry. The public has begun to see the potential games have in not only the future of gaming, but health and professional development. More and more games are being integrated as part of training programs and educational courses. I myself am taking a class where some of the learning is taking place in a virtual environment. The application is there, and the public has begun to see it, and has dubed this particular facet of gameing "Serious Games".

    This winter, Houston will be hosting the Game for Health Day Regional Meetup on December 4, 2008. There will be a variety of speakers discussing everything from the "Social Behavior and the Dynamics of Corrupted blood in World of Warcraft" to "Virtual Environments & Healthcare"

    Although the scedule is still tenative they provide a list of the already included talks:
        Barbara Chamberlain, Jeanne Gleason, Pamela Martinez (New Mexico State University) - Exergaming & CYFAR
        Jim Bowers (UTHSC San Antonio) : Why Eat in Whyville?
        Chuck Hamilton (IBM) : Virtual Environments & Healthcare
        Nina Fefferman (Tufts) : Social Behavior and the Dynamics of Corrupted Blood in World of Warcraft
        Claudia McDonald (TAMUCC) : Avatars & Diagnosis: Experiential Learning in Virtual Space
        Miguel Encarnacao (Humana) : HG4H: Humana's Games for Health Initiative
    
    Tickets cost $49.00 until Novemeber 26, after which the price will rise to $79.00 for intendies. Rice Students and Faculty will be able to attend the event free-of-charge. And the general public can purchase their tickes at: https://www.regonline.com/gfhhouston

    If you've ever been interested in games, but didn't feel you have the time or just didn't want to waist the time you had on frivelous console games. This might be the sort of thing you need. They will be presenting games in a way that brings them out of the teenage nerds basement and out into the professional cooperate office.