When people think of serious games many think of it merely as games that are intentionally not meant as entertainment. This is kind of tricky since many serious games can be very entertaining and people also play them because of this quality. Although there is much debate about a single definition, serious games are generally held to be games used for training, advertising, simulation, or education. And now students of the Computer Audition Laboratory at UC San Diego have developed a serious game that revolves around music.
It is called "Listen Game" and it is an online web-based game. This means that the game runs in a website. And in order to play, you must have a java-enabled browser running. This is a common feature, but if you do not see the game after you have logged in, you may have to install the Java plug-in (JRE 1.5 or later) from Sun Microsystems: http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp
In Listen Game you and players from around the world simultaneously listen to short music clips. Each Listen Game consists of seven clips. While you listen, 6 relevant words are listed. You have to pick one word that best describes the music and another word that worst describes the music, by clicking the balls left (best) and right (worst) of the words. You score points by choosing words that other listeners agree upon. It's your opinion - no right and wrong.
After seven clips you the Freestyle Round starts. Here you have to suggest your own word to describe the music you hear. In the round that follows, your word will be presented to other players. If they choose your suggestion, you get points.
So why could Listen Game be considered a serious game? Well, while you are playing Listen Game, the program is analyzing what you say about music. Listen Game is a game that lets you tell others what you think about music. It also lets you hear what other people think about music. Your opinions are used to build a musical search engine. Just a like an Internet search engine that finds web pages, this search engine uses your musical taste to help you find the music that you want to listen to. Sort of like a Google Music. To quote the developers:
"Music is a subjective form of art. We all have our own unique experince when listening to a song. Even though you might think that "Hangin' Tough" by New Kids on the Block is "explosive and revolutionary", your friend may think it's "cheesy and annoying". Play Listen Game and see if the world agrees with you!"
Most unfortunately, this game is NOT ACCESSIBLE for people with visual disabilities. The use of the mouse is required since it is not possible to use the keyboard to select your choice. Next to that, only the music clip is audible but the text is not and the color-communication with the balls is not very accessible for color-blind users (1 in 12 men, folks - please visit Game Accessibility.com).
Although AudioGames.net mostly covers audio games and blind-accessible games, I think this is a very interesting game concept. There are already similar concepts out there, like Google's Image Labeler and Phetch, but this is the first of its kind concerning music.
Listen Game is still beta, which means that you might encounter various issues. It also means that if you email the developers concerning the blind-accessibility issues, they might still be able to make it (more) accessible. You can email the developers at [email protected] with your comments, questions, and recommendations. And if you want to play Listen Game, here's where you can find it:
Greets,
Richard
