eGames Workshop Fully Booked

Computer games are getting very serious. Not just as a popular entertainment format, but also as a powerful tool for education, training, public policy, healthcare, security, simulation and many other applications which fall outside the entertainment software norm.

Working alonside Oman Mobile; Sun Microsystems; Java; Infocomm Group; Middle East College of Information Technology (MECIT) and the UK’s De Montfort University, Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) has designed day two of the eGames conference to provide attendees with a broad overview of what serious games are and can be. “Sessions on day two are designed primarily for potential customers (corporate, government and military) and members of the game development and academic communities that are aiding in the production of serious game projects,” said Mohammed Al Maskari, Director General, KOM and organizer of eGames.

"The goal of the eGames conference is to foster a global community of practitioners and customers around the idea of serious games. Our job is to promote the use of games, game developers and game technologies to domains outside of game-based entertainment to seek breakthroughs in learning, healthcare, training and more. In simple terms, eGames is designed to put a face to Oman’s emerging gaming sector,” remarked Al Maskari.

On the eve of the conference (Saturday 9 December), KOM will hold a full-day gaming workshop at MECIT at which staff from De Montfort University’s Faculty of Art and Design will deliver workshops in animation; drawing; storyboarding; and narration. “The entire workshop was sold out in less than 24 hours of announcing it, we were flooded with e-mails requesting workshop tickets” remarked Mulki Al Hashmi, eGames Co-ordinator, adding: “We were totally bowled over by the response, it clearly shows how important gaming is to the Omani youth.”