Since its inception in 2008, Game Forward has been collecting links related to Serious Games, Health & Fitness Games, Educational Games, Game Accessibility and Virtual Worlds. This article will serve as a link repository that will be updated and edited on a monthly basis.
We have separated our links into three categories; Education and Research, Groups and Organizations and Hardware and Software Developers. If you feel that a link to your website should be included by Game Forward, please leave a comment below or send a detailed e-mail to links[at]gamefwd[dot]org. Please note that we are not interested in participating in advertising-style link exchanges and have set up these articles as a resource for people interested in the subjects we cover. Thank you for your co-operation.
AbleGamers – AbleGamers.com is a site that is dedicated to the disabled gamer, causal or hardcore. They offer a safe place for any gamer with any disability to explore, to find news on games that has the disabled gamer in mind, and to meet others, and solve issues as a team, and a family.
Abledbody – Media and communications company with a focus on disability issues. The website has emerged as a trusted voice on disability issues to consumers, businesses and the media.
AMD Changing the Game – AMD Changing the Game is AMD’s signature education program. The initiative, which is run by the AMD Foundation, enables teens to learn critical STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills and become more globally conscious citizens by developing digital video games with social content.
American Heart Association – The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: “Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”
American Pain Society – The American Pain Society is a multidisciplinary community that brings together a diverse group of scientists, clinicians and other professionals to increase the knowledge of pain and transform public policy and clinical practice to reduce pain-related suffering.
Applied Research Associates – Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is an international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically excellent solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences.
Apply Group – Apply Group is a leading total solutions supplier. They supply excellence across marketing, media, events, business development and digital content deliverables, with specialisms in the various markets.
AudioGames – AudioGames.net is a community portal for audio games: games based on sound. An audio game is a game that consists (only) of sound.
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center – Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital, has provided medical care since 1911. They are committed to excellence in all areas of health care including heart care, cancer, trauma, surgery, transplantation and high-risk obstetrics.
Banner Heart Hospital – Banner Heart Hospital, a nationally recognized nonprofit facility in Arizona, is one of the largest free-standing heart hospitals in the United States. Services include robotic heart surgery, open heart surgery, diagnosis and rehab.
Bulldog Interactive Fitness for Youth – Bulldog Interactive Fitness, the first interactive fitness facility designed especially for youth ages 3 – teen!
Canadian Stroke Network – The Canadian Stroke Network’s mission is to reduce the impact of stroke on Canadians through collaborations that create valuable new knowledge in stroke; to ensure the best knowledge is applied; and to build Canadian capacity in stroke.
Business Game Factory – BGF is the world leader in web based business tournaments and organizes the biggest and most exciting business tournament in the world where leading international companies are fiercely competing for market shares and profits while developing managers and key people to lead their business in a profitable and more effective way.
Broadened Horizons – Broadened Horizons develops and delivers unique, innovative solutions empowering those with upper extremity physical mobility limitations with tools to break down barriers and lead fulfilling lives as equals within society.
Change4Life Campaign – Change4Life is the social marketing component of the UK Government’s response to the rise in obesity.
Child’s Play – Child’s Play is a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 60 hospitals worldwide.
Clever Zebra – Clever Zebra build products, and provide services for organizations in 3D virtual worlds like Second Life.
COGAIN – COGAIN is a network of excellence on Communication by Gaze Interaction. COGAIN integrates cutting-edge expertise on interface technologies for the benefit of users with disabilities. The network gathers Europe’s leading expertise in eye tracking integration with computers in a research project on assistive technologies for citizens with motor impairments.
Companions in Courage Foundation – The Companions in Courage Foundation is a charitable organization which raises funds to build interactive playrooms in hospitals throughout North America. Through innovative communications tools, these playrooms replace the isolation of a hospital with a connection to family, friends and celebrities during each hospital stay.
Deaf Gamers – Text/visual feedback is a key issue for a deaf person and many has the occasion been when a deaf games player has purchased a game only to find no visual feedback or very little of it (this can ruin the game for them).
DHX Media – DHX Media Ltd. is a leading international producer and distributor of television programs.
Entertainment Software Association – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the U.S. association exclusively dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies that publish computer and video games for video game consoles, personal computers, and the Internet.
Entertainment Software Association of Canada – The Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) is dedicated exclusively to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies in Canada that publish and distribute computer and video games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet.
Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa – The Faculty of Health Sciences strives for perfection, and their innovative teaching methods and state-of-the art research programs are gaining them a place among national and international leaders. In choosing the Faculty of Health Sciences, you are choosing excellence and investing in a great future!
GameAccessibility.org – This site hopes to bring a real world resource online for game developers and researchers to find the information they need to make games more accessible.
Gamebase – SpecialEffect wanted a place where they could use the knowlege and experience they have gained to reach a wider audience.
Games Beyond Entertainment – Games Beyond Entertainment Week is a series of one and two-day conferences designed to explore serious game and emerging market opportunities for videogames and videogame technologies.
Games for Change – Games for Change (G4C) is a non-profit which seeks to harness the extraordinary power of video games to address the most pressing issues of our day, including poverty, education, human rights, global conflict and climate change.
Games for Health – The Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge and business development efforts to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health and health care.
Games for Life – Games for Life is focused on guiding people with learning related cognitive difficulties to success. With specific reference to overcoming attention related difficulties experienced by children and young people that are having a negative impact on their home, school and social life.
Generation Cures – Generation Cures is a kid-led, parent-enabled community all about empowering kids to give back. Ideas are sparked online in a free and safe online experience-complete with for-kids, by-kids videos, original animation, and educational, science-based games. Once engaged, kids can then take action-hosting their own fundraiser to support Children’s Hospital Boston’s life-saving research.
Get Well Gamers – The Get-Well Gamers Foundation was founded in 2001 with the goal of bringing video game systems and games to children’s hospitals. Video games are an effective and proven pain management tool and provide needed entertainment during long hospital stays.
Global Kids – Global Kids’ mission is to educate and inspire urban youth to become successful students, global citizens and community leaders by engaging them in academically rigorous, socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences.
Handicap International – Handicap International is an international organisation specialised in the field of disability. Non-governmental, non-religious, non-political and non-profit making, it works alongside people with disabilities, whatever the context, offering them assistance and supporting them in their efforts to become self-reliant.
Hansen Medical – Hansen Medical, the global leader in flexible robotics, was born from the vision of creating a new generation of advanced medical robotics.
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society – The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is a comprehensive healthcare-stakeholder membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare
HERMES Cognitive Care and Guidance for Active Aging – HERMES is an international collaboration between six organizations in six countries, aimed at providing cognitive care.
IndieCade – IndieCade supports independent game development and organizes a series of international events showcasing the future of independent games. It encourages, publicizes, and cultivates innovation and artistry in interactive media, helping to create a public perception of games as rich, diverse, artistic, and culturally significant.
Information Technology Industry Council – ITI represents companies on the cutting edge of technology, and its mission today is to promote the global competitiveness of its member companies.
Interactive Ontario – Interactive Ontario is a not-for-profit industry trade organization committed to the growth of the Ontario interactive digital content industry.
International Game Developers Association – The International Game Developers Association is the largest non-profit membership organization serving individuals that create video games.
International Game Developers Association’s Game Accessibility Special Interest Group – The International Game Developers Association’s Game Accessibility Special Interest Group is an advocacy group in the gaming industry to promote awareness of the issues that gamers with disabilities face and to help provide solutions that can be used by others who want to make their games accessible to more!
International Society for Technology in Education – ISTE advances excellence in learning and teaching through innovative and effective uses of technology.
Joan Ganz Cooney Center – The mission of The Joan Ganz Cooney Center is to catalyze and support research, innovation and investment in digital media technologies to advance children’s learning.
MacArthur Foundation – MacArthur is one of the nation’s largest independent foundations. Through the support it provides, the Foundation fosters the development of knowledge, nurtures individual creativity, strengthens institutions, helps improve public policy, and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public interest media.
Mayo Clinic – Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of “the needs of the patient come first.”
Medical University of South Carolina – The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the South. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care.
MedPlay Technologies LLC. – Utilizing the latest in medical fitness research and the new technologies continually emerging in the video game entertainment world, MedPlay Technologies has created an environment where kids of all ages can have fun and become healthy at the same time.
Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute – At the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute, highly trained physicians and staff are here to push every level of athlete – whether you’re a recreational, competitive or professional athlete – to a higher level of performance.
Northeast Passage – Northeast Passage is a nationally recognized leader in the provision of innovative therapeutic recreation services. Northeast Passage delivers disability-related health promotion and adapted sports programs throughout New England.
One Switch – One Switch is a resource of fun ideas and ‘assistive technology’ aimed at moderate to severely learning/physically disabled people.
PE4Life – PE4life is a national non-profit organization dedicated to developing a country of active and healthy children and youth by increasing access to quality physical education. PE4life promotes making physical activity fun and interactive to engage all students.
Peter G. Peterson Foundation – The Foundation’s mission is to increase public awareness of the nature and urgency of key economic challenges threatening America’s future and accelerate action on them. To meet these challenges successfully, they work to bring Americans together to find sensible, sustainable solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results.
PlayMancer Project – PlayMancer (A European Serious Gaming 3D Environment) is a Collaborative Project in the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme working to implement a new Serious Game environment, by augmenting existing 3D gaming engines with new possibilities.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – The mission of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is to improve the health and health care of all Americans. Their goal is clear: To help Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need.
Serious Games Initiative – The Serious Games Initiative is focused on uses for games in exploring management and leadership challenges facing the public sector. Part of its overall charter is to help forge productive links between the electronic game industry and projects involving the use of games in education, training, health, and public policy.
SharpBrains – SharpBrains is a leading market research and advisory services firm covering the growing cognitive fitness market.
Software and Information Industry Association – The Software & Information Industry Association is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to the leading companies that are setting the pace for the digital age.
SpecialEffect – SpecialEffect is a charity dedicated to helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games.
Starlight Children’s Foundation – Starlight Children’s Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and life-altering injuries by providing entertainment, education and family activities that help them cope with the pain, fear and isolation of prolonged illness.
Team Orlando – Team Orlando provides training solutions to enhance Warfighter readiness, with capabilities including research and development, program management, effective lifecycle management, and support services.
TeamSTEPPS – TeamSTEPPS is a teamwork system designed for health care professionals developed by Department of Defense’s Patient Safety Program in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The AbleGamers Foundation – The AbleGamers Foundation is committed in supporting the advancement of accessibility in the digital entertainment space.
Triangle Game Initiative – Triangle Game Initiative is the trade association for the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina interactive entertainment industry, whose members are market-leading companies and prominent industry figures who have gathered to master the arts and sciences of gaming.
University Medical Center of Southern Nevada – University Medical Center is dedicated to providing the highest level of health care possible by maintaining its ongoing commitment to personal, individualized care for each patient. Through the latest treatment techniques, comfortable surroundings and a dedicated staff, that commitment is expressed every day, in every area of the hospital.
Veteran’s Administration Outpatient Clinic – Comprehensive health care is provided through primary care and specialty care in the areas of medicine, outpatient surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, orthopedics, dentistry, geriatrics, radiology, nuclear medicine, cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology and tele-care services.
Vienna University of Technology’s Institute of Software Technology and Interactive Systems – Institute of the Vienna University of Technology’s Faculty of Informatics.
Vision Audio Inc. – Distributor of EASe CDs which are the original disc-based auditory stimulation program. EASe CDs are used by tens of thousands of parents, therapists, treatment centers and non-profit organizations to treat children with auditory hypersensitivity.
VisionQuest 20/20 – VisionQuest 20/20 is the only non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to establishing a national vision screening program for U.S. school children. Because vision disorders can occur at any age, their goal is to ensure that all school-aged children receive a vision screening annually.
Volt Fitness – Volt Fitness is the only fitness facility where the whole family can actually workout at the same time, combining video games and exercise to make fitness fun for kids.
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars – The Wilson Center is a nonpartisan institute for advanced study and a neutral forum for open, serious, and informed dialogue. It brings pre-eminent thinkers to Washington for extended periods of time to interact with policymakers through a large number of programs and projects.
Young Drivers of Canada – Young Drivers of Canada teaches Canadians how to drive and survive. They offer the most comprehensive driver training courses in the country, including exclusive YD-branded in-car emergency maneuvers training.