Why so impressive? Well, for starters, these games are built using nothing more than JavaScript and the HTML5 canvas element. While HTML5 alone does not make something an instant Flash killer (see the continuing saga of efforts to usurp Flash with the HTML5 video element), Akihabara is incredibly smooth. Each demo, while fairly rudimentary, controls flawlessly. There are no frame rate hiccups, no input lag, and no jerky animation. The demos are completely playable, easily on par with your average flash game, and decidedly better than some punch-the-monkey banner ad.

The fact that these demos were built with JavaScript adds another interesting benefit – the full source of each game is only a few clicks away! Because the Akihabara engine is doing most of the heavy lifting, the game code that remains is clean and very readable. Levels for 2d scrolling games are nothing more than an array of images, and enemy AI takes up just a few lines for each type of enemy. I don’t know the limitations of the engine yet, but it seems like most any 8-bit era game could probably be ported to JavaScript without too much of a hassle.

So, does this mean that the future of casual gaming is JavaScript? Unfortunately, probably not. While the performance of Akihabara is impressive, the fact that source code is easily available makes it unlikely that serious commercial projects will choose this route. However, the relative simplicity of making games with this JavaScript framework means that we can probably expect a lot of new games written by enthusiasts – like those who submit Flash games to sites like Newgrounds – to use JavaScript, for access to the iPhone / iPad market if nothing else.

There’s been some interesting discussion recently on using gaming metaphors to change behavior — everything from the RPG-like metaphors of Weight Watchers, to the underlying psychology of Nike Plus, to the MPG readout of Toyota’s Prius and smart meters in homes reducing energy consumption. The first step in changing your behavior is generally to “instrument” and measure it.

The trend is only accelerating. Newer games (largely on Nintendo platforms) like “Wii Fit” or even “My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr” already use the concept of bringing the player’s real-world life into a literal game, rather than the self-imposed games of the Nike Plus or Toyota Prius.

I think this is an idea that is just screaming for more attention on the web. Find a way to plug real-life homework completion into tangible benefits in an MMORPG and you’ll have a new set of straight-A students in record time. For companies buying their own islands in Second Life, why not implement a “points” system for task completion, or for coming up with truly great, new ideas? Granted, anything like this would require careful study before rushing to implementation; there would be nothing worse than to create an entire culture of living by the game’s rules, when the game may fail to keep up with the realities it is simulating. Nonetheless, this field seems set to become the new definition of “serious games”.