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May 09, 2006

Changing the World One Video Game at a Time

Can a video game change the world? A growing number of activists and software developers are hoping that the “games for change” movement can educate while entertaining.

An MTV-backed contest to find a politically charged game has announced its winner. ''Darfur Is Dying," a simple and depressing computer game created by students at the University of Southern California and playable for free at darfurisdying.com. The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict has made a much bigger bet on computer games as a change agent. The group invested $3 million and teamed up with commercial game developer Breakaway Ltd. to create ''A Force More Powerful." It's a complex and clever political simulator designed to teach activists how to get what they want, even from a repressive government, without firing a shot.
 
This week, the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy announced that a game called Peacemaker," a cross-cultural game about the Israel-Palestine conflict, won its Public Diplomacey and Virtual Worlds Competition. Other finalists include: "Hydro Hyjinks," which is intended to get people talking about the environment and international water distribution; "Exchanging Cultures," which creates a public space where people from anywhere in the world can trade virtual artifacts from their respective cultures; and "Global Kids," a concept game that will eventually provide virtual hands-on workshops for kids and that's designed to facilitate discussion and cross-cultural meetings.

Posted by Buzz Webster at May 9, 2006 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

To find more about the "Games for Change" movement referred to in this post, come to our national conference this June 2006. The 3rd annual event will be co-hosted June 27th and 28th with the New School in New York City’s Greenwich Village. This event is the annual gathering for the exciting new movement using digital games to address the most pressing issues of our day. At the conference, expert practitioners -- academics, activists, non-profits -- will be called in to examine the impact of current games and preliminary work to build the field.

Posted by: bstokes [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 17, 2006 11:06 PM

The game "Darfur is Dying" should be applauded for using the gaming media to address and bring awareness to the plight of the people of Sudan.

It is amazing how mainstream media focuses in on one or two en vogue issues, and the rest is pushed to the margains. - Jason Begalke

Posted by: Jason Begalke [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 4, 2006 11:19 PM

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