Video games 'may save world'
2006-06-28 08:27
New York - Parents may worry that
violent video games are bad for their children, but the
technology can help save the world by raising awareness of the
world's downtrodden, a group of socially conscious game
designers say.
The creators of free educational games such as Darfur is
Dying and PeaceMaker met with humanitarian activists at The New School University in New York on Tuesday for the third
annual Games for Change conference.
The idea is to use video games to educate youth about
real-world issues - fighting poverty, surviving in war-torn
Sudan and negotiating Middle East peace.
And while there is violence in the games, it is being
perpetrated by real-life players such as warring countries, not
by the person playing the game.
"It's the next generation of activism," said Stephen
Friedman, general manager of mtvU, a television network owned
by cable channel MTV aimed at college students that created a
grant programme encouraging educational games.
"Given this generation lives online, it's heartening to see
them using this incredibly powerful medium in a very potent
way," Friedman said.
The idea appears to be gaining popularity. Darfur is
Dying, which allows players to avoid being killed in
violence-plagued Sudan, was downloaded more than 750 000 times in the past two months.
Food Force, created by the World Food
Programme at the United Nations, has been downloaded off the
internet more than two million times.
Power of interactive media
Just 40 developers and activists attended the first Games
for Change conference in 2004. About 250 people participated
this year.
Large gaming companies have expressed some interest in the
market's potential, Bob Kerrey, the president of The New School
and a former US senator from Nebraska, said.
"I do see some glimmers of reason to be optimistic that
games ... can be used to accomplish educational missions and
improve people's quality of understanding of what's going on in
the world," Kerrey said.
"The question for us
... is how do I use it to accomplish something good?"
Darfur is Dying puts players in the shoes of a Sudanese
refugee. Plunked down in the middle of the violence, players
must make it to a water well and try to survive for seven days
in a camp besieged by militia.
In Peacemaker, players take the role of either the
Israeli prime minister or the Palestinian president and try
their hand at situations ranging from diplomatic talks to
responding to military attacks.
Peacemaker co-creator Eric Brown said he hopes to usher
video games into a new socially conscious arena.
"We believe in the power of interactive media and we think
it has a lot of positive potential," said Brown, a Carnegie
Mellon University graduate student.
"Just by putting someone in
the shoes of the other side, they may think of a perspective
they might not have thought of before."