Page 2 of 2

Not the first and most likely not the last

Chevron may be the biggest corporation to produce a green-issues game, but it's not the first.

In April, Starbucks launched Planet Green Game. Players choose an avatar and explore Evergreen, a virtual city with six destinations. At each stop, they take a quiz designed to offer facts and tips that can be incorporated into their daily lives.

There are two bonus destinations, a movie theater where players can watch short films with environmental themes and, of course, a Starbucks, where they can vote on what environmental issues they'd like the coffee company to prioritize.

The company is among the top purchasers of energy-offset certificates in the United States. It also incorporates sustainable building components into stores, and supplies customers with 10 percent post-consumer recycled fiber hot cups.

In May, Genesis Energy, New Zealand's largest energy retailer, launched ElectroCity, a game similar to Energyville with similar intent.

"We recognize the importance of sustainable energy generation, energy efficiency and environmental management," Chief Executive Murray Jackson said in a statement. "We want to help people think about these subjects laterally, and what better way than to experience them first-hand and see the impacts of your decisions?"

LATEST NEWS

Bing Brings Twitter Into the Mix
CSC Teams With Microsoft on Cloud Services
FCC Gets to Work on Mapping Out Broadband Plan
Linux Vendors Head to the Cloud in Search of Cash
China Paper Says Green Dam Only 'Matter of Time'

Social change online

Non-profit organizations have developed many more games for social change. They're seen as a compelling way to engage with younger people who live in a multimedia world -- and likely more effective than television or print.

For example, Breakthrough is an international human rights organization that uses media and pop culture to educate people. It's about to release ICED, a videogame that puts players in the roles of foreigners who've run afoul of the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Darfur is dying, released by mtvU in May, offers a window into the experience of the 2.5 million refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Players must keep their refugee camp functioning in the face of possible attack; they can also learn more about the situation and identify ways to help. The game, created by students at the University of Southern California, was the winner in a competition sponsored by mtvU, a Viacom cable network that broadcasts to college campuses, and the Reebok Human Rights Fund.

PeaceMaker lets players attempt to resolve the conflict between Palestine and Israel. You can play the part of the Israeli prime minister or the Palestinian president, and make diplomatic, security and economic decisions based on the resources available in the real world.

Energyville players are graded on the economic, environmental and security effects of their choices. Source: Chevron

These are examples of "deep transformation games," said Suzanne Seggerman, president and co-founder of Games for Change, an organization that supports individuals and organizations using games to transform society. "The aim is to really change the way people think about an issue in the real world."

Whether playing a game leads to changes in behavior may depend on how open-ended the play is, according to Rensselaer's Freier. "If people are going to come to an understanding about any phenomenon, they need to engage in an active learning process and construct their own knowledge about it," he said.

In what may be the first collaboration between a social-good organization and a major corporation, Games for Change has partnered with Microsoft on the Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge. The global competition challenges college students to come up with a game based on the theme of global warming, with cash prizes for the best entries -- and possible distribution via the Xbox LIVE Arcade service.

The games are to be produced using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express, a lightweight .NET game development platform designed for non-programmers.

"These will be smaller games for now," said Seggerman. "The idea is not to create a big-budget, mainstream game, but to seed lots of game ideas throughout the world."

Freier pointed out that studies of violent videogames have shown that they affect children's thinking only in the short term. He noted, "If it's a good game, it will bring people into that space and get them thinking. The question is, whether that short term can be extended into active engagement -- and that's an open question."

Go to page: Prev  1  2