Have you smashed anything yet with your new Wii controller? Worn out the buttons on your new PS3? Burned out the hard drive on your XBOX 360? Let's hope you and your system are still doing fine. But even if you didn't get any of these new game systems for Christmas, you can play a few lesser-known games on your PC that will do more than just pass the time.
Serious Games
There is a new trend in video games that comes as a surprise to many who condemn the "violence and mindlessness" of many games. "Serious Games" or "Games for Change" is a fascinating new development in the industry. Using familiar video game formats, these games delve into challenging and often controversial issues. Here are a few examples:
Global Conflicts: Palestine
This title is scheduled for launch by Serious Games Interactive in early 2007. Playing the role of a young journalist in the video game, you are exposed to the complexities and sources of conflicts as you move around Jerusalem. As you solve conflicts along the way, you have to opportunity to take one of three viewpoints: pro-Palestinian, balanced, or pro-Israeli.
Darfur is Dying
MTV networks introduced this game in 2006. About 800,000 people played the video game 1.7 million times in its first five months. Living in and out of a refugee camp in Sudan, you as a player must avoid the armed militia as you collect water and food while managing your basic needs within the camp.
Food Force
This is one of the original "serious games" developed in 2005 and available in seven languages. You join a team of UN experts that deals with food shortage and related issues in the fictional island of Sheylan. Created by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the game offers ways to learn more and to help in the fight for food sufficiency.
Making a Difference
Some people take offence at these games, saying that they oversimplify complex issues and mask harsh realities faced by those involved. Those claims may hold a grain of truth, but the facts show that these games do have an impact. People who play them are taking actions.
The creators of "Darfur is Dying" report that thousands of players have raised awareness by sending the game to educate their friends. Others have become advocates who email and ask politicians for changes in government policies. Clearly, these games make a difference.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Take a look at these games. Are they for you? Or do you only play games for pure entertainment value? If you could create a game around a particular global issue, what area would you focus on? If you find the games meaningful, would you share them with your friends? In what other ways can you address the issues dealt with in these games? Video games for global change-truly a unique concept!
Links
Global Conflicts: Palestine
www.seriousgames.dk/gc.html
Darfur is Dying
www.darfurisdying.com
Food Force
www.food-force.com
