Videogames to change the world.

[J T]

Game designer Jane McGonigal is one of the few sexy blondes on this planet that has positive stereotypes about gamers. She believes gamers know how to work hard to overcome challenges and that by saving hundreds of virtual worlds, gamers are now well-equiped to save the real world.

She has designed a game to do just that, by bridging the virtual world with the real world. It's called Evoke.

The Story:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/01/ ... tml?hpt=T2

A Video:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/te ... =allsearch

I don't know if this game will achieve its goals, but I like its goals and I think they are worth shooting for whether successful or not. And I'm excited to see gamers portrayed in a positive light and approached with a hopefulness to tap into their talents to make the world a better place. Your thoughts?

[molotovwars]

It seems interesting. I skimmed it over and was going to make a quick post, but realized I was still confused by the game and read it over again and watched the video.

The weekly mission assignments seem neat and there is a community outreach element, though I don't know how much of a game it will be or what the format is. I think game like 2D platformer, but I don't think that is what this "game" is aiming for. I don't know a lot about second-life but it seems like it could be similar to that or could be integrated into that kind of system since it already has a large user base. What confuses me is that it can be played just through SMS text-messages on cell-phones which sounds like a point and click adventure game. If it can be made fun it can have success, but even the article mentions the worry that it may not seem like much of a game. The designers comments about thinking of real world difficulties as level bosses doesn't seem to help, but if there is game play footage or something similar I would be interested.

Game designer Jane McGonigal sees "superheroes" with untapped potential that can be used to fix vexing real-world problems.

When I read that line I got kind of excited. I thought of something like Comix Zone, but with a character who is just a regular person solving ordinary every problems. Maybe imagined as a mash-up of puzzle and platformer elements that requires outside of the box thinking with multiple ways to succeed (like Scribblenauts, which I still need to play).

[Anapan]

A sorta-related application is Folding@home that uses a puzzle-like game to attempt to understand and cure diseases.
http://folding.stanford.edu/

[aeon]

This is great! I want to start earning points by taking the bus to work or planting carrots.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

What is it with everyone and freaking points?!

Oh I took out my recycling like I'm supposed to: 50 points....YEAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I just cut back on fatty foods: 100 points....WOOOOHHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I just did things I'm supposed to: 1,000 points!........AMAZEARIFFIC!!!!!!!

Not realizing these points don't mean anything in the real world and only make me more full of myself: 1,000,000 Points!.........ABSOFUCKINGLOUTELYINCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This doesn't make gamers look more positive or in a better light, it makes us and everyone involved in the hobby look like fucking immature assholes that are only looking for attention by having their name in lights at the top of some pointless (No pun intended) scoreboard and I'm sick of it.

Oh look I have a big gamerscore, but wait! I'm also an ultimate trophy master as well!!! WOO!!! Look at me I have a massive virtual penis!!! That's right I matter, pay attention to me!!! Forget all about playing the game to actually enjoy it and win or get the top score out of your love for and dedication to it!!!! Just do things for the sake of it because everyone else is doing it and when the others stop doing it you stop along with them because it's no longer popular or cool!!!!! Yup just save the world and bring about hope for the future until the next best public attention display comes around and when it does then fuck the planet and humanity, that's not cool anymore, no one pays attention to the top ten of the leaderboards for that anymore!!!!

No, I won't follow this game nor will I click on the link and degrade gamers and people in general further down this slippery slope of wasted time and useless, worthless, meaningless points that everyone seems obsessed with gathering and ignoring the aspect of reality. If people truly wanted to save the world and become better people then they wouldn't play a game about it they'd actually go out and make it happen and in this society the chances of that happening are far gone and slim to none.

So, if you have to take anything from this rant it's that you shouldn't put an emphasis on games and other related stuff to truly mean anything on a global scale, sure those points may look impressive to you and your friends, but they sure as hell aren't helping those Africans it's meant to inspire get an education and better their country. All it's doing is creating a false sense of hope by generating feelings of goodwill that will most likely never be acted upon by the majority of people.

And that's all I have to say about this matter.

Rant end/

[molotovwars]

No, I won't follow this game nor will I click on the link

So you went on that whole rant without even looking at what the game was about?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

No, I won't follow this game nor will I click on the link

So you went on that whole rant without even looking at what the game was about?

No, I read the CNN article, but did not click on the link to the game's website.

[Alpinex2]

She is not a sexy blonde

[J T]

Normally, I would agree with you Mod_Man_Extreme: Points don't matter. Collect all the "achievements" you want, it doesn't really matter to me. Why is playing a videogame through its entirety an achievement anyway, right? Points don't mean anything in the real world.

But see, in this game, the points WOULD mean something in the real world. This is a game where you get points by actually going out in the real world and doing something that matters. That's how you win. And if a person is more willing to do something with their life because a videogame made pro-social behavior fun for them and provided some structure to their goals, then right on. I'm not going to judge them for using a videogame to do what they supposedly should have been doing without the game, nor will I begrudge them accollades they get for their good work.

Getting the high score in this Evoke game would be a whole lot more meaningful than getting the high score in say Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr. (no offense Steve Wiebe, I still think you're an inspiration).

[J T]

She is not a sexy blonde

Intelligent and talented women that want to make a difference in the world and also happen to like videogames will always be sexy.