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One little game about peace

Sunday, 15 October 2006

With national attention on violent video games on the rise, "Peacemaker" demonstrates the medium's potential for good. The game’s synopsis is intriguing: Players take the role of the Palestinian Authority president or the Israeli prime minister. The actions players can take varies depending on their choices, but either way the goal is to coax the game towards peace and the two-nation solution. Eric Brown, CEO of ImpactGames and creator of "Peacemaker," presented the game Oct. 9 in the University of Idaho Law School Courtroom. The event was sponsored by the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences and is part of the "Power of Play" speaker series. Brown is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, and "Peacemaker" was part of his graduate work. The team that created "Peacemaker" explored many possible game synopses, but decided to challenge the medium and do something different. "We wanted to make something that was meaningful, non-violent, and innovative," Brown said. He explained that ImpactGames isn't a nonprofit company, and that ensuring they made a game that would sell was important. "There is certainly a place for one little game about peace," Brown said. The game is meant to make players feel like they are responsible for the choices they make, and stimulates interesting conversations. "The thing that kept coming out was [they'd say] 'When I was the Israeli prime minister I did this' or 'When I was the Palestinian president.' And that’s where the power of video games comes out," Brown said. It isn't just as easy as appeasing Israelis and Palestinians, though. Each side is broken up into sub-groups, each of which have different agendas. "It enables you to have a real conversation about the issues," Brown said. The game starts with what the game calls a black event. One example shown was a suicide bombing in Israel. These events and others like it are accompanied with real news footage that serve to educate the player. "Peacemaker" doesn't yet offer up much eye candy. The game is programmed in Java, with a front-end made using Flash. Brown explained that as the game moves into its last stages of development they have to work out the bugs of using those systems. "We made a game based on emotional impact, not visceral," Brown said. Regardless of its lack of eye-popping graphics, the game promises to deliver exciting and stimulating gameplay. “Peacemaker” should be available early next year and will be distributed online. Add as favorites (21) | Views: 425 Be first to comment this article Write Comment Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code. Name: Title: Comment: