Making the World A Better Place..Through Video Games??

When I think of video games, I think of Super Mario Bros, Call of Duty, Madden, etc. But game designer, Jane McGonigal, visualizes video games in a whole different light. Instead of violence, sports, and other common characteristics of video games these days, she focuses on improving the world, specifically Africa.

McGonigal's game is called, "Urgent Evoke," which focuses on solving problems plaguing Africa such as poverty, starvation, violence, etc. According to the article, "Online game seeks to empower Africa," players earn points by solving tasks such as "volunteering, making business contacts or researching an issue, then submitting evidence of their work online." A challenge is presented and for 10 weeks the player must think of several ways to solve the issue and present it. Other players will review their work and provide points and power ups, and whoever has the most points wins.

Ok, so what's great about this game and what's not-so-great?

Let's start with the positive and the most obvious reason why this game may be potentially successful. It focuses on helping Africa! Any game that is geared towards making the world a better place gets a A+ in my book. Not to mention, this game can be useful for entrepreneurs and those interested in improving world problems to creatively think of ways to solve them. This game is supposed to help players think of new, realistic ways to improve issues such as famine, in Africa.

Now for the negative sides to this game. Again, let's start with the obvious. This game is geared towards helping Africa, therefore, it would be helpful to have residents in Africa to participate in this game. But there's one problem: the majority of people in Africa don't even have internet access! According to the article, "400 of the 3,500 people who have signed up for the game so far come from Africa." In addition, many people believe that video games can be addicting. Psychologist Dr. Kimberly Young believes that while people can develop skills while playing video games, it does not mean they can develop the same skills in the real world. Instead of playing video games, people should be actually solving problems in reality.

So what do you think? Is this a game that you think you would be interested in?