Power play : how video games can save the world

Power play How video games can save the world

Asi Burak

Book - 2017

The phenomenal growth of gaming has inspired plenty of hand-wringing since its inception--from the press, politicians, parents, and everyone else concerned with its effect on our brains, bodies, and hearts. But what if games could be good, not only for individuals but for the world? In Power Play, Asi Burak and Laura Parker explore how video games are now pioneering innovative social change around the world. As the former executive director and now chairman of Games for Change, Asi Burak has spent the last ten years supporting and promoting the use of video games for social good, in collaboration with leading organizations like the White House, NASA, World Bank, and The United Nations. The games for change movement has introduced millions o...f players to meaningful experiences around everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the US Constitution. Power Play looks to the future of games as a global movement. Asi Burak and Laura Parker profile the luminaries behind some of the movement's most iconic games, including former Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O'Connor and Pulitzer-Prize winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. They also explore the promise of virtual reality to address social and political issues with unprecedented immersion, and see what the next generation of game makers have in store for the future.

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Subjects
Video games > Social aspects.
Video games > Design > History.
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press [2017]
Language
English
Main Author
Asi Burak (author)
Other Authors
Laura Parker (-)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xiv, 258 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781250089335
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Review by Booklist Review

This book is a survey of the movement to use video games as tools to educate and empower positive social change. Each chapter dives into a specific game or media company to present the history of this movement through real-world examples. Games can be forces for good these games have been used to foster empathy and compassion, to illuminate mutual understanding, to promote involvement in civics and science, and even to help the sick deal with illness. Lead author Burak has been a pivotal figure in the Games for Change movement. Just about all of the games profiled in this book were projects that his organization, Games for Change, was involved with in some way. This makes him biased on the subject, certainly, but it also makes him better informed about the state of social-impact games than just about anyone else. This is an insider's perspective, and the authors make a compelling argument. Games for Change might just change the world someday. It will be exciting to see what comes next.--Keogh, John Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Burak (chairman, nonprofit Games for Change) and Parker (writer, New York Times) tell the tales from inception to realization of serious video games meant to improve lives. Beginning with games created to enhance our understanding of the world and one another, the narrative goes on to highlight games that explore current social issues internationally, target scientific and medical problems, as well as discuss the future of serious game projects and the luminaries working on them. Each chapter describes a single project in detail, from Sandra Day O'Connor's iCivics game for educating school children about the U.S. government to Prince Fahad bin Faisal Al Saud's designs that inspire a new global perception of Saudi women. Each story is less concerned with game mechanics and programming, focusing instead on the challenges of funding, marketing, and building momentum. Because of that focus, this book is practical and inspiring, providing blueprints for success and stories that excite the imagination. -VERDICT These compelling examples of games for change are sure to engage gaming enthusiasts, activists, and game studies scholars.-Paul Stenis, Pepperdine Univ. Lib., Malibu, CA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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