Social Impact Games

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Posted by Zonk on Monday September 20, 2004 @02:00AM from the game-your-homework dept.

TeachingMachines writes "If you are interested in the cultural potential of gaming you might want to check out Social Impact Games. It's a site that catalogs links to over 200 games that are entertaining but not necessarily designed for the purpose of entertainment. For example, the Monkey Wrench Conspiracy is a first-person shooter game designed to teach mechanical design engineers to use 3-D CAD software. A game titled Incident Commander will model situations that include acts of terrorism, school hostage crises, and natural disasters."

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Re:i didn't check but.. by CodeMonkey4Hire · 2004-09-20 04:57 · Score: 5, Funny

It's called dating. You log on to this MMORPG called life and do things like chatting while competing with/against each other through myriads of mini-games. It even includes in-game cut-scenes that advance the plot.

Eventually, if your team works really well together, you might be able to expand your team by recruiting some newbies. Oh, but don't let your boss catch you playing at work. And make sure that you share your power-ups with your teammates or they might look for another team.

--

Let's go Hurricanes!!! 2006 Stanley Cup Champions!!!
Sounds Familiar by NashCarey · 2004-09-20 05:09 · Score: 5, Informative

This reminds me alot of http://www.persuasivegames.com/Persuasive Games. They are working towards the same idea of changing the minds of people playing the games. Video Games are the most immersive Form of Media out there so It is just a matter of time before people started this slant.

I created an Alternate Reality Game called http://www.ruaware.org/AWARE which dealt with the issues of privacy and terrorism. Many people before playing the games had different views than the ideals they ended with. ARG's probably have a REALLY big effect since the game really puts YOU in the action. The stange thing is I saw no mention of ARG's on their site.
Ultima IV was disqualified, I guess by YetAnotherName · 2004-09-20 05:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

There's a surprising number of games listed on that site, but no Ultima IV, apparently because its first goal was to entertain and not enlighten/educate/etc.. However, a large number of players took to heart the system of virtues expounded in the game; even to this day I evaluate myself as "high in compassion" but "lacking in spirituality." Social impact? A lot of pimply-faced youths were at least exposed to the concept of virtue and its value to civilization.

(Incidentally, Ultima IV fans may wish to check out the remake projecet.)