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collide · 10-10-2003, 04:09 PM

The project and paper is on an environmental media campaign (in which I am to produce conceptually), and I'm thinking about choosing video games as my media channel to reach people on environmental issues. The kinds of games I'm looking for should ideally include information about environmental situations and be able communicate this to a target audience (i.e. gamers, kids, college students, etc). The RTS and SIM games sort of touch on my goal here, but isn't quite focused enough for the purpose of my project. Games like Carmen Sandiego are definitely educational, but doesn't focus enough on environmental issues (but you do learn a lot about geography, even though that's still stretching it). Things in Sim City such as water and air pollution are more on target. If you know of any games are more specifically focused on that kind of thing, it would help immensely. Managing resources also plays a part in maybe applying realistic strategies from the game to real life, so that sort of helps. I haven't heard of Harvest Moon, but I'll be sure to check it out. I remember Oregon Trail, but that's a bit off from what I'm looking for.

Here's an excellent example from a game I mentioned above:
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=356

Excerpt:

"Jane Jansen's (of Gabriel Knight fame) first game for Sierra is an excellent adventure game for any kid who's old enough to type. As son of an ecologist Adam, you must help the dolphin Cetus save the sea from pollution and waste. Educational elements are ingeniously blended into gameplay, from the new "recycle" icon that gives points when the player uses it on recylable objects, to lots of environmental facts throughout the narrative that are interwoven with traditional inventory-based puzzles. Highly recommended."

So far it seems that Adventure games seem to be the best genre for this campaign. On a side note: Sierra used to make such great adventure games, but they seem to be more into FPS games nowadays. Not that I'm complaining; they still put out some great games.

Thanks for all your input!

10-10-2003, 04:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
collide Turn off your TV. Location: ... .- -. ..-. .-. .- -. -.-. .. ... -.-. --- --..-- -.-. .-	The project and paper is on an environmental media campaign (in which I am to produce conceptually), and I'm thinking about choosing video games as my media channel to reach people on environmental issues. The kinds of games I'm looking for should ideally include information about environmental situations and be able communicate this to a target audience (i.e. gamers, kids, college students, etc). The RTS and SIM games sort of touch on my goal here, but isn't quite focused enough for the purpose of my project. Games like Carmen Sandiego are definitely educational, but doesn't focus enough on environmental issues (but you do learn a lot about geography, even though that's still stretching it). Things in Sim City such as water and air pollution are more on target. If you know of any games are more specifically focused on that kind of thing, it would help immensely. Managing resources also plays a part in maybe applying realistic strategies from the game to real life, so that sort of helps. I haven't heard of Harvest Moon, but I'll be sure to check it out. I remember Oregon Trail, but that's a bit off from what I'm looking for. Here's an excellent example from a game I mentioned above: http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=356 Excerpt: "Jane Jansen's (of Gabriel Knight fame) first game for Sierra is an excellent adventure game for any kid who's old enough to type. As son of an ecologist Adam, you must help the dolphin Cetus save the sea from pollution and waste. Educational elements are ingeniously blended into gameplay, from the new "recycle" icon that gives points when the player uses it on recylable objects, to lots of environmental facts throughout the narrative that are interwoven with traditional inventory-based puzzles. Highly recommended." So far it seems that Adventure games seem to be the best genre for this campaign. On a side note: Sierra used to make such great adventure games, but they seem to be more into FPS games nowadays. Not that I'm complaining; they still put out some great games. Thanks for all your input! __________________ "inhuman fiery goat worship" is an anagram for "information superhighway" -kingvolc