- Wired, Tuesday, September 19, 2006 11:45 AM
Video games are the latest medium for advocating social change.
Wired previews two new online games dealing with the situation in Israel and Palestine, "Global Conflicts: Palestine" and
"Peacemaker." In "Palestine," you play a
New York Times Middle East correspondent, who starts out somewhere in Israel speaking with people on the streets. It's a choose-your-own-adventure-style
game, in which you have the ability to talk to all sides--terrorists, soldiers, and people caught in the middle. The violence, poverty and death are all rendered in real-time 3-D. Advancement makes
you a more respected journalist, and it also gains you the trust of people on both sides. Like real life, you could become pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, or stay neutral--depending on your decisions.
"It's a conflict that fits well with the game context," says Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, of Serious Games Interactive, the game's Danish publisher. "To succeed, you have to be knowledgeable and
understanding." He said they chose a journalist as a main character to give the game flexibility. ImpactGames' "Peacemaker" is the second Israeli-Palestine game. It takes a role-playing/strategy
approach in which you choose to be the Palestinian president or the Israeli Prime Minister. "Here we show it as something you chose to do," game creator Asi Burak says. Burak is an Israeli who founded
the company, along with an American. The pair wanted to create something about a conflict they found relevant to people all over the world. "We reached out to Palestinians (for the team) as well,"
says Burak. Since then, two Palestinians have joined the company. "Peacemaker" uses old news clips to piece together realistic stories about the Middle East, showing you the consequences of your
actions, as being either positive or negative. The company plans to patch the game as news of the conflict unfolds. Both sets of creators share the same vision for their games: to show players how
complex the often over-simplified conflict is.
Read the whole story at Wired »
