How Video Games Can Save The World
The new book, Power Play: How Video Games Can Save The World, by Asi Burak and Laura Parker, was just released. Asi is well known in the game world as the creator of PeaceMakerand the former executive director of Games For Change. For quite a while now, he has been the go-to source for understanding the social impact gaming movement.
In this important book, along with coauthor Laura Parker, Asi maps out the landscape of games with a purpose. But what really struck me is how clearly the book expresses the possibilities that still lie ahead for digital play. When I finished reading it, I was clearly reminded that the video game industry is still in it’s infancy. And I felt a kind of enthusiastic anticipation to see what direction it will go.
I also wanted to talk to Asi about it. So I reached out to him to ask about PeaceMaker, Games For Change, the future of the industry, and how games can make a difference in politically tumultuous times.
Here’s what he had to say:
Jordan: I really enjoyed reading Power Play. Of course, I’ve been reading and writing about social impact games for years. I’ve also been playing them. And one of the things Power Play does so well is that it lays out an almost definitive narrative of the social impact gaming movement which you’ve been at the center of for such a long time. In fact, you really launched the movement—or at least brought it into the mainstream consciousness—with your game PeaceMaker. That game, which is about building peace in the Middle East, is legendary. Can you tell us a bit about that game? Explain what it was for readers who may not have heard about it before. When you were developing it, did you imagine then that you would become a part of something so much broader?
Asi: Let me start by saying that it is a pleasure doing this interview with you, Jordan, especially because you know the movement first hand and realize why it matters. PeaceMakerwas perhaps the most important digital project I’ve ever been involved with, as it was released at a unique point in time (2007) in which video games were perceived broadly as violent and shallow. PeaceMaker, first developed by a group of students in Carnegie Mellon University and then launched as a commercial product, is a direct challenge to all of the assumptions and perceptions we have about video games. It is a realistic game, nuanced and sophisticated. Back then, it was almost the opposite of everything we used to think about games. Instead of escapism, it brings the intense reality of the Middle East onto players’ screen. And, instead of mindless clicking, every action you take matters, and has ethical and grave consequences. Some of our decisions as designers—releasing the game in Arabic, Hebrew and English, the idea you could play both leaders and perspectives (Israeli PM and Palestinian President), and the usage of real news footage and imagery which we licensed from Reuters—were all unprecedented in games. In a world filled with war games, fighting games, and power fantasies, we presented a serious work that gave players the power to solve perhaps the most complex conflict of our time.
As a result, it garnered tons of attention in the press and similar support and interest in communities across the world. On one hand, yes–we knew that it’s part of something broader in that it directly challenged the status quo. On the other hand, we were young and clueless students and never imagined that PeaceMaker would turn into this poster child of a movement. At that time, when the rollercoaster started, we weren’t sure we could even complete the project and create something meaningful.
