Games for Change Festival Invades NYC

June 20, 2011

The 8th annual Games for Change Festival kicks off today in New York City. The event, which runs until June 22, is taking place at the NYU Skirball Center. The event is dedicated to using games to deal with the most pressing social and political issues that affect the world today by breaking down cultural barriers, shifting perspectives and driving actions in the real world.

This year's event features several sessions addressing games from an international perspective including one focusing on Games For Change in Europe.

In May 2011 the Chamber of Commerce in Valenciennes launched the first European Games for Change Festival. Highlights from the first event will be shared with the audience, including some of the new games and European award winners. The session will be presented by Jean-Michel Blottiere, Owner, NX Publishing; Sandra Faggioni, Digital Creation Project Manager, CCIV / POLE IMAGE NPDC and several European award-winners.

A session called "Games For Change Around the World: Global Inspirations and Interpretations" will showcase a number of recent games including "Green Grim," a game set in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea and inspired by the success of the game "PeaceMaker"; "Adventures in Law Land," a game launched by Korea's Ministry of Justice for the purpose of "instilling respect and understanding of the law system," inspired by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's successful project iCivics; and "Global Conflicts: Latin America", the second game in a series of documentary games adapted in Brazil. Panelists for the session include Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, CEO, Serious Games Interactive; Suzanna Samstag, Chapter Leader, Games for Change Korea; Gilson Schwartz, Director, Games for Change Latin America; Kim Hee Kwan, Deputy Minister of Planning & Coordination Bureau (Minister of Justice).

"International Aid Programs, Social Media, Gaming, and Mobile: The New Frontier" looks at the growing trend of international aid group embracing new media to get their messages out. Speakers include Dr. Erin Mote (moderator), Chief of Party at USAID GBI Alliance; Emer Beamer, Co-Founder & Research and Development Director, Butterfly Works; Colleen Macklin, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Design and Technology, Parsons the New School for Design; Subhi Quraishi, CEO of ZMQ Software Systems.

For more information on Games for Change and a complete list of programs and speakers, check out www.gamesforchange.org/festival2011.

 
Forgot your password?
Username :
Password :

Poll

Are you excited for the Xbox One?:

Shout box

You're not permitted to post shouts.
E. Zachary Knight: New Humble Bundle Weekly Sale. Alan Wake: https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly No Linux or Mac support. :(05/22/2013 - 1:46pm
E. Zachary Knight: Microsoft talks about the lack of backward compatability. You're backwards. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192801/If_youre_backwards_compatible_youre_really_backwards.php05/22/2013 - 1:39pm
E. Zachary Knight: That is absolutely nuts there. As bad an experience XBox Indie Games was, the problems weren't with the self published side of things. Forcing a publisher onto independent studios is not going to help.05/22/2013 - 10:43am
MaskedPixelante: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-22-microsoft-wont-let-indies-self-publish-on-xbox-one And the hits just keep on coming.05/22/2013 - 9:20am
E. Zachary Knight: AE: You beat me to it. That's what I get for taking the night off.05/22/2013 - 7:40am
E. Zachary Knight: To continue the confused and convoluted messaging system present in EA, They are making Wii U games: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192753/EA_is_working_on_Wii_U_games_after_all.php05/22/2013 - 7:33am
Imautobot: I gotta admit, I seriously believed Microsoft was going to "Bring It" with this new console. But they failed, and I think that failure might be Epic.05/22/2013 - 7:27am
Andrew Eisen: Well, the Xbox One reveal certainly had an interesting affect on the big 3's stock prices. https://twitter.com/AndrewEisen/status/33705126448977100805/21/2013 - 10:45pm
PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/so-the-xbox-one-reveal-screwed-up-a-lot-of-peoples-kin-509179256 So The Xbox One Reveal Screwed With Some People's Kinects05/21/2013 - 10:36pm
Zen: On a funny side note...both of my boys have already voted NOT to get the Xbox One as soon as they found out Minecraft won't transfer lol. Some people have priorities damnit! ;)05/21/2013 - 9:27pm
Andrew Eisen: Here's the full quote on EA making Wii U games according to Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56112105/21/2013 - 8:19pm
Andrew Eisen: Xbox One may not be always on but that doesn't mean you can use it without an internet connection. http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-50916410905/21/2013 - 7:39pm
Andrew Eisen: Polygon says EA's CFO says it is developing games for Wii U but doesn't provide that quote. http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4351844/ea-developing-wii-u-games05/21/2013 - 7:11pm
Andrew Eisen: Well, I was right. Both Sony and Microsoft's consoles will be out by the year's end and both will be significantly more powerful than the current gen.05/21/2013 - 5:06pm
james_fudge: thnx05/21/2013 - 4:47pm
Zen: Just to let ya know...you called it the "Xbox 260" in the backwards compatibility article lol.05/21/2013 - 4:26pm
Zen: @PHX Awesome, I will hit those up after class tonight. Going back to college finally! :) My kids have had a blast telling ME to do my homework now lol.05/21/2013 - 4:19pm
PHX Corp: @Zen I sent you a friend request on both PSN and XBL, just a heads up05/21/2013 - 4:16pm
Zen: I noticed it with the football players when EA showed off Madden as well.05/21/2013 - 4:11pm
Zen: Is it just me or is call of duty hitting the "uncanny valley" with their nicely modeled faces and dead looking eyes? I found it distracting and seemed actually "less" real to me lol.05/21/2013 - 4:10pm
All shouts
 

Be Heard - Contact Your Politician