Games for Change Announces the Finalists for the First Annual Knight News Game Awards
Annual festival to honor the most innovative games addressing critical social issues
[Source: Games for Change, posted by Mark Smith, May 22, 2009]
Games for Change today announced the finalists for the first annual Knight News Game Awards, which honors the best of this exciting new genre: games which are journalistic and enhance people’s ability to make decisions in a democracy. During the Games for Change Festival from May 27-29, the finalists will be honored at the Games for Change Expo on May 28 in New York City, where the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Each of the finalists from the Knight News Game Award submissions aimed to meet certain core journalistic criteria: in their role as investigative reporting tools, they needed to expose an unknown logic or new information, uncover a truth, or provide editorial or commentary on a current event or issue. These games, like others highlighted at the Games for Change Festival, address some of the most pressing issues of our day, from poverty to human rights, global conflict to climate change. Along with the four finalists, other games will also be featured at the Games for Change Expo event on May 28. The four finalists are:
The Budget Maze: Players in Gotham Gazette’s web-based “Budget Maze” navigate a dreary dungeon. At various rooms, the player must find the zombie who holds the answers to a question about the city or state budget process in order to move forward.
Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City: Global Kids Youth Leaders and game developers from Gamepill created a Web-based game, “Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City,” to recognize local heroes that emerged during the disaster. The game educated players on the essentials of disaster readiness and of reporting.
Play the News: “Play the News” is an engaging, community-driven experience that utilizes “interactive news” mini games to change news consumption from passive reading to active engagement. The platform is flexible enough to address a range of global and local content.
September 12th – A Toy World: Highly controversial at its launch in 2003, “September 12th” describes the post 9-11 world. Created by a team of Uruguayan game developers led by a former CNN journalist, this game critically examined the US-led War on Terror.
“It’s exciting to see these new games emerge in their own right as powerful platforms where traditional storytelling and interactivity collide,” said Jessica Goldfin, Knight Foundation’s Journalism Program Associate. “We know that games are good at communicating information, engaging with new ideas and issues, spurring meaningful action and teaching digital literacy. Knight Foundation wants to encourage games that teach the values of free expression and promote informed, engaged communities. We are thrilled to be part of this growing field.”
Called “an early Sundance of video games” for “socially-conscious game-designers,” the Games for Change Festival brings together leading nonprofit organizations, educators and game developers to explore the increasing real-world impact of digital games as an agent for positive social change. The Festival is a showcase for some of the most innovative new games in development and the international nexus of this new movement. The three-day event will offer panels, interactive sessions, keynotes, networking opportunities and special programming to key audiences.
The Sixth Annual Games for Change festival takes place from May 27-29 at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City. For more information about the festival, or for an opportunity to play all of the Knight News Game Award submissions, visit the festival's website.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation:
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of the U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change. For more, visit their website.
