Global Warming for Gamers: BP and EA Team Up to Bring Climate Education to SimCity
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.11.07
Hoping to reach that ever growing gamer segment of the population, Electronic Arts and BP Alternative Energy have combined forces to inject environmental issues - most notably global warming - into the next iteration of the video game company's popular SimCity franchise, SimCity Societies. Yes, the game - which will hit North American and European store shelves in mid-November - will "highlight the impact of electricity generation on carbon dioxide emissions and climate change by providing low-carbon electricity options and carbon emissions monitoring" within the interface.
Opting to adopt a more eco-friendly approach towards managing your cities will be up to you, however. The game's creators didn't want to shove sustainability or a "green" ethos down the players' throats; instead, they hope that allowing them to see the positives and negatives of their decisions for themselves will help shape their management style.
You'll be able to pick from various BP Alternative Energy options like wind and hydrogen to power your cities and will receive a steady stream of (ugh) "environmental pop-ups" during gameplay to provide helpful information on global climate issues. As long as it's fun...
Via ::Kotaku: EA & BP Add Global Warming Threat To SimCity (blog), ::Gamasutra: EA, BP Partner For Climate Education In SimCity Societies (blog)
See also: ::The Fueled and the Frivolous: Green Video Game Parodies, ::Nintendo: Greening the Game Industry, ::Farm with Alice Greenfingers
(Thanks to tipster Tasha McCauley)
I am suprised to see a game concerning about Global warming. That is just wonderful!!! I am somewhat of a gamer, although it's a little embarassing for me to admitt at my age of 47. But, then again, I see my mother constantly playing a handheld poker game every day. lol And my 26 and 19 yr old love the playstation games. I think there should be alot more Global warming games for every age so we can become more aware of how we treat the earth and what we should do. That way, we can enjoy playing a game and getting contructive info into our thoughts to help this world heal and get better.
Well, while it may be a good idea, it seems the overall eco friendly options are severely limited and do not encompass many of established OR emerging eco friendly methods which are becoming increasingly common knowledge.
Global warming in games is over a decade old, there have been several very popular and notable games with these factors, Alpha Centauri and the Civilization games have long had this as a feature as well as inefficiency, waste, corruption and pollution effects.
Speaking of eco oriented gamers, check out my link, it is an eco friendly educational entertainment concept designed by people who are gamers. The artist works full time for a major games company as well.
@moregreen: A game cannot truly encompass all green alternatives. Eco-friendly options involve individual creativity and are infinite in number. A game needs constraints on the amount of options it offers its players, especially when the category in mind is not the specific focus of the game. I think this game seems to do an excellent job of bringing some mainstream green options to the average gamer.
Coincidentally, I am involved in a University project for creating an Interactive Game which models the balance between a city-to-state-sized Economy, Environmental effects, and Citizen reactions.
The working title currently is;
Project G.R.E.N.E - Global Resource Emission Netting Experiment.
The projected release date for Project G.R.E.N.E. is end 2007 with high-school aged players as our main target market.