the play girlz gaming blog

Virtual Diplomacy: Make Peace not War

by Ingrid on May 3rd, 2006

Now here’s a game that really interests me: Peacemaker. Peacemaker is one of four finalists in the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy’s Public Diplomacy and Virtual Worlds Competition. The game’s purpose is to strategize for peace rather than war. Players assume both sides of the coin and deal with the responsibilities of leadership, with the ultimate goal of finding commmon ground between two groups of people who harbor hatred and mistrust for each other.

“I think the contest demonstrates that games can not only be entertaining, but beneficial to society on a grander scale,” said Jean Miller, the contest’s project manager at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. “The public often sees press on all the negative aspects of games. This is a fight, in a way, for better games.”

Amen to that.

(Thanks to Matt for the link)

Share This

Related Stories

• Microsoft Inches Toward Virtual Worlds
• Sparter: Peer-to-Peer Virtual Goods Trading
• Do You Buy or Sell Virtual Goods?

POSTED IN: News