Kugyince
03-19-2010, 05:07 PM
With the White House making an appearance at the 2010 Game Developers Conference and First Lady Michelle Obama unveiling a health-oriented game design challenge, we're starting to see the rise of the public interest game developer. Who are these people, and how do they feel about government involvement in game development?
Let's take public interest game development to mean any game that is created with the goal of benefiting the public. With that definition, we already know what a public interest game developer is because we've seen games developed with this purpose in mind – stuff like Bumrise, which makes players aware of the issue of homelessness, or the classic arcade game Missile Command, which drives home the meaning of "mutually assured destruction."
Take the definition of "public interest" one step farther by adding government funding, though, and the line becomes less clear. If the government commissions or otherwise encourages developers to make a certain kind of game through financial incentive, would the game that gets made still be a "game" – or just interactive propaganda?
Analysis: Public interest vs. propaganda game development, News from GamePro (http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/214451/analysis-public-interest-vs-propaganda-game-development/)
Let's take public interest game development to mean any game that is created with the goal of benefiting the public. With that definition, we already know what a public interest game developer is because we've seen games developed with this purpose in mind – stuff like Bumrise, which makes players aware of the issue of homelessness, or the classic arcade game Missile Command, which drives home the meaning of "mutually assured destruction."
Take the definition of "public interest" one step farther by adding government funding, though, and the line becomes less clear. If the government commissions or otherwise encourages developers to make a certain kind of game through financial incentive, would the game that gets made still be a "game" – or just interactive propaganda?
Analysis: Public interest vs. propaganda game development, News from GamePro (http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/214451/analysis-public-interest-vs-propaganda-game-development/)