Game Designers Aim for Nobel Peace Prize – Sort Of

Could a game concept truly win the coveted Nobel Peace Prize, something generally awarded to Human Rights Campaigners, World Leaders and Civil Rights Leaders. It may seem a rather large stretch of the imagination, but that’s just what the Annual Game Design Challenge at the GDC (Game Developers Conference) has used as the topic at this years challenge.

Creator of the quirky Katamari Damacy Keita Takahashi, Epic Games lead designer Cliff Bleszinski and Lead designer of Deus Ex Harvey Smith all presented game concepts that they all believed could win it.  The Annual Game Design Challenge has previously been won by Will Wright (Creator of The Sims). Last years challenge was to base a game design concept on ‘love’, based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Well this certainly makes a nice change to all the FPS (First Person Shooter) titles and War titles presently flooding the marketplace, but is something like this actually able to take on the might of a peace reformer or world reknowned activist.

It seems it may be more down to making developers and designers think outside of the box, than an actual statement of fact. It also goes some way to highlighting those games that are of the more serious kind, as opposed to mindless entertainment value. One of the concepts discussed included ‘Peace Bomb’, in which players form social networks and need to work together and exchange resources virtually to make it to their goals.

Sounds good in theory, but is the teenage demographic of gaming truly going to want some peace with their ‘hot coffee’, probably not. Though titles such as Katamari Damacy feature fairly peaceful gameplay (ok if rolling up people and everything in sight can be deemed peaceful), they, sadly, tend to sell in lesser quantities than the big guns. Gaming is certainly maturing, in many ways along the same lines as Hollywood evolved. As with that medium, we are bound to get our deep feel good titles that emotionally involve us and make us think, but it’s doubtful it will ever be enough to truly glean a Peace Prize.
Could a game concept truly win the coveted Nobel Peace Prize, something generally awarded to Human Rights Campaigners, World Leaders and Civil Rights Leaders. It may seem a rather large stretch of the imagination, but that’s just what the Annual Game Design Challenge at the GDC (Game Developers Conference) has used as the topic at this years challenge.

Creator of the quirky Katamari Damacy Keita Takahashi, Epic Games lead designer Cliff Bleszinski and Lead designer of Deus Ex Harvey Smith all presented game concepts that they all believed could win it.  The Annual Game Design Challenge has previously been won by Will Wright (Creator of The Sims). Last years challenge was to base a game design concept on ‘love’, based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Well this certainly makes a nice change to all the FPS (First Person Shooter) titles and War titles presently flooding the marketplace, but is something like this actually able to take on the might of a peace reformer or world reknowned activist.

It seems it may be more down to making developers and designers think outside of the box, than an actual statement of fact. It also goes some way to highlighting those games that are of the more serious kind, as opposed to mindless entertainment value. One of the concepts discussed included ‘Peace Bomb’, in which players form social networks and need to work together and exchange resources virtually to make it to their goals.

Sounds good in theory, but is the teenage demographic of gaming truly going to want some peace with their ‘hot coffee’, probably not. Though titles such as Katamari Damacy feature fairly peaceful gameplay (ok if rolling up people and everything in sight can be deemed peaceful), they, sadly, tend to sell in lesser quantities than the big guns. Gaming is certainly maturing, in many ways along the same lines as Hollywood evolved. As with that medium, we are bound to get our deep feel good titles that emotionally involve us and make us think, but it’s doubtful it will ever be enough to truly glean a Peace Prize.