Doing Good Things For Kids
Despite all the never ending negative attention given to games, there is so much potential for good (and I mean good good, not just good fun)... Two recent stories caught my attention.
First, the news that a specially designed video game can benefit kids with cancer. We already knew that games were being used to distract patients from pain in general, but now HopeLab's Re-Mission is a game specifically created to help cancer patients. The results are quite promising.
As an aside, I remember meeting one of HopeLab's execs, Pamela Kato, at GDC about 5 years ago (and pretty much at every one since). It was refreshing to see a bunch of non-game folks really want to take the game side seriously (ie, get the game-ness of the game right). They knew how to do the science, but not the art of game design. Kudos to them for creating something with such a positive impact. (Sadly, other than a few reports, I've not seen much in the way of widespread media coverage :(
The second story is Microsoft's partnership with Best Buy to sell rubber "cause" bracelets. Sure, they promote Xbox 360, but the money is being donated to the Boys & Girls Club of America's "Club Tech", which helps to educate children about using technology safely. Additionally, each bracelet is packaged with a pamphlet on the ESRB (and how to use the "v-chip" style feature on consoles). Nice move, MS. This will likely do more to help (build awareness with) parents than all of the anti-game legislation combined!
Posted on April 9, 2006 10:53 AM