Power Play: How Video Games Can Save the World

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Macmillan, Jan 31, 2017 - Computers - 258 pages
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The phenomenal growth of gaming has inspired plenty of hand-wringing since its inception--from the press, politicians, parents, and everyone else concerned with its effect on our brains, bodies, and hearts. But what if games could be good, not only for individuals but for the world? In Power Play, Asi Burak and Laura Parker explore how video games are now pioneering innovative social change around the world.

As the former executive director and now chairman of Games for Change, Asi Burak has spent the last ten years supporting and promoting the use of video games for social good, in collaboration with leading organizations like the White House, NASA, World Bank, and The United Nations. The games for change movement has introduced millions of players to meaningful experiences around everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the US Constitution.

Power Play looks to the future of games as a global movement. Asi Burak and Laura Parker profile the luminaries behind some of the movement's most iconic games, including former Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O’Connor and Pulitzer-Prize winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. They also explore the promise of virtual reality to address social and political issues with unprecedented immersion, and see what the next generation of game makers have in store for the future.

 

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It was boring to me. It wasn't one of my favorite nonfiction books. It wasn't what I expected either. It said how videogames save the world the videogames isn't saving anything.

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Power Play: How Video Games Can Save the World
Asi Burak,Laura Parker
Limited preview - 2017

Common terms and phrases

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About the author (2017)

ASI BURAK was named one of the "Digital 25: Leaders in Emerging Entertainment" by the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and Variety Magazine for his work with Games for Change. He co-founded and led Impact Games, the creators of the acclaimed PeaceMaker and Play the News.

LAURA PARKER is a journalist who writes about video games and technology for publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Power Play
TitlePower Play: How Video Games Can Save the World
AuthorsAsi Burak, Laura Parker
PublisherMacmillan, 2017
ISBN1250089336, 9781250089335
Length258 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Computers / Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Computers / Social Aspects
Education / Computers & Technology
Games & Activities / Video & Electronic
Social Science / Sociology / General
Technology & Engineering / Social Aspects
  
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