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Anti-whaling game
last update: Sep 02, 2010 03:36 PM
From an "ABC News" article: Video games; the international debate over whaling in the Southern Ocean has entered a new frontier.
Ship Simulator Extremes is the name of a new PC game, created by Greenpeace and a Netherlands-based video game developer, allows players to take control of famous Greenpeace ships and re-enact real-life campaigns on the high seas.
Confrontations, which took place in real life Greenpeace campaigns off the southern coast of Australia require players to save whales from Japanese whaling vessels.
Greenpeace International spokesman Daniel Kessler says players are required to hassle the Japanese whaling fleet using "non-violent" actions. "The simulator... reinforces our commitment to peaceful direct action," he said. "If you ram a whaler, for instance, your game is over."
Mr Kessler says Greenpeace became involved in the project so it could promote its environmental message to a new audience.
Jeffrey Brand, the head of Bond University's school of communication and media studies, says the game may be one of the first to feature a political message from a non-government organisation. He said "Many games are now being used for advertising and commercial messages... but you don't see very many blatantly political or cause-related games." he said. "The medium is increasingly a viable channel through which to carry different kinds of messages, whether they be political, commercial or indeed simple entertainment messages," he aded.
Read more:
ABC News, 1st September 2010
