Games for Change (G4C) -- home

FESTIVAL PRESS

1.19.10
How computer games discovered virtuous reality

"More and more we are recognizing in the 21st century that the kind of problems we face globally are genuinely complex. They involve many interrelated variables: things relating to climate change or international trade, for example. Games are systems, and they offer a good way to explore complex systems, a way that we simply didn't have before."

1.18.10
Can Video Games Save the World?
by Stephan Faris
We've long known that video games have a unique ability to promote a message; now designers are creating games built not around destroying worlds but saving our own. "Games are growing up," says Suzanne Seggerman, president of Games for Change, a group promoting games with a positive impact. "People are realizing that they can do a lot more than entertain."

6.25.09
Video games that let you play with your news
by Amy Farnsworth
"News games support the democratic process by revealing truths … or allowing us to understand a current event better.” - Suzanne Seggerman

6.2.09
Can Games Save the News?
by Gillian Reagan
Last week, at the Games for Change festival, “Play the News,” an online portal of interactive, casual games created by a Pennsylvania studio, won a kind of Pulitzer of news games—the first Knight News Game Award, at an awards ceremony sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation on May 28.

5.29.09
G4C: Games Should Make Players Uncomfortable
by Leigh Alexander
When a game forces players to take actions or confront issues with which they're uncomfortable, said Gilbert, it makes them "most reflective on what it is that you're doing, why you're doing it -- and often that can lead to very positive things.

12.6.08
Games for Change
by Julia Moulden
"All of a sudden, I saw that games were able to educate people even as they were being entertained." - Suzanne Seggerman

7.13.08
Games for Good
by Andrea Cannon
Suzanne Seggerman, President and Co-founder of Games for Change says, "We think games have the potential to have a powerful and positive impact on society... and games are really good for exploring complex social issues."

6.22.08
Not the Usual Game Application
by Mike Musgrove
Sure, people tend to think of video games as a way to relax. But maybe the format has more to offer, argues Suzanne Seggerman, co-founder and president of a New York organization called Games for Change, which has established itself as a uniting force in a small movement...

6.12.08
Can video games be a force for change?: Games are a potent way to spread the word about important topics
by Winda Benedetti, Citizen Gamer
“We believe that games can and should have a powerful and positive impact on society,” she says. Seggerman is the president and co-founder of Games for Change, an organization that supports and promotes the development of socially-responsible games...

6.9.08
Former Justice Promotes Web-Based Civics Lessons
by Seth Schiesel
Since retiring from the bench in 2006, Justice O’Connor, 78, has spoken forcefully and often about the dangers posed by efforts to politicize the judiciary. Her thoughts are well known to legal scholars. With Our Courts she hopes to foster a deeper understanding of American government among schoolchildren...

6.6.08
Computer games as liberal arts?
by David Kirkpatrick
Though many adults imagine the frightening Grand Theft Auto when they think of video games, kids appear to be subtler thinkers on the subject. Not only do many of them intuitively realize that games can embody any values and be on any subject, many want to make games themselves. That was my big takeaway from the fifth annual Games For Change conference held in New York.

6.6.08
In Surprise to Herself, Justice O’Connor Makes Foray Into Digital Gaming
by Dan Slater
Loyal LB’er alerted us to a report on Wired magazine’s Game Life blog. On Wednesday, according to the blog, SDO delivered the keynote address at the the annual Games For Change conference, which was held at Parsons New School For Design...

6.5.08
Sandra Day O'Connor Rules Video Games
by Allison Stein Wellner
I've just come from Sandra Day O'Connor's keynote address at the Games for Change conference at the New School, an event which aims to help nonprofits and others to harness the power of digital games for social good.

6.4.08
Sandra Day O'Connor: Game Designer
by Chris Baker
Delivering the keynote address Wednesday at the annual Games For Change conference ... O'Connor believes that America's youth aren't learning enough about civics, and thinks that the educational power of videogames is just the thing to change that.

5.30.08
Promoting peace, not violence, in video games
by Stefanie Olson
Next week, Advanced Micro Devices plans to announce a project designed to teach kids how to build video games that promote social causes such as fighting poverty or protecting the environment… At the same time next week, Microsoft will show off the first of the environmental education games developed by high school and college kids … The two companies are participating in the fifth annual Games for Change Festival …

10.11.07
Making A Better World With Video Games
by Cho Jin-seo
Seggerman is the president and co-founder of a non-governmental organization called Game for Change, and is now in Seoul participating in the Daesung Global Contents Forum. She and her colleagues in New York are trying to persuade firms to make games that can positively change the world. …” We might plant a hundred seeds around the world to inspire a new phase of game making,'' she said.

6.29.07
Who Says Games Have to Be Fun: the Rise of Serious Games
Brian Ochalla
Think back to when you first contemplated getting into the video games industry. The 'aha' moment probably occurred while playing a particular game. That certainly was the case for Suzanne Seggerman, co-founder and president of Games for Change, the social change/social issues branch of the Washington, D.C.-based Serious Games Initiative

7.15.06
Activism Has Evolved Beyond Sit-ins
Tim McKeough
…The game is part of a growing breed of digital play that aims to educate users about pressing global issues even as they entertain them. In fact, at a recent conference in New York hosted by the organization Games for Change… representatives from MTV mingled with those from the World Bank, the International Center on Non-Violent Conflict and UNICEF. Their shared vision: video games as tools for positive social change,

7.05.06
Video Game Designers Tackle Real World Problems
by Adam Phillips
Soon, there may be less to complain about, as game developers and social activists collaborate on a new generation of games that are as compelling as virtual worlds, but which also encourage players to learn about, and solve, real world problems…

6.29.06
Can Social-Change Video Games Tackle Divorce, Poverty, Genocide?
by Stephen Totilo
…game developers, social activists and representatives for international groups from charities to the United Nations discussed, debated and demonstrated games designed to do good: fighting homelessness, promoting world peace and helping children deal with their parents' divorce... Games that encourage us to virtually tackle the world's worst problems might just give people the urge to tackle them in real life as well

6.29.06
Games Get Serious
by Gary Shapiro
Video games - generally thought by many to be only about fun - have grown up … that was the message at the Games for Change conference… These games have "real-world content," the conference co-director Suzanne Seggerman said in describing the games displayed and discussed over the two-day parley.... "We have a great opportunity to harness this new medium to address the most pressing issues of our day," she noted.

6.28.06
Video-Game Designers Target World Peace
by Robert Smith
A group of game designers says that video-game technology can help save the world by raising humanitarian awareness. The creators of free educational games such as Darfur is Dying and PeaceMaker met with humanitarian activists during the third-annual Games for Change conference in New York… .

6.9.06
Saving the World, One Video Game at a Time
by Clive Thompson
"What everyone's realizing is that games are really good at illustrating complex situations," said Suzanne Seggerman, one of the organizers of the [Games for Change] conference. "And we have so many world conflicts that are at a standstill. Why not try something new? Especially where it concerns young people, you have to reach them on their own turf. You think you'll get their attention reading a newspaper or watching a newscast? No way."