(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[video game] In the game Village the Game you can play local entrepreneur in a developing country. Daniel Hickman, creator of the game, will show how it is possible to develop profitable business in the third world.
- Computer games that increase awareness of the problems in the third world pave the way for games that increase awareness of solutions to the problems. This is exactly what we do with Village, Hickman believes.
Hickman refers to Darfur is Dying and Third World Farmer as examples of games that have helped raise awareness of the problems of the Third World.
- It has been incredibly cool to follow this trend, he says.
This summer, Ny Tid wrote about news games, or «newsgaming», ie games used for political influence, where we mentioned Darfur is Dying, among other things. Hickman believes the games have an important function, but wants to go a step further with Village.
All the organizations you partner with in the game are in reality, and you can buy water pumps and solar cells, and record
micro-loans from companies that specialize in tools for just-contractors in developing countries. Hickman's idea was originally to create a website that gives users the opportunity to be entrepreneurs in developing countries properly, while at the same time sitting at home in their own living room.
- Imagine using Google Earth to zoom in on a remote village in Peru, and see which plots are for sale. Select a plot and buy it with a mouse click. In the "Star business" menu, you can select biodiesel
refinery and follow on webcam and video blog that employees make your dream come true, he says.
The program will automatically handle paperwork and offer eBay-like reviews of subcontractors and workers. He has called the idea "SimVillage, but not Sim", to emphasize that this is about reality.
- There is a long way to go before the idea can be realized. It will require a lot of infrastructure and political wrestling to be realized. So while the world is waiting for this telecom entrepreneurship program to become a reality, we are creating a game where entrepreneurs can experiment with companies they want to start, says Hickman.
Village the Game will be publicly available in April. Hickman is now working on a demo where users can send feedback on what they think should change.
