How Video Games Can Be A Force For Positive Change

There's no way around the fact that the most popular video games are all about combat and killing. Some politicians and many parents are appalled at the number of hours kids and teens spend playing violent video games. Yet there are those who say Dashti at different and powerful future for immersive and interactive games. PC games as a force for change. Game creator and tech executive Ozzie Burak is lecturing at the University of San Diego this evening on trends and opportunities for gaming for good. Welcome Ossie. Tells a little bit about the power of the gaming industry. A big is it? The gaming industry is becoming stronger every year. Now we are talking about in the $70 billion worldwide and in many countries including the US it's bigger than the movie industry and the music industry combined. Why do you think the emphasis on most popular video games is on combat and killing? If you look at the data in some very popular games are actually not about that like mine craft or very successful games from the past like SimCity games that are about building. I think we see many shooters are many violent games because it is a very basic mechanics four games. It's something that is very easy to do and it's very successful because it's immediate feedback for the player. Is a very natural [ Indiscernible ]. I think it's much harder to come with new mechanics, innovative ideas and it takes time for the industry to evolve to that. To do what you do. What I do and what many other game designers do especially independent game designers that are coming with less restrictions -- they are not being driven by big studios and they can explore and push the boundaries. Several years ago you let beat of element of a game called peacemaker about the conflict in the Middle East. Would kinds of challenges to players have to deal with in that game? One interesting thing we wanted to say is that making peace is not less challenging than starting a were -- war or fighting. Think about the story of Prime Minister Rabin or Egypt's president said that that were assassinated. They face a position, they face a threat to their lives, they face a very violent environment that is very easy to go back and stop the process rather than fighting on. What we wanted to show is how tough it is to balance all the different stakeholders and how [ Indiscernible ] is very limited sometimes and what he can do. If he wants to get the support of a wide audience. Because of a scenario and say in Peacemaker would be, if you move tanks somewhere are you responded a certain way to an aggressive act by the other side you have to weigh the consequences of what your actions are going to reap. Absolutely. We show those in that game -- we show the consequences very clearly. It's very hard for a leader to -- when you take this position to really predict the consequences and sometimes the events are happening and you don't even initiate them. Let city settlers: attack of village or let's say Hamas -- they made an attack in Jerusalem. You are not controlling it but the public is definitely responding and what are you going to do. Are you going to continue with the peace process as if nothing happened or you going to take some security actions. It's a tough situation and we wanted to show others different forces and how you could probably with a lot of persistence you could overcome them. Asi. as an Israeli how did you come to understand the motives and the goals of Palestinians in order to create this game ? I have a unique background because I served in the Israeli army for five years. I was a captain and in most of my service I was an intelligence officer. In an interesting way I knew more about the other side than I know about our side. I knew more about Palestinian forces and agendas than I know about anything else. Then I also discovered that there's so much depth and complexity goes beyond what you see in the newspapers, behind every news headline that we read there is so much going on in back rooms and he's conversations. Some of that I tried to put into the game from both sides. Because I am coming from this is really background we went to speak to many Palestinians and Arabs to get their perspective and make sure that it is embedded in the game. What other types of games fit into this games for change movement? I am so satisfied to see where it went since I started working on that's more than 10 years ago. People now make games about so many issues from human rights to the refugee crisis to what it means to come out as a gay person, as a gay teenager. There are games about other conflicts obviously. Just this week for example, there is a game called 1979 Black Friday that was made by a guy that came from the team of grand theft auto. He worked on this game for five years against all odds he made a game that is a very high-quality and it's all about his families experiencing I run. -- Iran in 1979. A wide variety and you know it becomes more similar to what you see in other media like books or movies. There is something for every case, every age and every issue. You no longer speak about this simplistic idea that attest to be only fun because it's all about engagement. Engagement doesn't mean that it is always fun and joyful it could be very meaningful and sometimes sad or tough or challenging. You reference books and movies and reminds me that several years ago the late movie critic Roger Ebert created a convert -- controversy when he said video games can never be arts. I'm wondering are you trying to create art? Absolutely. I think that by now it's a statement that they know very well and a lot of people on the Internet are upset.@Think that by now we already know that there's no way that games are not art. I see the opposite happening, I see some people say on the gaming industry -- O we are now in museums. We became too much mainstream. We just had a little music interlude there somewhere. Easy games in museums now, the modern Art Museum and Museum despite gains for its permanent collection. Games are part of our culture they are part of our society in many ways for the young generation they are probably more in arts and expression form than anything else. Asi Burak is lecturing at the Joan Kroc Center for peace and justice at the University of San Diego tonight at seven talking more about games for change. Asi thank you so much. Thank you. You are missing -- listening to KPBS midday edition.