Games for Change 2014 Grows In Popularity

It all started in June 2004. This was the very first Games for Change Festival ever, it was held at New York Academy of Sciences in New York City. The goal? To investigate whether or not games could become serious games, ones that could be used for educational purposes and to inspire social change. Unfortunately only forty-two people attended…

However, this year’s Games for Change Festival will prove just how strong this movement has become. It has been projected that more than 800 people have attended in-person and an additional 10,000 people will have attended the event through streaming this past week. The festival also nabbed a great ally in their quest for social good by partnering with the Tribeca Film Festival for this year’s event.

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half the sky

Half the Sky: Lessons from Games for Change on Social Good Games

How much impact can a social good game possibly have? According to Games for Change president, Asi Burak, the results may surprise you.

Half the Sky is a movement based on the award winning and bestselling book that is poised to take the world of social movements by storm. Working with the authors and international celebrities, the Games for Change organization, led by Asi Burak and Michelle Byrd, has built a coalition aimed at using gamification to empower women and girls. From his years of experience in the field, Asi will share how to build broad support for large-scale gamified projects, and what every organization needs to know as it embarks on this transformative path.

Watch Asi’s full GSummit SF 2013 talk below and learn what it takes to make a game with social impact.

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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Top 10 Gamification Presentations at GSummit 2013

GSummit 2013 was an absolute hit this year and every one of our knowledgable speakers brought some brilliant content to the stage for everyone to learn. Many people have been asking where the slides for each presentation are and I am happy to announce that we finally have all of them uploaded and ready for viewing at gamification.co/gsummit-2013-slides

However, some speakers resonated with our audience more than others, which was very evident through the use of our conference Twitter client, Memecube and generated huge amounts of buzz. See which GSummit speakers got the most attention according to Memecube:

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The Transformative Power of Social Games with Asi Burak

Last week we had a special episode of the Gamification Revolution, the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts happening every Monday at 1PM ET/10AM PT/1800 GMT. We were lucky enough to have Asi Burak, Co-President of Games for Change, and speaker at GSummit SF 2013 for a little Games for Change special episode.

Watch this week’s episode to get hear Asi’s approach towards social impact games and why he believes games are the best medium for affecting change. In essence, games are a unique medium to convey stories. Traditional medium simply tells you what to believe and what is or isn’t right. Games are unique in that they enable a player to experience multiple perspectives on an issue and allows them to make a personal conclusion through player choice and actions. Learn more about Asi’s approach below:

Download this episode (right click and save)

Be sure to check out the Gamification Revolution next week to see legendary designer, Jesse Schell, as our next guest.

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Prominent Gamifiers: Asi Burak

As the Co-President of Games for Change, Asi Burak has had a long career using the transformative power of games to promote greater social good in the world. Asi’s path to social impact games began with his education in a Masters of Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon and a BA in Design from the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem. His initial work in mobile gaming with Axis Mobile has led to many significant projects that has been picked up by international media outlets. Some of this exceptional work includes:

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