in 2023caused by the climate crisis unprecedented Floods, wildfires, and drought triggered the beginning of a cascading human crisis. Food shortage; displacement; economic turmoil;large scale, ground conflict. When faced with such disagreements, video games, even those made by large corporations that shy away from contentious politics, can become more extreme in their responses. There are predecessors in this media who can serve as references. Final Fantasy VII (1997) is arguably the great ecological story of our time, putting players in the shoes of an eco-terrorist organization called Avalanche, who at various points blow up a fictional mako reactor belonging to a nefarious energy company called Shinra. To do. Even in 2024, that still resonates very well. last year, Avatar: Pandora's Frontier (2023) was an open-world adaptation of James Cameron's science fiction film series that tasked players with similar sabotage missions. Playing as one of his Na'vi tribe members, you periodically reduce the mining infrastructure of the humans you've colonized to rubble in order to restore ecological balance.
movie, How to blow up a pipeline (2022), and novels, Ministry of the Future (2020) are valuable works that, in their respective mediums, offer viewers and readers a glimpse into what could change our climate status. Video games are perhaps well-suited to these process-oriented narratives, narrowing and expanding choices and perhaps showing cause and effect in a more variable and intuitive way than these other art forms.in Avatar: Pandora's Frontierthe effect of transforming a scorched ashes into a lush forest through the power of political violence is cathartic, almost revelatory.
But it would be foolish to think that players, especially young people, will unconsciously absorb the messages from these environmental protection games.there is Growing inequality Within Generation Z. Women are becoming more progressive and accepting of ideas such as environmental justice.On the other hand, the number of men is only increasing conservative. The online culture of video games has been a long-standing incubator of right-wing politics, in part widening this chasm. While the crop of environmental games grows, it would be wise to anticipate reactions in the opposite direction, if not from the game makers themselves, then from companies like Shell that are already using them. fortnite to market Fossil fuels for children. Therefore, these games will also become cultural battlegrounds.
Arenda Y. Chan, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, Author Playing with Nature: Ecology in Video Games, we don't expect players to passively accept the game's messages. Rather, games interact with ideals and values that players already have. What video games can do, Chan said, is “meet students where they are…It may not radicalize them, but it can subtly shift their perspective or spark their curiosity about something.” It can be done,” he said.
Probably, according to my experience, Aruba: Wildlife Adventure, they arouse the curiosity of local birds. Perhaps players who explore “eco-socialist, solarpunk society” in Pedercini's upcoming projects will explore alternative means of social organization. These video games and their stories are spaces of possibility that challenge us to experiment and practice while fostering a healthy, and perhaps underappreciated, sense of adventure. Such qualities are essential as we collectively imagine a greener world in which nature, climate, the way we live and the games we play emerge fundamentally reconfigured. .
