The NPR interview triggered some serious traction for PeaceMaker, apparently with the right audience. This week our Amazon package made it to the the top 20 in all video games and #2 in PC games. It was great to see our indie game with its unique message in the company of World of Warcraft and Sid Meier’s Civilization.
Check out this headline on Gamasutra’s industry news (July 20th):
“Meanwhile, the ImpactGames-developed RTS PeaceMaker manages a strong showing seemingly out of nowhere, as Amazon reports short supply yet a suddenly high level of demand for the title, despite it never having seen a place in the weekly top five since its initial release in May.”
Rewrite (11.29): For problems running PeaceMaker, check below to find a compatible patch. If no patch matches the version of PeaceMaker you own or solves your problem, please contact support for assistance.
New Patch: Deactivation and Reactivation Functionality
We have recently added new functionality to allow our users to deactivate and reactivate copies of PeaceMaker in order to move them from computer to computer. Please be sure to use the deactivation tool before uninstalling. If you own the online version (v1.068 and earlier) or the CD version (physical copy) feel free to install this patch for PC or Mac. You do not need this patch if you own a later version of PeaceMaker. DO NOT use this patch if you have the Peres Center version.
Patch A: Peres Version – QuickTime Issues
If you own the Peres Center version of PeaceMaker (v1.068, distributed exclusively through Israel and the Palestinian Territories) feel free to install this patch for PC or for Mac. DO NOT use this patch if you downloaded PeaceMaker, or purchased a physical copy through Amazon.com, or a specific event.
Patch B: Other Versions – QuickTime Issues
If you own the online version (v1.063 and earlier) or the CD version (physical copy) feel free to install this patch for PC or Mac. You do not need this patch if you own a later version of PeaceMaker. DO NOT use this patch if you have the Peres Center version.
Patch C: Game Doesn’t Run after Installation
For rare cases when the start screen shows up but the game doesn’t run you will need to run the game in windowed mode. Please download this file and put it in C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name>\PeaceMaker
Fresh from this morning, we were fortunate to have Steve Inskeep try out PeaceMaker on air. A glimpse of the game’s messages and logic are “viewed” as he picks through actions and describes the outcomes. It is also interesting to see how the soundtrack of the game plays a role and sets the atmosphere for the interview. Check it out on NPR’s site.
And on the broader perspective of the intersection between entertainment and socio-politics, the New York Times featured the European Union’s Youtube Channel – EUTUBE. Great effort by the EU to improve its “heavy” and “old” image with a series of short clips, many based on European films. The campaign features love, joy and the environment as core themes in the European existence. Enjoy…
A nice review by that title on Fileplanet, a site dedicated to hard core gamers. Read the full version here.
Can games change the world? Yes they can. But not directly. It’s not as though playing PeaceMaker will make everyone drop their weapons and start hugging. But it does illuminate the news, and it gives you a much deeper understanding of what’s going on in the region. Raising awareness is a good start to finding a solution. If games like this were used in schools, it would help make problems in other parts of the world more real. And, maybe most important of all, it would get people talking. Hell, I just got a few hundred thousand hardcore gamers to think about Middle East peace. That’s something, right?
The Games for Change Festival was held this week in NYC (11-12th). As in recent years, a diverse line of speakers, panelists and community members with the passion to create games for the greater good. Gamasutra ran a good summary of the event.
The festival was highlighted by an expo of selected games and an award show. An audience choice award was given to MTVU’s Darfur is dying, created by Take Action Games, and a panel of judges selected finalists and announced the best games for change in three main categories: Airport Security won the Best Art/Commentary Game Award, Ayiti – the Cost of Life won the Best awareness-Raising Game and PeaceMaker won the Best Transformation Game. Here is a brief outline of the criteria:
For the best game which engages players on a deep and meaningful level around an important social issue, whose aims and outcomes are no less than to foster a powerful intellectual or behavioral transformation in it users. Criteria: Is it a good game, with good game play and a solid integration of game mechanic and content? How well did this game transform its players in learning or outlook? How effective might it be in creating concrete change in the real world? These are often bigger budget games aimed at deeper learning or change of world view.
Finally, we are happy to announce that we offer a physical package (CD-Rom) for the PeaceMaker game. It makes a great collector’s item and you can find it on Amazon for the price of $19.95. Our online store is still open if you don’t want to deal with shipping charges and do want to save some trees…
Well, not every day you receive a formal letter from the Nobel Foundation. Excited, we opened the large envelope from Sweden thinking that our efforts were positively acknowledged by the institute. Long ago we chose to include the Nobel Peace Prize and what it stands for as the ultimate award for a true PeaceMaker. We couldn’t think of a better ending to our peace game than standing on that honorable stage with world leaders and past peacemakers. To be honest, there was also controversy. We got numerous angry emails from Jewish and Israelis that lost their faith in that institution after Arafat has received the prize in 1994. In their eyes he was actually the cause for the failure of the peace process.
Well, back to the envelope. Unfortunately, the letter was not such an acknowledgment. In fact it was a “warning/cease and desist letter” for using the Nobel medal as part of our game. As it turns out – the Nobel foundation owns trademark registrations and the letter claims that we “take unfair advantage of their intellectual property rights, in a way that is detrimental to the distinctive and repute of this trademark”. Although there was no infringement on our side, and we had nothing but pure intentions, as a small business we couldn’t afford a legal battle. We also thought that our energies should be invested in other places. Sadly, we’ve decided to remove all mentions of the prize (textual and visual) from our site, the game and all other materials. Starting from version 1.06 of PeaceMaker players will no longer receive the Nobel Prize. Would the Nobel guys feel the same if this was a book or a movie, I wonder. Still, in the world of Internet transparency, global free speech and blurry borders between public domain and IP it seems somewhat out of place and disappointing.
Last week we have received the following inquiry from a player: “Hey, I was wondering about the “Two-State Solution”. I beat the game today and the game said I had created the two state solution. I wanted you to know that, yes people are talking about a two state solution, but is it really going to work? I think Israel/Palestine is too small for there to be two states… If that doesn’t work, than what do you think will happen?”
A tough question! At first, we didn’t want to define the end-solution of PeaceMaker and thus avoid the controversy. We assumed that lowering the violence level will be enough as a positive outcome in the game. Already in early stages of our development we were proved wrong and players demanded “a more meaningful outcome”.
So why the two-state solution? We are neither politicians nor prophets. What I can say is that we’ve worked with many content experts from both sides of the conflict and from the American perspective. Following their educated advice we’ve chosen the two-state solution, mainly because it is supported by UN resolutions, by the US’ road map and by the Arab World initiative. In addition, frequent public polls in Israel and the Palestinian Authority show it is a widely popular and acceptable solution
As always, we welcome you to challenge our assumptions and comment on them in this blog. We are aware of other solutions, some of them gathered significant public support. After working on PeaceMaker for so long, we are also aware of the weaknesses and pitfalls of the two-state solution. At the end of the day, we focused our experience on the path and the process rather than on the solution. We believe that this is a good starting point- in the virtual world, and perhaps also in the real world.
Al-Jazeera, the Arab TV network, ran the news story on PeaceMaker last week. It is a long piece and we are still working on its translation. In the meantime, here is the YouTube video:
Finally, we are happy to announce that we offer a physical package (CD-Rom) for the PeaceMaker game. It makes a great collector’s item and you can find it on