Al Jazeera, yes, the Middle East television network of Osama bin Laden fame, flew into Pittsburgh last week and dropped in on the South Side offices of ImpactGames for an interview with the designers of PeaceMaker, the hot new video game that promotes peace and understanding by putting players in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“They are part of our target audience so this is very good for us, ” says ImpactGames CEO Eric Brown. The game, which may be played in English, Hebrew and Arabic, is gaining particular momentum overseas since its release on Feb. 1st of this year.
“Al Jazeera wanted to know how the idea came about,” Brown says. “We met with CMU advisors of the project and some of the students to give them the American response to it. The reporter had played the game and was very informed. He seemed very pleased with the footage.”
The piece, slated to air this week, will be in Arabic and is not expected to be shown on Al Jazeera’s English-speaking station, Brown said.
PeaceMaker currently sells in more than 50 countries around the world and its introduction is going well, Brown said. Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, heralded the game as one that “will bring us peace” by helping those on either side to empathize with the complexity of the issues.
PeaceMaker was developed by Eric Brown and Asi Burak, a former Israeli intelligence officer, both graduates of Carnegie Mellon University. The player’s goal is to "establish a stable resolution to the conflict and win the Nobel Prize." As one Israeli reviewer conveyed: “For those of us who live and work here, it hits very close to home.”
Writer: Debra Diamond Smit
Source: Eric Brown, ImpactGames
Photograph copyright © Jonathan Greene