Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Global Solutions Summer Games

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Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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Global Solutions Summer Games

by Ian Bogost April 8, 2005

categories: Activism Games

Citizens for Global Solutions, an activist outreach group and PAC that focuses on the broad area of global problems, has announced the Global Solutions Summer Games Contest. They are seeking entries of "simple games about international issues." The deadline is June 15, and up to eight jury selections will receive $300 and presumably be published on the Global Solutions website.

I've previously expressed my worry about the conflation of grassroots participation and amateurism in political representation. Perhaps these folks seem to be targeting students and young people, which would make more sense. Weirdly, you have to register to get access to their "game ideas" and rules. None of the emails I've been forwarded about this have a proper header either. Feels a little like a database troll. Anybody know if this is for real?

Comments (4)

This contest is legitimate. I have been in contact with Citizens for Global Solutions for a while now, and they are starting to move their scholarships and prizes to a more technological level. In the past they had essay contests, but now they are hosting flash contests.

John Cooney on April 25, 2005 5:10 PM

Yes it is real... Im going in the competition :) They kept their promise for the flash movie competition so I think they would do the same with the games...

-Blue J Studios Australia

G3MINI on April 25, 2005 10:52 PM

Hello - this is Val, of the Global Solutions Summer Games. We're definitely real. We're a non-profit out of Washington, DC. This is a relatively new type of project for us. We held a flash contest last fall and got some amazing entries, and a lot of creative flash, so we decided to keep experimenting. The Summer Games is the latest experiment. If it works out, I'll get a much bigger budget next year so that I can offer better prizes.

Everyone that wins gets paid - no question.

There is now a direct link on the games page to go through to the submissions and ideas page without providing any information. However, if you want to get updates on the progress of the contest, you should register. We NEVER send out updates without providing a clear unsubscribe link. We don't spam. I hate spam. -Cheers!

Valerie Schrock on April 26, 2005 9:05 PM

Yes it is real...

mike on September 17, 2006 10:25 PM