THE FUTURE "Play it – before you live it."℠

"THE END IS NEAR" -'Peak Prophet' snapped this one ($4.68 at the pump)

AND, HERE FOLLOWS.... A COOL FLOWGRAM I MADE (approx 2 mins)

___________________________
"World Without Oil is the first alternate reality game to engage the Internet's collective intelligence and imagination with a real world problem: a global oil shock. The serious game for the public good ran from April 30 to June 1, 2007, and has been hailed as groundbreaking work that uses a new, net-native game storytelling medium to engage mainstream audiences and spark collective learning and action."

The website for World Without Oil (WWO) Alternate Reality Game (ARG) was set to launch on April 30, 2007 with a game "Headline" pretending that gas was heading to $4 gallon. The day before the game launch the San Jose Mercury News headline read: "$4 gallon Looms at the Pump"... Perhaps because the subject was so close to the bone WWO proceeded to draw in an unprecedented number of non-gamers (never before played an ARG).

The newly launched WWO website got 60,000 hits from all over the world. In the end there were 1900 active players, many more 'lurkers' (tracking the game).

The game ended after simulating the first 32 weeks of the oil shock, but its effects continue, as game designers analyze its unique gameplay and we all watch the continuing drama with global oil prices and supply.
________________________________
WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE:
World Without Oil (WWO) has now earned:
Honors for Activism (SXSW) and Games (Webby)

Environmentally Themed Art (01SJ)
Technology in the Service of the Environment (Stockholm Challenge).

Best activism site winners World Without Oil celebrate onstage at SXSW.
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/sxsw-its-the-we.html

On stage at SXSW: That's Ken Eklund, WWO director, & Jane McGonigal (victory arms)
______________________________________________
Jane McGonigal is one of my sheroes:

“Making the world a happier place” : )

March 11, 2008 in activism, conference, game design, world without oil

Tags: avantgame, dan hon, keynote, mcgonigal, six to start, soulja boy

WWO’s own Jane McGonigal delivered the closing keynote at the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference, and her theme was “the future of happiness” featuring of course “games as the ultimate happiness engine.” World Without Oil was a case study in her talk, which may seem odd, as one doesn’t normally associate an oil crisis (real or simulated) with happiness. But as she spelled out in her talk, the latest research on happiness shows otherwise. As Jane aptly put it, “happiness is not (just) a warm puppy”; lasting happiness actually has more to do with doing something worthwhile with people you like, and that’s WWO all over. See Jane’s slideshow (and Soulja Boy dance) via her blog, Avant Game (edit) and a transcript of her talk by ARG mastermind Dan Hon of Six To Start. (photo by Ken Eklund)