Sometimes, good intentions can lead to interesting results. That is all I could keep thinking as I looked over the Kickstarter concept for Blood Sport. How else do you approach the idea of turning a video game console into a blood bank factory?
Take a look at the now suspended Kickstarter page, and its a beautiful mixture of 'what a concept!' and 'What the heck were you thinking?!'. In two ways, these guys are trying to fulfill something awesome: the ability to inspire more blood donations, and also the ability to play more daring versions of a game. Don't lie, a lot of people have had that thought of "How do we make a Mortal Combat more high stakes? How do we turn the screws to make this event feel more memorable?" If you went a gaming tournament where every time you took a big hit, blood was drawn, how would it make you feel when you came out of it victorious?
...But wait, how would it make you feel if you came out of it losing? If you walked into a gaming event where you knew you would lose blood from your arm every time you took a hit, and you knew that your friend Zoë could absolutely destroy you in Towerfall: Ascension, would you join, or walk away? What happens when the person who is wrecking at the tournament spends an hour hooked up to a blood transfusion machine, and has a bag barely full: isn't that a waste of resources? What happens when a bag starts to overfill during a particularly rough round of Call of Duty with multiple players?
The questions go on and on about the idea of Blood Sport, but in the end, while the premise itself is plagued with logistics issues, the heart of it is in the right place. How can gaming be used to support charitable and community based movements?
The ability to game, at its core, is an exercise in excess. It's true, really. If you have Steam, look at your library of games, and count how many hours you have logged on your top five games. If you have World of Warcraft, if you dare, hit /played on your main character and sit there a moment to take it in. Those hour counts mark how much free time you've had to play in an artificial world, entirely constructed to bring enjoyment. Sometimes, its hard for us to reflect back on how much time we've had to try and relax until you see those numbers in black and white.
This isn't a criticism in itself: more and more scientific studies in the last two decades are focused on the benefits of 'useless' play, and educators such as James Paul Gee have been focusing on managing how modern video games could possibly be one of the best educational tools created. There's an entire book - Reality Is Broken - which is a rave review of modern gaming practices, and why they are so important to our future. No, my question is not about the worth of gaming, but instead how gaming, an exercise in fun and mental play, can be used to inspire and help fuel altruistic, charitable acts; acts that help us feel closer as a community, or help us connect with other people in a meaningful way.
There is already a bit of a push in this direction, and it has been growing alongside the burgeoning video game industry. One of the best indicators is Child's Play, the charity started by Penny Arcade back in 2003. I even remember reading about it my freshman year in college and going "woah, do they think this is actually going to work?" Well, it did. Here are some numbers straight from Wikipedia about their first ten years:
Annual totals
- 2003: $250,000
- 2004: $310,000
- 2005: $605,000
- 2006: $1,024,000
- 2007: $1,300,000
- 2008: $1,434,377
- 2009: $1,780,870
- 2010: $2,294,317
- 2011: $3,512,345
- 2012: $5,085,761
- 2013: $7,600,000
The numbers are included because it shows progression, it shows how a charitable organization started by gaming enthusiasts, and typically supported by gaming enthusiasts. The organization has grown and expanded, and their website is a treasure trove of testimonials and hopeful expansions to the project. This isn't a groundbreaking attempt to save the rain-forests, but instead a dream to make the experience of children in a bad situation a bit better. Just recently, their donations don't just go to hospitals, but have begun to go towards domestic violence shelters to help nurture a better environment there for children involved in these terrible situations.
This isn't the only example, just one of the more classic charity based movements that were started inside gaming culture; there are other ways to be charitable that are uniquely interactive with particular games and their communities. One that I was involved with was League of Legends' campaign against the 2011 tsunami in Japan. It was a sudden and immediate response, where if anyone bought the nurse costume for one of their characters for the month of March, the proceeds went towards Red Cross relief efforts. To help, the company even put up a sale on the item to help boost sales.
As you can tell by the above picture, it was wildly successful. The Tsunami happened on March 11th, and by the end of the month, Riot Games was able to make a donation of over $160,000. It was a wonderful way to integrate charity directly into the game without anyone really feeling hassled or guilt tripped into it. In fact, the company was able to give players something for their generosity: heck, I bought it, and I'm terrible with Akali in that game...but I remember distinctly thinking "What's a better reason to give them a shot?" This is an approach to a charitable cause that is picking up steam: right now, World of Warcraft is taking the same approach, offering a character pet for ten dollars. It's on sale for all of December, and I am very curious to see what the outcome of that funding drive will be.
There are so many unexplored ways to pair up gaming with altruism.. and here, we come back to Blood Sport. All I can do is stare in awe at their bravado. Do I think this project that could get off the ground? No. Do I applaud all they were trying to accomplish? Yes. Think about it: one of the greatest things that gaming has to offer is a chance to approach things in new ways. It already has created a new collaboration of artistic styles, how we can view a story, giving people a sense of agency outside of their normal lives... the chance to apply altruistic options here is varied and promising. Here, the boldness was in how the developers of Blood Sport were trying to integrate virtual play with real world results... and lets be honest, many people that like video games like seeing or feeling consequences for their actions, be it advancing a story, working towards interactive game systems like Oculus Rift, or playing really tough games on hardcore mode.
This attempt at instigating charitable acts shouldn't be mocked, but instead be seen as inspiration. While taking blood from people while playing a game can run into many different physical and legal hurdles, the effect of being 'drained' could be recreated. What if, at a gaming convention, a tournament for Smash Bros. was set up, but with every life you lost, you donated one dollar to the convention's cause? What would happen if for every death you had in a Halo game translated to money coming out of your pocket to help save someone's life or put food in your local soup kitchen?
There are so many chances for us in the gaming world to give back to others, to feel thankful for the ability to slip into another world just to have fun. There are some options I haven't even had a chance to cover, such as the wonderful Humble Bundle phenomenon... but what if the gaming community as a whole stepped up, just a little bit more? The Steam winter sale is going on as I finish writing this: what would happen if everyone that bought games during this sale, getting ridiculous deals on sometimes dozens of games at a time... what if just ten percent of those proceeds, of what we collectively spend during this sale, went to homeless shelters, or went towards rebuilding towns after a natural disaster?
We've been so fortunate to play as much as we do. What happens when we choose to find ways to give back?
