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Power Play: How Video Games Can Save the World is a nonfiction book written by Asi Burak and Laura Parker, published in 2017.

Overview
Power Play's main focus is on the influence that video games can have on society. The book expands upon the future benefits and opportunities that it can provide, and attempts to redirect current stereotypes of gamers and video games to expose the positive aspects that they bring to its users. Power Play also looks into virtual reality and touches upon the innovative change that can be achieved across the world through it as well as the problems that it can solve. With years of experience and work within the new media realm, Asi Burak and Laura Parker share their knowledge of video games with their readers and promote the use of video games and virtual reality for our current and future generations.

Layout
The book is broken into an Introduction, Parts I-IV, and a "Power Playlist", ending with an Acknowledgements section and Notes listing.

The introduction provides an explanation of the goals held by authors Asi Burak and Laura Parker in writing Power Play and what they hope to achieve in the future for the world of video games and virtual reality.

Parts I – IV each cover various examples of the influential history and impacts video games have had and are causing in the world today. Each part has a series of relevant chapters that expand upon its purpose. The ten chapters found within Power Play are summarized below.

The "Power Playlist" provides a reference list for the various games mentioned within the book. Links to the various webpages for the games are also provided after the Chapter Summaries section.

After the conclusion of the Power Play List, Burak includes a personal Acknowledgement section to the various activists and contributors within the new media and video game realm that directly and indirectly assisted he and Parker’s authoring of Power Play. This brief section is followed by a Notes listing of the various sources Burak and Parker used in providing content and support to their own material that makes up Power Play.

Introduction
The introduction begins with a brief history of Art Spiegelman, a comic book artist and Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History. Maus was a leading work in the movement that is attempting to “change the boundaries of a medium,” as explained by Burak and Parker. Burak and Parker end the introduction by mentioning various examples of current video games and their purposes, along with acknowledging the stigmas circulating around the video game culture as a whole. It briefs the reader on the remaining layout of the book, explaining the four different sections and finally summarizing their purpose for writing Power Play.

Parts I-V
Below is a list of the four parts and their sections, along with a brief description of each. Each part contains subsequent chapters that expand upon the main point presented.


 * Part I: NOT PLAYING AROUND ANYMORE - Part I is directed at "Video Games that Enhance Our Understanding of the World, and Each Other." It contains the first three chapters of Power Play.
 * Chapter 1: A Little Game about Peace (The story of PeaceMaker)
 * Chapter 2: A Former Supreme Court Judge Takes Matters into Her Own Hands (The story of iCivics)
 * Chapter 3: New Bonds in Georgia (The story of Macon Money)
 * Part II: FROM JEDDAH TO NAIROBI - Part II is directed at "Games that Explore Pressing Social Issues from Around the World." It contains chapters three and four of Power Play.
 * Chapter 4: A Prince's Tale (The story of New Arab Media)
 * Chapter 5: Nine Minutes of Pregnancy (The story of the Half the Sky Movement)
 * Part III: FROM THE LAB TO THE SCREEN - Part III is directed at "Games that Aim to Solve Long-standing Scientific and Medical Problems." It contains chapters six through eight of Power Play.
 * Chapter 6: A Lab of Hope (The story of Re-mission)
 * Chapter 7: Armchair Scientists (The story of Foldit and crowdgaming)
 * Chapter 8: Under the Hood (The story of NeuroRacer and Project Evo)
 * Part IV: THE TOOLS OF A NEW GENERATION - Part IV is directed at "Celebrating a New Breed of Young Game Designers." It contains the final two chapters of Power Play.
 * Chapter 9: "Don't Just Buy a New Video Game - Make One!" (President Barack Obama, December 8, 2013)
 * Chapter 10: Today and Tomorrow (Virtual Reality and a new beginning)

Chapter Summaries
Listed below are the ten chapters contained within Power Play, providing a summary of the specific content that can be found within each chapter and part as a whole.

Chapter 1: “A Little Game about Peace”
The first chapter “A Little Game about Peace” begins with the opening of a video game simulation scenario from PeaceMaker, a game made for the purpose of showing how video games are not just games, but tools that can potentially teach and inform players about real world problems and situations. Specifically, PeaceMaker provides players a glimpse into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by allowing players to become a leader for either Israel or Palestine and make decisions based off real situations that could and have happened during the war, with the purpose not of defeating the other side, but to achieve peace. “A Little Game about Peace” provides examples of the effects PeaceMaker has on students and political powers alike as they are first introduced and grow accustomed to the game. The chapter ends after a brief timeline of Burak’s life from childhood to current day, and follows the obstacles faced by Burak in his attempt to develop PeaceMaker.

The chapter includes Burak’s early life growing up in Tel Aviv, his enrollment and service in an “elite program” within the Israeli army, and the period of time spent studying at both the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design  and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where Burak created and developed PeaceMaker with help from fellow classmates and instruction from other successful individuals within the new media industry such as Bing Gordon, who at the time was the chief creative officer at Electronic Arts (EA). PeaceMaker’s major success came once Burak partnered with the Peres Center for Peace located in Israel, which was started by former Israeli president Shimon Peres in 1996.

Chapter 2: “A Former Supreme Court Judge Takes Matters into Her Own Hands”
Chapter 2 “A Former Supreme Court Judge Takes Matters Into Her Own Hands” entails the efforts of former Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O'Connor, her clerk   Julie O'Sullivan, and   Dr.James Gee in their attempt to increase the  knowledge of   civics to present and future generations. Despite having little experience with technology, O’Connor soon became an advocate of the computer medium in teaching students and adults alike about civics and its impact, thus leading to the creation of  iCivics. Various other noteworthy releases such as  Second Life are mentioned, including Dr. James Gee’s own work,  What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy which parallels some aspects of Power Play itself. Similar ideas are mentioned within the Ludology “Study of Video Games.” The incentive to create such a game was brought on from the statistical evidence regarding the common knowledge of civics amongst Americans, which was “in the midst of a decades-long decline.”

iCivics was developed collaboratively by O’Connor, O’Sullivan, Gee, and various other teams and groups from Arizona State University (ASU),  George Town University, the   MacArthur Foundation and their  Digital Media & Learning Initiative, and   Filament Games, which grew out of the game iCivics itself. iCivics is an interactive website that teaches the many different aspects of government policy, laws, and procedures, enabling teachers to teach their students about civics in a manner that has been noted as being more engaging and successful with students. iCivics is an example of how people such as Burak and O’Connor are attempting to change the way people learn and use video games to solve both everyday problems along with larger national- and world-wide issues.

Chapter 3: “New Bonds in Georgia”
Chapter 3 “New Bonds in Georgia” is the last chapter in Part I of Power Play. It focuses on intercity racial tensions, with a specific focus on Macon, Georgia, and how video games can be used to bring people together. Jessica Goldfin and Beverly Blake explain how they see video games as "an opportunity to break down barriers.” An example of their efforts can be seen through one of their first video game projects Macon Money, where the goal was to help engage students and have them socialize and interact with others outside of their own culture and race. They hoped to "connect [the community] through the arts, media, and civics."

Macon Money engaged participants to interact through bonds distributed to them by the Knight Foundation. The goal was to find someone with the same bond symbols, which allowed them to then exchange those for "bills" they can spend at local stores and on food in the Macon area. Macon Money was different in that it was a physically interactive experience as well as a digital one. It incentivized people to utilize social media outlets and the game website forum in order to meet new people in their attempt to find a match, all the while learning more about Macon's history.

The chapter goes into much detail regarding the processes undertaken by the Knight Foundation, along with the overall impact the game had on the community and its residents. The game ultimately ended in April 2011 with much success regarding the purpose of its creation.

Chapter 4: “A Prince's Tale”
Chapter 4 “A Prince’s Tale” is the first chapter in Part II of Power Play. It starts out with an introduction of the Saudi Arabian prince, Prince Fahad bin Faisal Al Saud, and his development of NA3M (New Arab Media) and the game "Saudi Girls Revolution." It follows his early life from his acceptance into UCLA and his subsequent move to the United States the day before  9/11 occurred, which caused him to return to  Saudi Arabia due to the event being "[a] personal attack on [his] future and [his] education." The chapter expands upon his history with college, Facebook, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry, his marriage, divorce, and all of the resulting issues circulating with Islamophobia that he experienced due to the events from 9/11, which had an effect on himself and the development of his games.

Various statistics regarding the internet and media usage of Saudi Arabia in comparison to other locations around the world are provided in the middle of the chapter. Notable increases in new media usage led to the prince's decision to increase the Middle East's involvement in the industry. Fahad hoped his video games would diffuse currently held stereotypes that the Western cultures held for the Middle East. These assumptions regarding the Islamic state are still seen today in society through various other video games, such as those employing first-person thinker play modes, such as those mentioned in Chapter 8 “Under the Hood.” These games provide additional insight concerning the Islamic use of new media and video games, as well as the circulating stereotypes around them, and how people are utilizing these games to gain a better understanding of the situation in the Middle East. These video games are examples of how new media interaction can benefit the public through educational role play.

The end of the chapter covers the creation and success of NA3M and the various games created underneath it, including "Saudi Girls Revolution," which illustrated the struggles of women and their rights by using the Saudi Arabian culture as an example, whose rights have been controlled through tradition and religion since the birth of Islam.

Prince Fahad and his company are one of the leaders in breaking stereotypes within the new media and video game industries. Their efforts also proved to help break stereotypes in physical world cultures and within family units. Burak uses the prince’s story as an example of the power and influence that video games can have.

Chapter 5: “Nine Minutes of Pregnancy”
Chapter 5 “Nine Minutes of Pregnancy” is the second and last chapter in Part II of Power Play. It introduces a game called 9 Minutes that was made as an informational learning experience for pregnant women. There are 9 levels representing the 9 months of pregnancy, each lasting approximately 1 minute, and at the completion of each level the women are informed of all of the correct and incorrect choices they took during the level. The choices include real-life situations and options one can have during pregnancy including the food eaten, exercises that can be done, how they interact with others, and things such as scheduling checkups and testing at various times. Games such as this have had similar results on other health-related studies, where training and adherence to medication and programs have been improved due to their connectivity to a video game.

The chapter details the work of Sheryl WuDunn and her husband  Nicholas Kristof and their creation of the  Half the Sky Movement, which began after their publication of the book  "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide." It includes a summary of the book and a timeline of its transformation first into a documentary and then into an interactive video game. Half the Sky is accessible across various formats, and it follows the book and informs players of the real-world issues preached about within the book. It also allows players to submit donations to nonprofit organizations.

The chapter ends with its inclusion within Games for Change and Burak's involvement and contributions to the advancement of the "Sky Movement." It includes the documentary and game's overall reach and success that it has had with its viewers and players over the years. Half the Sky is an example of how a video game can improve the knowledge of everyday people on conditions and situations they are currently dealing with, and informs them on real world issues and how they should respond to certain events and instances they may face.

Chapter 6: “A Lab of Hope”
Chapter 6 “A Lab of Hope” is the first chapter included in Part III of Power Play. It covers another health-related video game revolving around cancer. The name of the game is Re-Mission, and its purpose is to educate patients of their condition and treatment, along with attempting to encourage and give them emotional support. In summary, the players control a robot that shoots the cancer cells away from their body. Studies supporting the use of games for providing participants a better understanding of a specific experience, such as those revolving a disease such as cancer, have been instrumental in the advancement of health-focused video games and new media.

Re-mission, developed by Pam Omidyar, shows the struggles of combining a functional yet entertaining experience for patients, and is explained in detail along with the incentives and reasons behind the steps they took to create the game. The chapter focuses on the patient's "adherence to [the] medication," as Re-mission was created to show patients how crucial their treatment is, and to incentivize them to want to complete their treatment to get rid of their cancer, which is similar to the studies conducted and shown in Chapter 5, “Nine Minutes of Pregnancy,” and other video game studies aimed at improving the health and dedication of participants.

The creation of HopeLab is later revealed towards the middle of the chapter, as are studies covering the impact and success Re-mission has on patients during clinical studies. Additionally, Asi analyzes whether or not the "motivation" or the "information" within the game was having the greater effect on participants.

The chapter ends with information regarding the various releases of Re-mission and its sequel, Re-mission 2. Success of the game and the current status and future of HopeLab end the chapter, along with a return to the scenario presented at the very beginning, where the patient successfully takes their medication as a result of playing the game.

Chapter 7: “Armchair Scientists”
Chapter 7 “Armchair Scientists” begins with the success held by "ten gamers" in solving an AIDS-related bio-chemical problem that had evaded scientists for over a decade in a mere 10 days. They were using a game known as Foldit, and it the chapter continues to explain the game, and briefs readers on the concept of " citizen science." (Citizen Science is also a game provided by Games For Change ).

It introduces Laura Germine and her involvement with "face blindness" (also known as prosopagnosia), a disorder expanded upon in  Oliver Sacks’ book  The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Brad Duchaine and his contribution to relevant medical research is later brought in, and the work of he and Germine are followed in detail. Their goal was to create a game that indicated how adept people were at facial recognition. It continues to explain the development of the testing through the “online portal” known as Testmybrain.org, and the success it has had since its creation.

The game revealed the power behind video game and player interaction, with significant results being published in the Psychological Science journal. The chapter continues to compare games such as those on Testmybrain.org to other interactive new media such as those found on BuzzFeed, which engage the user and provide motivation, which was mentioned as crucial in the previous chapter, “A Lab of Hope.” Following this, citizen science is explained through "Lab in the Wild" which focuses on behavior studies. Skepticism regarding this game and others develop a discussion concerning the specific elements of a game that draws a player to them, and how they impact the player during and after the game. Galaxy Zoo is introduced at the end of the chapter, as is Zooniverse, which resulted out of Galaxy Zoo. Details surrounding the gameplay and their significance are explained, along with how they qualify as a part of the video game revolution that is being encouraged by Burak and Parker.

The chapter ends with the overall impact of the games on the population and supporting claims on the importance of citizen science to the world as well as to the video game culture.

Chapter 8: “Under the Hood”
Chapter 8 “Under the Hood” is the last chapter in Part III of Power Play. It introduces readers to neurogaming, which include mind-controlled games such as the one conceived by Lat Ware, known as Throw Trucks with Your Mind, where players are given the ability to "throw" objects with their mind. Through the use of an EEG headset (an  electrophysiological  monitoring headset made of electrode sensors that records brain activity), a player's success depends on their ability to focus on the task at hand. This type of game was coined by Ware as a "first-person thinker" video game.

The chapter provides a timeline of Wares' progression through the video game industry with his ideas and association with NeuroSky before creating his own company known as Crooked Tree Studios. It explains his incentives for creating the game, which included his attractiveness to "Star Wars" as well as his own history with an  attention disorder. Wares hoped to amend the effects caused by mental disabilities through his game Throw Trucks with Your Mind. The benefits of video games for children suffering from cognitive abnormalities have also been observed with studies based on autistic children, providing new media developers with potential future game material and purpose.

Further on, the chapter introduces Adam Gazzaley and his early years that led to his involvement with  "brain training games". It covers the skepticism revolving this area of the video game industry and the struggles it faces from society in making a positive impression. Various games, such as "NeuroRacer", which was included within the journal  Nature, provide evidence supporting claims of how video games improve "cognitive abilities [and] enhancement." His partnering with Eddie Martucci, who was influential in the creation of PureTech, resulted in the incorporation of Akili Interactive, which boosted NeuroRacer further along within the industry. The game’s progression and dealings are highlighted as the chapter comes to a close. Chapter 8 ends with the mentioning of Project Evo and the formation of an Alzheimer's specific version. The trials and results are explained and stand to provide more evidence as to the influence and improvements video games can have on the human mind.

Chapter 9: “Don't Just Buy a New Video Game - Make One!”
Chapter 9 “Don’t Just Buy a New Video Game – Make One!” is the first of the two final chapters found within Part IV of Power Play. It covers Quest to Learn, a secondary school that functions through using video game principles for its various class subjects, all of which have a unique name applied to them. After a brief summary of the school it goes into detail pertaining to the founding of Quest to Learn, some of the learning techniques and activities the students use, and how outside people view the entire program.

The benefits of this school and its teaching strategy are explained, with examples of its initial growth through events such as the National STEM Video Game Challenge that was implemented by former president Barack Obama at the  White House.

Asi uses this chapter to show how "research suggests adding a high-quality video game to a traditional educational curriculum can raise student's attention levels. Various other notable studies are brought to attention such as the 2013 study reviewed by Isabele Granic from Radbound University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, in which heightened problem-solving skills were observed along with an overall increase in grades. The point of this study was to indicate the benefits of video games on an individual's "cognitive skills."

Readers are introduced to other companies such as Globaloria, which creates video games that make the learning process more engaging and fun for students. Another company Burak includes in this chapter is Kuato Studios, located in  London, England. Unlike the other organizations, Kuato Studios does not focus on "testable curriculum content" and rather focuses on "design and storytelling," with a belief that students will subconsciously acquire "coding skills without even realizing it."

The chapter ends with an outlook for the future of video games, mentioning various programs and companies such as Kickstarter,  Indiegogo,  Steam, and  Twine. Anna Anthropy, her work and creation of "Dys4ia", and her various other gaming endeavors wrap up the chapter as an example of what is to come concerning the implementation of video games into the learning atmosphere for future generations.

Chapter 10: “Today and Tomorrow”
Chapter 10 “Today and Tomorrow” introduces the concept of virtual reality and the benefits video games can have on its users. It opens up with a study by the VHIL (Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab) followed by the origin of the program, the process and reason behind its creation, and various demos that participants can undergo. The demos are designed to allow the users to experience unique and specific sensations, learn how to produce a desired response to a certain situation or stimulus, how to develop different techniques for a practice, and even overcome disabilities, phobias, and conditions.

The Proteus effect is also introduced as the most widely studied effect resulting from the demos. Asi describes it as an observation of how “the aesthetic characteristics of a user’s avatar can impact the user’s behavior in a virtual environment.” The results of this were stated as encouraging; for example, participants chose more conservative future choices when using an aged version of their avatar.

The middle of the chapter delves into the various advances of virtual reality over the years and the future outlook for its continued progression and benefits in society. It goes into detail behind specific companies, prices of funding, and introduces various new media contributors such as Jesse Schell,  John Carmack, and Laird Malamed.

The chapter ends with an explanation of the "Machine to be Another" and its "promot[ion] [of] empathy and [goal to] eliminate gender and race bias." The participants expand upon their experiences using virtual reality and the effects that it had on them. Burak concludes this chapter with an analysis of Schell's beliefs in the advancement of virtual reality through video games and the implications surrounding this perception.

Power Playlist
Following the conclusion of Chapter 10, the book contains a "Power Playlist," which is a concise list of the various games and tools Burak and Parker mention in Power Play. Some of these games fall into the categories of human-based computation games and neurogaming. The games are as follows:


 * From Chapter 1:
 * PeaceMaker (2007) … https://www.peacemakergame.com/
 * September 12 (2003) … https://www.newsgaming.com/games/index12.htm
 * From Chapter 2:(from iCivics website)
 * Do I Have a Right? … https://www.icivics.org/games/do-i-have-right
 * Executive Command … https://www.icivics.org/games/executive-command
 * Win the White House … https://www.icivics.org/games/win-white-house
 * Branches of Power … https://www.icivics.org/games/branches-power
 * From Chapter 4:
 * The Cat and the Coup … https://www.thecatandthecoup.com/
 * From Chapter 6:
 * Re-Mission 2 … https://www.re-mission2.org/games/
 * From Chapter 7:
 * Foldit … https://fold.it/portal/
 * Nanocrafter … https://nanocrafter.org/game
 * Zooniverse … https://www.zooniverse.org/projects
 * Lab in the Wild … https://www.labinthewild.org/
 * From Chapter 8:
 * Throw Trucks with Your Mind … https://crooked-tree-studios.myshopify.com/collections/all
 * Project Evo … https://www.akiliinteractive.com/#contact-section
 * From Chapter 9:
 * Code Warriors … https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kuatostudios.hakitzu&hl=en
 * Twine … https://twinery.org/
 * GameMaker … https://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker
 * Dys4ia … https://w.itch.io/dys4ia
 * From Chapter 10:
 * Monument Valley … https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ustwo.monumentvalley&hl=en
 * Land's End (VR) … https://www.landsendgame.com/