What? Games Without Guns and Gore?

International crime rings and highway construction were two of the winning concepts at Game Court 2006, hosted by the University of Texas at Austin's Science, Technology and Society (STS) Program and the Electronic Game Developers Society.

The competition encouraged students to design non-violent and non-sexist games.

In the "Commercially Viable" category, Jeff Linwood took first place for his "Interstate Highway Builder" which is about building highways across different terrain and using certain equipment to solve transportation problems. The game also took first place in the "Socially Constructive" category. In the "Looks Like Fun" category, Joe Rowland's "Art Thief," which concerns a thief who is trying to reclaim art from villains in Paris.

Judges included Rodney Gibbs, executive studio director, Amaze Entertainment; Steve Jackson, president, Steve Jackson Games; Dr. Okan Arikan, assistant professor, Department of Computer Sciences; and Chris Norden, independent contractor working with Sony on the upcoming PlayStation 3 system.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 04:54 AM  Permalink