The newest Onion news video, Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children for the Apocalypse? was below their usual standard, too tongue-in-cheek to generate even a smile. Yet it does raise the question of what options are out there online for young game players interested in whether they will actually have a future. Considering the range of apocalyptic pathways in the 21st century, i turned to the American Petroleum Institute to see what their crystal ball has to offer today's youth. Disappointed? Not!
API's educational arm offers ages 6-12 a two-part game called Drilling Ace, in which kids direct both offshore and bedrock drilling rigs to hit the oil deposits. The bedrock option is very clever, as the oil deposits (in green) are combined with gas deposits (in yellow) at each site: go for the green, avoid the yellow and you, too, can feel like a member of the ecologically aware Rockerfeller family! Ok, the color scheme does (kindasorta) commit heresy in the not-for-profit, one love church of Rasta, but the Indian Jones' soundtrack helps keeps the player focused on adventure and functionality - everything in life is a trade off, that's just a fact.
It's a big climate action day over in the US with Powershift09 planning the largest CD in US history against continued dependence on fossil fuels. Anything that pressures the govt in DC to take the rest of the world seriously on this issue has got to be good. Go team! And when you're too burnt out to expound on the utopian qualities of wind power, there's always to API to fall back on for stupid, childish entertainment.
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