Global warming and saving the environmental has recently been a very hot topic in the media. It was only a matter of time before it entered the video game industry. There are plenty of games that are filled with action and violence that get attacked and get blamed when you hear about kids and violence in the news. Maybe if we hear about kids doing something good for the environment, we can contribute it to playing video games as well.

In Second Life, you are able to plant virtual trees for 300 Lindens ($1.50 real world cash) where Second Chance Trees will take all the proceeds and plant real life trees in exchange for each virtual tree planted. There is another game called Global Warning developed by Midori, a small development company based in France that allows you to choose a character and make decisions to live a greener life while saving the world. Microsoft is teaming up with a nonprofit group called Games For Change and will be sponsoring a contest for college students to develop a game based on global warming. The goal is to raise awareness and educate while also entertaining. Another game by Adventure Ecology involves Dash and his sidekick Bay as they battle adversaries in their quest to rid pollution and defeat global warming. The genre of "serious" video games that raise awareness about issues such as global warming and poverty is a great way to use video games as a learning tool.

This reminds me of Captain Planet and the Planeteers. If you aren’t familiar with Captain Planet, it was a cartoon back in the 90’s where a combination of five ring powers summons Captain Planet to help the five planeteers fight eco-villains. The show also featured "Planeteer Alerts" that ends each episode with a tip on what you can do to help the environment. I am sure there will be another eco-friendly cartoon that will come out soon or maybe even a new Captain Planet that looks much cooler.