Video game vs poverty

MANILA, Philippines - Manila-based advertising agency Digital FCB Manila is following through on its award-winning concept in Cannes Chimera by developing a video game that takes on poverty.   The game called “Gamers vs Poverty” primarily aims to get gamers involved in fighting poverty by linking society’s important issues with in-game content.  Digital FCB Manila is looking to turn the idea into a social gaming application with casual gamers in mind.  “Through Gamers vs. Poverty, we want gamers to feel that they can be heroes outside the game world as well as in it. By providing in-game content, we are able to inform the audience in the most native way possible,” Digital FCB Manila chief creative officer James Bernardo said. By giving gamers the opportunity to know more about pressing issues in society and being part of the solution, Bernardo said that the game may be able change the pervading idea of video games as triggers of violent tendencies. “Video games can be more than just a form of entertainment or escape; they can also change your view of the world,” Bernardo added. Digital FCB Manila is the first Filipino advertising agency to win a Cannes Chimera, beating more than 900 entrants from different countries to join the top eight awardees.   Cannes Chimera is an initiative by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that uses the creativity of communication professionals around the world to help solve global problems.