This looks interesting – GameSave is a hack-a-thon style event, during which multiple teams of game developers and emergency relief professionals will each create a complete game concept and working demo aimed at an aspect of disaster relief.
From their site:
The past few years have shown us that, despite the fact that human technological advancements have increased exponentially over our species’ collective lifespan, Mother Nature is still the Final Boss of our planet. We may have robot vacuums, cruise ships that hold entire cities, and the capability to launch ourselves into space, but recent events demonstrate that hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis are still utterly devastating, and something over which we have no control whatsoever.
Japan was probably more prepared for the recent earthquake and its aftermath than any other locale in the world. The government established geological research initiatives as far back as the 1800s, and building codes are thorough and rigorous, yet and earthquake of this magnitude still caused tragic loss of life and massive structural damage.
There are a few different ways to take part in this, from coding the games, to providing info and feedback on disaster relief, or just submitting an idea to spark someone off.
GameSave will be run in Seattle, WA in late June of 2011, but we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on what comes out of it, and what can be done through the magic of gaming to help emergency aid and disaster relief work.