Nickelodeon Goes Green with New Online Game

Children's cable network, Nickelodeon, has always been known for its green-friendly programs, as contestants and celebrities have traditionally been drenched by a big bucket of green slime. This weekend, Nick took a more ecological view of green, debuting the "Big Green Help", an online multi-player game aimed at raising social and ecological awareness amongst kids. The game is part of the Big Green Help Global Challenge.

The basis of Nickelodeon's initiative involves kids making a pledge to reduce their Carbon Dioxide footprints which will have a cumulative impact on the environment. According to the Big Green Help site , "the world has pledged to save 7,431 tons of CO2". After players commit to this pledge, they are presented with various things they can do to reduce their CO2 footprints via virtual checklists they can use online or print out. The ways kids can have a positive impact including things such as planting 5 trees in their community, turning off lights/computer when not in use, and walking or biking rather than using a car to travel. As players end their gaming sessions online, they are presented with how much of an impact their actions are helping the environment. A special tracker program can be downloaded to computer desktops or installed as a widget on websites, so players can see just how well the pledge is going.

In conjunction with these pledges to reduce CO2 footprints, Nickelodeon has released the "Big Green Help" on December 14th, 2008. Big Green Help is a multi-player online game available for download to MAC or PC at www.biggreenhelp.com . The object of the game is to protect the last green cities of the world from various Carbon Dioxide-producing enemies. It's a third person shooter/Role playing game (RPG) with a creative cast of characters and vivid 3-D virtual gaming world. The game will take at least 10 minutes to download, install and get connected to the online server. Players choose their character then must wait for other players to join in their effort. To make the RPG game more appealing to young fans of Nickelodeon, players can choose from amongst four different 3-D heroes to control: SpongeBob SquarePants; Back at the Barnyard's Otis; The Fairly OddParent's Timmy Turner; and Avatar's Aang. Online players battle against various harmful "Carbon enemies" such as a gas-guzzling, CO2-spewing tractor trailor named "Guzzlor", an evil energy-wasting lightbulb robot named "Bulb Bot", and a tornado of hazardous trash known as the "Waste Whirlwind". There's RPG cards representing each villain, their height/weight stats, and what it will take to effectively defeat them. Basically players must drain the CO2 from these monsters and turn it into energy which benefits the overall environmental effort.

While some may quickly think the Green game is violent, it's more protective in nature, as players are trying to save their environment by taking away the enemy's power. The enemies are real-life problems which can harm the planet and the solution is reducing or eliminating CO2. Game play is done via various keyboard keys (arrows, letters, spacebar) and the mouse. The multi-player nature of the game allows other players to easily join in and team up for the effort at any time. The online cooperative effort includes a special "Cheer Up" energy boost which is performed when all players in the game press their spacebars at once.

An online multiplayer game is an excellent way to promote and convey ecological awareness to younger generations who need to acquire this knowledge the most. It may be more of a game geared towards Nick's younger viewers, but could be addictive to the mid-teen level as well. Parents should welcome the imaginative new game as a fun, creative way to raise social and ecological awareness in their children. The fans of Nickelodeon and its various characters will have fun while they learn ways to reduce or eliminate bad habits which effect the environment. In turn, the children who learn more about how to positively effect our environment, can convey these ideas to their parents, relatives and other elders in the community. Quite possibly, schools will allow students to use the online game during class to encourage more learning and discussions about the environment. Should this catch on, more and more of the future generations will become conscious of the environment and help to teach everyone how to have a more positive impact upon it.

See more information about the new game and Nickelodeon's Go Green Challenge at www.biggreenhelp.com or www.nick.com.

References and Sources cited:

Nicktoons Global Multiplayer Game, Nick.com

Nickelodeon thinks green with online multiplayer title, CNET.com Jeff Bakalar

The Big Green Help, Official Website