Top Three Green Video Games

Video games have long been recognized as having a great potential for education and teaching. However, most popular titles have not focused on such, instead delighting in explosions and Hollywood-style action effects. With the great push for more environmentally friendly initiatives and education, video game companies are starting to follow suit and introduce players to the importance of nature in our daily lives. Check out these top three green video game titles today!

Endless Ocean
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Endless Ocean is one of the more kid friendly titles available for consoles, specifically the Nintendo Wii. Players take control of a scuba diver and explore a fantastical underwater land, complete with a huge array of lifelike creatures. Dolphins, sharks, whales and many different kinds of underwater flora and fauna populate the gorgeous seascapes found throughout the game. There is little, if any violence in the game and players focus more on exploring than linear, pre-determined objectives. Endless Ocean is a great way to introduce younger players to the wonder of the ocean and all the life within it and the importance of preservation our oceans for future generations to enjoy. Endless Oceans is rated by the ESRB as E for Everyone.

Chibi Robo: Park Patrol
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Chibi Robo: Park Patrol allows players to control a small robot in his quest to keep the city park's clean and free of dangerous and unsightly litter. Join forces with him to promote environmentally friendly habits such as not littering through this cutesy video game. It is available for the Nintendo DS, one of my favorite handheld video game systems and is rated E for Everyone from the ESRB. Of course, it is more focused for younger players, and not necessarily for the older generaiton of "hardcore gamers", but it still is a great teaching tool, just like Endless Ocean. Litter is really a problem in our great national parks and Chibi Robo helps put a stop to this activity by teaching youngsters the importance of not littering from an early age. It's one of the most "green" focused games to come out recently, as players have to use their robot to turn a dirty, littered park into a wonderfully, clean, pollutant free zone.

FlOwer
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Flower is more about delighting an a breath-taking, visually-stunning nature game world than actually educating about the importance of environmental initiatives, but it certainly brings one closer to the beauty of earth (albeit artificially). Players take control of various flower petals, sending them sailing along on the different breezes, upon a great journey. The landscapes are absolutely lovely and really well designed. The music soundtrack is also outstanding and adds immensely the experience of FlOwer. It's almost unfair to call FlOwer an experience, it is more of a visual experience with player interaction. Enjoy it on the powerful PS3 console from Sony.