One more positive effect of video games that can be useful for
many people: The design of virtual world in Minecraft game might become a
reality. At least this is the program that's being promoted by Adelaide government,
Australia.
This program is a competition for children at four to seven grades,
they are asked to design an ideal national park based on their imagination,
which is channeled through Minecraft. A number of ideal criteria for national
parks are also included. The designs of the participants must meet these
criteria, which means that the designs should be possible built in the real
world, all at once can be a complementary habitat for wild flora and fauna - of
course, no one expects the presence of the creeper here.
Adelaide government as the organizer of this competition has
set aside AU $ 10.4 million for this project. The winner will get a chance to
visit the Belair National Park, and their creation will get opportunity to be
realized in the future.
Minecraft popularity among children is quite high. The game
which is now standing under the banner of Microsoft is also well known for its
education role through MinecraftEdu project, where the educators can take
advantage of Minecraft as a learning medium for their students.
The step that's taken by Adelaide government also aims to
increase the interest of young generation to visit the national parks. By
inviting the national parks, the students can obtain fun recreation time with
family and friends, while searching inspiration to design their own versions of
the national parks.
At the same time, the government would be able to collect
information related to what's desired by children from national parks. Rather
than distribute online surveys or video games, this method is considered more
effective in order to accommodate the valuable input from the youths.
This competition will be closed on 12 June, and the winner
will be announced one month later, on July 13, 2015. To be fair, the collected
designs should be made with Minecraft version which is not equipped with mod.