PowerUp game from IBM launches
A new multiplayer video game from IBM Corp. encourages teenagers to save the planet by playing a video game - and learn science at the same time.
The online game, called PowerUp, is part of IBM's TryScience initiative. It will be rolled out at high schools around the country in the coming week as part of National Engineer's Week 2008, which begins tomorrow and runs until next Saturday.
"We launched 'PowerUp' with 10 laptops connected to the internet. Players were limited to 20-minute-long time slots. All 10 stations were busy throughout the day. The players were mostly middle school and elementary school children. It didn't make any difference whether or not they understood the physics or engineering. They just wanted to drive the 'dune buggy' through the desert southwest landscape leading to the solar farm."
You can download the game here: http://www.powerupthegame.org/