Delhi based gaming and e-Learning company ZMQ Software Systems will today release four mobile games on HIV/AIDS awareness on the Reliance Infocomm network.
The initiative which is one of the world’s biggest social initiatives using mobile devices is supported by Delhi State AIDS Control Society and will be launched by Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit.
“We are privileged to be pioneers in the field of social welfare using mobile devices. Today, mobile devices are the most prevalent tools in the hands of a common man, whether it’s children or adults; rural or urban population; or high-risk population like migrants and sex workers. It is our corporate social responsibility to spread HIV/AIDS awareness using latest technologies”, of ZMQ Software Systems CEO Subhi Quraishi told Animation ‘xpress.
While the games premiere on December 1 on Reliance Infocomm’s R-World, other operators will be subsequently releasing the games by the end of this year. On International Labors Day, 1st May 2006, ZMQ would be launching these games globally, converting the content and language compatible to regions of Africa, South East Asia, Central Asia and Latin America. The mobile game development took 15 months in the making with a 12 members team on the job. ZMQ has pledged to donate revenue generated from the initiative for the welfare of PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS).
Freedom HIV/AIDS comprises of four mobile games target different mindsets and psychology of mobile users. The games are deployed on from low-end black/white to sophisticated high-end colored devices. One of the games Safety Cricket is a role-play game on Cricket, a religion in India with a huge following. Awareness messages can be conveyed successfully using cricket. Based on a village cricket match between Demons XI and Safety XI, Safety XI has to chase the runs in 10 overs and 300 seconds with 10 players to spare. Balls appear in form of safety symbols like condoms, faithful partner, HIV information and AIDS red ribbon. At the same time, the team needs to protect from various googly and doosra bowls like unsafe sex, infected blood transfusion, HIV virus, infected syringe and company of bad friends. The messages are displayed on scoring runs and alerts are displayed on getting out.
Ribbon Chase is an arcade game where the player is the red ribbon and he has to deliver messages to different cities in the world, while HIV virus is chasing him. This game interests more focused gamers, who are engaged in professional gaming. Another game Messenger is an adventure game for casual users who enjoy playing exciting but easy-to-maneuver games. Dove – the traditional symbol of peace and love is used as a messenger of HIV/AIDS awareness. The dove flies from village to village, collects condoms and red ribbons, and distributes them to the villagers on their specific needs and demands, thus spreads the message of HIV/AIDS awareness.
Another game Quiz with Babu is a quiz-based game inviting users who have a bent of mind more towards questioning and reasoning. Babu, the village boy is fond of reading about HIV/AIDS, has made a resolution to spread HIV/AIDS awareness in his village. The users can play a quiz game with Babu to test their knowledge on HIV/AIDS from a huge database of questions. They have to answer all 10 questions correctly with three lifelines to spare.
Talking about these mobile games, ZMQ’s creative head and chief learning technologist Hilmi said, “One of the effective ways of spreading messages and creating awareness is by Play-and-Learn method, which makes learning not only exciting and engaging but also helps in better enhancement and retention of knowledge. These games will educate mobile subscribers, create awareness and reduce stigma & discrimination”