Developer, visionary, and optimist Jane McGonigal will be kicking off this year’s PAX East in Boston with her keynote “to inspire gamers to create a better world,” no doubt inspired by her recent book Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. McGonigal is a games developer and researcher focusing on collective gaming and how our experience with the medium can help us solve our real life problems. Most gamers will recognize her as Community Lead on I Love Bees, the viral marketing alternate reality game for Halo 2. Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade said, “every gamer knows the kind of passion and dedication we bring to the games we love. The idea that we can take this and direct it outward to the real world is something we’ve always believed in. Jane’s message is something that will inspire and hopefully provoke us all toward greater action.”
I’ve been to the last three Penny Arcade Expos but never attended a keynote. As games are usually getting in the way of my motivation, this talk may get me to finally attend one. PAX East will take place in Boston Massachusetts from Friday March 11 to Sunday March 13, 2011. Be on the lookout for your favorite Warp Zoned writers running loose in the wild.
