The fifth annual Games for Change Festival in New York City took place June 2 - 4, 2008. Expert practitioners, such as academics, activists, non-profits, and funders, were called in to examine the impact of current games, evaluations planned and the ongoing work to build the field. Attendees had a chance to see a variety of new games in development first-hand, and at the Games Expo sponsored by Microsoft, festival-goers got to play the play the latest state-of-the-art games.

Now in its sixth year, the Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real world issues. In 2008, Xbox and Games for Change sponsored the Imagine Cup game development track, which encouraged young game developers from around the world to apply their imagination, passion, and creativity towards developing games that can make a difference in the world—today.

Meet the six finalists and their creations by clicking on one of the photos below:

As video games have become a major part of mainstream entertainment, the opportunity to do something socially responsible with the medium has arrived. In 2007, Xbox partnered with Games for Change and Microsoft's Imagine Cup Competition to launch the "Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge," which represent the first time a game development category has been available during the Imagine Cup. Students faced the ultimate test of their creative and technical skills as they created games that are not only entertaining but have a social message about creating a sustainable environment. The theme of Imagine Cup 2008, "Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment," was a challenge to top student technologists around the world to actively contribute to the mission of protecting our world for generations to come. 

Using Microsoft's ground-breaking new XNA Game Studio 2.0, competing students from around the world have been developing their games since September, and the finalists will be announced on May 23. Those finalists will then travel to the Imagine Cup Finals in Paris, France in early July to compete for the Game Development title.

Follow the Games for Change Challenge finalists to the Paris finals right here—we'll be updating the site weekly with new finalist profiles and capturing video footage from The 2008 Games for Change Festival & Expo in New York City to hear more from the socially conscious game development community. We'll also be on the ground from Paris capturing video, photos, and finalists interviews you can see here and on Inside Xbox.

Games for Change is proud to work with Xbox 360 and the Imagine Cup Competition to promote the development of socially conscious games.

One world. Unlimited possibilities. The 2008 World Finals will be held in Paris, France from July 3-8, 2008.

XNA Game Studio 2.0 enables hobbyists, academics, and independent game developers to easily create video games for Windows and Xbox 360® using optimized cross-platform gaming libraries based on .NET. Combined with an active membership in the XNA Creators Club (available from Xbox LIVE® Marketplace), you can also create, debug, and play games on your Xbox 360 console.