As much clout as baseball boasts within the American zeitgeist, it can be argued rather persuasively that video games have supplanted the national pastime in the minds of modern kids. With some 97 percent of kids playing video games, it’s no wonder Collin Caneva saw the medium’s potential for educating children about real world problems. Along with a slew of other partners, the CEO of Green Bein’ Productions launched Kid Command, a massively-multiplayer online world with a positive ecological message.

“We wanted to give kids an online experience, instead of just having them play games to earn money to buy virtual stuff,” Caneva said. “We wanted it to be a global virtual world, to take them all over the planet and show them things they might not otherwise see. We needed to take them beyond the textbooks, though — put in challenge, put in games, put in fun activities.”

Among other things, Caneva said he was frustrated with the way games targeted to kids focused almost exclusively on conspicuous consumption: completing repetitive tasks to earn digital currency to purchase a whole host of items that didn’t really exist. With Kid Command, he said he hopes kids will enjoy playing, but more importantly, will stop to think about the world around them. After launching in beta last year, Kid Command now has enough of its virtual world established to allow kids to enter and explore. And once Green Bein’ implements additional development software, Caneva added, players can expect a barrage of new content in a very short amount of time.

“The technology in this industry moves very quickly — the new software will help us keep up with what kids want,” said Deana Ward, Green Bein’ vice president. “We want to get kids out of their backyard into the world, give them a view they don’t have in their normal, everyday lives.”

Kid Command virtual world

So far, some 7,000 kids and parents have logged on to Kid Command, according to Ward, with an explosive 700 percent population spike during January and February of this year. Coinciding with its global message, the game is the product of a worldwide effort. Teaming up with a graphic artist from South America and a flash programmer from Iran, Kid Command’s in-house design team has produced nearly a dozen environmentally proactive mini-games to encourage children to think critically about the Earth’s current problems.

“Kids today are spending time outside less and less and less — we want Kid Command to be a tool to take kids back outside, to educate them about how majestic and beautiful nature is,” Ward said. “We can show them what happens when coral dies, we can show them the animals who are affected. When the motivation is internal rather than external, that’s when things happen. You can tell a kid to recycle, but if you show them plastic floating in the ocean, where there is more garbage than marine life, it goes right to their hearts.”

To reach as wide an audience as possible, Green Bein’ has partnered with other like-minded organizations, including collaborating with upcoming PBS show Enviropals. Kid Command has also been feature on the gaming portal Primary Games. But the best advertising, said Caneva, is simply word-of-mouth, “kids at recess telling other kids about the game, asking, ‘What’s your login name?’”

“One thing I’ve learned is there are so many resources available right here in Lincoln that can be utilized without outsourcing to different states – there’s so much talent here,” he said. “(Game development) is definitely an industry where fun needs to guide the way. It’s not an ordinary job where you come in around 7 and stay ’til 5; it’s more relaxed work. I learned there are obviously the stresses of owning a business, but it’s so much fun it just doesn’t feel like work.”