When almost all Indian television channels and telecom service providing companies are making money on the response to the anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare, Gujarat based Info Data Soft Technologies [popularly known as IDS Technologies] (http://www.idstonline.com) has found it an innovative way by developing an interactive game to engage people to fight against corruption.
The soon to be launched game which is on trial run, would require intelligence of the gamer where the person would be unearthing the various scams and corruptions already fed into the library of the game.
Christened as “Ralegame” (Ralegam is a small village in Maharashtra which is the work place of Anna Hazare), the game can be played on major Operating Systems like Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Solaris, Unix including IBM and Google Chrome. The Ralegame is also compatible with Mobile applications like Android, BlackBerry OS, Embedded Linux, iphone, Palm OS, Symbian and Windows Mobile.
The game – Ralegame – came as an inspiration from the huge mass support to Anna Hazare to fight against corruption. The mass movement is very similar to the 8th century old English heroic poem – Beowulf. In this saga, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, who has been attacking the resident warriors of the mead hall of Hroogar (the king of the Danes), Grendel’s mother, and an unnamed dragon. After the first two victories, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and becomes king of the Geats.
Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts having very much resemblance with Anna Hazare. Anna Hazare is also putting all his energy, strength and stamina to fight against corruption prevailing in the society. The poet who composed Beowulf, while objective in telling the tale, nonetheless uses a certain style to maintain excitement and adventure within the story while Anna’s fight against corruption is also full of excitement and adventurous.
The person, who would like to play Ralegame, would first indentify himself / herself and then would use an avatar of Anna Hazare who has been projected as a crusader against demons called “corruption” and “scam”. Anna Hazare who in real life an Indian Army veteran, has been vested all power from the masses and equipped with huge arms and ammunitions including artilleries to unearth the scam and punish the real culprit behind the scam immediately.
The gamer have to use his / her strategic intelligence to unearth the scam he / she choose. The domestic version of the game is packed with all major scams starting from 1948 to latest Commonwealth Games Scam. The library includes scams like Jeep Purchase (1948), BHU Funds (1956), Mundhra Scandal (1957), Teja Loans (1960), Kuo Oil Deal (1976), HDW Commissions (1987), Bofors Pay-Off (1987), St Kitts Forgery (1989), Airbus Scandal (1990), Securities Scam (1992), Indian Bank Rip-off (1992), Sugar Import (1994), JMM Bribes (1995), Telecom Scam (1996), Fodder Scam (1996), Urea Deal (1996), CRB Scam (1997), Vanishing Companies Scam (1998) to IPO Demat Scam (2005), Scorpene Submarine Scam (2005), Punjab City Centre Project Scam (2006), Taj Corridor Scam (2006), Hassan Ali Tax default (2008), The Satyam Scam (2008), Army ration pilferage scam (2008), The 2-G Spectrum allocation scam (2008), Illegal money in Swiss Bank (2008), Orissa and Karnataka Mining Scams (2009), Madhu Koda Scam (2009) to latest Commonwealth Games Scam.
The beauty of the Ralegame is that each scam is having a money tag. The more the scams are unearthed and culprits are punished, the user will have a chance to win more and more points. Here points are not only mere points or virtual currency, points can be encashed by converting into physical and real currency and not cash in virtual. IDS Technologies, with support from various sponsor and partners, would send the money through a bank cheque as a payment directly to the postal address of the gamer.
The NASSCOM-E&Y study shows that the global gaming market was estimated at USD 36 billion in 2008 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.5 per cent to reach USD 53.6 billion by 2012. The Indian gaming industry was estimated at USD 167 million in 2008 and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 49 per cent to reach USD 830 million by 2012.
In 2008, the console gaming segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the Indian gaming market, followed by mobile gaming, online gaming and PC gaming. In 2012, console gaming is expected to retain market share and still account for the largest share of the Indian gaming market, followed by mobile gaming, online gaming and finally PC gaming.
Industry insiders opine that in the next two years, this market will grow faster with the arrival of games based on local stories.
After Mumbai attack in 2008, we have seen various gaming companies have developed games keeping in mind the social plot while portraying terrorist Ajmal Kasav as a villain. Apart from Mumbai attack, Mumbai Underworld and Yes Prime Minister are another two games based on corruption and scam.
Mumbai Underworld is a a game that lets players buy a house in the Adarsh Housing Society by paying off politicians and police while Yes Prime Minister, a game released on Ibibo on April 1 this year soared from 50 thousand to 150 thousand players in just days thanks to Hazare's apparently inspiring efforts.
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