Video game tackles 'serious' urban problems.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: TECHWIRE

* The work force of tomorrow can learn a lot by playing video games today, say the folks at IBM.

The company in October will make available CityOne, a free online game that takes the concepts behind the popular SimCity series and tries to up the real-world ante. IBM's version of the city simulator features problems and solutions that leaders in urban environments actually might encounter when they go to work.

One of the game's scenarios involves a city where water usage increases twice as fast as the population, supplies are becoming strained and possibly polluted, and the municipality is losing almost half of its water through leaky pipes. On top of all that energy costs continue to rise. To complete the mission, the player must come up with a way to deliver the highest water quality at the lowest cost in real time.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"The purpose of this game is to educate," Program Manager Phaedra Boinodiris said. The solutions to the problems presented by CityOne are ones that IBM could help with in real life.

CityOne also...