'Extinction sucks'

Amy Tucker, Xeko creator

With the July 21 deadline quickly approaching, Xeko is calling on "animal supporters" to become a voice for the 19,808 threatened species on earth, by announcing “Extinction Sucks." Xeko has started a petition page, extinctionpetition.org, to allow supporters to sign and take arms. Xeko creator and game designer Amy Tucker hosted the following stylized press conference announcing the petition earlier this week in San Francisco.

 

 

The petition is designed to raise awareness and to remind us that the world is an inner-connected wonder,” Tucker said at the press conference. "We are all in this together."

 

Tucker was a panelist at the 2007 Sustainable Industries Economic Forum in Seattle, and she was featured in the September 2007 Sustainable Industries article, "Trading cards that matter."

The Xeko team along with a group of supporters in costumes as endangered animals took to the San Francisco streets this past weekend with a "flash mob" to protest their potentially imminent extinction and to draw attention to the effort:

 

 

Originally launched in 2006, Xeko (pronounced “zeeko”) was "specifically created to raise awareness for the amazing and endangered creatures that inhabit our earth, inspire future eco-leaders, and empower people, everywhere, to join together and make a difference through positive play.Xeko delivers engaging game play and an exciting adventure that ignites imaginations and sends the next generation of heroes on an adventure to save the world.The Xeko Motto: Be a Force of Nature!"

 

Tucker explained Xeko turned to Kickstarter because games are expensive to produce and its core stakeholders have taken the project as far as they can on their own. To keep their talented team together, develop the digital interface and trading platform, and finish the project and get it to market requires one final push, she said.

 

If its goal is achieved, Kickstarter funding for the new Xeko will go toward development of online, social networks and mobile platforms, making Xeko more interactive, more viral, and more available to the entire world, including players from the very hot spots that the animals call home. A video highlighting Tucker's story, as well as the impact of the recent recession on Xeko, can be found on Xeko's Kickstarter campaign page.

 

Michael Williams, founder of Oomba, and Nolan Bushnell, its advisor regarded as the "father of the video game industry," were instrumental in helping Amy Tucker recover Xeko. Following is Bushnell's video endorsement of Tucker and Xeko.