Ed Annunziata loves the ocean.
“I can hear the waves right now!” he tells me from his home on the coast of Northern California. “I knew when I moved from New York that I needed to live by the ocean. I’ve always been enthralled by the dichotomy of its beauty and the dangers it harbors. What’s more terrifying than something swimming from the darkness towards you? Yet, what’s more gorgeous than a coral reef teeming with life?”
It’s an idea reflected in Annuziata’s games, most notably, Ecco, his beloved series about a dolphin fighting to save the ecosystem and his species from mysterious aliens and human oppression. It is often considered one of the first environmental ocean games, but even Ecco couldn’t predict the threat that would be posed by plastic pollution.
“When I walk on the beach I see plastic bottles and wrappers left behind by weekend beach visitors,” says Annunziata. “It’s heartbreaking to see knowing that plastic trash will be floating around in the ocean for 1000 years.”
Plastic is a problem, and the same is true for the video game industry. Whether it’s our consoles, our PCs, our game packaging, or just a water bottle you happen to throw away at a convention – it isn’t solely our responsibility, but we undoubtedly bear some of the blame.
“Plastic is useful. It’s hard wearing. It’s safe. It’s known. The manufacturers are known. The costs are known. The retailers can rack it and stack it. It’s used everywhere,” explains Miles Jacobson, studio director of Sports Interactive. “Physical games are not the only place in the chain where plastic is used. And it’s crazy to think that game downloads equals no plastic. There is plastic in your consoles, your computer, your modem, the cables. Plastic is everywhere. And, again, it’s useful.”