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politics

Heel, Rogue Ron Paul Supporters!

A few months ago, my studio Persuasive Games made a simple newsgame for CNN, which they published as Presidential Pong. For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, newsgames are a simple type of political game akin to the editorial cartoon.

Presidential Pong wasn't the best newsgame we've ever done (that one was probably Airport Security, a game about the arbitrary nature of TSA screening). But it was effective enough. Released right around the first Presidential debate, the game was intended both to introduce the primary candidates and to satirize the very idea of debate. In Pong, players return tennis volleys. In Presidential Pong, they return campaign volleys. Politics is, as ever, optional.

Since then, we've been getting regular abusive emails and phone calls from Ron Paul supporters.

More »

9:00 AM on Tue Nov 13 2007
By bogost
6,993 views, 178 comments

so what if it's boring?

Ian Bogost Doesn't (Really) Care About Industry Criticism

Ian Bogost is the guy behind a lot of newsgames and training games - and has managed to attract enough attention thanks to some high profile partnerships that he'll be appearing on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report this coming Tuesday. He's also come under some hefty criticism from people both inside and outside the gaming industry - most recently, in a Slate article titled (in part) World of Borecraft. Bogost has already responded to the Slate article, but he digs a little deeper in a new Gamasutra piece that explains his reasoning for just not really caring what the more traditional forces in industry think. Namely, games aren't some monolithic construct that are either/or: either fun or educational, either fun or a total snoozefest, and dammit, there's room for all of them. More »

12:30 PM on Sun Aug 5 2007
By Maggie Greene
1,603 views, 16 comments

Latest by ibogost: @Kyouryuu First, thanks for reading. I'm glad you found some thoughts of interest in the piece. Your question about games vs. simulations is a good one. I don't make a theoretical distinction between the two, in terms of how they function as more »

contests

Make Game, Win Money, Change Health Care

A rather lofty order for a video game, but Changemakers and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are sponsoring a competition and putting up prize money ($15,000 in total) to see who can present a game that will make an impact on health or health care - that doesn't just mean newsgames or the like with varying degrees of interesting content, but even games a la Dance Dance Revolution that (surprise!) turned out to be a novel way to get couch potatoes moving. More »

1:30 PM on Sun Jul 29 2007
By Maggie Greene
910 views, 3 comments

Latest by LunarAura: Wood Johnson... hehe. more »

serious games

Who Said Games Had To Be Fun?

In a stark counterpoint to the Slate editorial entitled 'World of Borecraft,' Gamasutra has their own feature - this one on the rise of serious games and how video games don't have to be fun, at least not if they fall into the 'serious games' category. Talking with some heavy hitters in the serious game development world, they touch on a number of topics - including the sometimes scathing criticism from other parties in the more mainstream gaming worlds and the fact that serious games desperately need a 'success story' to prove their value, since they "mostly grab headlines and have little real impact." More »

1:30 PM on Sun Jul 1 2007
By Maggie Greene
2,809 views, 41 comments

Latest by Ravana: @ffmusicdj: Too true. It's funny and sad when you realize you've had to cheat your way through something you have likely spent upwards of $50 for just to see how it turns out. Unfortunately, generic RPGs pave the more »

edutainment - or not

'World of Borecraft': The Problem With Serious Games?

Slate has a fun (and scathing) article up on 'the problem with serious games' - with companies like Persuasive Games getting quite a lot of press recently, newsgames and 'serious games' have also been getting an increasing amount of press. The problem, Justin Peters says, is that "making games educational is like dumping Velveeta on broccoli. Liberal deployment of the word blaster can't hide the fact that you're choking down something that's supposed to be good for you." Peters concedes there are games like Civilization - fun and educational. More »

11:30 AM on Sat Jun 30 2007
By Maggie Greene
4,893 views, 24 comments

Latest by Papa Midnight: I don't get it, you can learn from games pretty well. Case-in-point, Indigo. If any of you remember that, then you'll know exactly what I mean. more »

politics

Play the Gerrymandering Game!

Via GamePolitics, yet another entry into the world of newsgames/edutainment (I hate that word) - this time on the oh-so-thrilling, yet vitally important issue of redistricting (called, creatively enough, The ReDistricting Game). Well, it's not just politically aware, internet-enabled citizens who are finding out the level of thought that goes into "creative" redistricting; it "was recently shown to members of Congress by Rep. John Tanner (D-TN). Tanner realizes that his colleagues are unlikely to be swayed from the practice, which is less politely known as gerrymandering." More »

2:30 PM on Sun Jun 17 2007
By Maggie Greene
1,447 views, 5 comments

Latest by Do Kesubei: Very interesting game. I really don't pay as much attention to politics - though I should - so this was enlightening to me, who had no idea what Redistricting was. it was easy for me to understand; now I need more »

newsgames

Tabloid Games Are Newsgames, Too?

With the press that 'newsgames' have been getting lately, it's no surprise that people are starting to look at 'tabloid games,' too. Newsgames or not? Are they the virtual equivalent of The National Enquirer? Can you really put a 'Paris Hilton is going to jail!'-themed game on the same level as any of the recent games tackling problems like a global oil crisis, peace in the Middle East, or importing contaminated food? Over at Gameology, they have this to say: More »

12:30 PM on Sun Jun 10 2007
By Maggie Greene
603 views, 8 comments

Latest by excaliburps: @floppylobster: You're telling me. hell where I'm from bundles are so crazy I'd imagine most Western gamers would get a hard-on if they knew about it! =D more »

newsgames

The New York Times Gets Into the Game Publishing Act

The NYT and Persuasive Games have a new relationship, and Times Select subscribers can now get access to 'newsgames' via NYT's editorial pages. While several newsgames have been getting press in recent months, this marks a first for newsgames really going mainstream. The first game published is called "Food Import Folly," with obvious ties to the current tainted imported Chinese goods headlines. More »

9:47 AM on Sat May 26 2007
By Maggie Greene
777 views, 15 comments

newsgames

Persuasive Games Takes on Farming

Ian Bogost writes that his studio, Persuasive Games, just released their latest newsgame, Bacteria Salad. More »