Flash Games as Political Commentary

Clive Thompson writes "All over the net, there are little shockwave games inspired by political events -- from the WTO-style New York Defender to War on Terrorism to even Downing Street Fighter (where British politicians beat each other senseless, Street-Fighter-Style). Sure, like most Shockwave-generated stuff, they may suck as games. But that's missing the point. What's happening here is nothing less than the emergence of the online video game as a form of social comment -- something you dash off in a couple of hours to make a sardonic political point about something. It's a new notepad for communication. Or at least, that's what I argued in this piece in Slate today. In addition to the craven self-promotion of sending it in to Slashdot, I'm interested in hearing what everyone thinks of this issue. After all, courts have recently been arguing that video games cannot be protected speech; these games make it patently obvious that this view is insane." The columnist missed a better example of the genre - the EFF's game of digital restrictions management.

Isn't a sign of the times...

and of our continuing infantilism that our political views are expressed through games?

Re:Isn't a sign of the times...

It seems to be far more than political views, and I don't think it's infantile at all.

I think it's very fair to say that these 'games' have grown directly out of political cartoons. In fact, it's quite easy to view them as interactive political cartoons. Just as the political cartoon overstated the nuances of reality, the games are pointing out a piece of the reality -- the only difference is that you get to play it.

I think the most telling point is the end of the article -- it's not supposed to be a a good game. People are just taking advantage of the medium, as they did with cartoons.

Re:Isn't a sign of the times...

[Isn't a sign of the times...] and of our continuing infantilism that our political views are expressed through games?

Oh, I don't know. I much prefer political views expressed through games than, say, political views expressed through Dick Cheney.

On a bit of a tangent, I'm waiting in horror for the day when Cheney comes storming up to the podium, sweating like a pig, chanting and clapping:

"in-VADE-Iraq! in-VADE-Iraq! Say it with me!
in-VADE-Iraq! in-VADE-Iraq! in-VADE-Iraq! in-VADE-Iraq! in-VADE-Iraq! in-VADE-Iraq! in-VADE-Iraq!
Whoooooo!!!
Yeahhh!!!"

Watch those links

Ummm, I clicked the 'War on Terrorism' link- I might have gotten the game- I don't know because I restarted my machine to expedite the closing of about half a dozen adult site popups. Can we check these out before our friends who might be reading from work stumble into them? I know better than to click on a link in a post, but this was *in the article*.

if political cartoons are protected, why not this?

I see most flash programming as a big cartoon. If people can make political statements in cartoons, how does making the "cartoon" interactive remove its rights for free speech?

I think that law makers just don't like the fact that we can go around killing them w/lightning and nail guns.

Good Lord

Someone, somewhere has cloned Jon Katz.

Nothing new

Many would argue that a lot of games have always been a form of social commentary - not just cheap flash ones. Most "art" is.

Fallout, Civilization, Alpha Centauri, GTA, etc...

(Disclaimer: Haven't read the article yet, this may be completely redundant - if it is, mod me to oblivion :)

One social commentary game...

that has grabbed my attention is Dance Dance Karnov [somethingawful.com]. This game has changed the way I think about fat, naked, Russian, ex-carnival persons in our society. For example, what is the impetus of having large sweaty men wear tassles on their nipples? How would the size of a mutant Godzilla-fish thing impact the stock market? This requires further analysis.

I got jypped!

"WTO-style New York Defender"

And here I was hoping I got to run around in riot gear beating tree-hugging hippies senseless... I call false advertising on this one!

Analogy

Printing Press

is to Newspaper as Flash SDK is to Flash Program

In my humble opinion, it's just another method of providing content to a viewer. Not everything printed in on paper is protected speach, just as not everything found on the internet is protected.

Suppose I make a game where the goal is to go around shooting politicians; its just as poor taste if I decided to print "paper dolls" of the pol's along with text encouraging you to cut them into pieces. What is the point that you are trying to make in either case?

But, suppose I wrote a game called "Fur Fighters" where the object is to throw cans of paint on people wearing furs? Thats much more aligned with a political message...

In short, its not the delivery medium that matters, it all comes down to the value of the content.

I wrote...

... a little game as a protest (of sorts) against the Australian government's policy on, uh, unsolicited refugee landings. For what it's worth (which isn't much, given my game design skills), it can be found here [pacific.net.au].

Who says code isn't speech?

Lack of historical perspective

This is an example of what I think of as "Wired journalism". Everything is new, exciting, revolutionary. No historical perspective is given - there is no historic continuum, everything is a new. Of course in the real world very few things are a revolution, things change slowly, most ideas have been around for centuries but every new generation thinks it's got all the good ideas.

Where is the wise analysis from journalists with a historical perspective and knowledge outside their tiny specialisms? I'm getting bored of all this sensationalist stuff.

Mark Fiore

Been noticing that over at SF Gate [sfgate.com] with Mark Fiore's [sfgate.com] stuff. Heavy handed political cartoonist whose pieces are often presented in a flash game format.

These are some poor examples

There are games out there that slip a little social thought into the plotline; Deus Ex's prescient consideration of "How much will people tolerate in the name of fighting terrorism?" is the first thing that comes to my mind.

But what is the political commentary of "New York Defender" and "War on Terrorism" supposed to be? "Terrorism bad!"? "We need a system of powerful anti-aircraft lasers mounted outside all major cities!"? "Man, it'll be great to beat the crap out of bin Laden!"?

New medium, old idea.

Using crude artwork to express a political concern or viewpoint has been going on for hundreds of years. They were originally called 'editorial cartoons'. While today's updated version adds sounds and interactivity, the purpose and message are the same.

What we have here is an author that seems to have graduated from the John Katz school of technology journalism; Lets make a big deal about some 'gee wiz' new technology that translates something that's been done for ages into the digital world, but lets forget to mention it's been done for ages.

The revolutionary aspect of politically motivated video games is really a non-issue. The revolutionary aspect is in that anyone who does it can get it distributed easily. The author sort of missed the point on this too. From the article:

This material would have been unheard of a few years back, when only corporations could afford to code video games

Not so. I was coding video games back in the 80s on my old Apple //e. They were crude, and in retrospect, not very fun, but I was hardly a big corporation, but they were, indeed, games. The difference is, when I finished the only method of distribution I had was swapping floppy disks the next day on the playground with a handful of my nerdy friends.

A crudely produced political video game is just as easily to make by the common man as a crudely drawn etching of a political cartoon was to produce 150 years ago. The types of messages aren't different, but today the common man can get his or her work viewed by thousands, if not millions of people with little or no cost.

And here is where the author misses the boat! It doesn't matter if they are political video games, self published manifestos, communities based on a common interest... These are all nothing new. What's new is the way these publications can be created and distributed by the common man with no corporation behind him or her.

It would be as if somebody wrote an article about websites like Slashdot and said 'Gee wiz! Look, today people can now make critical comments or discuss magazine articles', forgetting to mention that nearly every magazine prior to the Internet had a page for feedback and reader mail, and that the articles were discussed around the dinner table. The only real difference is now I can write this in 5 minutes, post it, and it will be scanned over by thousands, perhaps even read by 50 or 60 people. Now THAT'S the revolution I like and wish were looked at by writers more thoughtful and critical then myself.

What the hell?

What the hell is up with /. lately?

A direct link to a program that will crash a windows box.

A story about how to illegally make your own cisco box using warez.

Links inside a story that have PORN POP UP ADDS.

The days of my reading slashdot while at work are numbered. Are you intentionally trying to drive away your reader base? Is news just that slow?

Admitted, slashdot is not the greatest news source out there, but occasionally you can find a gem or two amongst the articles... but with crap like this, it's not worth it.

Punditry 101: Strip-mining, Karma-whoring & Cl

[NOTE: posted on behalf of another Slashdotter who fears professional repercussions]

In addition to the craven self-promotion of sending it in to Slashdot, I'm interested in hearing what everyone thinks of this issue.

Ah, yes. Craven self-promotion and karma-whoring wrapped neatly in a mock self-deprecating tone designed to defuse any criticism. Classic Clive.

What you forgot to mention was WHY you are interested in hearing what everyone thinks of this issue.

For those who are unfamiliar with the esteemed Mr. Thompson's work, he seems to have a history of strip-mining the ideas of people he meets to fuel his lecture-circuit, TV appearances and column-fodder. Those people instantly become his so-called 'friends'. That wouldn't be quite so bad if one could be sure that there was any consistency in attributing those ideas to their respective sources instead of conveniently presenting them (uncredited) as pearls of wisdom from the Oracle of Clive.

[Ed.] The columnist missed a better example of the genre - the EFF's game of digital restrictions management.

Those familiar with Thompson's work already know that he has a history of frequently missing all kinds of things that are evident to people who actually try to be diligent about researching the stories they write.

If the criticism sounds harsh (to some degree) it's meant to. After observing him for some years, he's not quite as bad as some of his pseudo-intellectual contemporaries because his work sometimes rises to the level of being competent. But being damned with faint praise such as that is hardly cause for joy.

Clive, the last thing the world needs right now is yet another self-annointed technology pundit.