The Joystick Is The Root of All Evil

Waab writes "David Yoo, of the Parsons School of Design has taken some time out of his busy schedule to put together one of the funniest sites I've seen all year, Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence. With articles like "EverQuest: A Threat to Society?" and "America's Army: A New Low" (articles currently offline "due to editing"), MAVAV gives worried parents one more senseless cause to rally round. Even Tycho and Gabe love it."

Re:M.A.V.V. is a parody right?

[L-Train8]

Some clues that it is a parody that you might have picked up on:
The "humor" icon of the slashdot story.
The link to Penny Arcade where they say it is a parody.

Yep, it's a hoax.

[Lokatana]

The person who assigned this project might get in a bit of trouble, but, From the project page: [parsons.edu]

December 16, 2002 Final Assignment
Assignment:
Your final project is going to be making a fully functional hoax. The work must:

- exist in the public realm
- be advertised, exposed or introduced to strangers
- be fully documented, strategies include images, movies, sound recording, and interviews
- employ the element of craft (they will be judged on both ambition & effort)
- be fully functional. For example, if the project is a website, you must register the domain name. There should be no connection to this class or to Parsons.

Think hard about why people make hoaxes. I want you not to just have "fun" tricking people, but think about a message or idea you want to convey. What are the strategies for bringing people in? What is your overall message?

Your aim should be to create work which is subtle and effective.

In addition to creating the work, you will be asked to write 3 or more pages documenting your strategy in creating the work. Keep this in mind as you work.