The New York Times has crushed any remaining doubt that political games are slowly creeping into the mainstream. Today's online version of the paper featured a game designed by Persuasive Games, the first offering of a partnership that will see the Times regularly pushing "newsgames" as editorial content on their op-ed pages.
I'm been a fan of Persuasive Games for some time now, and although some of their previous projects have seen mainstream success (Shockwave.com hosted several of their earlier efforts), this new media relationship will place their thought provoking games in the hands of a far more mainstream audience.
Ian Bogost of Persuasive Games is evidently excited, as can be seen on his blog, Water Cooler Games: "This is unprecedented, and at the risk of tooting my own horn, I think it represents another important shift in videogames as a medium. This is news/editorial in videogame form, rather than videogames trying to make news fun. The fact that the Times is often considered the national newspaper of record makes this moment even more notable, and gratifying."
Perhaps the largest downside to all this is that the games are only accessible if you subscribe to the paid TimesSelect service, which makes one all the more skeptical towards the Times' rationale for new content.
Posted by Rob Maguire on May 27, 2007 in
Have you noticed the creeping war drums beating in popular culture? Well one media maker has, and in response to the militarization of pop, has produced a video called Militainment Inc for your downloading pleasure. The video is a 2 hour exposé of the collusion/collaboration between the two not-so-distant cousins, the military and entertainment industries. Roger Stahl, while writing his book, Militainment Inc, decided to write, produce and narrate a quilted video of interviews, news clips and popular entertainment segments, mostly taken from American television and film industries. The result is a compelling nine part series designed for educators in their efforts to disseminate a counternarrative to the Military Entertainment Industrial Complex. Stahl describes the project:
Militainment, Inc. is a nine-part critical investigation of the militarization of popular culture. The pieces of the puzzle - from video games to reality TV - combine to form a larger picture of the integration of entertainment and military affairs. The film asks: How has war taken its place as an entertainment spectacle? and What does this mean for the ability of our democracy to consider this most destructive of human activities?
The best part of all of this is that the media piece is available for download from the project’s site, or through torrent (recommended). Watch, discuss, spread, enjoy.
Posted by Ezra Winton on April 28, 2007 in
Around the Coyote is seeking submissions for group show, Gameplay: Video Games in Contemporary Art Practice. They are looking for artists who use video games to explore identity or place, whose game work results in art objects such as photographs, installations or performances, who engage in gameplay as a site of resistance, as a tool for interactivity or collaboration with other artists, or who see virtual worlds as significant sites of meaning production.
Deadline May 5, 2007
For more information go to Around the Coyote.
Posted by Michael Lithgow on April 27, 2007 in
Have you ever wanted to photocopy your fanny while saving the world? Well now you can, thanks to Turn It All Off, an energy savings game brought to you by the 1E Energy Awareness Campaign. Designed to relieve the boredom of corporate cubicle dwellers, the objective of Turn It All Off is to... well, it's pretty damn obvious.
The game relieves the tedium of otherwise uninspiring environmental responsibility by throwing in puzzles, surprises, a funky organ soundtrack, and the evil twin of The Flash who can't seem to kick his carbon-based fuel cravings.
Having sat through one of Al Gore's evangelical powerpoint presentations last night, this spritely game is incredibly refreshing, if not cathartic. Many thanks to Water Cooler Games, who taught me that the sleepy worker in the first level can be bribed away from her idle PC with a fresh pot of coffee. Let's just hope the beans are fair trade.
Posted by Rob Maguire on March 23, 2007 in
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