C-Span meets 'Sims': New game lets you run your own campaign
By Sid Lipsey
CNN Headline News
(CNN) -- Some people think that the only time politics is entertaining is when President Bartlet says something cheeky on "The West Wing." But real-life politics really can be fun, as long as you see it for what it has become: a game.
Modern politics is little more than a high-stakes competition in which two (sometimes three) combatants try to punch, counterpunch and outmaneuver their opponents, such as in the presidential election where the victor gets to stand on that Capitol Hill stage on Inauguration Day.
The politics-as-game mentality is what drives "The Political Machine," a new CD-ROM from Ubisoft and Stardock Entertainment.
"The Political Machine" gives you the chance to run the presidential campaign of either a real-life political figure -- such as President Bush, John Kerry, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton -- or one you design yourself. You can choose your opponent, have the computer do it for you or go up against other politicos online.
With a virtual map of the United States as the field of play, you and your candidate crisscross the nation raising funds, making speeches, dealing with the media and launching and/or responding to negative attacks.
You can also employ political operatives such as "The Money Man" or the mudslinging "Scandal Monger." The object is to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
This may be a game but it's no fantasy. "[The Political Machine] has to be accurate to be fun," says Stardock's Brad Wardell. And accurate it is; the game takes place in a political environment that mirrors the one in which the real-life President Bush and John Kerry are battling.
Terrorism, the war in Iraq and outsourcing are all key issues your candidate will have to deal with. And certain issues and tactics play better in some states than in others. Making a speech in Florida accusing your opponent of being anti-Social Security will probably help you. Delivering an anti-death penalty speech in Texas probably won't.
One might presume a game like this would be a computerized civics lesson that's about as stimulating as a congressional budget hearing. Fortunately, "The Political Machine" maintains an entertaining and slightly satirical tone. And the graphics and artwork are rendered in a bright, colorful style straight out of the Sunday comics.
 Your candidate will have to field questions on "Barry King Live," "The O'Malley Factor" and "HardHitter." |  |
Political junkies will almost certainly find "The Political Machine" as addictive as football fans find "Madden 2005." And for the casual gamer, "The Political Machine" may provide a diverting and educational change of pace.
"It's fun to make a game where you're not killing stuff," Waddell jokes. True enough. But deploying a Scandal Monger to drive down an opponent's positive ratings, and then launching a blistering two-week attack ad campaign to finish him off, can provide the same primal thrill as blasting aliens in a first-person-shooter game.
And unlike alien shoot-`em-ups, "The Political Machine" reflects a reality that may either amuse or alarm you: that there are people who get paid to play this game in real life.
