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Campaign-Themed Video Games?
An Anonymous Coward writes: "Gov. Jesse Ventura has come up with a 'great' way to get his campaign message to the younger demographics. 'The Ventura game -- or collection of games -- would be entertaining, 100-percent political and distributed free to voters as campaign literature, he says.' Wow, I can't wait, I haven't been this excited since Avoid the Noid from Dominos Pizza came out." Too bad video games aren't considered protected speech.
Nowadays, we have games that advertise for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson, boy bands, Britney Spears, etc. I think using video games in politics is actually a step up?
PS: Does anyone know if Jesse Ventura is in the PS2 game "Legends of Wrestling"? This might mark his second video-game appearance...
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
After hearing about this new Britney Spears video game, I have become consumed with the idea of Video Game Satires. If one were to make a video game where, say, the objective is to traverse through America as Britney Spears, selling addictive pink bubble gum to urban teens, could I use her likeness without her permission?
-- PK
Electronic campaigning isn't exactly a new world for Mr. Ventura. Just see How Jesse Ventura Used the Internet to Win the Election. He certainly went beyond banner ads, folks. I guess his 'innovation' (I hate how that word has become so tired) has brought him into a new frontier of campaigning.
I really like Jesse Ventura. He shakes up things! And he usually has a good point of view. For instance, pointing out that he's disappointed in Bush because "Bush wants to control everything from Washington, never mind what the states think, or have voted for, twice; he said he was for federalism, but apparently he's not" (paraphrase) in reference to recent medical-marijuana and assisted-suicide laws.
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
"Gov. Jesse Ventura has come up with a 'great' way to get his campaign message..."
"In the meantime, the video game idea is still in its talking stages, and Ventura hasn't yet been approached with the suggestion."
Shouldn't that say "...Ventura's campaign committee..."?
Just a clarification...
Jeremy Baumgartner
This can become a great example for the next time games are challenged in court. Political speach is at the very core of what the 1st Amendment is intended to protect. By censoring or banning games courts would now be placing prior restraint on political speach.
1) Campaign spending is a growth industry.
2) This idea takes some of the large pool of campaign money and funnels it to deserving computer geeks.
3) More money spent on deserving geeks means less time to be unemployed and griping.
j.
SlashDot writes "Too bad video games are not protected speech". Please don't put out negative, pessimistic vibes like that when it is way too premature, lest by propagating them they become true!
Video games ARE protected speech. Just because a single judge two days ago makes an unsupportable ruling like that is not sufficient to make it so. That is not enough to be settled law! It applies only in that small jurisdiction (St. Louis) until it is overturned on appeal, and then it won't apply anywhere in the US! It may be true that governments can place restrictions on minors access to certain forms of video games, but they also do so on books, magazines, and films without denying that those are protected forms of free speech. One judge saying so does not make it so.
So, project a positive strong attitude when it comes to our inherent rights, and don't let negative thinking undermine all the good work on rights you do here Slashdot!
The game of Go (Igo, Weiqi, Baduk) has the simplest concept and the deepest play.
I remember there was a game on the BBC Micro where you got to be Prime Minister - only way I could get elected again after five years was to bankrupt the country though! I can't remember what it was called though. Anyone else remember?
Video Game cheats, hints a
I know I would vote for him and any other ex or current pro wrestler for president or Senate/House seats.
These guys would do a better job that anything the Republican or Democratic part can dig up... I am sick of the Ultra-old and ultra-rich being the only ones who get to run the country...
If the wrestlers cant get in, then let's try the Actors Guild, or maybe Lars from metallica might want to give it a shot... Oh wait... H'e exaclty like the Old farts we have in congress now... Narrow minded puppet of industry..
Hmmmm... anyone got any other ideas?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Anyway, to get back on topic, computers are definately great campaign tools. The amount of information that could be conveyed through handing out cd-roms (think aol) is enormous. I'm not sure games are the right way to go though; it's tough to make a fun game. It's harder to make a fun, educational game. It's damn near impossible to make a fun, educational game in the kind of time the programmers are likely to have before the election. A lame game seems likely to do a lot more harm than a fun game would do good.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
When it's done.
Gee, I wish the Rock would run for president. Or maybe Mr.T... Yeah.
"I Pity the foo who messes with Isreal! I pity em!
"I've come for the biological weapons... And your HEAD."
Ronald Regan turned out to be a pretty good president, but I just can't see Ventura as presidential material... And as much maligned as Bush is, the Texas Governship is no picnic. The governer actucal has to sign off on the execution of inmates.. I don't care what you say; That can't be an easy thing to do.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Normally I look down on the professional wrestling. I mean you got a couple guys in underwear grabbin' each other. ewwww. But even though Ventura was/is a wrestler doesn't mean he aint a bad guy. The interesting thing I wonder is advertising free speech? And if advertising is free speech, then wouldn't a video game with an ad in it be free speech? Then wouldn't any computer program with an ad in it be free speech? That could be good and bad the way I see it. Another case of a great idea coming from an unlikely source.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 + Pizza Hut.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
My apologies for not running my last post through a spellchecker. I do have significant trouble spelling, and was almost held back in school for it till I was diagnosed with a learning disorder that related to my ability to read and spell. I have stuck a Post-It note on my monitor's edge that reads 'SPEECH not speach' so I will remember next time. =)
(This post is spellchecked for your pleasure)
There's definitely truth in this. The seniority system anywhere, whether in public schools or factory floors or Congress, should be abolished and replaced with some sort of meritocracy plan.
And they only had to work half the year every year! It's absurd. If any public school teachers ever did a day of REAL work, they'd die.
Half the year? What? Are you trolling for flames, or just misinformed? Summer vacation in the USA lasts about 3.5 months, add in spring+winter breaks to get about 4 months. That gives a work year of 8 months, 2/3 of a year. And many teachers put in time teaching summer school, as well as going beyond the 8-hour day with extracurricular activities and providing extra tutoring.
As for the "REAL work" comment, you've obviously never tried to teach. Dealing with 25-30 people under 18 who have varying intelligence levels, varying interest levels, and varying degrees of homicidal mania isn't exactly easy. There are plenty of bad teachers, as described here, but there are also plenty of dedicated professionals who want to help kids learn, and who typically invest plenty of their own time and money doing so. Don't tar all public schoolteachers with the same brush.
Give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he's the center of the universe.
Image a Warcraft-like game where the resources (oil, forests) are modeled after their real-life counterparts. You'd gain a whole new perspective on drilling for oil in the middle east, africa, or alaska. You could use the buildings and vehicles to explain concepts about how our government works.
If he used the game to educate people about the issues, then made analogies to the game to explain his stance on them, it would be a great way to get people more involved in elections. Granted, it'll probably be more like the fast-food games mentioned in other posts, and from the article, it seems like it'll be more like a collection of mpgs than a game, but don't knock it just yet.
c-hack.com |
Off the issues, he does say some pretty stupid things sometimes. He made a career out of antagonizing people as a "bad guy" in professional wrestling. I think he enjoys it. At least you know what he's thinking because, for better or worse, he usually pretty blunt about his opinion. I prefer it to the meaningless pre-written crap that you get from most politicians.
Judge rules games offer no conveyance of ideas, expression, or anything else that could possibly amount to speech
I expect he's in favor of his privacy. I never heard that he was in favor of anyone else's.
He had quite a bad reputation on a large number of fronts before he was ever nominated. I suspect that it played a large part in his getting the nomination. (I.e., either he was nominated because he was willing to do that kind of stuff, he was nominated as a payoff, or both. I suspect both.)
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
But consider how much better that is than what we got for a president.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
One measely judge in the most backwards big city in America, that's who...
Having political campaigns use interactive software (e.g. video games) to spread the word only helps the cause that video games and software are protected speech! Over the years the Supremes have protected peaceful political speech in many many situations where non-political speech could've been constitutionally prohibited.
Who did what now?
Yes, many do run extra curricular activities, summer school, and so forth, but they get paid extra for that. Yet I've never heard of that extra pay being counted when people complain about how low teaching salaries are.
Now I'm not saying there aren't good teachers. In fact, if bad teachers got fired, and good teachers could get paid more based on merit, instead of seniority, no doubt many of them would deserve a good deal more. But, so long as the teachers unions hold sway, the quality will remain low, and the salaries should remain likewise.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
Firstly while they are only teaching classes for lets say 7 hours a day they are there helping students and getting things organized well beyond that. My father is a teacher and he and most of the other teachers go in an hour or more before school and stay at LEAST an hour after, often 2 or more. Plus they put in a hell of a lot of time preparing for classes and correcting test, homework, etc. When I get a job I should sure as hell hope that my employer feels it neccessary to pay me for the time I spend looking into the best way to design something or heaven forbid Checking my calculations. Secondly, the "Extra pay" teachers get for extracurriculars is just a little bit above jack squat. My dad coaches the Math Team which consists of an average of about 8-10 hours of extra time per week for half to 2/3 of the year. And for all this he gets a whopping $50, wow I think I should change professions with giant bonuses like that.