Slashdot Mirror
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.
geeks always think that what they are doing is more important and has more social relevance than it is. Where Katz when you need him?
love is just extroverted narcissism
and of our continuing infantilism that our political views are expressed through games?
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
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*.
Eagles may fly, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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.
Because of it's bloated transfers, and awkward interface into existing browser structures. However, it recently occoured to me, that this is more because of the fact that Flash is integrated into existing browsers. HTTP really isn't designed for multiple, branched file downloads - 1 compressed file is much more suiting to it. How much better would flash be if it had it's own 'browser' which didn't rely on plugins to include content, and it's own 'http protocol', which cut out all the unneeded crap...
Sure, they make games for political commentary. Using something originally intended for entertainment to send a political viewpoint was especially popular in communist Russia, where criticizing the government was forbidden -- so there was a case of a famous playwright (the name is escaping me), who made his plays social commentary hidden through clever metaphors. It was, of course, apparent to the audience what was going on, just like it is in these games.
Surely, that does also show how our society continues catering to the lowest common denominator - instead of having an intelligent debate about something, we'll make a pretty game about it. The endless dumbing down of homo sapiens.
/gleffler
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."
I have been noticing this trend. There is a little Tinsel Town video on Eff.org that demonstrates this. I hope it continues to catch on so the courts will realize how foolish it is NOT to protect the artistic, educational, often useful (math blasters/diet programs/financial) and thought provoking programs ppl can come up with.
I found Shockwave quite spooky with his single yellow eye-thingy. I reckon he could have really kicked ass if he got mad.
I think Xbill is a perfect example of the genre. I like to play it just after having to troubleshoot a windows 2000 machine. I have 35 linux machines and 4 windows 2000 machines on our network. 80% of my administration chores go to support those 4 machines. I'm not a full time admin, I'm a developer at this rate if we ditch the Win2k and go 100% linux, I could still support up to 100 machines part time. Xbill is my game!!!!!
The first I remember was Urban 75's (Hi Mike!) slap-a-politician game in '97 (around the same time as their infamous slap-a-spice-girl). But in this google post, Mike says he nicked the idea from a US site - anybody know what it was?
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.
;P
Whoa, settle down Katz, their just games
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
Someone, somewhere has cloned Jon Katz.
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
From the article: These games aren't trying to get you hooked or make your thumbs sore. They're trying to make you think.
I don't think the games are trying to make anyone think. I think they are a byproduct of tech guys feeling hatred at an enemy, and choosing to make games rather than pick up a gun and fight.
It might be interesting to think about our culture as reflected in this trend, but thinking is (IMO) an unintended by-product.
"The girl makes Godot look punctual." -- Buffy
...the emergence of the online video game as a form of social comment...
Does it mean that the next "killer app" (al least here in italy) will be "Hunt for the Corrupt Deputy" or (thinkin' about their side) "Escape from the Jail"??
Apple iProduct. Non importa cosa sia, lo comprerete!
I seem to recall a time a year or two back when the "in" thing was to have a flash "game" on your website called "PUNCH THE (fill in pop-culture target here)"- wether it was teh Spice girls, or the backstreet boys, or NYSNC* (yeah that's right!). So the current trend of Polititcally charged flash games are a riff on a riff!
Regardless I think this is nothing new. Comedy works best when it takes a spin on reality (as a friend of mine said, its the gradient of a society)- yes its an oversimplification but thats its point. It elicits a view by reducing a topic down to a short soundbyte, forcing the audience to "reconcile" this oversimplification.
It helps that these games are easy to create, much like a one strip cartoon. Since they are quick to make they can remain topical and quickly be "thrown away" a few weeks later.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
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
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
--Chag
"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!
you thnk that polititions arn't efected by cartoons?
my my your the nieve one its the white middle class who vote most so to make a political comment you have to adress there issues
I can't believe slashdot has become a forum for those in the know, and with connections, to shamelessly plug their articles and websites. Blech!
Do not click on that second link if your at work. Especially if your boss is near. One word..... "ITPOPSUPAPORNWINDOW"
At least mine (clicks) were blocked from our proxy guardian!
Apple iProduct. Non importa cosa sia, lo comprerete!
Based on flash/shockwave....
Elian Deportation
You crazy man? You piss off supahfly!
Having a silly shoot-'em-up where you shoot "evil terrorists" isn't a commentary at all. Commentary points things out. Commentary presents a view. Commentary is intended to make people think.
These games do not have the subtlety of a good political cartoon. Hell, even a bad political cartoon (such as you might see in USA Today *shudder*) makes more of a statement than "I wanna beat up Bin Laden".
The best example of a political cartoon in Flash form are the "Napster Bad!" line of cartoons on Camp Chaos. The one with Sheryl Crow and Nutty McShithead ("MP3s: Good or Goblin") is hilarious.
bytesmythe
Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
-- Scott Meyer
Slashdot, subdivision of VA Software, no longer content to "slashdot" cheap html+jpg websites, changed their business model. Now they crash heavily loaded flash sites.
CEO Rob Malda commented : "yes, with the diminishing eployment, less techies have less occasions to waist [sic] corporate time on websurfing so banner income stagnated. So we had to cut costs and involve much simpler slashdottings"
Unless I'm completely off my sodding nut, the Establishment (what we SubGeniuses call the Conspiracy) loves such expressions of contempt for all the defusing of political energy that they accomplish. That, and voter turnouts dropping even further. Let the public be angry but helpless-feeling little wankers, cooped up in their homes and workplaces, while the real work of world hegemony gets done by the elite (no, not the 1337). Oh, here's another little outlet for all that outrage -- a Flash game called "Kick the Politico Up the Arse". I propose that things like this be called inrages -- designed to keep the outrage firmly up your own backside.
[also misbehaves on Kuro5hin as Peahippo]
there are more black men in prison than in college
At the risk of pointing out the obvious, there are more black men in the age range usually seen in prison (say 17-65) then in the age range normally seen in college (say 18-22) too...
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.
In response to yesterday's michael bashing, I'd like to point out that the eff DRM game was quite interesting and a good inclusion.
How did you score?
karma whore by design.
Anything you say will be held against you.
No, of course not, you're just blowing hot air.
According to the US Supreme Court they can selectivly restrict *any* speech as they see fit.
This makes the first admendment, and perhaps the whole constitution null and void.
At the least its being violated right and left by our so-called leaders. And the public is FOR this.
Dont you people see it ? When will you finally get sick of it all and say NO.. Its time to stand up and stop this before its too late..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
thanks for the porno link. I'm at work and I clicked on the war on terrorism link and got a couple porno popups. Thanks slashdot.
A voting drive? Now where am I going to get the cash for a truckload of "complimentary" cigarettes?
How much time will you spend on reading a political pamphlet, or listening to a political speech?
Compare this to the amount of time you would spend on a game, with some political content.
If these numbers are the same, then neither is really more effective than the other, on you.
But, I'm willing to wager that for a large number of people, they'd spend more time on the game than the pamphlet. The time spent translates into mindshare. In other words, if people spend a lot of time on an item, they are more likely to tel others about it.
Thus, for many people, they represent a good way to get a message across.
They are _not_ about pursueading many people to vore with them, they are about one issue (every vote must represent a comprimise between many issues). The establishment, to use your term, has always recognised that entertaining policical commenty is a powerful way to show flaws, inconsistancies and disagreement with established figureheads. See Punch, Private Eye, Spitting Image, Brass Eye and so on.
Your argument, based on the fact that there are more productive ways to topple the current political leaders, misses the purpose of this form of political speech. You would replace them wholesale. Satire will cause them to modifiy thier position and statements. These are distinct aims.
If you're worried that the exectuable might be infected with some sort of virus... here is the official location:
Elian Deporation
You crazy man? You piss off supahfly!
is here.
Friend of mine pointed me to this one a while back... There's 2 more in the series, but this is my favourite.
I can spell. I just can't type.
Unfortunately, this is exactly the case- the IT guys at work look at me sympathetically and shake their heads with sad little smiles when I try to get something other than Win 2000 on my laptop. "It's not that we want to give you this," they say. "We don't have any choice." They're not idiots, but they answer to one. And now they are going to be calling me asking about these sites in the web log....
I wont get fired, because they understand that these things happen, but if it happened in front of a female coworker, it might be bad. Of course, I work in IT, so there's just the one female in our office. It cuts down the chances.
It would just be better all around to not have it happen. That's all I'm saying.
Eagles may fly, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
... 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.
Who says code isn't speech?
- SMJ - (It's not just a name: it's a bad aftertaste.)
Doesn't mean all are.
Political cartoons are protected speech.
Porn cartoons are not. Even if they in some way are political.
Same way with games.
Just because X item in the genere fits into catagory Y, doesn't mean the whole genere fits into catagory Y.
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.
...Perhaps you could make a social commentary video game where you go into lower class minority neighbourhoods recruiting disenfranchised voters by blowing open their houses and picking up their pixellated arm-waving butts in your helicopter, while dodging bullets being fired at you by the Establishment's tanks, jet fighters and UFOs?
I had an idea for a game in the style of missile command where you control the multi-billion dollar missile defence shield. After beginning the game, a small turbaned dude enters from the side, places a suitcase down in between your skyscapers then runs for it. Furious button clicking does nothing as you can only shoot upwards.
Isn't a sign of the times... and of our continuing infantilism that our political views are expressed through games?
No.
It is no more infantile than scratching crude pictures on paper mocking politicians or political events.
We call those political cartoons, and they are a venerated way of making exactly the same kinds of sardonic, and sometime crass, criticisms of public policies and public politicians. The flash games described here are exactly the same thing, printed in a new medium (the interactive internet as opposed to the passive, one-way old media).
Games and programming in general are obviously speech deserving of "at least the same protections as the print media" to paraphrase the supreme court's opinion in their ruling which overturned the SCA. Things like this are invaluable in driving that point home in terms even non-tech savvy, but non-whored-out-to-the-media-cartels judges can understand. In other words, it won't sway Kaplan, but it will likely sway the supreme court, and it is there opinions which count.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
Yes. And all the one I've seen are puerile rubbish. Good political satire is intelligent and thought provoking. A site where you click your mouse button to throw bananas at Dubya or some such is neither.
"Information wants to be paid"
Just because some video games are freespeech, doesn't mean all are.
Yes, it's an interesting phenomena in our culture, but it isn't evidence that all video games *are* protected free speech.
Some pictures are considered art, and thus freespeech, but pictures themself aren't freespeech.
Likewise, some video-games can be considered poltical statments, but video games themself aren't freespeech.
Just to help keep this clear, because some people *still* don't get it...
Flash is Flash. Just Flash, that's it. The most recent version of the authoring tool is Flash MX and the most recent version of the plugin is Flash 6.
Shockwave is the 'net export version of an app made with Director - an entirely different product.
Shockwave games/files as a whole tend to be larger and more bloated than Flash movies because Flash is vector based rather than raster based like Director.
Flash movies aren't automatically big/slow/ugly - it all depends on the skill of the developer. Most of the Flash stuff that I do comes in at under 40k.
A|Q|U|A
By the way, all of these were professional, commercially sold games!
--- Frantisek Fuka (Yes, that's my real name and you have no idea how it's pronounced)
...since the discussion has gone as it was easily predicted to (a thread of "Check this game!!).
Here's my entry into the list The Romp.
Over the past few months /. has posted a couple of stories about the Indy Game Jam. The concept seemed interesting, so I went and checked out the page.
As one might expect, the games were reasonably simplistic, though on the whole surprisingly fun. The one that really stood out to me most was "Very Serious RoboDOOM".
This game isn't really a game. It has gameplay, but that's not what it's about. Really, it's a commentary on the state of the gaming industry. Go check it out, they talk about it a bit at the site.
My reaction to this was basically "Fuckin' A right on!" It's troubled me for ages that video games don't seem to be living up to their potential as a medium. The interactive element of gaming can be used for much more than just entertainment - by involving the "audience" and forcing their complicity in the action presented, games can make powerful statements in ways that have never been possible before. RoboDOOM is a great example of this, as are a couple of the games mentioned in the article (the ones by the French designers seem particularly inspired).
But the real problem isn't just the design of games, it is how gaming is percieved as a whole. Even here on Slashdot, where there is a more than healthy hardcore gaming audience, games seem to be considered trivial - entertainment, nothing more. Look at the other comments on this story! The truth is, gaming (as a medium) is still in its infant state, like so many media before it. Television, radio, cinema, comics, all were seen as means of simple amusement. All took decades to mature into the artforms they (sometimes) are today. The earliest examples, the earliest signs of the potential these media held were only recognized by a very few. It saddens me to see that the few who should be recognizing the beginnings of gaming's growth spurt are so seemingly oblivious.
Maybe this isn't a major new development on the political commentary scene - honestly, I don't think it is myself. But it is a major step in the development of gaming. And, for sure, that is something worth noting.
..but I think they require the Flash plugin. It's like a gateway drug, first you play some stupid Flash game, next thing you know you're staring stupidly at Flash advertisements. Ohh Look! Shiny things!
Thanks, but no thanks.The fun can go too far, as when they parody our president and compare him to the evil and unfindable Osama bin Laden http://www.snitchreport.com/kids (play terrorist dressup) (true, his evil is so 2001, but nonetheless he is evil).
The flag just makes more sense than the constitution. - Judas Gutenberg
"The columnist missed a better example of the genre - the EFF's game of digital restrictions management."
A "better" example? So you haven't actually played that tripe then?
Been noticing that over at SF Gate with Mark Fiore's stuff. Heavy handed political cartoonist whose pieces are often presented in a flash game format.
Never never never smoke crack before geometry class!
Clarissa used to always write computer games to satirize her situation back in the early 90's.
Not to mention the Go-Bots theme song was horrid to go with the show. "Go-bots... Go-bots! Migh-ty ro-bots... Migh-ty ve-hi-cles! Go-bots!" Agh, it torments me still.
The enemies of Democracy are
I thought games weren't speech at all!
:-P
If games aren't speech, then there is no reason these "interative political cartoons" can't be censored.
And heck, why not censor political cartoons altogether? I mean, it's common sense that all cartoons are meant for children, right? Comic books too, since they're practially the same thing.
From there it's a short step to books, music, video, and anything else these pesky consumers invent.
And no, you can not ride the slippery slope when I'm done with it.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
Why not assume that any site unrelated to what you are paid to do is out of bounds?
An IT professional is paid to maintain IT (information technology, not Segway HT). In order to maintain IT, a fellow has to be alive. If a fellow is killed by a terrorist, he is no longer alive. Therefore, a limited amount of discussion of anti-terrorism is on topic in an IT discussion.
I am stretching things, but you may be able to pull this one over on your boss.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Yeah, that's the point. Or are you talking to those who don't seem to get it? I am perplexed.
The enemies of Democracy are
Please don't let your cynicism cloud your judgement on this one. Yes, there is an underlying thread of political commentary in many of these flash games. It's not overanalysis.
The point, as someone already mentioned, is that a medium, any medium, is just a means of achieving a goal.
It reminds me of people arguing whether games or comics can be "art". It's a silly question; any medium can be "art" if you make art with it. Likewise, there's nothing outlandish about flash games that entertain while offering political commentary.
Where do you work, man? I want a job where I can play loud video games at my desk, especially if pop-up ads aren't allowed in the workplace.
Here's another good example of political commentary ala Flash. This one is about gaming community politics (before watching, know that the UT2003 demo has been due out in "two more weeks" for several weeks now):
h /
http://www.planetunreal.com/features/ut2003flas
This was made by Fragmaster, who is quite possibly the only entertaining figure left in the gaming community.
Did that comment make you feel better? Does your fragile low self esteem need to be propped up by making comments that intended to make others sink to your level? You were picked on school weren't you, go ahead admit it. Try talking with Jon Katz awhile he might be able to sooth your mental anguish.
Or then again you just might be a child pretending be older.
HTTP really isn't designed for multiple, branched file downloads
Then what's this "pipelining" thing I see in HTTP/1.1? While pulling the HTML page, every time the browser sees an object URL (image, stylesheet, etc), it immediately sends a GET request to the web server, and the web server responds with the object's data as soon as it has finished the previous object. Because one object's header and data immediately follows the previous object's, there's very little back-and-forth latency.
Will I retire or break 10K?
So only intelligent speech should be protected?
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Don't forget to check out Antiwargame.
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!"?
The War on Terrorism link errupts in flurry of porn ads...luckily, my super wasn't looking over my shoulder when I followed that link...
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. - HST
People are just taking advantage of the medium, as they did with cartoons.
You have a good point.
If games with a message are infantile, then perhaps enjoyable books with a message suffer from the same complaint -- why aren't you reading a bland, straight political pamphlet if you want a "mature" medium?
May we never see th
How about "Commando Libya" for the C=64, circa 1986? Endless human-wave attacks by libyans that you gun down from your machine gun emplacement.
Play well enough, and you'll get to insert your high score. A line of libyans before a gillioutine. First one kneels down, use joystick to put a letter on his head, press fire to chop it off.
Not very PC, but quite fun.
I choose to remain celibate, like my father and his father before him.
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.
//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.
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
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.
The Internet is generally stupid
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.
Personally, I prefer the withering critique of modern adolescence of High School of the Apes and Hentai- Sim Girl.
Hopefully, the appeal of such enlightening games as these will continue to grow.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
The study shows a five-fold increase in the number of incarcerated black men over the past 20 years.
The problem with simply throwing around numbers like this is that these facts do not exist in a vacuum. In order to make any useful judgement from the above numbers, we would need to ask some or all of the following questions:
- How do these changes in absolute numbers incarcerated relate to changes in the population in the age groups most associated with crime?
- How do these changes in absolute numbers incarcerated among blacks relate to changes among other races?
- How do these changes in absolute numbers incarcerated among blacks relate to changes in the crime rate among blacks?
These questions can be summed up as follows: how do these changes relate to the crime rate overall? Do they reflect more crimes being committed, a greater percentage of criminals being caught, or disparate sentencing? To simply throw out the number as if it necessarily demonstrates the last of these three is, at best, disingenuous.Yeah, I know how to check- the site itself was fine, it was the site's popups that had the pictures of young ladies behaving in an unladylike manner.
You're right, though- I should just stop looking at anything that's not directly related to my job.
Naaaahhhhh!
Eagles may fly, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
Well I dont know about politcal flash games, but this one is a hell of a lot of fun. We usually do it while drinking and see who can get the highest score - the more buzzed you get, the more difficult it is to avoid the obsticles.
This game is very simplistic - yet very fun.
Also another fun diversion is this one, called ant arena (at bottom of page)
I had to look twice. I cannot believe this is not an article by JonKatz. The medium is not speech. The content may be. The content may not be. It absurd to argue that all computer games are protected speech. Some may be, although I haven't seen anything the rises to that level.
As for things we should be getting hot and bothered about, I don't think (here in the USA) that the worry is about government limiting speech. Rather we should be worried about the increasing consolidation of handful of media companies controlling the production and distribution of "speech."
No free speech law prevents any private party from refusing to publish, print, or broadcast anything they don;t want to publish, print, or broadcast. Censorship is legal provided it is a private party doing it. Now what are we worried about, again?
My favorite: Blacks and Whites, a game sort of like Monopoly, but designed "to give middle-class whites a taste of the helplessness which comes from living against implacable odds." Rules include:
"Black players use the strips of black-power paper to mark the property they buy, thus marking the decline of white domination."
"When a black player goes bankrupt, he goes on welfare and collects $5,000 from each white player."
Check out the full rules here.
How about a suicide bomber game?
people that have a platform forced on them, they might not be able to disable popups.
/. needs to make money
Perhaps you need to inform the person responsible for your playform that their restictions are interfering with your productivity. It certainly isn't Slashdot's fault.
I understand that
Slashdot doesn't get a cent of the advertizing on the sites it happens to link to.
linking to porn sites is a little over the top.
Slashdot links to any site related to the story. In my oppinion the site in question certainly qualified.
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
[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.
Barney, Bill Clinton, Doom.
OK, that's four words, but the Bill Clinton and Barney mods for the original Doom were too funny. I can't remember the number of times I put Buba and the purple dinosaur down with a shotgun.
Someone hates these cans.
I was refering to /. writing and linking stories with shocking and unnerving content to sell their own advertising.
/. stories are reader submissions, and as someone pointed out in another thread, the slashdot staff probably wasn't even aware of any porn pop-ups. They probably have scripting disabled just like I do.
Somehow I don't think "Flash Games as Political Commentary" is exactly shocking or unnerving. If you weren't interested in that subject you probably didn't click the link. If you were interested in the subject, the link was on-topic.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.