SpawnPoint

Gaming has changed dramatically over the years. In 1979 children descended on convenience stores, video game halls, and shopping malls to enjoy the latest and ultimate in cutting edge digital entertainment: breaking rocks. Asteroids boasted that its "explosions, laser blasts, and fragmentation of space debris" were "realistic," and of course - by the standards of the day they were.

In 2007 - our game play is much more ‘advanced’ if perhaps a wee bit more realistically violent. Further, the arcade game is being replaced by our need for social and political voices and commentary. Economics, life simulation, politics - all are fair play and avidly taken advantage of in today’s games. From Counterstrike to Battlefield 2, from the SIMS to Second Life - every aspect of our social life is being examined, marketed, and influenced.

Example of War Politics & recruitment in action: In 2006, footage from Electronic Arts popular game, Battlefield 2 was used as a demonstration to Congress of manipulation of computer games by Middle-East extremist groups to further promote their cause. It depicted audio of a young man speaking "I was just a boy when the infidels came to my village in Blackhawk helicopters..." (in actuality, this was audio lifted from the movie: Team America - World Police") but was intended to give an example of some of the *real* stuff that is being done in the world today. Reports of spreading popularity of games coming out of the Palestinian territories and Pakistan based on Jihad violence against Western Governments is a growing concern for many. Training and Recruitment Tools: In the United States, the US Military actively develops video games that reinforce their recruiting arm. Though no obvious political bias is given, these games are clearly another demonstration (if perhaps the anti-thesis of ‘Islamic Recruitment’) militant recruitment methodologies. A recent example is - "The America's Army Real Heroes program puts a face on some of the exceptional Soldiers who are at the forefront in defending our freedoms. With Real Heroes young adults can learn about the accomplishments of some of the heroic men and women that make the U.S. Army the world's premier land force," said Colonel Casey Wardynski, Project Director.

The CIA has a video game project as part of a $10 million "academic outreach" program at the Counter Terrorist Center, headed by a CIA analyst. It is set to develop a video game aimed at helping its analysts think like terrorists. Discussions of commercial recruiting prospects have also appeared in relation to this in congressional reports.

Political Messages of the Day (or comments from the left-wing peanut gallery): Another example of politics in games (or - games based on politics) is that of Ian Bogost. Ian takes some of the fun out of video games and replaces it with opinion. The Georgia Institute of Technology professor creates "playable editorial cartoons," that are packed with political messages. One he created just after liquids were banned from carryon baggage pits players as a frustrated airport screener faced with an ever-changing set of rules. Another challenges gamers to double the price of crude oil by afflicting a fantasy land with a series of natural disasters. These are simple and repetitive games that are funny and a little bit enjoyable. Don’t laugh too much - this has become a $5M a year business for him.

Geo-Political Power Politics: In our dearly beloved Valve-Software game, Counterstrike (and its follow on - Counterstrike: Source) we are pitted TERRORIST versus COUNTER-TERRORIST. Obvious western uniforms on the law-enforcement personal versus shady Latin-American, potentially Islamic-Jihadist looks. Still, this is nothing compared to the politics involved in EA’s Battlefield 2. Battlefield 2 pits the United States versus China versus an un-detailed counter-revolutionary-middle-eastern-coalition. The uniforms are clear, the tactics and weaponry even clearer. EA is simply taking advantage of the world climate and trying to bring a more realistic game to play - but at what cost to impressionable young minds now growing up and playing games that teach us clearly "who the enemy is"?

Presidential Domestic Politics: In the 2000 & 2004 Presidential campaigns, over 2 dozen satirical political flash and software/PC games came out lampooning the various political parties, pundits, and representatives. See "The Political Machine" and "Power Politics" as examples of recent professionally developed non-(semi)-satirical political games.
Cause Celebrite (or causes no one seems to care about but celebrities) : And finally - we can’t resist the political messages delivered in games such as the one from http://www.darfurisdying.com/ - Focused on the tragic events in Darfur. If you can’t get the masses to watch the news at night or follow BBC/FOX/CNN through the day - perhaps creating a game will wake them up and alert the masses to the political realities (or spin) of your viewpoint. But perhaps we need games that focus on

• African Blood Diamonds
• Socialist Power Rising in Venezuela
• How long can a terminally ill Cuban dictator hold on to power?
• The rise of nuclear power in the middle east
• How crazy is Kim Jung Il?
• The plight of AIDs in Africa - perhaps you become a doctor trying to solve the problem?
• ... or the hundreds of minor but critical issues around the world

World Control Simulation: Any hardcore gamer, if not having loved and obsessed over, has at least tried world-control simulations such as MAXIM’s SIMCITY series or Sid Meier’s CIVILIZATION series. The political messages in these are subtle but need to be examined. For example: In SIMCITY 2000 - who determined the value of taxes versus tax cuts in the computer simulation? Was a liberal-free-spending-nut in charge of determining what positive/negative results effect your tax choices? Or perhaps a conservative-neo-militant-Reaganomics-trickle-down-theorist was in charge of the decision that day? In CIVILIZATION 4, the determination of benefits of a SOCIALIST versus DEMOCRATIC government is chosen by whom exactly? Makes you think, eh?

World Destruction Simulation: I have to confess - I have been a fan of SCORCHED EARTH 3D for.. well.. longer than some of the people reading this have been around. Not-so-serious, mathetical/reasoning game play is awesome. But let’s take the destruction of nearby enemy bases a step further and look at DEFCON. - DEFCON is Mathew Brodericks War Games for the new millennia. What is the political message being delivered here? War will always turn into a nuke-shooting-match? Genocide is a good thing because you score more points? Don’t get me wrong - I love Defcon and somehow suspect no real political message is intended....

In Summary - I grew up in a time just as the arcades were beginning to die out. Mortal Kombat was will out when I was a early teen. Without trying to reminisce too much, I miss the days when a game was just a game and cost a quarter to play.

Shane Robinett is editor in chief of SpawnPoint.com.