Playing Politics Workshop Response

1. I think the political simulation games may have been effective with communicating with ppl via the net. But I duno. I guess if they have generated discussion on forums as Donkey JOHn has, then they have impacted at least some people! Making more ppl aware, educating people just a little more than they are before they play. However many people who don’t use the internet much, or at all, would never have the opportunity to view these games and be impacted by them.

2. It was obvious with Donkey John that there was some political message underpinning it, however, I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Obviously to do with John Howard and the other Islands around Australia.
I was interested to find out what it was trying to say…

i was interested to find out what the game was trying to say with New York Defender
It was a rather simplistic game, so got boring after a few goes (I kept trying to shoot down the buildings for fun!), but I still wanted to find out a bit more about it.

I did think the fact there was a political message underpinning the game was obvious immediately. It was a pretty obvious set up – 9/11, planes crashing into the twin towers. However, what the heck that message was, I had no idea!
And thought the explanation by Shuen-shing Lee was funny as it was using a game to symbolically represent our inability to protect our society. Maybe its just me, but having such a simple computer game represent deep political intent was just amusing, as if that could change the world, one simple game.
However I suppose, from a less cynical aspect, the more games that had symbolic meanings, then gradually one by one, society changes thru information, perhaps.
“Gaming within the context of 9-11 and the shadow of terrorism, one easily sympathizes with the defender's inability to protect the twin towers, or symbolically our society, which projects a tragic sense of powerlessness and hopelessness in confronting terrorism, as Clive Thompson (2002) points out” – this quote was a bit generalized, I didn’t see that one “easily” sympathises with the defenders inability. Seems like it was written from an American perspective, or maybe its just I hate generalisations like that.
Anyway.

3.
If I had to write a political simulation game similar in size and structure to the two I examined, I would make a really simple one, that is very visually striking and interesting that addresses ideas of poverty and consumerism. I would like to juxtapose the Western idea of consumerism, and the insane amount of stuff we have, and the continual drive for more, especially here in Australia, against the poverty and simplicity of people’s lives in third world countries. I really don’t know how I’d be able to this, but that’s what I’d like to do! To reveal some how that we can actually make a difference, that just ya know, like 1$ of our money can make an impact and a difference to those who have none, and are starving, and the simplicity of how we can do it (thru some organization or something).

I don’t know how, but maybe some way juxtaposing the choices one has in a Western Society to do with 10$, and the choices one might have in a poorer society for $10