Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Accordion Hero

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Water Cooler Games

Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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Accordion Hero - Leben Sie Der Traum!

by Ian Bogost March 4, 2006

categories: Health & Medicine Games , Social Games

Bavarian videogame satirists Schadenfreude Interactive have announced their most recent parodic homage, Accordion Hero! Polka your way up from Der Rathskeller to Oktoberfest in Munich! From the amusing "product page":

Hit all the right notes and get the crowd on their feet waving their beer steins in unison - you are an accordion hero! Includes all the great accordion melodies you've ever gotten really, really drunk to...from Ein Munchen Steht Ein Hofbrauhaus to Rock You Like A Hurricane.

Accordion Hero follows in the long line of absurdities showcased at Schadenfreude, including Nazgul Thunder 2003, Grand Theft Ottoman, and Secret Weapons over Neverland. Who wouldn't buy Accordion Hero though? It's the best new way to work those pectorals, ja wohl? Be sure to look closely at the mock product and screenshots on the site; the attention to detail is uncanny. I'm especially fond of the "Prost" sticker.

Comments (11)

I don't get it. Is this supposed to be a spoof or is it for real?

Maciej on March 5, 2006 7:17 PM

It's a spoof. Check out the other games on the Schadenfreude site. Funny stuff.

Ian Bogost on March 5, 2006 8:49 PM

As it turns out www dot phobe dot com, the underlying url for the above links, is run by one of the guys who are making the indie title they came from hollywood. So it looks like a hoax to me. Interestingly they have 2 postings on gamasutra which makes me wonder if they also tricked cmp or if they are in it together for some type of april fools thing.

Peter Smith on March 6, 2006 3:48 PM

Those guys are most likely not from Bavaria nor from Germany at all since their german is full of mistakes and their names are pseudo-German. Funny stuff, though.

Marcel on March 6, 2006 8:48 PM

This is seriously the funniest spoof I've seen in a long time; I've already forward it to pretty much everyone I know.

I especially love the beer meter (replacing the star power meter) on the screenshot.

Thanks for the link, guys.

ibogost Schreiber on March 7, 2006 5:16 PM

Marcel - yeah, the German is crazy wrong. But I just read that as part of the parody. The whole thing is a strange parody of a Bavarian game developer.

Ian Bogost on March 7, 2006 7:15 PM

The Schadenfreude guys have been doing adverts in Computer Games Magazine's April issue for 3 or 4 years now - there are full-page ads for Accordion Hero and Dead Men Rising in this year's, hence the webpage update.

As for the Gamasutra connection - unfortunately, they had information on us that we couldn't let get out, so we are forced to let them write a monthly column now. Darn those precise Germans and their eye for detail.

simoniker on March 8, 2006 12:21 AM

ACCORDION, n.

An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin.

Gregar on July 8, 2006 8:57 PM

VERY SORRY

hal

mus

dav

afro

alis

bob

airline-ticket