Gonzalo and his team coined the term "newsgame" back in 2003 with their excellent piece September 12. If you are a regular visitor to Water Cooler Games, you've probably noticed an increase in our coverage of newsgammes, including games about Zidane, Mel Gibson, and the Crocodile Hunter. Newsgames have a problem though. On the one hand, most rapidly developed, highly topical newsgames are skin-deep. They serve mostly as curiosities, rather than procedural interpretations of the news. On the other hand, deeper interpretations require more time, perhaps too much time.

A short time ago, my studio Persuasive Games inked a deal with Shockwave.com and Addicting Games to create a new series of newsgames that try to balance both of these issues. The series is called The Arcade Wire, and I'm happy to announce that the first of these games, Airport Security, is now out. It's a critique of the absurdist changing practices in airport security. Try to keep up with knee-jerk policy changes and enjoy perverse prohibitions like toothpaste, pants, and pressurized cheese.

Go play the game, and rate it too.