Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - The Points Are All Political

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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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The Points Are All Political

by Ian Bogost July 1, 2004

categories: Political Games

The New York Times just published a nice story on political games (registration required, by WCG friend Michael Erard), featuring the GOP games we've discussed here, Gonzalo and my Howard Dean for Iowa Game, as well as my forthcoming game Opinions, for the Democratic National Convention (whose release time can now be measured in ~~hours rather than~~ days). Update (7/3/04): Expect to see the game next week. Check here for more updates...

You can even see a picture of me talking to Gonzalo, but I swear I'm not really that pale. That's what two weeks of painting and game development does to you I guess.

Oh, and just to clarify the point about me being non-partisan: what I meant was that I don't have specific party affiliations I need to design to, not that I don't have specific principles I won't compromise. Hope that's clear.

Comments (11)

Glancing at the home page of the NYTimes, I spied a new article about election-year political videogames — featuring Ian Bogost and his till-now-under-wraps, about-to-be-released game, Opinions! The article reports that Ian, who as GTxA readers ...

Grand Text Auto - Opinions Coming, Says the NY Times on July 1, 2004 3:11 AM

Here's a link to the article that skips the registration: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/technology/circuits/01poli.html?ex=1246334400&en=46f28ed3481ccfa6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

Frasca on July 1, 2004 6:56 AM

Congratulations! :-)

greglas on July 1, 2004 11:30 AM

By the way, has everyone noticed the weird typo in the photo caption: "Duel Ian Bogost"

That's going to be my next game.

BATTLE IAN BOGOST IN 8 LEVELS OF EXTREME EUROPEAN THEORY.

Ian Bogost on July 2, 2004 12:22 AM

Well my name is technically "Francis Gregory Lastowka" -- so I figured you were using your middle name too.

I did wonder why your parents called you "Duel," but generally I thought it was one of those cool names like "Gunner" that some people actually have...

My faith in the accuracy of news reporting is now irreparably shattered.

greglas on July 2, 2004 2:53 AM

Ha! You made it this long without doubting the accuracy of news reporting?

Did you also notice that I'm sitting on a paint can? Now THAT's minimalism for you.

So, should I go by "Duel" now? It does sound mysteriously cool. Or does it just sound like something from YuGiOh?

Ian Bogost on July 2, 2004 3:23 AM

You seem to be saying that "mysteriously cool" and "something from YuGiOh" are mutually exclusive conditions! Seto Kaiba probably could have been mysterious cool in the 1980's...

greglas on July 3, 2004 1:33 AM

Lol, good point. I guess I definitely thought Voltron was cool. But, then again, Voltron *was* cool, right?

Ian Bogost on July 3, 2004 3:33 AM

Oh yeah! Voltron rocked -- and so did Star Blazers.

greglas on July 3, 2004 3:58 PM

"the ludological term is 'lame'". It seems that people liked my little quote, even the guys at SiliconValley.com.

Man, I should learn to behave in public and provide the media with serious, insightful quotes in the best academic tradition. But sometimes, I just can't resist it :P

Frasca on July 4, 2004 2:22 PM

Ha! What fun would it be if we started behaving?

Of course, I bet there's a market for an academic volume on the concept of "lameness" as a measure of cultural value and valuelessness...

Ian Bogost on July 4, 2004 5:34 PM

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