War and Peace
I got the job! Yay! Exciting. We'll see how it goes and check back as it developes. Which they might say in... tv news?
Speaking of newsworthy, I have to tell you about two really interesting games I downloaded recently.
The first is called PeaceMaker, and you take on the role of either the Israeli or Palestinian leader and your job is to, well, make peace. Stop me if you've heard this one. Anyway, it's a really challenging and informative game, with all events and pictures taken from actual headlines. The first time I played, I made about 3 moves before the Israeli "Director General" decided that I wasn't fit for office. Give it a try because the demo is free and it's a great example of videogames attempting to educate people and invite a new perspective on an old problem.
The second game is, interestingly enough, the exact opposite. It's called Defcon, and if you've ever seen the movie WarGames (you should. TBS), then you already know all about Global Thermonuclear War. The goal is simple: Lose the least. It is impossible to win, simply because you and your opponents are trading nuclear detonations. Millions on both sides are bound to die, which creates an oddly beautiful display of why nuclear war is terrible. Watching two dozen glowing green harbingers of death arch across the sky to their whited out targets on your screen gives you a sick pleasure, undercut by the white flashes wiping out your own cities at the same time. If you try this one, let me know, and we can set up a time to play a multiplayer game over the internet. I would like that.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
Speaking of newsworthy, I have to tell you about two really interesting games I downloaded recently.
The first is called PeaceMaker, and you take on the role of either the Israeli or Palestinian leader and your job is to, well, make peace. Stop me if you've heard this one. Anyway, it's a really challenging and informative game, with all events and pictures taken from actual headlines. The first time I played, I made about 3 moves before the Israeli "Director General" decided that I wasn't fit for office. Give it a try because the demo is free and it's a great example of videogames attempting to educate people and invite a new perspective on an old problem.
The second game is, interestingly enough, the exact opposite. It's called Defcon, and if you've ever seen the movie WarGames (you should. TBS), then you already know all about Global Thermonuclear War. The goal is simple: Lose the least. It is impossible to win, simply because you and your opponents are trading nuclear detonations. Millions on both sides are bound to die, which creates an oddly beautiful display of why nuclear war is terrible. Watching two dozen glowing green harbingers of death arch across the sky to their whited out targets on your screen gives you a sick pleasure, undercut by the white flashes wiping out your own cities at the same time. If you try this one, let me know, and we can set up a time to play a multiplayer game over the internet. I would like that.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
posted by Monsterbeard @ 3:20 AM
3 Comments:
At 2:16 PM, May 08, 2007,
EP said…
And how about that strange ambient stuff playing behind the apocalypse countdown clock? Creepy. Defcon is definitely an inspired and unsettling piece of work.
Coincidentally, have you played Civilizations IV? Somehow, it always ends up with the player's careful treaties crumbling, his(her) home guard against the world, diplomacy be damned.
I think they're trying to teach us something.
At 2:41 PM, May 08, 2007,
Monsterbeard said…
I haven't taken the time to play Civ IV, mainly because every time I get a Civ game, I spend several months playing it, because it is so good. In fact, the last Civ game I owned was Civ II, and I still enjoy playing that quite a bit, on occasion.
The question is, are they trying to teach us RealPolitik or the futility of war?
At 4:34 PM, May 08, 2007,
Class of 2000 officers said…
I can't believe you said 'Civ'
damn Hudsonites.
congrats though on the job 4 real 4 eva.
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