Gaming Briefs and Nostalgia Bits: DC Smackdown sickens me

DC Smackdown sickens me
Thursday, December 13, 2007

The headline for this article says that the new political game called DC Smackdown skewers politicians even-handedly, but I'm not impressed. Let's see what we have here:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - If you're tired of watching Mitt and Mike, Hillary and Rudy, and Colbert and Coulter limit their swipes to words, pick one and go for it in the new video game "DC Smackdown."

Featuring signature moves like the "Intern Trample,""Mormon Conversion" and "Barack Your World," the 17-character game skewers bipartisanly. A pantsless Bill Clinton chases a herd of Monica Lewinskys, Jesse Jackson hurls Hasidic Jews and Anne Coulter has a special "verbal diarrhea" attack.

What makes them think that I find the idea of Jackson attacking Hasidic Jews impressive or even appropriate? It's not. He may be a corrupt politician, but that doesn't mean their whole notion of how to depict him is suitable. And I don't like how they depict Coulter either.

"It's a real simple game - we're talking Street Fighter, circa 1994," said Dave Holbrook, a freelance producer and former Disney animator who made it, with help from friends, in his spare time. "It's nothing crazy, but it's a fun little commentary on what's going on. And everybody's special move has to do with their political stance or what they've said."

It sounds to me like they're alluding to the Street Fighter movie! Don't they recall that it was BAD?

Now available just for PCs, the game costs $4.99 to download. Holbrook said he initially wanted to charge an extra buck for donation to the customer's political campaign of choice, but changed his mind because of regulatory paperwork.

If it sells, Holbrook wants to expand to the Xbox or Wii and include historic politicians and pundits.

Ugh, I hate to think of that this'll end up on all the major consoles.

Holbrook said he and the other creators tried hard to poke evenhanded fun on a cast narrowed from 30 choices.

Evenhanded is not the problem here, it's poor taste and vulgarity that is.

"Glen Beck started becoming more popular, so we switched him with Sean Hannity," he said. "We almost had Stephen Colbert in there, but we chose (Jon) Stewart. (Colbert) is in the game, though - he's actually Jon Stewart's attack. He throws Stephen Colbert."

The game has eight levels - the first six randomly generated from the list of characters and the last two involving combat between former Vice President Al Gore and President George W. Bush.

Bush's special attack is "nuclear" - with his signature pronunciation - while Gore's is global warming. Gore has a "CO2 fart attack," while Bush has a Karl Rove attack. Dressed like the grim reaper, Rove passes through and steals the opponent's soul.

Oh, shut up! This is a truly tasteless game, and I'm not sold upon it at all. Poor taste like this isn't new to games, but it most certainly is getting worse and worse.

Labels: politics

posted by Avi Green @ 2:25 PM,

10 Comments:

At 4:53 AM, E. Zachary Knight said...: I guess you don't like reading the political editorial comics in the newspaper either.

Political parody is not meant to be in good taste, nor is it meant to be funny for everyone.

I am sorry that you took offense to this game.

I am not associated with the game, but I do like a good parody from time to time.
At 4:53 AM, robustyoungsoul said...: This game is hilarious. Thank you for pointing me in its direction!
At 5:31 AM, broken scope said...: Wow guys did you hear that? It sounded like a bit of humor going over someones head at around mach 3.

You do realized this wouldn't get published anyways. At best it would be used via the XNA homebrew kit or Wii ware.
At 1:25 PM, stormyhotwolf88 said...: Wow dude. Take a chill pill. It's just a game. But what do you mean Street Fighter movie?? Don't you know that Street Fighter was a very popular 2D fighting game like Guilty Gear is today from the early 90s? I'm only 20 and I'm already finding people that think the Sims came before Sim City lol..
At 2:19 PM, I hear ya, but... said...: Is the poor taste in games getting worse and worse?

Have you heard of "Custer's Revenge"? The game where you dodge arrows so your pixelated character could score with a Native American woman? That was back in the Atari era. To say that "all of a sudden" some games are tasteless is kinda baseless.

Least with DC Smackdown we're looking at common stereotypes of policital figures we've heard a lot about. Its a great parody, and done so effectively that it satirizes our perceptions of well-known politicians.

I'm not saying that you or I would like either DC Smackdown or Custer's Revenge, but implying that new games are getting more tasteless is ignoring the Animal Crossings, Kingdom Hearts, Legend of Zeldas, (and more!) that have come out.

And if you object to the Ann Coutler content, just listen to listen to her speak. All it takes is once. >_<
At 12:25 AM, jonwanker said...: You're one of those people who think everyone should be politically correct, aren't you. But, then again, you seem to think that Ann Coulter (one of the most offensives pundits, "we should invade all their countries and convert them all to Christianity" ) deserves defending... Soo, either you're an idiot, or an hypocrite (or both).

Which is it?
At 8:07 AM, Avi Green said...: First, hello to any and all who've come over from Game Politics to read my blog. However, if there's any comment I simply cannot agree with here, it's this one:

"Wow dude. Take a chill pill. It's just a game."

And what were all those nazi propaganda films during the 1930s? Just movies, I suppose? People who use a limp argument like "it's just entertainment" really need to get some better argument training.

"But what do you mean Street Fighter movie?? Don't you know that Street Fighter was a very popular 2D fighting game like Guilty Gear is today from the early 90s?"

But of course I know that Street Fighter began as a video game, for heaven's sake! The year 1994, however, was when the movie was made, and noticing that, I started wondering, that's all. It's a shame that Capcom had to sell Universal the rights to make such a dreadful movie, but that's what they did at the time.

One more...

"you seem to think that Ann Coulter (one of the most offensives pundits, "we should invade all their countries and convert them all to Christianity" ) deserves defending"

You probably didn't notice all at once, but, I'm a conservative, sonny! I'm really not so fond of Coulter, despite having a link to her site on my politics blog, and I think that Michelle Malkin is much better than her, but she's far from being as bad as some people seem to want to make her out to be, and does that mean I have to find a computerized assault on her justified? Nope.

Thanks to one and all for visiting. Wow, all that traffic! I just love looking at how statistics counters work! :)
At 9:31 PM, Tubatic said...: Good on you for stating your opinion.

Furthermore, I'm a frequenter of Game Politics, and I agree with you: the vulgar angle, in most media, isn't what I find hilarious.

Its a resentful trend (of course not with all games :p) that i wouldn't mind doing without.
At 10:07 AM, Anonymous said...: I wish they would have more stuff exposing how fake all the people running for president really are. Games/media or anything really!

Both sides are corrupt and controlled by the same interests, and theres no real difference between what they actually do when they get into office. Regardless of what bile spills out of their mouths..

We need more games with political stuff in them, and more games with truth in them, but thats not gonna happen in this century.
At 7:23 PM, FunkyJ said...: I dislike Game Politics because it is awfully biased and over sensationalises everything.

BUT:

And what were all those nazi propaganda films during the 1930s? Just movies, I suppose?

Someone who compares this game to Nazi Propaganda obviously needs to get some better argument training too.

To invoke Godwin's Law so soon into your comments betrays your intelligence and heritage.

If you were talking about the game "Under Siege" then maybe you'd have a leg to stand on.

Maybe.

But this game is in the same league as the Simpsons, Team America, South Park and American Dad.

Then again, being a conservative, you probably do consider these shows as propaganda, which is just foolishness.

You might not get it or find it funny, but it is not designed to infuse the people who watch/play it with nationalistic fervor and hatred against other people.

Propaganda is designed to feed the fears of the people against the "other" and turn the other into an enemy, whilst at the same time spread a sense of unity into those who seek to belong, in order to control "the masses" which are seen as irrational.

With the Nazis, the "other" were the Jews (internal) and the signatories of the Treaty of Versailles (UK, Russia, France).

So, to be comparable, we need to see who is this game turning into "an other" and to what purpose.

Can you point that out, clearly?

After all, this game depicts all it shows in a similar light, no matter what side of politics they're on.

Also, despite being propaganda, Triumph of the Will is regarded by many as a masterpiece of film, and has gone on to influence filmmakers.

This game will be forgotten in a year, if that.