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Campaign-Themed Video Games? 137

Posted by timothy from the bread-circuses-joysticks dept.
An Anonymous Coward writes: "Gov. Jesse Ventura has come up with a 'great' way to get his campaign message to the younger demographics. 'The Ventura game -- or collection of games -- would be entertaining, 100-percent political and distributed free to voters as campaign literature, he says.' Wow, I can't wait, I haven't been this excited since Avoid the Noid from Dominos Pizza came out." Too bad video games aren't considered protected speech.
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Campaign-Themed Video Games? More

Campaign-Themed Video Games?

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  • great...I'd like to use my BFG to take out george dubya any day...wait a minute, maybe the rail gun is a better choice
    • you had best watch yourself....i mean, that could be construed as a terrorist accusation.........why waste the ammo any way? i'd get much more satisfaction out of the humilation......where's my gauntlet?
  • It will really knock the lil tykes out.

    ---
    Patrick Cable II
    (Bad pun, i know...)

  • next in news MICROSOFT the video game.... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Help microsoft avoid fedral prosecution in an exciting action packed adventure

  • Advertising in Video Games (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Gizzmonic ( 412910 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:15PM (#3421599) Homepage Journal
    Avoid the Noid was hardly the most notorious fast-food marketing game on the NES. Let us not forget McKids, where you had to win Ronald McDonald's "magic bag" back from the Hamburglar, all the while collecting "golden arches" to gain extra lives. And yet, both games were pretty good as I remember.

    Nowadays, we have games that advertise for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson, boy bands, Britney Spears, etc. I think using video games in politics is actually a step up?

    PS: Does anyone know if Jesse Ventura is in the PS2 game "Legends of Wrestling"? This might mark his second video-game appearance...

    • Avoid the Noid was a PC game. I ran it on a 286 in Hercules graphics (that's 720x348 monochrome res, I do believe), and the PC speaker music/sfx were just great. Standing among its compatriots in the monochrome 286 games category, it really stood out as good programming (although SIMCGA with Jill of the Jungle was pretty good too).

      What I really need to know, is what happened when you won? I got to the top, and there was some bad guy/thing (this was many years ago) but I never defeated him/it.

      Anyone achieve this?
    • The king of marketing video games

  • Can a Video game be a Satire? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by PhatKat ( 78180 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:16PM (#3421603) Homepage
    After hearing about this new Britney Spears video game, I have become consumed with the idea of Video Game Satires. If one were to make a video game where, say, the objective is to traverse through America as Britney Spears, selling addictive pink bubble gum to urban teens, could I use her likeness without her permission?

    -- PK
  • oh, yes, all the youngsters will be dying to play an "educational"-game.

  • More to come (Score:3, Informative)

    by Rampant Atrocity ( 559341 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:18PM (#3421608)
    Electronic campaigning isn't exactly a new world for Mr. Ventura. Just see How Jesse Ventura Used the Internet to Win the Election [politicsonline.com]. He certainly went beyond banner ads, folks. I guess his 'innovation' (I hate how that word has become so tired) has brought him into a new frontier of campaigning.

  • Go Jesse! (Score:3, Informative)

    by 1010011010 ( 53039 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:19PM (#3421614) Homepage
    I really like Jesse Ventura. He shakes up things! And he usually has a good point of view. For instance, pointing out that he's disappointed in Bush because "Bush wants to control everything from Washington, never mind what the states think, or have voted for, twice; he said he was for federalism, but apparently he's not" (paraphrase) in reference to recent medical-marijuana and assisted-suicide laws.

    • Re:Go Jesse! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by garcia ( 6573 )
      he's also pro-commercial hemp.

      Commercial hemp is definitly a great idea. I don't know what the US thinks it is proving by banning a non-psychoactive plant that was part of our agricultural history for 200 years.

      I don't fucking care if they think that people will grow regular weed and they can't figure out how to distinguish between the two.

      It is a healthy, fast growing, economic resource for farmers in all parts of the country.

      Sometimes I really wish that the government leaders would read what is posted on the Internet and not what has been posted into their closed minds for years.

      I don't like a lot of his policies but at least Ventura attempts to do things that are positive for his state's residents.
      • "and not what has been posted into their closed minds for years."

        The word you're looking for is 'purchased'.

        - Jester
      • I don't fucking care if they think that people will grow regular weed and they can't figure out how to distinguish between the two.

        Oh, come on now. You obviously do care -- just the opposite way of what you probably should.
      • Won't the pollen from the hemp interbreed with cannibis and dillute the high quality product. God forbid this should reduce the quality of our highest grossing crop.

  • Story mistake? (Score:4, Informative)

    by SirNAOF ( 142265 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:19PM (#3421616)
    "Gov. Jesse Ventura has come up with a 'great' way to get his campaign message..."

    "In the meantime, the video game idea is still in its talking stages, and Ventura hasn't yet been approached with the suggestion."

    Shouldn't that say "...Ventura's campaign committee..."?

    Just a clarification...

  • Chex (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Anyone remember the Chex cereal version of Doom where you went around with a spoon or other weapons and killed the "squishy" enemies? Screenhots here [trilobite.org]
    • I've got that, right here in fact (found it this morning as I was cleaning up my heap of useless cdroms).

      It's a weird thing. I should fire it up.

    • Yeh, that was actually kinda fun, although prolly because I was just bored out of mind already, heh. I had a box of Chex, saw the CD, and just popped it in a comp for the heck of it. Played a few rounds, seemed kinda fun, so I played it some more and tried to win. I think you had to escape from the planet or something in the end.
    • Download it from here [the-underdogs.org]
  • of Max Ventura or Jesse Nukem Forever?
  • Not that Jesse ventura cares, but do the people really want their tax money spent on this?

    Ventura recently opposed a plan to give a little money to teachers for retirement, with a paltry cost of $15 million per year. (Star Tribune [startribune.com] I guess he had video games in mind instead.

    • This is campaigning. The money would come from his campaign donors, or the state election fund. The state can't really tell Jesse how best to campaign, and it's not like that earmarked money would be alotted for something else.

      I'm all for ripping on Jesse, but at least make sense when you do it.

      Also, after reading the article, I'M not so sure I like that pension idea. I've been told that my generation may possibly have to work to age 72 before retirement. The last thing I want to see is taxpayer financed teacher retirements at 57 or earlier, cause I'll be still working to foot the bill.
    • First of all, the money goes into his campaign no matter what else he spends taxpayer money on. Government campaign contributions are a fixed amount. I could go a tirade about how this is an underhanded scheme to keep third parties out of office, but suffice to say, it doesn't matter if he spends this money on videogames or tv ads, the money still gets spent.

      As for the teachers, they already get retirement benefits, this was just a scheme to strengthen the seniority system that public schools are based on. For those who start teaching at 24, retirement would kick in at 57! And they only had to work half the year every year! It's absurd. If any public school teachers ever did a day of REAL work, they'd die.

      • As for the teachers, they already get retirement benefits, this was just a scheme to strengthen the seniority system that public schools are based on.

        There's definitely truth in this. The seniority system anywhere, whether in public schools or factory floors or Congress, should be abolished and replaced with some sort of meritocracy plan.

        And they only had to work half the year every year! It's absurd. If any public school teachers ever did a day of REAL work, they'd die.

        Half the year? What? Are you trolling for flames, or just misinformed? Summer vacation in the USA lasts about 3.5 months, add in spring+winter breaks to get about 4 months. That gives a work year of 8 months, 2/3 of a year. And many teachers put in time teaching summer school, as well as going beyond the 8-hour day with extracurricular activities and providing extra tutoring.

        As for the "REAL work" comment, you've obviously never tried to teach. Dealing with 25-30 people under 18 who have varying intelligence levels, varying interest levels, and varying degrees of homicidal mania isn't exactly easy. There are plenty of bad teachers, as described here [sourcetext.com], but there are also plenty of dedicated professionals who want to help kids learn, and who typically invest plenty of their own time and money doing so. Don't tar all public schoolteachers with the same brush.

        • Winter break is 2 weeks, easter break is 1, plus they get at least another week from the various long weekends that other businesses don't follow. Some get another week earlier in the spring. So that's more like 4.5 months. It's a maximum 7 hour day (at least I've never heard of a school that goes longer than 8-3:30, with a half hour lunch break). So 7.5/12 * 7/8 = .55.

          Yes, many do run extra curricular activities, summer school, and so forth, but they get paid extra for that. Yet I've never heard of that extra pay being counted when people complain about how low teaching salaries are.

          Now I'm not saying there aren't good teachers. In fact, if bad teachers got fired, and good teachers could get paid more based on merit, instead of seniority, no doubt many of them would deserve a good deal more. But, so long as the teachers unions hold sway, the quality will remain low, and the salaries should remain likewise.

          • Re:Creative idea... (Score:2, Informative)

            by bednigo ( 576576 )
            Firstly while they are only teaching classes for lets say 7 hours a day they are there helping students and getting things organized well beyond that. My father is a teacher and he and most of the other teachers go in an hour or more before school and stay at LEAST an hour after, often 2 or more. Plus they put in a hell of a lot of time preparing for classes and correcting test, homework, etc. When I get a job I should sure as hell hope that my employer feels it neccessary to pay me for the time I spend looking into the best way to design something or heaven forbid Checking my calculations. Secondly, the "Extra pay" teachers get for extracurriculars is just a little bit above jack squat. My dad coaches the Math Team which consists of an average of about 8-10 hours of extra time per week for half to 2/3 of the year. And for all this he gets a whopping $50, wow I think I should change professions with giant bonuses like that.
      • teachers get paid a full $30,000+ a year to baby-sit. that's rediculous. they only work 180 days a year, so that's all we should pay them for. first off, we should pay them a babysitters wage. let's say, $3/hr from each parent. but remember, they only work 5.5 hours per day. i'm not going to pay for some "planning period." so lets say some teacher averages 25 students/class. so that's 25 sets of parents paying $3/hr each hour for 5.5 hours, for 180 days. ok, let's multiply this all out, 25*3*5.5*180 equals uh...
        $74,250
        uh-oh, wait a minute...
        speaking as someone about to go into the teaching profession (i will be student teaching this coming fall) i find your remarks very narrow-minded and ignorant. as far as being able to do a real days work, i used to pull 12 hour shifts in an un-air-conditioned plumbing supply warehouse in texas. now you tell me who would drop dead after a real days worth of work.
        • In California (which has drawn heat for being one of the lowest paying states in the Union, though I don't know quantitiatively how it stacks up), teachers make an average of $45,000/year, half again as much as the median national income of $30,000/year. In fact, starting salary is $29,000. Since pay is based on seniority, you know when your raises are coming, and how much you're going to get. For all intents and purposes, you can't be fired. That's one hell of a lot of job security.

          Besides which, no one made you sign up to be a teacher. If you don't like it, feel free to find a different industry. It's like the people who move near an airport, and then lobby the government to set more stringent noise requirements for planes.

  • The name of Ventura's new video game should be 'Big Man Hunter'

    click here [startribune.com] if you don't know why that is funny.

  • This is good for games as speach. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by VenTatsu ( 24306 ) <ventatsu@nosPAm.gmail.com> on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:26PM (#3421640) Homepage
    This can become a great example for the next time games are challenged in court. Political speach is at the very core of what the 1st Amendment is intended to protect. By censoring or banning games courts would now be placing prior restraint on political speach.

    • Good lord people. Do you REALLY expect anyone to take you seriously when you can't even properly spell a six letter word? Especially when that word is the central to the topic you are talking about?

      Repeat after me: THERE IS NO "A" IN THE WORD "SPEECH". It's not that difficult, k?

      I hate to be a spelling Nazi, but I've seen this mistake probably a dozen times over the past week, and it's just a dumb one to make.

      I am sure that since I have taken it upon myself to point this out that there are at least five spelling mistakes in this very message. Always seems to happen that if you bitch about spelling and/or grammar, your message will magically transform into something that looks like it was written by George Bush.

      • My apologies for not running my last post through a spellchecker. I do have significant trouble spelling, and was almost held back in school for it till I was diagnosed with a learning disorder that related to my ability to read and spell. I have stuck a Post-It note on my monitor's edge that reads 'SPEECH not speach' so I will remember next time. =)

        (This post is spellchecked for your pleasure)
      • ahem .. and while you criticize someone for his lack of spelling abilities. you yourself mispelled a 2 letter word. K isn't a word, at least it was not a word last time i checked.

        My point is, he makes a good point, why squabble over little crap such as spelling? It's obvious that he was able to convey his point of view, seeing that you took the time to post an inflammatory reply.

        trees -- forest
        kettle -- black
        whatever

        • He did make a very good point. The only reason it bugged me is because I have seen "speech" misspelled frequently lately. Nothing major.

          And "K" is a colloquialism, used frequently in informal discussions such as these. It might not be in the dictionary, and you certainly wouldn't use it in a formal communication, but it is acceptable in this context. K?
  • I'm sure the games will be vastly entertaining (especially for the price) if they use some of his lines from old movies. Some of my favorites:

    "It'll make you a sexual tyrannosaurus . . . Like ME!"

    "Ain't nothin' but a bunch of slackjawed faggots"

    I'm all for more wrestlers going into Politics, it will improve the overall intelligence and will make c-span more interesting.
  • 1) Campaign spending is a growth industry.

    2) This idea takes some of the large pool of campaign money and funnels it to deserving computer geeks.

    3) More money spent on deserving geeks means less time to be unemployed and griping.

    j.

  • Think Positively, Please, Slashdot (Score:4, Insightful)

    by GoPlayGo ( 541427 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:33PM (#3421670) Homepage
    SlashDot writes "Too bad video games are not protected speech". Please don't put out negative, pessimistic vibes like that when it is way too premature, lest by propagating them they become true!

    Video games ARE protected speech. Just because a single judge two days ago makes an unsupportable ruling like that is not sufficient to make it so. That is not enough to be settled law! It applies only in that small jurisdiction (St. Louis) until it is overturned on appeal, and then it won't apply anywhere in the US! It may be true that governments can place restrictions on minors access to certain forms of video games, but they also do so on books, magazines, and films without denying that those are protected forms of free speech. One judge saying so does not make it so.

    So, project a positive strong attitude when it comes to our inherent rights, and don't let negative thinking undermine all the good work on rights you do here Slashdot!
    • Not to mention, that if a video game is used in a gubanatorial campaign, the appeal to said case will have counter-examples.

      Jesse fighting for free-speech in video games, kinda cool. I wonder if free speech in games would have any legal bearing on code as speech.

  • I remember there was a game on the BBC Micro where you got to be Prime Minister - only way I could get elected again after five years was to bankrupt the country though! I can't remember what it was called though. Anyone else remember?
  • I know I would vote for him and any other ex or current pro wrestler for president or Senate/House seats.

    These guys would do a better job that anything the Republican or Democratic part can dig up... I am sick of the Ultra-old and ultra-rich being the only ones who get to run the country...

    If the wrestlers cant get in, then let's try the Actors Guild, or maybe Lars from metallica might want to give it a shot... Oh wait... H'e exaclty like the Old farts we have in congress now... Narrow minded puppet of industry..

    Hmmmm... anyone got any other ideas?

    • There are exceptions for every group, but.... if you are going to say too rick and too old, then you are stating a characteristic of the republican party, not the democrats.

    • If the wrestlers cant get in, then let's try the Actors Guild

      HELL NO! Ronald Reagan was bad enough....

      On a more serious note, while it's good that Ventura shakes things up politically, he sucks at PR. He pisses off reporters, pisses off voters, pisses of the legislature, the whole works. While honesty is important, keeping up appearances is important too, especially in national and international politics. Ventura's tendency to insult everyone with whom he disagrees would land himself and our country in a shitload of trouble if he were president.

      I was a big fan of John McCain when he was running for President. He shakes things up politically, but has enough tact to get work done. Yeah, he's a Republican, but unlike most folks in national politics, he can actually think for himself, so his party affiliation is less important that it would be otherwise.

      I was seriously hoping that McCain would beat that fratboy idiot Bush in the Republican primary in 2000. I was pissed when he didn't make it.

      Steve

      • I was a big fan of John McCain when he was running for President. He shakes things up politically, but has enough tact to get work done.

        You'd think...problem is, it's his lack of tact that destroyed his campaign in the first place. He lost his temper during a radio interview with Michael Reagan, and Rush Limbaugh broadcast it all over the place at the behest of GOP apparachiks. McCain didn't have a chance after that.

        I'd definitely rather have McCain than Bush right now. And I'd rather have Janet Reno in the White House than either of them. (Yes, she's anti-crypto, but that happens to everyone who gets to the White House. Just look what's become of "pro-privacy" John Ashcroft.)

        • I expect he's in favor of his privacy. I never heard that he was in favor of anyone else's.

          He had quite a bad reputation on a large number of fronts before he was ever nominated. I suspect that it played a large part in his getting the nomination. (I.e., either he was nominated because he was willing to do that kind of stuff, he was nominated as a payoff, or both. I suspect both.)
    • He's a better choice than any other candidate I've heard of. That's not saying all that much, but he actually does sound pretty good.

  • How's Ventura doing? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Galvatron ( 115029 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @03:34PM (#3421677)
    Now, of course I know that this is going to be a controversial question, but are there any Minnesota residents who want to comment on Gov. Jesse Ventura's performace? Obviously he was all over the news when he got elected, and whenever he said something offensive, but I haven't heard very much about his actual performance in office, so I'm curious what people think of him.

    Anyway, to get back on topic, computers are definately great campaign tools. The amount of information that could be conveyed through handing out cd-roms (think aol) is enormous. I'm not sure games are the right way to go though; it's tough to make a fun game. It's harder to make a fun, educational game. It's damn near impossible to make a fun, educational game in the kind of time the programmers are likely to have before the election. A lame game seems likely to do a lot more harm than a fun game would do good.


    • He's certainly tried to do new things. He has made a unicameral legislature a primary initiative for three years, but the issue has never made it to the floor of the House or Senate for a straight vote. Apparently it would require getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

      It crtainly qualifies as an interesting way to reduce gridlock. IIRC, Nebraska is the only state to currently have a unicameral legislature.

    • Re:How's Ventura doing? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I posted this in response to another post elsewhere, but this thread seems more appropriate.

      How's Jesse?

      He has pissed me off numerous times about spending issues, especially education funding. I can't tell you how many letters I have written to legislators asking them to ignore him. I think his libertarianism goes too far for my tastes.

      But he does have his good points.

      I'm not sure he's been much more of an ass than any other recent governors I remember. It's just that he's such an ass about being an ass.

      For example, there was a debacle not too long ago about a spending bill. Jesse thought there was too much spending in a number of areas, at least out of reserves. The legislature thought otherwise. I actually sympathized with Jesse on a number of issues. However, his way of dealing with it was unexcusable: hiding from the person delivering the bill, trying to argue that he didn't get it in time to sign before the next budget report. Had something to do with manipulating the time frames in which veto overrides can be made. I think he locked himself in the house or something. There was this big discussion over whether or not the bill had been delivered on time. Basically it was like people were at knocking at his door saying "Jesse! We know you're in there! We can see you eating dinner through your windows! We've got the bill for you sign!", and then Jesse, the next day, saying "What bill? They didn't get the bill to me on time! Too bad for them."

      Needless to say, he legislature or whoever decided that the bill was delivered on time, and Jesse just didn't take it. The whole thing was ridiculous, and enough for me to lose any sympathy for whatever good points he might have had.

      My recommendation to individuals in other states: get a third-party candidate as soon as possible. Just make sure it's not a former pro wrestler who throws temper tantrums.
      • Basically it was like people were at knocking at his door saying "Jesse! We know you're in there! We can see you eating dinner through your windows! We've got the bill for you sign!", and then Jesse, the next day, saying "What bill? They didn't get the bill to me on time! Too bad for them."

        This reminds me of another great incident in our state's history. One party (can't remember which) wanted a very different area of land to be carved out from the territory to form the state. To prevent them, the other party, before the vote, proposed that all members of the territory legislature be present before the vote took place. The proposition passed, the majority party suspecting nothing. However, one of the legislators had been chosen to never come and the officer in charge of finding him always reported that he was nowhere to be found (he did know where he was), so the entire session went by without the vote ever getting to take place. The next year, a new set of politicians carved out the state we have now.

    • From all i can tell, "The Body" is not doing a very good job in office. The people who elected him, younger voters between 18-25, have all but body slammed by him. The cost to attend a state universtiy rose last year and it will be rising again. That is such a good way to treat the people who elected you.

      I would never vote for him again, and if he sticks to his previous word (that he wont run for re-election) I wont have to. But "the Body" has a problem remembering his promises.
      • The people who elected him, younger voters between 18-25, have all but body slammed by him. The cost to attend a state universtiy rose last year and it will be rising again. That is such a good way to treat the people who elected you.

        I was a college student four years ago when I voted for him. He always indicated that he was not supportive of large hand-outs for higher education. He stated that people should pay their own way for school.

        Any student who voted for him and is now upset about his education spending is an idiot. Did I want to pay more for school? No. On the other hand, I support his conservative spending policies and it would be hypocritical to want lower government spending, less pork barrel politics, and then expect the government to give me a bunch of money to go to school.

    • I think he's done a farely good job. I'm a libertarian though, so I don't represent any sort of majority opinion. I'll admit he does need to grow up a bit, though.
    • Ventura is one of the biggest mistakes this wonderful state has ever made. He has broken almost every promise he made during his campaign. He ran as a small government conservative, but has turned into a big government liberal. And to top it all off, he routinely embaresses the citizens of our state on his trips around the world. Giving us a bad name.

      But if he decides to run again, his chances of winning are VERY slim. He has already found a way to alienate damn near every member of his constituency. So that takes care of him. Now we just have to get rid of Wellstone...

    • Thanks for asking this question. I, myself, was wondering how he was doing. You are correct that those of us who don't live in MN never hear how Ventura is doing unless it's shocking. I was disappointed to hear so many here describe that he's acting like a wildman. When he got elected, I was hoping that this was a man who you could trust to be honest and straightforward. I disregarded all the ex-wrestler, ex-moviestar criticism as elitist crap and hoped that he was a "man of the people" dispite his freakish appearance. Apparently that is not the case.

      Making the assumption that most in MN see Ventura in the same light that the above slashdotters do, I submit that this videogame is a BAD idea for him. It sounds like he needs to project a more responsible, serious public image. Putting out a videogame starring him is inconsistent with that goal. If his constitutents feel he is "throwing a tantrum" as one slashdotter put it, he needs to do some serious "growing up" in the public eye. Most people do view videogames as fluff and would not take his appearance in such as a sign of maturity.

      One last point, and this is somewhat off-topic. I admit that I don't know very much about Ventura. But in his book he mentions somewhere (so I've been told) that he makes the statement that he finds athesists to be decent, hardworking people. For most of us here on slashdot, this is an obvious statement. But when was the last time you heard a politician saying something like this? Probably never. Most politicians have no qualms about bashing the non-religious in public forums. I'm not saying that Ventura's maturity to recognize non-religious peoples as decent should excuse the screw-ups he's apparently made in office. But it's something to keep in mind. It's going to be a very long time before we hear another politician come out and openly support non-religious people.

      GMD

      • I wouldn't take the few above comments to give a reflection on how all citizens feel about Gov. Ventura. Personally, on the issues, I couldn't be happier with the job he's been doing. The state does have a budget shortfall, but so do most states. During the last budget cycle he was under fire for not spending the huge surpluses we were supposed to be getting. Under considerable criticism he fought hard to keep spending in check during the late 90s. Now that the economy is down, it seems like he was making some good moves.

        Off the issues, he does say some pretty stupid things sometimes. He made a career out of antagonizing people as a "bad guy" in professional wrestling. I think he enjoys it. At least you know what he's thinking because, for better or worse, he usually pretty blunt about his opinion. I prefer it to the meaningless pre-written crap that you get from most politicians.

    • As a student in the Minneapolis Public School system, I think I'll comment on Jesse's performance.

      So far, he's ruined the education system. Minnesota used to be one of the leading states in academic performance, but apparently Jesse doesn't realize a good education requires money. A year or two ago he stated, and I quote "education is a black hole for money". Of course, after saying this, the state education budget was slashed. In the past year, I have seen average classroom sizes go from 20 to 30, numerous school closings, as well as drastic layoffs of faculty. Charter schools are losing funding, extracurricular activities are being cut, and the Osseo district was going to change the school week to four days instead of five (I think they've decided not to do this, but fire some teachers instead).

      Jesse, like President Bush, loves tax cuts and rebates. The two also don't realize that to cut taxes and give out rebates, you need money. Minnesota is now facing a giant budget shortfall in the upcoming year.

      Everyone was excited when Jesse was elected. We recieved attention from around the world. People had high hopes for him, but somehow he never delivered on them. He has made a mockery of our election system, and the governor's job itself.

      I'm sorry for going off into a rant, but it's very frustrating having him mess so much up. Everyone in the nation paid attention to him at first, but now apparently, people don't realize he was a big mistake (no pun intended).
      • The thing that really gets me about his steady destruction of our Education system, is that when I was at home in MN over spring break and there was talk of putting some schools on 4 day weeks (to save the money of heating and lighting the schools on Friday) he came up with the brilliant idea that cutting teacher salaries would only be logical, because "that sounds like a 3 day weekend to me". Yes a three day weekend...AFTER 4 10 HOUR DAYS. Maybe I'm confused and not nearly as in touch with the REAL world as my governor but I could have sworn I could go get a job on a factory floor and get overtime for working at 10 hour day. But when its a teacher they should get LESS money. I certainly hope this isn't the sort of math and logic thats coming out of the schools, because honestly I would wager that most middle school students could figure out the problem with that.
      • In Jesse's defense (and I don't often say that), education got a huge increase in his first two-year budget, and slightly better than inflation on the second. The shift of funding from local levies to the state for K-12 made things confusing, particularly when lots of districts voted down the make-up levies.
  • Sounds to me like they realized that a large majority of the youth population doesn't give a damn and would rather go play nintendo. So what better format to invite propoganda into their minds, considering they don't bother watching biased news tv?

    The question remains, do they know how to make a good video game?
  • Oh boy. A video game Jesse Ventura endorses. We all know what a techno connosieur HE is, don't we!

    *yawn*
  • Gee, I wish the Rock would run for president. Or maybe Mr.T... Yeah.

    "I Pity the foo who messes with Isreal! I pity em!

    "I've come for the biological weapons... And your HEAD."

    Ronald Regan turned out to be a pretty good president, but I just can't see Ventura as presidential material... And as much maligned as Bush is, the Texas Governship is no picnic. The governer actucal has to sign off on the execution of inmates.. I don't care what you say; That can't be an easy thing to do.
    • The governer actucal has to sign off on the execution of inmates.. I don't care what you say; That can't be an easy thing to do.



      well, if i recall correctly, more people were executed during G.W.'s time as governor of Texas than any governor before him (correct me if i'm wrong), that's how he earned his prestiguous nickname "The Texecutioner". Seems to me it was a pretty easy thing for him to do.



      E.

  • Normally I look down on the professional wrestling. I mean you got a couple guys in underwear grabbin' each other. ewwww. But even though Ventura was/is a wrestler doesn't mean he aint a bad guy. The interesting thing I wonder is advertising free speech? And if advertising is free speech, then wouldn't a video game with an ad in it be free speech? Then wouldn't any computer program with an ad in it be free speech? That could be good and bad the way I see it. Another case of a great idea coming from an unlikely source.

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 + Pizza Hut.

    • The interesting thing I wonder is advertising free speech?

      In India at least it is. There was a case a few years back when the state-owned telephone company blocked the sales of a private yellow pages directory. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the yellow pages company giving this explanation.

      Then wouldn't any computer program with an ad in it be free speech?

      Based on the ad-as-free-speech definition alone, no. The ad is free speech, not the medium.

  • What? i thought that the Patriots where running America and the campaigns were just a show. So they're planning on distributing computer programs now? like that y2k bug 'fix'? Will these computer games involve realistic VR combat situations? driving large mechanical monsters?

    Seriously though, i wouldn't trust any software a political party had written on my computer. Obviously the games will be Windows only. Computer games can be very addictive and i would categorise this strategy as borderline aggressive psychological manipulation.

  • This could actually be good (in theory). (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jcsehak ( 559709 ) on Saturday April 27, 2002 @04:17PM (#3421807) Homepage
    Image a Warcraft-like game where the resources (oil, forests) are modeled after their real-life counterparts. You'd gain a whole new perspective on drilling for oil in the middle east, africa, or alaska. You could use the buildings and vehicles to explain concepts about how our government works.

    If he used the game to educate people about the issues, then made analogies to the game to explain his stance on them, it would be a great way to get people more involved in elections. Granted, it'll probably be more like the fast-food games mentioned in other posts, and from the article, it seems like it'll be more like a collection of mpgs than a game, but don't knock it just yet.
    • Image a Warcraft-like game where the resources (oil, forests) are modeled after their real-life counterparts. You'd gain a whole new perspective on drilling for oil in the middle east, africa, or alaska.

      Except that in Warcraft-like games, there's never a disadvantage to deforestation and strip mining. The way to win is to take as many resources as fast as you can and deny your opponent access to them. You'd gain a whole new perspective indeed.
  • What if the voters are to busy to vote because they are playing a game that is supposed to make them go vote?
  • Still the only politician I respect:

    "Chat away, i'll just amuse myself with these pornographic playing cards."

    "You can't seriously want to make ban alcohol, it tastes great, makes woman appear more attractive, and makes a person virtually invulnerable to criticism."

    "Check out the rack on the blonde in the forth row."
  • I would much rather see political games over a britney spears or nsync game. It could be a great next step.
  • wow, thinking about this now...arnold vs. the iceman vs. jesse ventura, fighting for their lives in the 'running' for office
  • As a Minnesotan voter and student, I pray that Ventura doesn't run for governor again. If he does, I hope the game is modelled after some console pro wrestling games (Wrestlemania on the NES, anyone?). There are a few politicians around here that could use a good virtual smackdown.
  • One measely judge in the most backwards big city in America, that's who...

    Having political campaigns use interactive software (e.g. video games) to spread the word only helps the cause that video games and software are protected speech! Over the years the Supremes have protected peaceful political speech in many many situations where non-political speech could've been constitutionally prohibited.
  • Screw that.... I already have a bunch of wrestling games.
  • I am so throughly frightened.

    The_Shadows[LTH], out.
  • to the mountain of AOL cds that come with every damn magazine I get.

    "The Ventura game -- or collection of games -- would be entertaining, 100-percent political and distributed free to voters as campaign literature"

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