Time to do a fun post.  I finally got my copy of “The Political Machine 2008“.  It has been out for about 2 weeks but I was waiting for a local store to carry it so I could buy it.  Normally, I would buy it off the Internet and have it shipped in for a similar price but I was concerned I might get into the game too soon.

What can I say?  I am a guilt gamer.  I love to game but I do it with guilt and I do it with caution.  After all, how does it look for this (hopefully) respected real estate investor, entrepreneur, publisher, and author look to publicly admit he indulges in PC gaming when no one is looking.  Even so, gaming has a way of gobbling precious hours when I should be brainstorming, writing, or some other project.  (There is no shortage of things to work on, let me tell you.)

The trouble is, I can get away with an awful lot if I am not careful.  I got good support people around me and my schedule is very flexible.  Anyhow, enough of this banter.  On to the important topic….  what do I think of the game?

“The Political Machine 2008” is a good and fun game but not a great game.  It builds on the game series that was first launched in 2004.  It manages to keep the fun and humor in the game and leaves out the montonous parts.  Although I did not want an overly complicated and serious political game like others I have previewed, it would not have hurt to “advance the cause” and make it a tad more complex.

Having said all that, I have no regrets despite the cracks and comments from the sales clerk at the local GameSpot store.  After all, it is a $20 game.  I have already spent a couple of good hours on the game and found it a keeper.  Although, a somewhat simple simulation, what keeps the game interesting is that there are so many presidential candidates to play as and play against.  On the Democrat side, you can play as Obama, Clinton (Bill or Hillary), John Edwards, John Kerry, etc.  On the Republican side, you can play as McCain, Bush (W and HW), Romeny, Giuliani, etc.

Funny enough, I chose Bill Clinton to start.  I guess I am just tired of the Republican nonsense and feeling myself being pulled to the Democrats.  (How weird is that?  A businessman and investor that leans Democrat.  Shh… don’t tell anyone.)  I like Bill’s ratings and game specs.  He didn’t disappoint.  I won most of the elections in a campaign that gets increasingly harder as I faced off the various Republican candidates.  Reagan gave me a tough time.  Took me 2 times to take him.  George Washington, on the other hand, has kicked Clinton’s (my) tail.  What a political battle.  I even had a tough time keeping California which is primarily Democrat.

On my PC Notebook, I had to test the game to see how the game would perform without a good graphics card.  And so, I played one game as Obama.  I soundingly defeated with a landslide against Warren Harding (a political wimp).  However, the game was definitely more sluggish because of the basic video card that comes with my HP Intel Centrino Duo Notebook.

All in all, in a politcal year, $20 is pretty inexpensive for a PC game.  I have to say, it remains educational to me.  I know nearly all the “battleground states” that are essential winning an election.  Let me give you some hints, Hawaii, Idaho, and Montana don’t count for much.  If you never set foot in those states, it would not matter much.

I like “The Political Machine 2008“.  It is a keeper and will tie me over until I get overloaded with the presidential election process (live or computer).

Moving on to my 2nd post in the “I Don’t Get It” series is “The Sims”.

The Sims is a PC-based game published Electronic Arts. I have been told that the game franchise has sold 100 million units! This does not include the tens perhaps even hundreds of thousands of pirated copies that are in circulation. What a staggering number for a PC game.

I have watched as this game was first launched back in 2000 and one add-on/expansion pack/upgrade came out one after another. From what I can see, the whole idea is to create a fictional character that you will nurture through its online life. The thing here is that the environment you play this character in is based in normal, every day life.

I am thinking to myself “WTF?” Let me get this straight. Most of us live in the “real world” living an “average life”. And so to have fun, what do you do? Go create an alternative character so that you can play or guide them through their “average life”? Huh? I don’t need a game to live an average life. I am doing fine just now!

I could be wrong, but from what I have seen or been told, there are all kinds of restrictions on the character. You have to make money, go to the bathroom, sleep, and all the un-fun parts of life to support your digital character. Granted, it is not happening in real-time (accelerated or skip-over portions).

Maybe if I am extremely bored and I run into an inexpensive copy of The Sims, I may load it up just to see if I will eventually “get it”. For now, call me an idiot because the folks at Electronic Arts are making a fortune publishing The Sims game series.