Posts Tagged ‘Barack Obama’
Obama: Get off the TV and Xbox, do your homework, etc.
Now, I’m all for Obama (woo change!), but if he keeps trash talking video games, we’re going to have a problem. His latest speech took a shot at the Xbox where he once addressed American kids and told them to get off the Xbox.
Below is an excerpt from his speech:
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
In all honesty, if you take offense to this you need to look at the picture as a whole; the United States is going through a severe obesity epidemic and kids are playing video games and drinking soda more than ever. While I love video games (obviously) if you’re playing them to the point where you can’t see your toes anymore, you may want to turn the console off and go play some basketball, or something.
via kotaku
Obama tells parents to ‘Put away the Xbox’, Microsoft responds
President Barack Obama isn’t exactly a support of video games, as supported by several occasions in which he suggests that video games are a waste of time. This assumption is further supported by a speech given by Obama addressing the NAACP 100th anniversary commemoration, which gave African-American parents a few words of advice.
“For our kids to excel, we must accept our own responsibilities. That means putting away the Xbox and putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour,” President Obama said. “It means attending those parent-teacher conferences, reading to our kids, and helping them with their homework.”
It’s not exactly good PR for Microsoft, but it should be considered an honor itself to have all of video games be referred to by a single console. However, Microsoft still has this to say:
“We agree with President Obama that it’s a time for families to work together so that kids use media in ways that are safe, healthy and balanced,” the press statement reads. “Xbox 360 is the only console gaming system that has a timer feature allowing parents to set time limits for their kids, as well as parent controls to enable parents to set limits on what their kids are playing and watching.”
Read (GamePolitics)
Fall Out Boy Trail Launched
One of the growing popular games racking up some heat these days is this new game which you can play on friendsorenemies.com is Fall Out Boy Trail. The game is such a hit that in just a matter of 72 hours after its launch, it had amassed a total of 250,000 fans with the hopes of winning tickets to the band’s upcoming North America Tour titled, “Believers Never Die Part Deux.”
The tour features support acts Cobra Starship, All Time Low, Metro Station and Hey Monday. The “Believers Never Die Part Deux” tour supports the band’s newest release, FOLIE A DEUX, and current single “America’s Suitehearts.”
A parody of the classic educational computer game, Oregon Trail, the Fall Out Boy customized version created especially for FriendsOrEnemies.com features band members Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump, Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman, as well as Perez Hilton, Barack Obama and several other friends of the band. Players can also stream and purchase music from FOLIE A DEUX as they play, and everyone who successfully navigates their way on the Fall Out Boy Trail will automatically be entered for the chance to win tickets for the “Believers Never Die Part Deux” Tour which kicks off on April 3 in Mesa, Az.
Launched in 2006, FriendsOrEnemies.com (FOE) has become the new backstage pass for music fans and lurkers, giving them the chance to experience what their favorite artists are doing when they’re being the rock stars they are. Everyday FOE is unleashing video footage & photos direct from our VIP’s phones, breaking news and so much more!
Trillion Dollar Bailout Review – Games Can Have Politics Too!
Proving that games can have political agendas too, we take a look at Trillion Dollar Bailout, fresh off the line from the folks at Addictive Games.
How can I tell that the game has an agenda, you ask? Well, it’s not tough. Basically, you have two options–hand out bags of loot or slap petitioners for cash upside the head. Seriously–your buttons are “bag” and “slap”, with accompanying sound effects. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the screen is a bar, ostensibly the economy. You watch as your choices cause the bar to go up and down. It’s interesting that most of the time, when you hand out large wads of cash to businesses, the bar goes down, whilst handing out the loot to homeowners (who ask for relatively little alongside the corps) usually makes the bar trend up.
Circumstancial evidence, you might say, indignantly. All hearsay! Well, if you still don’t think there’s an agenda from my admittedly roundabout proofs, how about this quote about the game’s description?
Punish greedy fat cats and save honest peoples! Hand out moneys to homeowners. Put the hurt on dudes in suits! Do it right and save the world!
Agenda? Oh yeah. The problem with this, of course, is that the agenda was the overmastering point of the game, to the point that they forgot to make a game. If you play it exactly as described, you will win. The economy will recover. Try it in a contrarian fashion (back the businesses) and it’ll be bread lines for all. It’s a bad sign when they actually tell you how to win in the game’s description, and doesn’t make for much fun. I like a hint when I’m stuck, not when I walk in.