Online Political Games
We are now close to entering the brave new world of online political games with President Forever 2008 Multiplayer.
We successfully tested a two-player online game, then a three-player game, and now a four-player game. You can read about these things here and here. Having played just a two-player game, all I can say is wow. This is politics like never before.
What will the online world for P4E8 look like? When it starts, it will be straightforward. A place you can meet other players, or start a private online game, with any other human player around the world. This is still a gigantic step beyond the current hot-seat games, where you need a roommate to be able to play against another human. With time, we will start adding extra features. A competition ladder, a recent game results page, and candidate average outcomes are at the top of our wish-list.
It will be interesting to see how online strategies, by humans who are far more resourceful than the computer players, will or will not mimic real-life strategies. You can even imagine campaign strategists trying out different strategies online to see how it might actually play out. The strategy is especially interesting in primaries like the Republicans’ current 2008 one, where players (candidates) are making alliances, non-aggression pacts, and deciding which opponents to attack and which ones to build up. As one pundit has put it, it’s a complex game of “bank shots,” and I can see this happening in online games with not just 2 human players in a primary, but 4, 6, or however many.
More updates soon.
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December 11th, 2007 at 12:40 am
I can’t wait!
As for Political Strategists, we LOVE this game. I make my living as a political consultant on the campaign side and President Forever 2008 is just a blast. Whether we will use it to test models, I doubt it. That being said, this the best political simulation game on the market.
While we may not test out our theories on this game, I guarantee you that when a feasible online version is launched and if it does indeed have rankings that will be one of the most coveted bragging rights in DC (I’d venture to suggest more so than the annual RNC Vs DNC softball game).
Cheers!
PS: And if you need Beta testers, please let me know.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Awesome, I can’t wait. I am a teacher and love to use this with my students. I actually am trying to decide whether to purchase the current 5 pack or wait until the multiplayer comes out!!!