Playing Politics Workshop Response

1)I examined September 12 and New York Defender and believe these games to be ‘effective’ if the players on the internet have adequate knowledge on the war on terror and its implications, namely the September 11 incident and its aftermath. However, its effectiveness may be lessened after playing it several times as one becomes desensitised to the message it might be conveying. I felt my experience was enhanced by the readings that accompanied both games as it gave me a clearer understanding of the political innuendos and messages. Without them I would be deciphering the game and its messages according to my own understanding. Also, the degree of effectiveness may be down played as many would view it as merely an intellectual and thought-provoking game with no lasting effects.

2)After examining September 12, I felt that the intention of the game seemed to show the inevitable lost of civilians in attempt to sieve-out and destroy the terrorist. I also observed that the people morning for the dead civilians transformed into terrorists in the next instance, further increasing the numbers. This struck me as it clearly represented the grievance and bitterness of the victims of war having lost family and friends innocently, and some opting to join forces with the terrorist in revenge. This portrayed the cyclical nature of destruction in war as what ever good intent that the U.S government has seems futile under such circumstances. The news release reiterated my impressions of the game and gave further understanding of the flaws of the current anti terrorist tactics and measures.

I also played New York defender and was initially rather pleased with my “accurate” shootings, however, as the terrorist planes increased in frequency I found myself frantically shooting and a sense of hopelessness and panic emerged and increased till the game finally ended. I guessed that the sense of helplessness was somewhat representative of the helplessness that the people in New York and victims of terrorist acts might have experienced and how it seems impossible to be prepared for it all. The same sense of futility prevails with the number of martyrs and terrorists on the rise and the unceasing threats and kidnappings occurring today.

3)I would like to have a political simulation representing the futility of voicing political views about the state in countries where the people's voices are very repressed. For my safety, I will not mention the country(s) I might be referring to:) In this simulation, each time a person speaks up (in the form of word bubbles) he either gets taken away by some secret police or is thrown into exile. The player should then aim to shoot as many word bubbles into boxes labelled “propaganda” while dodging the police. The end result will be a no-win scenario.