Abraham Lincoln: The Video Game
Abraham Lincoln: The Video Game
June 19, 2009
Having finished Team of Rivals, a study of Abraham Lincoln's politicial genius, blogger Nate Janewit of Tech Industry Guerilla notes with despair that a Spielberg/Peter Jackson film adaptation may be in the works.
Expecting that the movie won't do justice to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Janewit, a program manager in Microsoft's Bing team, goes on to speculate about what a subsequent video game version of Team of Rivals might be like:
[CUE DEEP-VOICED ANNOUNCER AND IMAGES OF EXPLOSIONS]
ANNOUNCER: From the studios that brought you The Sims and Madden 2009 comes…LINCOLN!
[IMAGE OF LINCOLN SITTING IN A CHAIR THINKING]
ANNOUNCER: Balance the conservative and radical elements of your party…
[IMAGE OF LINCOLN WITH HAND IN THE AIR SURROUNDED BY CROWDS]
ANNOUNCER: Placate the masses with your oratorical skill…
[IMAGE OF SALMON CHASE, PLOTTING AGAINST YOU AS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY]
ANNOUNCER: Navigate the dangerous waters of political intrigue within your own Cabinet!
I can already picture the crowds of enthusiastic gamers lining up or preordering weeks in advance. For some reason, real history just isn’t as interesting as video games.
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Posted 11/21/09 at 08:16am
ZippyDSMlee: Welcome and goodmorning its zippy in the AM....wat OMG its 8:50AM!!!!
ZippyDSMlee: Welcome and goodmorning its zippy in the AM....wat OMG its 8:50AM!!!!
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:42pm
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:17pm
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:10pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:01pm
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:59pm
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:49pm
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:46pm
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:44pm
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:42pm
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:33pm
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:25pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:07pm
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:56pm
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:49pm
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:47pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
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Comments
What a cretin. That's quite a ridiculous leap of logic to expect a game. And even bigger one to suggest EA would be the ones to do it.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
The game would have a terrible ending. Unless they changed it so that Lincoln comes back to life for a final showdown with Booth.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
IF that were to occur, Gatling Lincoln or GTFO
Psst, Nate. Just so you know, Bing ain't exactly anyone's success story, either.
Heck, I'd buy a Lincoln game. It would be a lot of fun to see what problems Lincoln faced. Games have always been a great medium to make history approachable to folks who usually have no interest in the drier forms of historical scholarship. Look at historical games such as Silent Hunter III and IV which give a lot of insight into WW2 submarine warfare, or even more lighthearted games such as the recent The Political Machine.
To suggest that games are an incompatible format for serious study says a lot of bad things about the person making that argument. It also says bad things about the state of gaming when some idiot can make that argument without seeming completely out of touch with the medium.
Watch the wonderful play of Hamlet before being hammered in the ass to death!
I'll admit 'Lincoln' would never be an EA title, it's far too deep and doesn't have enough codpieces in it, but for companies like Strategy First and other specialised groups, I don't see any reason why a game playing as President in Lincolns' era would need to be glitzy or glamourized, and would probably be very educational.
A Licoln era game could be good if pull off correctly.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/