Software:The Political Machine

From HandWiki
Short description: 2004 video game

The Political Machine
Developer(s)Stardock
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
Genre(s)Government simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The Political Machine is a government simulation game from Stardock and the first game in the Political Machine series, in which the player leads a campaign to elect the President of the United States. The player accomplishes this goal by traveling from state to state and engaging in a variety of activities to either raise money or raise poll numbers. Each game starts with the selection of a pre-created candidate or creation of a fictional candidate from one of the two major American political parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Headquarters and fundraisers are possible, the effectiveness of which depends on various factors.

When enough money is accumulated the player can invest it in advertisements (either through newspapers, radio, or TV media). The effectiveness of these ads are determined by several factors. For instance, an ad supporting tax cuts will work better with Republican Texas than with Democratic Massachusetts. A key factor in the game is the concept of "Stamina" and "Turns". In each turn, representing one week, a candidate has a set amount of stamina to engage in activities. For example, establishing or upgrading a campaign HQ costs more stamina than creating a newspaper ad.

A sequel, The Political Machine 2008, was released on June 16, 2008, with new characters introduced, such as Barack Obama and John McCain. A second sequel, The Political Machine 2012, was released on July 31, 2012, with new characters introduced, such as Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. A third sequel, The Political Machine 2016, was released on February 4, 2016, with new characters introduced, such as Bernie Sanders and Carly Fiorina. A fourth sequel, The Political Machine 2020, was released in March 2020.

Candidates

Basic candidates

Democrats

Chloe Sullivan has several strong areas as a candidate but lacks experience.
  • Bill Clinton
  • Hillary Clinton
  • John Edwards
  • Al Gore
  • Jeffory Jackson (fictitious character based on politician and 1984 and 1988 presidential candidate Jesse Jackson)
  • John Kerry
  • Chloe Sullivan (fictitious character, possibly named after a character from the television series Smallville)
  • Tom Vilsack

Republican

  • Barbara Bush
  • George H. W. Bush
  • George W. Bush
  • Laura Bush
  • Dick Cheney
  • Mike Forbes (fictitious character based on 1996 and 2000 presidential candidate Steve Forbes)
  • Bill Mason (although there is a Bill Mason, he is not related to politics; the computer game character is based on the 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole)
  • Condoleezza Rice
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (actually ineligible for the office of U.S. President; see § Presidential ambitions)

Unlockable candidates

These candidates have to be defeated by a member of the opposite party in Campaign Mode in order to unlock them.

Democratic

  • Wesley Clark
  • Jimmy Carter
  • Bill Richardson
  • Dick Gephardt
  • Lyndon B. Johnson
  • Woodrow Wilson (mislabeled as from Georgia; although he spent much of his childhood there, Wilson was elected from New Jersey, where he served as governor)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • Thomas Jefferson (member of the Democratic-Republicans, predecessors to the Democrats and the Whigs, and in turn the Republicans)

Republican

  • William Howard Taft
  • Gerald Ford
  • Ulysses S. Grant
  • Richard Nixon
  • Theodore Roosevelt (mislabeled as from Ohio)
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • George Washington (sympathetic to the Federalists, predecessors to the Whigs, and in turn the Republicans)

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic72/100[2]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1Up.comC[3]
CGWStarStarStarStarHalf star[4]
Game Informer7/10[5]
GameRevolutionC−[6]
GameSpot7.4/10[7]
GameSpyStarStarStarStar[8]
GameZone7.5/10[9]
IGN7.9/10[10]
PC Format82%[11]
PC Gamer (US)73%[12]

The game received "average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[2]

The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated The Political Machine as their 2004 "Strategy Game of the Year (General)", although it lost to The Sims 2. They wrote, "[W]e were enamored with Stardock's The Political Machine, which let us run the 2004 presidential campaign in a way that was far more fun than its real-life counterpart."[13] The Political Machine won Computer Games Magazine's 2004 "Best Budget Game" award.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Pringle, James B. (2004-08-10). "Rock the Vote" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/08/10/rock-the-vote. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Political Machine for PC Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-political-machine/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  3. ↑ 1UP staff (October 28, 2004). "[The Political Machine"]. 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/reviews/political-machine. 
  4. ↑ Geryk, Bruce (November 2004). "The Political Machine". Computer Gaming World (244): 84. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_244.pdf. Retrieved April 24, 2016. 
  5. ↑ "The Political Machine". Game Informer (139): 167. November 2004. 
  6. ↑ Ferris, Duke (September 3, 2004). "The Political Machine Review". Game Revolution. http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/the-political-machine. 
  7. ↑ Todd, Brett (August 18, 2004). "The Political Machine Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-political-machine-review/1900-6105145/. 
  8. ↑ Chick, Tom (August 24, 2004). "GameSpy: The Political Machine". GameSpy. http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-political-machine/541810p1.html. 
  9. ↑ McElfish, Carlos (August 25, 2004). "The Political Machine - PC - Review". GameZone. http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/the_political_machine_pc_review. 
  10. ↑ McNamara, Tom (September 20, 2004). "The Political Machine Review". IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/09/20/the-political-machine-review. 
  11. ↑ "The Political Machine". PC Format (167). November 2004. 
  12. ↑ "The Political Machine". PC Gamer: 96. December 2004. 
  13. ↑ ((Editors of CGW )) (March 2005). "2004 Games of the Year". Computer Gaming World (249): 56–67. 
  14. ↑ Staff (March 2005). "The Best of 2004; The 14th Annual Computer Games Awards". Computer Games Magazine (172): 48–56. 
  • Official website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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