cnn
Rumours
EA Gets Involved in Ashton Kutcher/ CNN Twitter Race, Offers Huge Bounty
7:00AM Brian Crecente | If Electronic Arts’ Twitter feed can be believed, the publisher has stepped into the Tweeter race between actor Ashton Kutcher and CNN to be the first user to reach a million followers. More »
Media
CNN Gets Giddy Over Obama Simulator
2:00AM Brian Crecente | Embedded video from CNN Video We’ve mentioned Obama simulator Commander in Chief before, but it’s nice to see that the Geo Political computer game is getting a little face time on CNN. More »The Gamer Voting Block?
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | As we reported in late August, Microsoft is teaming up with Rock the Vote to allow gamers to register to vote on Xbox LIVE. Gamers can register to vote, discuss politics in an special forum and participate in political polls. LIVE members will also be able to download Rock the Vote public service announcements. CNN has a short video clip on this LIVE feature in which Adam Sessler does a fine job of pointing out the essential point: No, you cannot actually vote through you Xbox 360. Still, stuff like this is good for gamers, we imagine. While we seriously doubt all gamers have the same political tastes (that’s like saying everyone who watches TV has the same beliefs and opinions), the fact that something like this exists hopefully will make all politicians realise that video games are no longer a convenient bogey man. Hopefully. More »
CNN Tackles Hot Spore Porn Issue
1:40AM Mike Fahey | We had our fun with lewd and lascivious Spore creatures when the Creature Creator first hit, and then we were done, but some people just can’t let go and move on. The plague of Spornography has become so widespread that even the folks at CNN can no longer turn a blind eye. At least they keep things classy. But scrolling through the database — past the three-legged sea horse, past the seven-eyed wildebeest and the half-motorcycle-half-pig — revealed something many users didn’t expect. Buried among the more wholesome attempts were two-legged dancing testicles, a “giant breast monster” and a four-legged, “phallic fornication machine”, for starters. You can almost hear the concerned-sounding voice of your nightly news anchor during a commercial teasing a full investigative report on how Spore is raping our children’s minds. The CNN report covers all of the angles. First the get the word from the Spore development team.Wii Fit Frightens, Confuses Anderson Cooper
5:40AM Michael McWhertor | They say that any publicity is good publicity, but CNN host Anderson Cooper’s on-air dismissal of Wii Fit probably isn’t helping. It would appear that the cable news network’s prime time dandy doesn’t spend much time brushing up on his video games, as Wii Fit giver Erica Hill mocks him for his mispronunciation and general cluelessness. The silver haired fop doesn’t even know to remove one’s Italian leather shoes before stepping on the Wii Fit balance board! We suspect it—and the Wii—will be given to a friend who is into “these sort of things,” but that Cooper will save the wrapping paper. Thanks for the heads up, Cloud! More »
Perhaps The Stupidest Anti-GTA Vid You’ll See Today
6:30PM Luke Plunkett | Look, I’m not normally one to get all hot and bothered by the stuff people that don’t play games say about game. But this rant, by CNN’s Glenn Beck? As a gamer I’m stumped. But as a gamer and a history grad, I’m…less than amused. It’s like a one-two punch with ignorance-coated knuckle-dusters. [thanks James!] More »
Heel, Rogue Ron Paul Supporters!
1:00AM Ian Bogost | A few months ago, my studio Persuasive Games made a simple newsgame for CNN, which they published as Presidential Pong. For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, newsgames are a simple type of political game akin to the editorial cartoon. Presidential Pong wasn’t the best newsgame we’ve ever done (that one was probably Airport Security, a game about the arbitrary nature of TSA screening). But it was effective enough. Released right around the first Presidential debate, the game was intended both to introduce the primary candidates and to satirize the very idea of debate. In Pong, players return tennis volleys. In Presidential Pong, they return campaign volleys. Politics is, as ever, optional. Since then, we’ve been getting regular abusive emails and phone calls from Ron Paul supporters. More »
