Has anyone played the computer game "Political Machine"

[alarcojon]

where you manage the last 41 weeks of a political campaign? It looks interesting but I'm not sure if I want to buy it.

Any input would be appreciated.

There's a companion website: http://www.politicalmachine.com/

[Mojambo]

1. I downloaded a copy

And found it to be exceedingly buggy. I wouldn't waste much money on it.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why filesharing is a GOOD thing.

[osaMABUSh]

2. My twelve year old son plays it all the time

He has blast with it. Pitting all kinds of candidates from the present and past. I think he made up a Bush Jr. Vs Hitler campaign. Not sure who won, though, since they ran on the same platforms.

I'll let him add some comments later

[Massacure]

3. Hitler probably won.

Hitler was a master of propaganda and a excellent speaker. Bush Jr. Can't even speak coherant sentances.

Besides, if Hitler lost, he just would have had Bush Jr. killed and taken over by force. Hitler was a brutal man, after all.

[osaMABUSh]

4. this is elbays son

First of all I'm 13 not 12, my loving caring father screwed that one up, and no Bush didn't run against Hitler. I ran against Bush and on week 19 you have to pick a VP, I picked Hillary Clinton. Bush, the computer player, picked Hitler, this of course displayed his true colors. The game is, in many aspects, very unrealistic. An example is that as a democratic candidate (John Kerry) I took Texas and Oklahoma in a landslide. If you campaign long enough and hard enough you can win any state and sweep the election 538-0. I, however am not skilled enough to do so. Also you when you give speeches and make TV ads all you do is say stuff like, "I Support Fighting Crime", or "I Support Fighting Terrorism" you never really explain why. Also all the TV shows you appear on have mock names, like The O'Malley Factor, or 50/50, and NightTime.

There are no bugs that I've noticed.

Lastly I'll say that if you totally randomize everything in the options menu the issues that Americans care will be things like, Elimination of Mosquito's, A Ronald Reagan Holiday, Florida is Best Day, Cloning of Elvis, and Merging With Canada.

[alarcojon]

5. Thanks for the review

From the sounds of it, I'll probably skip the game.

[Johnny 99]

6. It's fun

Not terribly realistic, but it is somewhat customizable and they update it all the time. My Jed Bartlet/William Buffet fantasy ticket has yet to be defeated, even by Reagan/Eisenhower.

And there's something vaguely satisfying about sweeping the South as a Democrat and getting 450 or so electoral votes. Or winning Massachusetts away from Calvin Coolidge.