Ubisoft get Political

SPOnG is all in favour of originality. All too often, half-hearted clones are barely distinguishable from one another, but on the odd occasion, we just wish developers would stick to the script. Ubisoft’s newly announced US political election campaign ‘em up, The Political Machine, is one such example. According to Stardock's Brad Wardell, the game’s designer, "We figured it would be kind of fun to be able to go around the country and try to take out ads, debate on the issues that are out there...and see how different candidates played up against each other..."

Evidently, these particular game designers have never gone around the country trying to take out ads nor observe how different candidates play up against each other. It wouldn’t be fun, it would be a massive pain in the ass. It is therefore hoped that Ubisoft maintain a tongue-in-cheek approach, because without an emphasis on humour, The Political Machine will be drier than a pack of Jacob’s Crackers in a Saharan alcoholic’s pint-pot.

Predictably enough, TPM is due for release over the summer, between the time of the Democratic convention in July and the Republican convention in August. There could well be a vote-fiddling expansion pack to follow a week or so later. The rank and file of the gaming community are unlikely to respond to this, but perhaps non-gamer PC owners with a keen interest in political goings-on might enjoy it as a passing distraction.