Why Not Police Bit Torrent? Video Here

Not only does SPOnG like Bit Torrent, snooping on other people, and innovation in games, we also like 80s retro - so when all these things come together in a game and that game is free, well, you can imagine our Like'o'Meter peaking.

We have to point out that we haven't yet played Torrent Raiders by Aaron Meyers (at the University of South Carolina's Interactive Media department), but the idea appeals. Here's how it is described by the people who make it.

"Torrent Raiders is a dynamic network visualization realized through the idioms and aesthetics of arcade-style video games. Driven in real-time by the activity of bit torrent swarms, Torrent Raiders takes place on the ad-hoc networks created by bit torrent users. Torrent Raiders playfully addresses issues of domestic surveillance and intellectual property by putting players in the role of a mercenary copyright enforcer, encouraging them to capture evidence against peers on torrents in order to collect bounties. Players assist in the distributed surveillance of these torrent swarms, sending information to a central server where it will be used to drive further visualizations of this information. As a dynamic visualization exploring privacy, piracy and surveillance, Torrent Raiders challenges Internet users, content pirates and government spooks to examine their allegiances and mistrust their computer connections."

Sounds like the kind of game William Gibson would have made if he wasn't wasting his time typing in words...

Go here for the full low-down.