Gameology 2.0
A Better Mark Foley Newsgame, Foley's Follies
On the heels of the topical and satirical So You Think You Can Drive, Mel, the Game Show Network has published a new game lampooning the sex scandal surrounding former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL), Foley's Follies. I blogged earlier on the inevitability of Mark Foley games, and Amanda correctly speculated that many early attempts would play up the queer angle and simply recycle Michael Jackson jokes with Foley taking Jackson's place as the weird pedophile. This latest effort by GSN, however, appears to be something more sophisticated and at least offers some more involved game play.
From the press release:
And that's pretty much it. What might not be clear from that is that it's a Pac-Man clone (Foley is Pac-Man, pages are ghosts), and there are some nuances that come out in the way the content is presented. First of all, it's nice to see a news-based game that isn't a whack-a-mole or space invaders clone, and the imagery of the floor of Congress as a maze seems kind of fitting as pages scurry up and down it's corridors. If you've ever watched C-Span, that's pretty much what the pages do, so adding the former Congressman pursuing them connects his impropriety with what little idea most people have of what a Congressional page actually does.
On to the analysis:
Here's a screenshot of the basic playing field:
Basic playing field for Foley's Follies. Obviously a Pac-Man clone. Note the red and blue spectators on both sides of the aisle.
When the game starts, Foley has three "lives" which he can increase by capturing the intermittent emoticons that appear throughout the field. The pages are all business at first, marching back and forth with papers in their hands:
An unsuspecting page. Note the business-like posture and cheerful expression.
If Foley runs into a page in this mode, he loses a life. If however, the former Congressman first acquires an IM symbol, the pages undergo a transformation:
A receptive page. Note the look of fear.
The newly receptive pages glow pink (or are they nude?), move much more slowly and cautiously, and definitely look worried. They're pretty easy to catch as they shuffle around, and they stay vulnerable for long enough that the first two levels can be completed with the pages pink almost the entire time. I'm a little confused about what the page sprites signify in terms of the game's broader critique. I don't know if they're turned on or simply vulnerable, but their in-game status is clear. Upon consuming a page, a genuine quote from Foley's IMs appears at the bottom of the screen:
A genuine excerpt from Mr. Foley's (R-FL) communications with a page.
Acquiring an IM symbol seems to signifying opening an IM chat with the pages, and "consuming" them corresponds to delivering one of the sexually explicit messages. The juxtaposition of this in-game act of consumption and the "payoff" of the explicit message gets to the heart of the whole predatory incident by exposing the advances as not simply romantic gestures, but acts of predation by a powerful party upon a weaker party. I think this line of critique is pretty clear, but Foley's Follies does consider other angles of the story as well.
Now that the dust has settled somewhat, there are at least two competing media narratives of what the scandal was about. Either it's about a deviant, alcoholic Congressman with a personal problem resulting from his own abuse who is now being rehabilitated, or it's about a culture of corruption so entrenched that it would ignore warnings about a predator in its midst to maintain it's own power.
The latter message seems reinforced by the message displayed between levels:
And the image of the playing field includes members of Congress looking on in silence. (I've only made it to level 4, so I don't know if allegations ever do surface or if the Representatives ever intervene).
What complicates this game's depiction of that particular narrative, however, is the inclusion of both parties (red and blue) passively looking on. And the "Game Over" screen lampoons Foley's drinking problem, further reinforcing his "the alcohol made me do it" defense.
I'm not sure if we should read this ambiguity as ambivalence or simply an error, but maybe we should consider the audience. Along with the Mel Gibson game, the ultimate target of this game's satire is the hypocrisy of an individual in power. Ultimately, I don't think that either is necessary a political commentary, except perhaps to the extent that both Foley and Mel have both used their authority to lecture others about moral issues in the past. I'm still not sure what to make of the status of the page sprites in this representation, so perhaps someone more versed in Queer Theory can comment?
What do you think? Does this game simply play on homophobic fears, or does it rightfully criticize a sexual predator and the system that enabled him?
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Foley's Pink Pages
I found it interesting that the color pink was used to mark the pages as available for messages, since pink is one of the colors closely associated with queer (particularly male) culture. My first instinct was that the boys are being marked as both gay and receptive to Foley's advances.
However, both the intro and gameover screens have the same animation of Foley, beer in hand, hiccuping pink bubbles. So You Think You Can Drive, Mel? has the same color designation for Mel's alcoholic emissions. The origin of the pink is not that simple, and could simply be attributed to a sort of Game Show Network alcohol trope.
Even so, putting pink on a boy, particularly in the context that explicitly references a homophobic scandal, is significant from a queer analysis standpoint. For a more complete analysis, I think we should incorporate both aspects of the pink into the equation - which is certainly not difficult given the game's subject matter.
When you observe the behavior of the pages, they act like the Pacman ghosts on which they are based: they chase Foley when not vulnerable (likely hounding for a signature, the way they wave pen and paper around after him), but they quickly turn and run when the IMing commences, losing pen, paper, and possibly clothing in the process. (Although as far as the clothing is concerned, it looks to me like the white of the shirtsleeves is still in place and that the vest and pants turn from black to pink.)
I would still argue that the pink of the pages signifies a certain homosexual receptivity to Foley. The gamer does, after all, take on the Congressman's head (and head only) as an avatar, putting her in direct relation to the major sensory organs - and by extension we can assume that she is taking on his POV, as well. We know from the media that Foley claimed to have been "under the influence of alcohol when he wrote the notes," and we also know that there has been some speculation as to the sexual orientation of the victims whose conversations have been widely publicized since the incidents. Perhaps the secret of the pink pages is alcohol + possibly gay pages = predatory IMing.
When they are not pink, coming into contact with one makes you lose your head. In the context of this analysis, I would say that this amounts to getting caught sober by a straight page with real work for the Congressman - in other words, total bummer, Game Over for the player and no more game for a lascivious politician.
So does the game reference Foley's drunken assumptions about the receptiveness of the pages to sexual advances by a man? When you hit the IM button, the pages are marked with the alcoholic/gay pink spot and become available for messages. Even if they are, they still look worried and run away. Foley's inebriated judgment falls short.
Re: A Better Mark Foley Newsgame, Foley's Follies
From the press release:
And that's pretty much it. What might not be clear from that is that it's a Pac-Man clone (Foley is Pac-Man, pages are ghosts), and there are some nuances that come out in the way the content is presented. First of all, it's nice to see a news-based game that isn't a whack-a-mole or space invaders clone, and the imagery of the floor of Congress as a maze seems kind of fitting as pages scurry up and down it's corridors. If you've ever watched C-Span, that's pretty much what the pages do, so adding the former Congressman pursuing them connects his impropriety with what little idea most people have of what a Congressional page actually does.
On to the analysis:
Here's a screenshot of the basic playing field:
Basic playing field for Foley's Follies. Obviously a Pac-Man clone. Note the red and blue spectators on both sides of the aisle.
When the game starts, Foley has three "lives" which he can increase by capturing the intermittent emoticons that appear throughout the field. The pages are all business at first, marching back and forth with papers in their hands:
An unsuspecting page. Note the business-like posture and cheerful expression.
If Foley runs into a page in this mode, he loses a life. If however, the former Congressman first acquires an IM symbol, the pages undergo a transformation:
A receptive page. Note the look of fear.
The newly receptive pages glow pink (or are they nude?), move much more slowly and cautiously, and definitely look worried. They're pretty easy to catch as they shuffle around, and they stay vulnerable for long enough that the first two levels can be completed with the pages pink almost the entire time. I'm a little confused about what the page sprites signify in terms of the game's broader critique. I don't know if they're turned on or simply vulnerable, but their in-game status is clear. Upon consuming a page, a genuine quote from Foley's IMs appears at the bottom of the screen:
A genuine excerpt from Mr. Foley's (R-FL) communications with a page.
Acquiring an IM symbol seems to signifying opening an IM chat with the pages, and "consuming" them corresponds to delivering one of the sexually explicit messages. The juxtaposition of this in-game act of consumption and the "payoff" of the explicit message gets to the heart of the whole predatory incident by exposing the advances as not simply romantic gestures, but acts of predation by a powerful party upon a weaker party. I think this line of critique is pretty clear, but Foley's Follies does consider other angles of the story as well.
Now that the dust has settled somewhat, there are at least two competing media narratives of what the scandal was about. Either it's about a deviant, alcoholic Congressman with a personal problem resulting from his own abuse who is now being rehabilitated, or it's about a culture of corruption so entrenched that it would ignore warnings about a predator in its midst to maintain it's own power.
The latter message seems reinforced by the message displayed between levels:
And the image of the playing field includes members of Congress looking on in silence. (I've only made it to level 4, so I don't know if allegations ever do surface or if the Representatives ever intervene).
What complicates this game's depiction of that particular narrative, however, is the inclusion of both parties (red and blue) passively looking on. And the "Game Over" screen lampoons Foley's drinking problem, further reinforcing his "the alcohol made me do it" defense.
I'm not sure if we should read this ambiguity as ambivalence or simply an error, but maybe we should consider the audience. Along with the Mel Gibson game, the ultimate target of this game's satire is the hypocrisy of an individual in power. Ultimately, I don't think that either is necessary a political commentary, except perhaps to the extent that both Foley and Mel have both used their authority to lecture others about moral issues in the past. I'm still not sure what to make of the status of the page sprites in this representation, so perhaps someone more versed in Queer Theory can comment?
What do you think? Does this game simply play on homophobic fears, or does it rightfully criticize a sexual predator and the system that enabled him?
As it happens, four hundred and twenty two thousand, nine hundred and fifty seven points ago, the high score on Foley's Follies was posted this afternoon by yours truly, and let me tell you, these pages are not coming at Foley with faxes as much as with axes and were it not possible for Foley to 'extend his warranty' through edible emoticons this Page ingestion would have most assuredly alluded Foley's feet. In line with Foley's former agenda, there are tricks one must employ in order to ensure an acute accumulation of points in this PacManish environment and having traversed this terrain at such lengths, it is hereby concluded that Foley's largest crime was making sure that everyone was on the same Page.
GSN is at it again with
GSN is at it again with this game...
http://www.gsn.com/minigames/minigame.php?id=9
The Power of Quality Asset Creation and Gaming sound
India Game Developer Summit 2010 – First, Independent Event on Game Programming, Business and Careers
Bangalore, February 08, 2010: It is common among writers, story tellers and even the audience/game players to believe that visuals alone can tell a story well. While visuals can bring life to the story and connect to the audience actively, sound can connect to the audience passively and most unobtrusively, says Varun Nair who is coming this February to India's first and independent annual summit for the game development ecosystem - India Game Developer Summit. Sound - a combination of music, dialogues and sound effects - is very important in story telling & enhancing realism in game play. Visual without complimenting sound is like a story told with no emotions.
At Indian GDS Varun will talk about designed sound and their uses, foley and real world sounds and its importance in enhancing and adding depth to game play. He will teach dialogues, learning and adapting from other media and forms of entertainment such as films, theatre & music. He will also cover common queries on making a brief and time and asset management. The talk will also cover technicalities and their creative applications including choosing the 'right' sound, and space, perspective, timbre and pitch, quality, delivery and working formats. Varun will cover the common equipment and tools used to create sounds before wrapping the talk by demonstrating the use of contrast and the power of silence.
Varun Nair has dabbled in most areas of sound - from the music industry, post production for commercials & feature films to game sound. He has created assets for Indian developers & some international projects like the ICC Cricket title for EA.
Attend IGDS to get inspired, learn from the gurus who have gamed their way to success, and join a club that seeks competence to grab a share in the $43 billion global gaming development pie.
About India Game Developer Summit
The highly individualistic nature of the Indian Software Developer, coupled with their tolerance for divergent personalities make them a natural fit into the Game Development culture. With the mission to build a robust community, advance the careers and enhance the lives of game developers, IGDS 2010 (Lite Ed) is being organized with the mission to pump the blood of Indian Game Developers and re-invigorate the ecosystem at large. The summit will cover industry leading methodologies in game development, design, production, programming, visual arts and writing.
India GDS (IGDS) is the quintessential Indian game industry event focused on inspiring, connecting and educating the Indian game developer ecosystem. Featuring top-notch keynotes from luminaries, visionaries and gaming gurus on various subjects from mobile and indie games to MMOs and AAA games, IGDS will also provide a hub for business and networking opportunities in the Indian industry.
With support from the International Game Developer Association (IGDA), the gaming industry at large and academia, the summit's intent is to build a robust community, advance the careers and enhance the lives of game developers. IGDS will see participation from Adobe, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Ubisoft and Playdom among several others. For complete details visit: gamedevelopersummit dot com
A Saltmarch Media Press Release
E: info AT saltmarch dot com
Ph: +91 80 4005 1000
Quality Asset Creation and Sound in Gaming
Varun Nair is coming this February to India's first and independent annual summit for the game development ecosystem - India Game Developer Summit (gamedevelopersummit dot com) and will talk about designed sound and their uses, foley and real world sounds and its importance in enhancing and adding depth to game play. He will teach dialogues, learning and adapting from other media and forms of entertainment such as films, theatre & music. He will also cover common queries on making a brief and time and asset management. The talk will also cover technicalities and their creative applications including choosing the 'right' sound, and space, perspective, timbre and pitch, quality, delivery and working formats.
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