Super Obama World... just like Mario, but without Mario

Gaming is more often than not about doing things you normally wouldn’t be able to do, like fighting aliens, scoring a goal against Man U or, in this case winning the US presidential election. A new game by ZenSoft called “Super Obama World”, which is based on a certain old school game staring an Italian plumber, is available online now for Obama fans to play. The game is apparently going to be released in installments, with the first chapter seeing President-Elect Obama taking on Sarah Palin in the ever-charming state of Alaska.

Imaginative is too poor a word to describe the enemies in this game, with foes such as hockey moms, Russian soldiers and pitbulls with lipstick….Genius. But it doesn’t stop there. The game also features the stores where Palin went on her questionable shopping sprees and you also have to avoid being run over by Palin on a snowmobile. For the icing on the cake, once you’ve completed a level you get congratulated with a screen proclaiming "Level completion we can believe in!"



MyTake – Brilliant, I thought that all the online fun was going to dry up after the election but then this comes along. I have had a quick play of the game and it’s very funny. It’s interesting to see that the “victory dance” of the online generation manifests itself as a game. But then again, they had a lot of material to work with, didn’t they. My mate Ed should play this game, he'd love it

I am also not Sarah Palin

Another day, another Wikipedia scandal. This time, it is Sarah Palin’s entry that has been, shall we say, finessed. Here are the facts: about a day before she was announced as the running mate for McCain, the entry for Sarah Palin was significantly changed with a more than positive glow added by a user called Young Trigg. Trigg, as my colleague Ed Hoover told me this morning, is in fact the name of Sarah Palin’s baby son….the plot thickens.   

Apparently, the last edits by Young Trigg were made only a few hours before the big announcement, just in time for the million-plus hits it was about to receive.  Young Trigg has since disappeared into nowhere and Wikipedia is now only allowing established editors to change the entry. The usual ruckus then commenced with questions over Young Trigg’s integrity until he came out to answer all the speculation: “I am not Sarah Palin. I am not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family…..I will acknowledge that I volunteer for the McCain campaign, one of thousands of people nationwide who are working to elect the best candidate for the job. Palin was not the nominee when I made my edits, though I am certainly excited about the selection. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem.” It's a bit like Spartacus, only without the swords...and the hero....

MyTake – I have this vision of little Trigg editing the entry himself, sort of like Stewie from Family Guy, only without the British accent. In all seriousness, Wikipedia is becoming a huge part of the political battle and the importance being placed upon it is fairly obvious from incidents like this. As a PR practitioner who always advises transparency online, I’d probably say that they have gotten away with it – of the people that hit that page in all its polished glory, I bet only a handful hear about the fact that it was altered by a “volunteer for the McCain campaign”. To close, I’d like to follow Young Trigg and say that I am also not Sarah Palin. I am also not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family. I will acknowledge that I write this blog, one of thousands of people all over the world that write blogs. Palin was the nominee when I wrote this post. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem – I am a non-violent person and I believe myself to be quite interesting.