Last Monday was tax day, and by now for most of us, the Feds have cashed our checks. And what are they wasting our hard earned cash this time around? By fronting the money towards crap vide games.
First off, check out this really boring video of some really boring guy explaining The Day The Earth Shook, which cost a supposed $286,000 to produce, courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security. It’s about being prepared for an earthquake, btw…
Those who want to give the game a spin can do so here; there’s both a PC & Mac version, the former of which I could not get to work. But don’t bother; the game totally sucks.
As for where all the money went towards, who the hell knows. Apparently, members of the University of Illinois’ Champaign at the National Center for Supercomputing were called upon for their expertise. Because, you know, it takes a genius to let folks know that in case of an earthquake, it’s good to have a first aid box, spare batteries, plus enough food and water to last a few days around the house.
The real shame is how a video game simulator for earthquake preparedness is actually a great idea. In recent years, some educators have argued that the current education system is broken (well, duh), and the key to keeping kids’s attention in schools is video games, which can be valuable teaching tools. Pokemon is often cited as an example; all at once, kids are learning task management, organizational skills, cause & effect, learning about animal species (albeit completely made up ones), plus more. For those who want to learn more, check out James Paul Gee’s Wahte Video Games Have To Teach Au About Learning And Literacy; it’s actually a great read! Though my former roommate, a high school teacher, thought it was total b.s. Oh well.
Anyhow, back to the feds funding games, here’s another one, courtesy of Kotaku. Again it’s funded by Homeland Security, the Customs and Border Protection branch to be exact. This time the game is supposed to help themselves do a better of job of capturing illegal aliens. And what’s the price tag this time? Ten million dollars…
EDIT: Oops, turns out the government is not a fan of outsiders checking out such an advanced computer simulation at work. Actually, it wasn’t advanced, nor very impressive, the least bit.
This is where I wish I was a government goon and save everyone a ton of money, cuz anything the above could possibly have to teach is also demonstrated in the upcoming iPhone/iPad/Mac/PC game (which has yet to be released, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be far cheater then 10 million) Smuggle Truck
State using sci-fi game to prep kids for quake [ABC 7 News, Chicago, IL]