Online game creators eagerly await primary results

In 2004, amid the barrage of political news, journalists were delighted to report on JibJab, a small digital entertainment company and the presidential election animation “This Land.” The video, a kind of stop animation using clippings from George W. Bush and John Kerry, had the two presidential contenders jumping and moving as they sang a parody of the standard, “This Land is Your Land.” The satirical duet had the two politicians calling each other melodically over some of the slightest complaints the United States had with both. It was a Eureka moment for the press, which is always trying to find the “lighter side” of politics. It was monumental for JibJab, who had now claimed his claim in the land of online political parody.

The 2008 presidential election saw a flood of would-be content providers trying to be denounced as “the lighter side.” Many online Flash developers created games to parody or protest the candidates. The games capitalized on the anguish and frustration during the media’s force-feeding of political stories. One game, Election Smackdown 2008, literally had the player hit multiple White House players. The game required very little strategy to play, yet players came back to fill up. It just became fun to hit them all and not worry about the score.

A less violent 2008 game, Battleground States 2008, gamified the Electoral College and had its players try to win over delegates and turn as many states to red or blue (other parties were also represented in the game). like the armies of Risk. Simulated dice rolls at the end of turns determined whether delegates were successful. This battlefield concept is most likely to be resurrected in the next race in 2012.

The middle years of elections brought other flash games of political parody to the world. Between 2004 and 2008, the World Wide Web saw a large number of Bush dancing games. The genre continued after 2008 with a Hillary dance game. Flash dress-up games, generally popular with preteen girls, entered the mix once the trendy former Alaska Governor entered the 2008 race. A popular President Obama dress-up game was created after 2008. It was completed. with African, Rastafarian and Black Panther wardrobes, among others.

Now, along with the enthusiastic press, game developers and online video creators eagerly await the results of the 2012 Republican primary. Who will be a bigger draw? JibJab has already hinted at their next fun in the 2011 Buh-Bye video now showing on their site. As for Flash games online, do we really want to disguise any of these Republicans?