Tag: Political »

Donkeys and Elephants: Chow Down is a colorful, cartoony iOS game about munching fruit with an ever-growing donkey/elephant (Donkeys and Elephants, get it?). It also uses a database to track player animal choices and scores, then tallies them to create a global score and potentially predict the outcome of the 2012 election. Stiven Deleur and his father have been hard at work with updates and a kickstarter project since the game's release, and have just recently "paired with a starting company" that's taken a big interest and will potentially have a significant impact on their success. I had a few questions for the young developer, naturally.

You'd mentioned that you decided to use Corona for coding over C++ and Xcode. What was it about Corona that drew you in?
Well my first encounter with app developing was when I heard about a young person who made an iOS app, so I decided to try. I briefly looked online but the Objective-C language seemed fairly hard. There also weren't many tutorials or explanations. A couple months later my dad proposed making an app, and he told me about corona. I decided to check it out. On their website there were lots of tutorials, guides, and even explanations to every function etc. After seeing that I thought that I could definitely make a game.

I imagine that, even with how easy it was to get started, there were some stumbling blocks. Were there any aspects to the app development process that gave you more trouble than others? Any that still give you trouble?
Everything seemed new and complicated at that time. But the major stumbling block was that corona has limitations. Not all services are available (e.g. ads, game networks, etc.) I always had to work around it somehow. Even now I can't do everything I want.

The Donkeys vs. Elephants political theme is obviously a focus here, so I have to ask: Donkey or Elephant?
I currently do not have a very strong view, but if I had to choose it would be Elephant.

And while we're on the subject, was it difficult for you to create a game with a political focus that didn't seem to "take sides?"
As I said I don't have strong views so the app is not bias in either way. Still, I tried to make sure everything was equal.

Have there been any items or upgrades that you've wanted to add to the store but just haven't been able to due to balancing/time constraints/whatever?
Well one thing that I have been thinking about are clothes for the characters. It would take about two weeks of work, but currently I am working on other things so I cannot make it happen just yet.

What's your personal favorite upgrade?
My favorite upgrade is coin multiplier! Even though its not cheap, its worth every credit because you gain money faster and can get more and more upgrades.

I also have to know: between you and your father, who's got the highest score?
Of course I have the highest score :) It might be because I spend so much time testing the game, or because I know exactly how it works. Either way I am beating him by a lot!

Tracking player scores across the world and tallying them up must require a fair bit of work. Was it easier or tougher than you'd expected when you first came up with the idea?
Tracking player scores is actually not that hard. Its not like we hand count them (that would be hard-core!) The scores just get sent to an online database, and then they just get added up. To make that system I had to learn how to use mySQL databases, as well as a little bit of PHP.

I was also wondering, were there any plans to separate the data by region? What I mean is, seeing who prefers what on a global scale is definitely cool, but when it comes down to US elections the folks in other parts of the world don't really have a say. So is there a chance that Donkeys and Elephants: Chow Down might give the totals for the US specifically, as well as the global data?
In the next update the data will be also separated by state. Currently the application is targeted for the 2012 US elections, so the data is not displayed about the rest of the world. However, they can still enjoy the game and be a part of the global score. If the game is a success then that feature will definitely be considered.

So how impressed are your classmates? I imagine there aren't a whole lot of iOS developers sharing a homeroom with you.
Most of my classmates couldn't believe it. I had to show them the app, and my name in the credits.

Once you've finished with Donkeys and Elephants: Chow Down, are you planning to dive right back in and work on another game or take a little breather? And if you are planning a new game, would you care to share any details?
I will still work on applications, mainly improving this one, but I wont focus all of my time on it. I am starting my freshmen year in next week, so I will need to do lots of school work. There are no plan for the next app yet, but it will definitely come

Donkeys and Elephants: Chow Down is available now for $0.99.

Chair Entertainment today released Vote!, a game that promotes the most base form of political action, violence. Under the auspices of creating an app for Rock The Vote! and to raise voter awareness, it denigrates the presidential candidates by using them as avatars in a "slapstick battle" while dressing them up in "comedic outfits."

When I first read of the game on Touch Arcade I thought it seemed like an odd waste of time. After actually playing the game I was utterly dismayed at the complete lack of respect for the presidential candidates and at the way it promotes political violence in what is sure to be a very tense and charged election year.

Promoting violence between political parties while using the presidential candidates as fighters in the game is disrespectful. Possibly even dangerous considering the current extremely heightened anger between real-life political parties. It's irresponsible for Rock the Vote! to attach their name to this and degrading for a well respected game development house like Chair Entertainment to release it.

You may be thinking that I should "lighten up" or that it's "just a fun little app." Well we live in a country where members of one side are calling for an armed revolution if the other side wins and members of that side are warning about lying thieves running the White House if they lose. An app like this just perpetuates those insane political views by promoting violence. Chair and Rock the Vote! decide to let each side throw virtual punches at the opposite side, rather than add to a civilized political discourse. Vote! can only lead to an increase of the anger between members of the political parties, not an increase in political knowledge. This app does nothing to inform voters or encourage people to vote, it just perpetuates hatred.

In the press release announcing the app, Donald Mustard, Creative Director at ChAIR Entertainment proclaims, "We’re excited to join forces with Rock the Vote to help emphasize the importance of voter registration and encourage gamers to become more involved in the political process."

To me, this app does nothing to involve gamers in the political process, it promotes animosity between political parties to drive sales of virtual currency. Save a couple links to get information on web sites there is nothing politically enlightening in this game. There is no policy debate. There is no discussion of actual political issues. There is no encouragement of political involvement. Vote is just a reskin of the Infinity Blade hack and slash exploiting the candidates' images and perpetuating political rage. Vote! favors buttons to purchase "coins" to continue the game play over those to encourage political awareness. I must note that the press release announcing this game did mention that a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Rock the Vote!, but no specific details were given.

Exploiting the current political rage in this country for a cheap laugh and a quick buck is just plain wrong.

An app like this would be expected from a fly by night app development house looking to make a quick buck and not worried about exploiting candidates. But for a well-esteemed development company like Chair Entertainment to release this puts them right on par with fart sound and sex position app publishers.

We've asked representatives from both Chair Entertainment and Rock the Vote! for comments on this editorial via email and phone, but at the time of publication, neither has been able respond. We will happily update this post with their responses, if received.

Take a look at the video below or download the app Vote! and let us know what you think about this app.