April 7, 2008
In addition to numerous writings, Guy Debord (left), a prominent Marxist theorist who died in 1994, left behind a wife - and a game design.Back in the 1970's, it seems, he created Kriegspiel, a board wargame, and documented his design in a book called A Game of War.Now, as Ian Bogost writes at Water Cooler Games, Debord's long lost game has resurfaced in controversy.
It seems that political thinker Alex Galloway, an admirer of the obscure Kriegspiel, created a digital version which he offers as a free download for both Mac and Windows. As Bogost writes:
A lot of thought went into the adaptation, along with a number of difficult decisions... The implementation is both functional and gorgeous, thanks to a thoughtful 2D and 3D visual design.
Here's the kicker. Galloway has been served a cease and desist by the attorney representing Guy Debord's widow. It's too early to tell what will happen next, but as Liz Losh points out, Galloway's situation bears some similarity to that of popular Facebook app Scrabulous. The irony, of course, is the estate of a dead Marxist pursuing litigation over the exchange value of the name and image of its intellectual property.
Liz Losh has more on the Debord dust-up at Virtualpolitik.
Via: Kotaku
Comments
Very true, I always thought Marxism was about ferociously upholding a man to get paid for what he worked. no more; no less. (I believe that it's foolishly idealistic) I see where some people would see irony, but I think she's not being explicitly hypocritical in this instance.
But then someone would have money - namely you and the servants who steal it from you.
That's a delicious headline.
But...
He's letting people download it for free! So there is no profit
Which is why the widow is now showing her true colors. She probably never shared his beliefs to begin with.
This issue has nothing whatsoever to do with whether you are Marxist or not. There is no irony, only ignorance.
The original source, virtualpolitik, has a much better explaination than the cliff notes here and on Kotaku.
It was modified in 1811 by one Herr von Reiswitz and his son, who gave it the Kriegspiel name. the younger von Reiswitz was a Prussian artillery officer, and the game became an officer training tool in the Prussian army.
Source: Mackay, Daniel. The Fantasty Role-Playing Game: A New Performing Art. McFarland & Co: Jefferson, N.C., 2001. p.13.
Makes me wonder how much of a claim the Debord estate has.
Of course if the documentation that Mike dug up holds up, even Disney's lawyers couldn't say it hasn't passed to the public domain (trademarks may be forever, but they only live as long as they're held).
1978 though? Well, Mitterand's presidency was just around the corner: the old situationists and radicals (the non-suicides) were on the cusp of accepting lucrative sinecures from the fifth republic, totally co-opted by the establishment. Althusser's wife was not long for the world.
Despite the political naivety I really enjoyed this - the game came up in conversation only last week and I'd forgotten to look for it, and the virtualpolitik blog looks excellent too.
Remember boys and girls, in Communism everything you do BELONGS TO THE WHOLE not the creator.
That would be like saying that one is wrong to petition the king in spite of held beliefs in democracy. It is not as if ones beliefs, held strongly enough, will remove unwanted players from the equation.