PA Political Staffer is a Board Game Guru
PA Political Staffer is a Board Game Guru
June 17, 2008
Okay, so it's not a video game story.
But we couldn't resist today's Philadelphia Inquirer piece on Erik Arneson (left), chief policy director for the Pennsylvania State Senate Republican Caucus. Arneson, it seems is not only a policy wonk, but a board game wonk, as well.
From the story:
By night, [Arneson] is an expert gamer for the online information source About.com... He spends evenings, weekends and even vacations playing games and writing reviews and articles for the Web site.
Not just any games, but the kind played on boards with dice...
Arneson reviews everything from Monopoly's latest offering to Elemento, a chemistry-theme card game, and the latest in the popular board-game series that started with Settlers of Catan, in which players compete to build roads and cities on an island.
Of his board game mania, Arneson said:
I'm completely comfortable with my geekiness. The bottom line is, it's fun... People spend so much time at work interacting with computers and machines that some quality, low-tech entertainment often hits the sweet spot when they get home.
Johann Pro, a spokeswoman for Democratic State Rep. Dwight Evans, couldn't resist a game-themed dig at Areneson, however:
On the professional side, he's obviously in the right position since we all know the Senate Republicans just like to play games.
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Posted 10/06/08 at 08:43am
Paulrus: 1up.com just reported that MadWorld may not seee release in "censor-heavy" countries like Australia, Germany, and even Japan. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170362
Paulrus: 1up.com just reported that MadWorld may not seee release in "censor-heavy" countries like Australia, Germany, and even Japan. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170362
Posted 10/06/08 at 07:28am
Austin_Lewis: they're all about a month old, but if they do it again, I'll be sure to post the link here
Austin_Lewis: they're all about a month old, but if they do it again, I'll be sure to post the link here
Posted 10/06/08 at 06:41am
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Hold up, Austin. Can we have the link to that Yahoo! Story?
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Hold up, Austin. Can we have the link to that Yahoo! Story?
Posted 10/06/08 at 12:26am
Austin_Lewis: I've been reading on yahoo things I read on here three days earlier, nearly word for word. I've insulted the writers, too.
Austin_Lewis: I've been reading on yahoo things I read on here three days earlier, nearly word for word. I've insulted the writers, too.
Posted 10/05/08 at 09:29pm
PHOENIXZERO: @Austin_Lewis Just watched the video, I like how they mention Australia banning violent games and then show a list of games that includes some that weren't violent. <_< Think they could have given GP a little more credit too.
PHOENIXZERO: @Austin_Lewis Just watched the video, I like how they mention Australia banning violent games and then show a list of games that includes some that weren't violent. <_< Think they could have given GP a little more credit too.
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:52pm
gamepolitics: Plus, with Yahoo's huge traffic, if they want to steer some peeps to GP I'm okay with that, too! ;-)
gamepolitics: Plus, with Yahoo's huge traffic, if they want to steer some peeps to GP I'm okay with that, too! ;-)
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:51pm
gamepolitics: thx, Austin, but it seems to be more along the lines of fair use.
gamepolitics: thx, Austin, but it seems to be more along the lines of fair use.
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:16pm
Austin_Lewis: My link is to yahoo's playback or whatever they're calling it, which nearly always shows a gamepolitics article and seems to
Austin_Lewis: My link is to yahoo's playback or whatever they're calling it, which nearly always shows a gamepolitics article and seems to
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:15pm
Austin_Lewis: plagarize Gamepolitics' works and use his site, maybe without his permission. I just felt he ought be informed of it.
Austin_Lewis: plagarize Gamepolitics' works and use his site, maybe without his permission. I just felt he ought be informed of it.
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:03pm
J.Alpha.Gamma: This is an interesting read: http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200810/N08.1001.1532.23011.htm?Page=1
J.Alpha.Gamma: This is an interesting read: http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200810/N08.1001.1532.23011.htm?Page=1
Posted 10/05/08 at 03:34pm
Haggard: Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 in under 3 weeks now :D :D
Haggard: Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 in under 3 weeks now :D :D
Posted 10/05/08 at 03:09pm
Austin_Lewis: HEY DENNIS, CHECK THE LINK: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/playback/playback-13/1246552
Austin_Lewis: HEY DENNIS, CHECK THE LINK: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/playback/playback-13/1246552
Posted 10/05/08 at 10:19am
HarmlessBunny: @black manta: Certainly felt like I did when I had a flu earlier this week :\
HarmlessBunny: @black manta: Certainly felt like I did when I had a flu earlier this week :\
Posted 10/05/08 at 09:58am
black manta: "You have died of dysentery." ;)
black manta: "You have died of dysentery." ;)
Posted 10/04/08 at 09:06pm
DarkTetsuya: EZK: all that's missing is the 'rearview mirror' image he posted some time ago
DarkTetsuya: EZK: all that's missing is the 'rearview mirror' image he posted some time ago
Posted 10/04/08 at 07:30pm
VideolandHero: I prefer Oregon Trail.
VideolandHero: I prefer Oregon Trail.
Posted 10/04/08 at 07:08pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : BORING DAY IS EVIL
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : BORING DAY IS EVIL
Posted 10/04/08 at 04:07pm
King of Fiji: @Ghede: Holy crap you just brought back nostalgia by mentioning that game. T_TT
King of Fiji: @Ghede: Holy crap you just brought back nostalgia by mentioning that game. T_TT
Posted 10/04/08 at 03:19pm
Ghede: Number munchers is the only school game for me. MUNCH THOSE NUMBERS.
Ghede: Number munchers is the only school game for me. MUNCH THOSE NUMBERS.
Posted 10/04/08 at 11:21am
ZippyDSMlee: nighstalker160:an industry that lives on selling crap to witless sheeple.
ZippyDSMlee: nighstalker160:an industry that lives on selling crap to witless sheeple.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
How quaint, it's like computer games unplugged!
Wonder if he's reviewed chess, I don't think I've ever seen a review of it...
'On the professional side, he's obviously in the right position since we all know the Senate Republicans just like to play games.'
Meeeow!
That said, I still enjoy the odd game of Warhammer or the like, as well painting up the figures, so I can understand what this guy is saying :)
*Must resist nerd urge to point out that warhammer is a tabletop war game & not a board game*
Is that an anorak behind me? AAAAGGGHHHH!!!!
That said, warhammer is freakin awesome, the only games better are blood bowl & warhammer 40000
LOL :p
True, and BloodBowl rocks, I still think that was a great game.
That said, ManOWar actually had potential, but the people who designed it weren't familiar enough with naval combat.
well, duh, he's an Arneson-- as in Dave Arneson, aka co-creator of D&D
No he's not. He's Erik Arneson, the blogger of boardgames.about.com .
Yehuda
He's still an Arneson, which was the point of the previous poster.
Awesome. I love to play board games. I think I tend to play as much board games as I do video games.
Glad to see that people still enjoy the classics.
E. Zachary Knight
www.editorialgames.com
wonk?
-- mostly harmless
old slang for nerd or geek basically
"On the professional side, he's obviously in the right position since we all know the Senate Republicans just like to play games."
Ahh, wholly unjustified partisan mudslinging at its best (worst?). And people ask why I'm a left leaning independant instead of a Democrat. How repugnant.
There’s something to be said for the appeal of board games. And even though I’m primarily a computer game player, once in a while a board game comes along that catches my attention. Right now that game is Arkham Horror by Fantasy Flight games. It’s kind of like the old Call of Cthulhu RPG by Chaosium retooled for a board game format. With four expansions out so far and more promised, I’d say it pretty much now covers the entire Chtulhu Mythos.
Kind of funny and cool. It's kind of interesting knowing what other people do with their non-hobby times. He must be really busy though - blogging and working a f/t job.