Singapore's The Straits Times reports on an in-development game in which players use the "cheery pink power of bubblegum" to fight government oppression.
Gumbeat is a Flash game being developed as part of a cooperative effort between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and digital media students in Singapore. So how does Gumbeat play? From the report:
...the heroine chews on candy and blows them into big pink bubbles beside unhappy citizens in the unnamed country in which the candy is banned. This cheers them up enough to entice them to join the protagonist in a revolution, mustering enough angry citizenry to overthrow the oppressive government.
This is the aim of the game, said National University of Singapore undergraduate Sharon Chu, who presented her team's game to reporters earlier on Tuesday... The game was made to show that games with serious-themes like say, 'political oppression', can be fun, said Ms Chu.
Chu left the issue of whether the repressive country in question was Singapore up to the "player's interpretation." GamePolitics readers may recall that Singapore's government banned Mass Effect for a time last year over a brief lesbian love scene.
Comments
Re: Gumbeat: Fight Oppression with Bubble Gum
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CandyRe: Gumbeat: Fight Oppression with Bubble Gum
Chewing Gum is an illness of the whole nation.
Sociology papers
Re: Gumbeat: Fight Oppression with Bubble Gum
Interesting. This needs to be made effective.
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I AM DOOMED TO HAUNT JACK THOMPSON'S DREAMS UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS.
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I AM DOOMED TO HAUNT JACK THOMPSON'S DREAMS UNTIL HIS CRUSADE AGAINST VIDEO GAMES ENDS.
Re: Gumbeat: Fight Oppression with Bubble Gum
"Up to the player's interpretation"
Right.
Re: Gumbeat: Fight Oppression with Bubble Gum
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_ban_in_Singapore
Re: Gumbeat: Fight Oppression with Bubble Gum
Chewing Gum is illegal is Singapore which also makes the game controversial. They say it keeps the streets cleaner.
Re: Gumbeat: Fight Oppression with Bubble Gum
Specifically, it's the import and sale of gum that's banned. The wikip article is a particularly good read in this case.
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