Creators put politics into video games

Ian Bogost takes some of the fun out of video games — and replaces it with opinion. The Georgia Institute of Technology professor creates games — or "playable editorial cartoons," as he calls them — that are packed with political messages.

One he created just after liquids were banned from carryon baggage pits players as a frustrated airport screener faced with an ever-changing set of rules. Another challenges gamers to double the price of crude oil by afflicting a fantasy land with a series of natural disasters.

The games don't quite carry the same weight as opinion pieces in traditional media. But their creators say they can still carry a punch as they force players to consider serious issues, such as security policy or the volatile price of gasoline.

One of the more scathing offerings is "McDonald's Video Game," the creation of an Italian firm called Molleindustria that batters the burger chain by allowing gamers to raze villages, manipulate public opinion and bribe health officials and politicians.

Others hope to give gamers a better feel for the plight of the poor. New York-based gameLab created "Ayiti: The Cost of Life," which challenges players to guide a family of five as they struggle to survive amid poverty in rural Haiti. "Poverty is an obstacle to global human rights," said Peter Lee, gameLab's co-founder. "We made a game where you have to go through a very rough life, and we made the game hard on purpose."