Steve Ballmer Tasked With Fixing The Deficit -- With A Video Game

from the you're-going-to-need-a-bigger-laser-gun dept

Fri, Apr 16th 2010 2:53pm — Karl Bode

The Obama Administration has appointed Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson to lead an 18-person, bi-partisan commission tasked with tackling the country's deficit. USAToday is running a fairly typical piece looking at the multitude of moving pieces that contribute to the nation's fairly-staggering $12.8 trillion debit load, and the variety of partisan and often factually-challenged bickering that surrounds the debate. Buried down at the bottom of the piece is an odd solution to a very complex problem. According to Bowles, the commission has contacted Microsoft's Steve Ballmer about Microsoft creating "a deficit-reduction video game" that would allow the average American to attempt balancing the budget. Details are scarce, but it would appear that the likely browser-based game would act to "virally" educate the public on how reducing the deficit isn't easy. In other words, it's a PR move designed to seemingly justify why we continue to fail -- instead of solving the problem. And here we were busily waiting for a Tea Party MMORPG, or Halo 4: Die Deficit Die.

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Filed Under: deficit, steve ballmer, video games

59 Comments

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Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 2:45pm

You can do better than that, Karl...
"And here we were busily waiting for a Tea Party MMORPG, or Halo 4: Die Deficit Die."

Oh come on! There's so much comedic material there!

1. Big Game Hunter: The Dick Cheney Survival Series

2. Age of Empires Afghanistan: You've Already Lost

3. Rollercoaster Tycoon: The Banking Edition

4. Wall Street Mogul: Cocaine Not Included

5. Rosetta Stone: Joe Biden Edition
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MichaelG, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:08pm

We already have one...
They've been writing unwinnable video games since Space Invaders. Play one of those.
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Grey Ferret, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:13pm

Hopefully this would be more than just a PR move to justify failing. If the project is taken seriously, some good ideas may result.

Look at what scientists at the University of Washington have done with a "game" to help with Protein Folding. http://fold.it/portal/info/science I believe Microsoft was also involved with the development of this as well.
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:30pm

Re: We already have one...
Pish! I beat "Space Invaders"
The trick is to use nonstandard tactics--in this case, a shotgun blast to the arcade cabinet followed up by a rapid succession of precisely placed crowbar blows...
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Karl Bode (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:31pm

Re:
yeah I've seen various outlets try to suggest that you could create a game that somehow harvested the public brain trust, but I'm not sure what that would net you. Seems like we should be able to afford mathematicians and economists who could do this instead of Joe and Barbara Smith of Pensacola...

But yeah -- I do see the possibilities with collective intelligence...I just doubt that's what they're doing.
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samkash, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:34pm

I think your personal dislike of microsoft, which leads you to being skeptical of ballmer, has you missing the point here.

sure it seems like it is probably a dumb idea. but nothing about this says that they aren't trying to solve the problem. they are reaching out and trying to connect with people in a way that they haven't tried before, a video game.

From wikipedia:

In 1977, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University [3] with a B.A. in mathematics and economics.

so, don't act like he doesn't know a thing or two about budgets either. i'm not suggesting he would lead or write or whatever the project himself, but he does have some cred.

and this isn't the first time an entity is trying to reach out to people through a different medium (video games)

http://codeofeverand.co.uk/?page=main

a game to teach kids traffic laws etc

http://www.healthunit.com/article.aspx?ID=15160

a game to teach young adults sex education

so, who's to say a game can't be informative? now are all of these successful or even good ideas? maybe not. but its about trying something different and i thought around here we are about connecting and experimenting?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:42pm

Re: You can do better than that, Karl...
Black Helmet: He is so ugly he needs a helmet
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Karl Bode (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:44pm

I think your personal dislike of microsoft, which leads you to being skeptical of ballmer, has you missing the point here.
And your opinion of my "personal dislike" of Microsoft is based on...what exactly?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:46pm

After the dance monkey Ballmer lost any cred he had.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:47pm

Re:
You don't dislike microsoft? why not?
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Ryan, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:54pm

Button Masher
Button A: Cut Spending
Button B: ...

There are no other buttons.

It seems to me like drug addiction is an extremely befitting metaphor for the problem with politicians, where giving specific constituents subsidies or special privileges is the rush, the new consituencies expecting funds is the crash/withdrawal, and the long-term damage that does to our country pretty well equates with the physical deterioration caused by excessive drug abuse. Or you can work it the other way, where we the people become addicted to it.

If I were to make a game, it would be a lot like the movie Candy or something.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:56pm

Re: Button Masher
Button B: Borrow 20 trillion from china and nuke them
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samkash, 16 Apr 2010 @ 3:56pm

Re:
don't focus on one small part of my post, focus on the body of my post and comment on that. of course, you might not be professional enough for that.

i said you have a dislike of microsoft because you don't offer any reasons for why this video game is a bad idea. the closest you got was that "details are scarce". you go on to say that "it's a PR move designed to seemingly justify why we continue to fail." where does it say that it is trying to justify the falling budget? what it does seem to say is that it wants to help educate the public. why don't you like to help educate the public?
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jjmsan (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:02pm

Re: Re:
And you base this on what exactly?
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Danny (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:06pm

I can't wait for version 3.0
We all know MS software doesn't do much of anything until version 3.0...

But seriously, Karl's post is a bit negative. It isn't as though this commission is ONLY commissioning a video game. And it does make sense to find an appropriate mechanism to help people experience a simulation of why balancing the budget is so hard.

I do think it will be very difficult to write a game that is Red/Blue value neutral, but it is well worth a try.

And, rather than Microsoft, they might have approached the Sim City people: there is likely stronger related simulation engine experience there.
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samkash, 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:07pm

Re: Re:
i forgot to finish:

therefore, the only reason i can see for you to think this is a terrible idea (again, from what you've written here) is that you don't like microsoft.

even you said that this was buried down at the bottom of the piece, are you trying to tell me the rest of the pieces aren't trying to solve the problem in anyway? that it boils down to this (possibly dumb) idea for a game?

see i'm not arguing that the game is a great idea or not, i'm arguing that you decided to write about how it's a bad idea without anything to back up your claim (that its a PR move without a solution)
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MichaelG, 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:07pm

Re: Re: We already have one...
Yeah, but would that work on Congress?
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Hephaestus (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:13pm

Re: Re: Re:
They are politicians they lie, have political agendas, and the public always falls for the "look something shiny, something shiny" line to distract them.
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Karl Bode (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:16pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Exactly.
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DJ (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:18pm

Re: Re:
" we should be able to afford mathematicians and economists who could do this "

They're already on the payroll. The problem is that were hired to make a budget that matches current spending levels, instead of creating a budget and telling Congress to match their spending levels to the budget.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:21pm

Its not a good idea, merely because its going to cost money. Politician 1 - "Hey, lets make a game to explain to the public why its not our fault we're spending ourselves into oblivion" Politician 2 - "That's a great idea, We'll setup a contract with Microsoft for 50 million dollars"

While I can admit its probably very cheap for the government. it is exactly why they have the problem in the first place. trying to spend their way out of trouble.
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DJ (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:24pm

Re: Re: Button Masher
"...and nuke them"

apparently you haven't been watching the news for the past, oh, 10 years or so; specific attention on the past week.
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btrussell (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:29pm

It would be impossible to win as they would never disclose their true income.

Gas tax, alcohol tax...

Just like "Go Green!" No government wants that. How would they replace gas tax if we all drove electric cars?

Price electricity so high no one could afford to turn on a light bulb?
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DJ (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:32pm

Re: I can't wait for version 3.0
"why balancing the budget is so hard"

"Button A: Cut Spending...It seems to me like drug addiction is an extremely befitting metaphor for the problem with politicians"

Indeed. It's not that balancing the budget is difficult, it's that balancing a budget where politicians DON'T make ludicrous profits is difficult. Anyone who's ever been in debt knows that you don't get out of debt by buying a brand new stretched SUV limo every year; you get out of debt by STOPPING SPENDING!

With the elections coming up, if YOU vote FOR anyone who DOES NOT specifically advocate that, then YOU are an idiot.
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DJ (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:33pm

Re: Re: I can't wait for version 3.0
Clarification: "you" is referring to anyone reading this, not just Danny.
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PRMan, 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:35pm

It can't hurt.
Of course, they may be shocked to find that the public doesn't care if all their government appointees cease to be paid.

When those get a 99% "quit paying them" rating, are they going to follow suit?

I would guess that the IRS will get a massive reduction from most people as well.

Also, Congressmen will almost certainly get pay cuts.

Will there be a "Fair Tax" option?
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DJ (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:35pm

Re:
For everyone reading who voted for Obama...

Barack Obama: "Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."

Yeah cuz we all want prices to go up. Great job voters!
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Karl Bode (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:45pm

Re: Re: Re:
My thoughts are based more on my understanding of politicians and less on my understanding or dislike of Microsoft (I married a former Microsoft employee and LIKE Windows 7) if that helps provide any context.
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Spanky, 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:46pm

re
"it's a PR move designed to seemingly justify why we continue to fail -- instead of solving the problem"

Yaknow, Techdirt, I think, as a nation, we might actually be able to do two things at once.

One of the reasons we got compromised health care reform, instead of a public option, was that the public was lied to by the political right. If Obama had used the bully pulpit from the beginning to inform the public, so that they understood reform, we wouldn't have ended up with a bill that is a gift to the insurance industry.

I know a video game sounds odd, but public understanding just might be what he's trying to accomplish here.
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Karl Bode (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:47pm

Re: I can't wait for version 3.0
But seriously, Karl's post is a bit negative. It isn't as though this commission is ONLY commissioning a video game.
To be fair, my post is ONLY about the videogame, not the additional steps being taken to tackle the deficit. And given my understanding of politicians, and the limited information available about this videogame -- my opinion stands.

When the actual game ships (if it ever does) I'll of course come back and do a follow up. :)
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Gary Blevins, 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:54pm

Why don't they just ask us to play Tic Tac Toe with 0 players?
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samkash, 16 Apr 2010 @ 4:54pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
again, you are still commenting and focusing all on one small part of everything i said, the part you thought was a personal attack i guess.

please, use your 'understanding of politicians' and explain to me why you don't agree with anything i wrote in reference to your original post.
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DJ (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 5:04pm

Re: re
"One of the reasons we got compromised health care reform, instead of a public option, was that the public was lied to by the political right."

I'm not going to sit here and try to absolve Republicans of any wrong doing, but if you think the left ISN'T lying to, you need to wake up and smell the bullshit.

"If Obama had used the bully pulpit from the beginning"

So it's APPROPRIATE for the government to bully the general public?!?!?!?!

"to inform the public, so that they understood reform"

Really? If you need someone to tell you what to think and how to think on the issues, I feel sorry for you.

"we wouldn't have ended up with a bill that is a gift to the insurance industry."

A gift, eh? If you think that completely eliminating your source of income by force is a gift, then please send me ALL of your money. After all, by your logic, I'm doing you a favor.
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DJ (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 5:07pm

Re:
Because there is only one of two possible outcomes: EVERYONE wins, or NOBODY wins. Politicians want to make it so that THEY ALWAYS win at everyone else's expense.
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dev, 16 Apr 2010 @ 6:03pm

Debt Nukem Forever!
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senshikaze (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 6:20pm

Re: Re: Re: We already have one...
only one way to find out...
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senshikaze (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 6:21pm

Re:
you should watch the developers, developers, develops, video. makes you wonder who exactly they will let into havard....
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Apr 2010 @ 7:27pm

I hope one of the options is to "kill all the lawyers"!
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Suzanne Lainson (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 11:56pm

Games to solve real world problems
Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world | Video on TED.com

"Now, I know you're asking, "How are we going to solve real world problems in games?" Well, that's what I have devoted my work to over the past few years, at The Institute For The Future. ...

I'm just going to very briefly show you three games that I've made that are an attempt to give people the means to create epic wins in their own futures. So, this is World Without Oil. We made this game in 2007. This is an online game in which you try to survive an oil shortage. The oil shortage is fictional, but we put enough online content out there for you to believe that it's real, and to live your real life as if we've run out of oil. So, when you come to the game you sign up, you tell us where you live. And then we give you real-time news videos data feeds that show you exactly how much oil costs, what's not available, how food supply is being affected, how transportation is being affected, if schools are closed, if their is rioting. And you have to figure out how you would live your real life as if this were true. And then we ask you to blog about it, to post videos, to post photos. ...

So, for the next world-saving game, we decided to aim higher, bigger problem than just peak oil. We did a game called Superstruct at The Institute For The Future. And the premise was, a supercomputer has calculated that humans have only 23 years left on the planet. This supercomputer was called the Global Extinction Awareness System, of course. ...

But in our game, instead of just having five people on the dream team, we said everybody is on the dream team, and it's your job to invent the future of energy, the future of food, the future of health, the future of security and the future of the social safety net. We had 8,000 people play that game for eight weeks. They came up with 500 insanely creative solutions that you can go online, if you Google "Superstruct", and see.

So, finally, the last game, We're launching it March 3rd. This is a game done with the World Bank Institute. If you complete the game you will be certified by the World Bank Institute, as a Social Innovator, class of 2010. ...

I say let the world-changing games begin."
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Apr 2010 @ 12:31am

Re:
If we had rep here, I'd give you all I had.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Apr 2010 @ 7:59am

Re: Re:
Because Apple is worse?

*Rimshot*
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Bob Vila, 17 Apr 2010 @ 8:43am

How about getting a company that is actually good at writing games to give it a tr?
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Tangaroa, 17 Apr 2010 @ 10:44am

This has already been done, it just has to be updated for the current year.
http://www.nathannewman.org/nbs/
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DNY (profile), 17 Apr 2010 @ 12:59pm

Budget games
Of course, we can bet that the balance-the-budget simulation will be based on the bogus assumption that tax-rate increases do not stifle economic activity and tax-rate decreases do not stimulate economic activity (despite evidence that they in fact do in the form of the effects of the post-WW II tax-rate cut, the Kennedy tax-rate cut and the Reagan tax-rate cut).
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Suzanne Lainson (profile), 17 Apr 2010 @ 1:13pm

Re: Budget games
Don't you think they would plug in real-world examples, like the Bush cuts and the current economic situation? Why make up numbers when we've got the current situation to tackle?
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Not "the AC", 17 Apr 2010 @ 5:07pm

Re: Re: You can do better than that, Karl...
He is pretty damn funny too
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gmrz rool, 17 Apr 2010 @ 5:13pm

The game would have one button, when pushed Ballmer would dance and throw a chair saying "We are going to F*#&in kill the budget.
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Fred McTaker (profile), 17 Apr 2010 @ 11:35pm

Gold Farmers
The people in charge of the economy in this country already resemble World of Warcraft gold farmers enough for my tastes.

More seriously, I have a much simpler solution. When someone benefits the most from a product or service in any market, they're also usually the ones who pay the most in that market overall. The people who benefit most from government, i.e. via security and workforce access, are the ultra-wealthy. Tax the rich, don't ask them what the solution is. They lie -- that's how they got that rich in the first place.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 18 Apr 2010 @ 12:54am

Re: You can do better than that, Karl...
Mission Accomplished 3: Iraq Edition?
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Darryl, 18 Apr 2010 @ 5:46am

Why not FOSS
Why was MS asked to create a program, and not stallman or torvalds??

Mabey, they wanted something that actually works or mabey they did not want to wait for some other company to innovate the design, therefore enabling foss to clone it.

But, it seems, when it comes to the US govmnt actually wanting to get something done, they do not call on vast numbers of amateurs, but actually call on a company that seems to actually be able to get the job done.

This says alot about FOSS's perception, and that of Microsoft.
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abc gum, 18 Apr 2010 @ 7:38am

Re: Re: re
Spanky -> "a bill that is a gift to the insurance industry."

DJ -> "A gift, eh? If you think that completely eliminating your source of income by force is a gift"

I do not like thread jacking, but couldn't let that go unchallenged.

I was unaware that the bill in question had completely eliminated health insurance industry income. Please provide details, as this would be big news. If true, the entire health insurance industry will be gone tomorrow, I doubt that will happen. More likely is that you were exaggerating some talking point you heard on fox news while visiting GlennBeckistan.
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KGwagner (profile), 18 Apr 2010 @ 8:40pm

When they can spend millions stashing tweets, you know the government has officially jumped the shark on frivolous spending. As if there were any question...

Anyway, if they want to piss away millions on making a game revolving around something they clearly don't understand, why not turn it into a jobs program, rather than hire Microsoft to create it? They'll just piss money away for a couple years and come out with some garbage that'll only run on Windows, and then only for a few minutes before crashing harder than Obama's numerous idiotic ideas for stimulating the economy. Then, who'd want to play the stupid thing? They wouldn't even be able to give it away.
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Suzanne Lainson (profile), 18 Apr 2010 @ 8:52pm

Re:
...rather than hire Microsoft to create it?"

I'm assuming that whoever does create such a game would do it pro bono. And I'm sure multiple people could create their own versions.
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Suzanne Lainson (profile), 18 Apr 2010 @ 8:54pm

Re: Re:
opps. I hit submit too soon. I didn't include the italics close.
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BBT, 19 Apr 2010 @ 6:25am

This seems like an easy game? How much is the deficit? Reduce the military budget by that much.

Look ma, I balanced the budget!
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Adam (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 7:23am

Re:
Actually, it's even easier than that. All of the doom and gloom budget projections include the rising cost of health care. We pay roughly twice per capita what other industrialized nations pay for health care. In a few more decades, we're on track to pay 3 to 4 times. If we institute a real single-payer medical system, all those deficits magically turn into surpluses, because we're not paying multiple times what we actually need to for health care.

Source: Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Apr 2010 @ 10:11am

Re:
I agree-nothing here indicates the game is ALL that would be done, and it may help people understand not only that reducing the deficit is hard but also that THERE ARE HARD CHOICES AHEAD-something the public doesn’t want to hear but probably needs to hear.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Apr 2010 @ 1:33pm

Already Exists
It's called Budget Hero.

It already has been updated for 2009.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/budget_hero/
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Marcus Carab (profile), 21 Apr 2010 @ 6:45pm

Web designers should make a viral game that shows Microsoft how hard it is to build websites that work in their browser.
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