Was Everybody Dancing on the Casket?
Sadly, I was assassinated by a grenade.
I've just played a computer game called Hidden Agenda, in which the fictional Latin American country--"Chimerica"--had recently experienced a revolution deposing the corrupt dictator, Farsante, and his cadre. I was the new president.
I only lasted a year. Apparently my middle-of-the-road stance in a country so divided by the "haves" and the "have-nots" simply didn't work. Support ebbed and there was a coup. I was offered the chance to be bundled into a windowless van, taken to the airport, and flown to a place of safety. But--due to pride or honor--I chose to stay and resist the rebellion.
Needless to say, I didn't survive.
Well, I'll know better next time. The people! Power to the people!
It's actually an extremely interesting game. You simply (simply?) appoint your ministers from the three parties; meet with community leaders and foreign diplomats, addressing their concerns--one way or the other; and deal with sudden crises.
However it's also a very, very old game--1988. So it consists of only text and still, black-and-white pictures. Therefore, no sudden screaming crowds waving torches in the air and demanding your head. Well, wait. Actually, there were screaming crowds (workers, in my case) waving torches and demanding my head. But I could get up, walk away, and think about what I intended to do about it. Which was quite nice.
My only complaint so far is that you are mostly presented with accept/deny options to proposals. There are no negotiations, which is a little disappointing because in reality I would discuss and try to come to some compromise.
Still, it's a fascinating experience.
And Presidente Alejandro Sanfuentes Bautista will rise from the dead to rule Chimerica once more! But this time he's going to focus much more on the people. . . . Yet, not too much. Because then the powerful would probably join together and devour him.
And you know what else? Maybe he won't have those couple of glasses of wine beforehand, either. I suspect that might have affected the decision-making process. ("Yeah! That sounds good!"--*Accept Proposal*) I think, in this scenario, I was a sort of Latin American Yeltsin.
One thing I did discover, though, which is perhaps a little disturbing: I quite enjoy being referred to as "Excellency."
I've just played a computer game called Hidden Agenda, in which the fictional Latin American country--"Chimerica"--had recently experienced a revolution deposing the corrupt dictator, Farsante, and his cadre. I was the new president.
I only lasted a year. Apparently my middle-of-the-road stance in a country so divided by the "haves" and the "have-nots" simply didn't work. Support ebbed and there was a coup. I was offered the chance to be bundled into a windowless van, taken to the airport, and flown to a place of safety. But--due to pride or honor--I chose to stay and resist the rebellion.
Needless to say, I didn't survive.
Well, I'll know better next time. The people! Power to the people!
It's actually an extremely interesting game. You simply (simply?) appoint your ministers from the three parties; meet with community leaders and foreign diplomats, addressing their concerns--one way or the other; and deal with sudden crises.
However it's also a very, very old game--1988. So it consists of only text and still, black-and-white pictures. Therefore, no sudden screaming crowds waving torches in the air and demanding your head. Well, wait. Actually, there were screaming crowds (workers, in my case) waving torches and demanding my head. But I could get up, walk away, and think about what I intended to do about it. Which was quite nice.
My only complaint so far is that you are mostly presented with accept/deny options to proposals. There are no negotiations, which is a little disappointing because in reality I would discuss and try to come to some compromise.
Still, it's a fascinating experience.
And Presidente Alejandro Sanfuentes Bautista will rise from the dead to rule Chimerica once more! But this time he's going to focus much more on the people. . . . Yet, not too much. Because then the powerful would probably join together and devour him.
And you know what else? Maybe he won't have those couple of glasses of wine beforehand, either. I suspect that might have affected the decision-making process. ("Yeah! That sounds good!"--*Accept Proposal*) I think, in this scenario, I was a sort of Latin American Yeltsin.
One thing I did discover, though, which is perhaps a little disturbing: I quite enjoy being referred to as "Excellency."