FIRST LOOK: Fox News: America's Game

YMPT recently visited the Red State Interactive offices in Mobile, Alabama, to get an exclusive first look at the studio’s mini-game collection, Fox News: America’s Game, coming out this November for the Nintendo Wii. While there, we chatted with Associate Producer Joe Plummer about fair and balanced media coverage, why America is the best place on Earth to develop games, and what separates his title from the recently released CNN: BREAKING NEWS!

YMPT: First off, the obvious: why another mini-game collection for the Wii? Isn’t the market completely saturated at this point?

JP: Look, the Wii’s selling like my Aunt Bessie’s famous apple pie right now. It’s doing, what, 600,000 plus units a month? And it’s selling to people who have never owned a video game system before: the soccer moms and hockey moms and everyday Joe Sixpacks that make this country great. We feel we have a mini-game collection that speaks to them, the sort of regular folk that live in our America and whose voices aren’t being heard by other companies.

YMPT: Why do you think other companies aren’t listening?

JP: Everyone knows who really runs the video game industry. And as long as video game companies are in the pockets of fanboys, we will never have a truly independent industry. And don’t even get me started on the liberal media elite! No offense, but you know it’s true. At Red State Interactive, we want to remove the filter and speak directly to the consumer. Fox News: America’s Game is the first step in that direction.

YMPT: How did you get Fox News on board?

JP: They signed on right away. They understand what we’re trying to do here: make the fairest, most balanced video game ever. And it’s been so wonderful working with them. We all love Fox News around here. We grew up watching it. I’d say it’s more American than the flag, except nothing’s more American than the red, white, and blue.

YMPT: Can you tell us about some of the games that will be included?

JP: Once we obtained the Fox News license, we thought about the types of games that consumers in small towns all across America would want to play. We thought about what’s fun, what’s American, and what would take advantage of the Wii’s motion technology. And we’ve come up with some really great stuff. There’s In the Hot Seat, where players step into the role of an expert being interviewed on the latest hot topic. The game will prompt you with a subject and a one-sentence description on how you should feel about it. Then you can go mano-a-mano with a friend, seeing who can aim and click fastest on dialog bubbles that float up on the screen. Get enough in a row and you can pull off the Silencer, which cuts off your friend’s mic. This is a great game to start out with, because you don’t have to worry about making a mistake: you’re always right. The game judges you on how right you are.

Then there’s That’s Indecent, where you play an editor tasked with putting together a story on how sexy, morally corrupt young women kissing each other are eroding traditional values. The game presents you with a video clip, and you have to use the Wiimote to censor any offensive bits within the time limit. We provide a bunch of different filters: black bar, pixilation, blur, and some really great unlockables like Bill Clinton’s head.

YMPT: Are you worried about how the ESRB will react?

JP: No way! Players are censoring, not engaging in some sick mash-up of Luke Skywalker and Debbie Does Dallas. We’re confident we’ll receive an E rating.

YMPT: Joe, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Do you have any closing thoughts?

JP: …

YMPT: Any closing thoughts at all?

JP: I’ll try to find some and get back to you.

Fox News: America’s Game ships on 11/4.