While most games are based on events that passed, especially the big wars mankind passed through so far, some use a completely different recipe. Games with political links are only a few, and I can't remember a single game that uses future political events as its main theme, as Political Machine 2008 does, and that's exactly what makes this game more interesting!

Well, Stardock Entertainment saw the 2008 political campaign in the US as an opportunity to release a game for Windows PCs that allows each of us to become a president... but only virtually, of course. Brad Wardell, lead designed at Stardock, said "This is the ultimate game for political junkies and a really fun way for anyone to learn about the election process," and if you look at the image above, you can surely get an idea about the percentage of fun vs serious stuff...

Anyway, despite the cartoon graphics, Political Machine 2008 also takes things seriously - "Once you put yourself in the campaign manager's shoes, you really get to see how each campaign tactic ultimately affects the outcome of the vote. The whole point is to be fun but part of that means being reasonably accurate."

Currently scheduled to be released in June, for a RRP of $19.95, the game allows you to play real-life candidates such as Obama or Hillary, but you can also create your custom candidate, of course. Sounds interesting? To find out more, feel free to visit the official page, here!

In today's world, only a few companies manage to survive, after reaching a certain level, because there are some big sharks in every field that eat every fat little fish they find. Just look at Microsoft vs Yahoo - and there is whale against a bigger whale, but today I will leave those aside and get to our topic - gaming, and to be more precise, games companies. The subjects - EA and Take-Two.

Not so long ago, EA made an offer to buy Take-Two, but now Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two's chairman, came up by saying that EA is simply trying to grab them with a lowball offer, aiming at Grand Theft Auto IV, and nothing more.In the end, shareholders will decide, but since the company's chairman says EA's offer of $26 per share is too low, especially considering the upcoming release of GTA IV, scheduled to arrive on the 29th of April, I guess they will follow him and wait a little.

At last, I should add as my final thoughts that Take-Two's flagship product, GTA, always managed to surprise me, especially since they are not really outstanding games - in my opinion. After all, you shouldn't have outstanding products to be successful, you simply need to know how to sale... and no matter if it's a game or your own company, those guys at Take-Two surely know what they're doing!

World in Conflict was, without any doubt, one of the most successful games released in 2007, but one of its small drawbacks was the platform - only the PC version was released in September 2007, but don't worry - Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are on the way, and on top of it all, it seems an expansion will arrive even earlier!


<-125x125 Button - left->Oh, yeah, there was one more thing missing in the initial release of the game - a Soviet campaign, but that's about to change, because the next game in the series, treated like an expansion pack, according to Sierra, will be World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. Being given the name, I am sure you can figure out what is this all about...

At last, according to Sierra, the upcoming Xbox 360 version will feature voice commands, only 10 players in multiplayer, compared to 16 on PC, and some new units. Other than that, it seems that Soviet Assault, as well as the Xbox and PS3 releases should arrive this fall, so there's enough time left for those that didn't play World in Conflict yet to grab the game and enjoy a virtual third world war!