Stardock's Political Machine 2008 Express Now Free

By: Tiderion
Published On: 9/23/2008 3:08:13 PM

Stardock, a software developer attempting to bridge into computer games, has made their much loved Political Machine computer game into a compressed version, or Political Machine Express. The Express version is free to download, and of course, promotes buying the full version. It scales down the full version to a 21-week left race between Obama-Biden and McCain-(whoever he picks in the Republican Party because a bug doesn't default to Palin right now or something). You can play online against other people or play versus the AI.
Sadly, while playing as Obama my first try, I got my clock cleaned in a ridiculous landslide. It's pretty tough to get the hang of because of all the intricate details one has to keep track of in running a political campaign. To be expected, there are lots of options in how you run but since real polling data has set the map, it takes clever strategy to turn states like Utah blue (and at tremendous cost that might not be worth it). It is worth noting that their 2004 version was just about dead on for that election, or from the horse's mouth:
The Political Machine is a PC game. It is designed to be fun. But underneath the covers it is one of the most advanced political simulations that exists.  For example, in 2004, the The Political Machine 2004 edition accurately predicted the election in June. Stardock's Brad Wardell was asked live on CNBC in June 2004 how the game predicted the outcome. The game correctly predicted that Ohio -- not Florida -- would be the state to watch and whoever won that state would win the election.  It also correctly predicted the winner of 48 of the 50 states.
Either way, might be worth the $20 to play or free to try out this election season. Just don't venture onto the political discussion boards at the video game's site; they're just silly.

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