Games in the News/The Curmudgeonizing of Coldfoot

A little late today, but Blogger was down.

You can't make this up:

CANBERRA, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A board game glorifying race riots that gripped Sydney's beaches nearly a year ago might be banned to prevent further violence, Australian authorities said on Tuesday.

The game called "Cronulla Monopoly" invites players to "Win back Australia" by buying and selling land in the southern beach suburbs hardest-hit by clashes last December between white Australian youths and ethnic-Lebanese Australians.

But wait: Reuters had it wrong

The Age, Oct 17, (Asher Moses)The authorities are powerless to remove from the internet a downloadable board game based on the Cronulla riots.

The game has recently surfaced on the internet and appears to incite racial violence.

Dubbed Cronulla 2230, the game resembles the iconic Monopoly board game, and is designed to be printed out, then be played offline.

Powerless to remove a Monopoly clone from the internet? Powerless? Get Hasbro involved. Once Hasbro realizes Race Riot Monopoly is in the news they will have the purveyor buried in cease and desist orders by noon.

Can the articles masquerading as mainstream boardgame news get less appealing than that? Oh yes they can. This piece comes from the business section.

The Star Online, Oct 2, 2006 While he is driven by a great passion for property and is an advocator of gaining financial freedom through property investment, Dr Peter Yee also sees the need to adopt a holistic approach to balance all aspects of one’s life.

“When you are financially free, it is easy to balance other aspects of your life, including maintaining good physical health, pursuing new knowledge and skills, and making time for the family, relatives and friends,” he said.

The award-winning Success board game co-created by Dr Peter Yee and his business partner Alexandria Ng created the idea for the Success - The Achiever’s Board Game to educate people on how to balance their lives using property investment while balancing other aspects of their lives - health, career, finance, personal growth, education, relationships and social community aspects.

Hmmmmmm. The Ungame for CEOs. Suddenly Race Riot Monopoly doesn't look so bad.

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Boardgame Burnout?

Another Essen has come and gone and ya’ know what? I found I didn’t really care this year. I skimmed some of the reports, I looked at the pictures more closely, but not the pictures of the games. I found the pictures of the hall and participants to be much more interesting.

I’ve pretty much stopped keeping up with the latest game releases and news. Instead of pre-ordering the latest, hottest games, I see which my local game store gets into stock and do a little research before I decide which to buy.

I am looking forward to BGG.con, but the games are secondary. I am mainly looking forward to meeting people who have only been avatars until now.

I now have my work schedule whittled down to 60-65 hours each week, and the kids are back in school, so I am able to get some good sleep during the day. This is quite an improvement over my summer schedule, and lately I have been able to squeeze in a few games. The truth be told, I would almost rather sit at home and watch "Over the Hedge" with the kids than spend an evening gaming.