The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: News

Special to THE DAILY GAMECOCK

There is no more king of the jungle in the new animal republic portrayed in "Hail to the Chimp," a video game that makes a mockery of the American electoral process.

Mike Wilson, chief executive officer of Austin, Texas-based Gamecock Media Group, the game's publisher, has been following campaign trails across the country with a crew of giant costumed characters from the video game such as news anchor Woodchuck Chumley, Crackers the monkey and Bean the sloth.

The group made various stops around the Columbia area Saturday, including a stop on Greene Street in front of the Russell House.

"We're having some fun with the media circus," Wilson said about the attention surrounding the primary elections. "We may as well be a part of it."

Wilson said the original intent of their trip across the country was to provide "much-needed comic relief" from the election season. He said after syncing up with Rock the Vote, a non-profit organization that engages young people in the political process, their intent shifted.

"Anything that gets people involved in the political process," Wilson said about promoting both the video game and voting. "We bring them in with humor."

The group recently created cockthevote.net to promote voter registration to gamers.

Wilson said traveling to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina has been both fun and educational for him, too.

The video game, created by Halo developer Alex Seropian, was conceived in conjunction with Wideload Games about two and a half years ago, according to Wilson.

"They did very well with serious games. Now they're trying to lighten things up," Wilson said.

Set to debut in May, the party game includes various animal candidates vying for the presidency of the animal kingdom.

Wilson described "Hail to the Chimp" as a "very, very funny … cartoony, beat 'em up" game where characters can make alliances and kick allies to the curb.

He said the game doesn't make any specific political statements, rather it spoofs the entire election process and its media coverage.

Wideload Games also launched a CNN-style Web site, grrnews.com, which follows the animal candidates as the "number one source for political coverage in the animal kingdom."

"Hail to the Chimp" will be available for Xbox360 and PlayStation 3.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools