Saturday, August 19, 2000
Enquirer Editorial
Computer game challenges you to build cheaper stadium
The Cincinnati Bengals play their first game in the new Paul Brown Stadium today. But one political candidate has already made a game out of the stadium itself. A computer game, that is.
“Stadium Fiasco,” a free if fairly rough-hewn program, is a game attempt by Bob Drake, Democratic candidate for Hamilton County treasurer, to poke fun at the stadium's politically charged $45 million cost overruns, which constitute the Democrats' strongest issue in the Hamilton County fall campaign.
It's also a creative way for Mr. Drake, a University of Cincinnati math education professor, to gain attention in an uphill race against the incumbent, Republican Robert Goering. And it seems to have done the trick.
USA Today did a news story on “Campaign Fiasco” early this month, in both its domestic and international editions. That brought responses from across the country and Europe, according to Drake spokesman Fred Anderson.
As of late last week, “Stadium Fiasco,” had been downloaded more than 5,000 times from Mr. Drake's Web site (www.bobdrake.org). Mr. Drake and Mr. Anderson designed the game, then turned the coding over to a programmer who understandably wishes to remain anonymous.
For his part, Mr. Goering told USA Today that the treasurer simply handles county bank accounts and doesn't set policy on matters such as stadium construction. Mr. Drake responded that Mr. Goering should have blown the whistle on the financial deal.
Whatever. It's still a hoot to play. You're given a $450 million budget that ticks down as you click squares on a grid to build the stadium and its surroundings.
A section of seats costs $1 million, for example. Parking lots are $250,000 a chunk. A grove of trees costs $25,000.
And unforseen expenses — mocking the real-life snafus, overruns and changes that have beset the Bengals project — pop up at random to further deplete your budget:
• “Ticket sales drop. Taxpayers make up the difference. Cost: $7 million.”
• “(Stadium foe) Tim Mara tries to sneak into stadium. Hire extra security guards to keep him out. Cost: $100,000.”
• “Ben-Gals' locker room floods. Replace soggy pom-poms. Cost: $10,000.”
The result: It's nearly impossible to finish the stadium before you run out of money. Which probably is Mr. Drake's point.
To date, the Drake campaign has heard from just one person who claims to have beaten the game. So it can be done.
“There's a specific way you have to construct the stadium and landscape,” said Mr. Anderson, who declined to elaborate, but added that “there are some clues built-in.”
Plenty of candidates make a game out of politics. Mr. Drake has taken it a step further. More power to him.
“Stadium Fiasco” could start a trend. Politicians already are eagerly using the Web to get out their message, recruit workers and raise funds. Surely there's a place for other policy-theme games to hook voters:
“Hide the Pork” for U.S. House candidates? “Triangulation” for presidential candidates? “Duke Nukem” for judges? “Doom” for statewide Democratic candidates in Ohio?
The possibilities are endless.
Tell us what you think about the new stadium. See what others are saying.
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Computer game challenges you to build cheaper stadium
