War on Terror Blog
Wednesday 23rd April 2008
We salute Salute.
Salute 08 was officially a success - we met loads of great people, chuckled and laughed, didn't notice we hadn't eaten breakfast until about three in the afternoon, didn't have time to eat breakfast until about four in the afternoon, saw a bunch of stormtroopers making kids do press ups, sold all the stock we took and nearly ran out of petrol on the way home, but didn't. Phew. We couldn't have asked for more.
The day got off to a corking start when we set the stand up in record time. And boy did it look good. Gone were the pornographic magazines and other bits of 'apocalyptic' rubbish we collected and displayed on our Vegas stand, instead, for Salute 08, we heralded in poster sized quotes about the game. The most common response all day was 'Are these for real?' All we could do was reply honestly that we couldn't make this stuff up if we tried.
People reported 'awesome' and 'epic evenings'It doesn't stop being surreal to meet people whose faces light up when they say they have played our game, and there were a lot at Salute 08. People reported 'awesome' and 'epic evenings', and then thanked us for making it and making it so well. It really flattered and tickled us.
Unfortunately for a lot of people we sold out our entire stock before the end of play. Our apologies once more go out to those of you who were left wanting. This success came despite Tom's sales tactics which hit an all time low when he was distracted by a passing remote controlled mini tank. His excitement was so infectious that the young customer he was talking to darted off through the gathered crowd to get a better view. Tom's defence was weak: 'Yeah but you don't see one of those every day and it did have flashing lights on it'
We must thank the organisers for letting us exhibit, and everybody who spoke to us at Salute 08 for their warm support and encouragement which blew us away. Nobody got upset and people laughed a lot. So when it comes to the war on terror, peace is an option after all.
Oh, one last thing, we now have it on good authority that The Office of Counter Terrorism have a copy of the game. Chaps, if your wondering how to defeat terrorism we've found the trick is not to fund it in the first place, but that's just from playing our game, what do we know?
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 23 April 2008 - 0 comments
Friday 18th April 2008
Salute!
Daleks, guns, chicks in robes and lots and lots of modelsJust a quick one. We've been so busy preparing for it that we've forgotten to mention we're attending Salute Zero Eight, a one day war game convention at Excel in London, tomorrow!
It's a lovely trip on the Docklands railway from London, so why not drop by and say 'hello'. It starts at 10am. We'll have competitions running, including our now highly popular 'Hunt the WMD'.
Last year, it appears there were Daleks, Guns, Chicks in robes and lots and lots and lots more models (the miniature kind, not the leggy kind). Mix in a sprinkle of terror and if that sounds like your thing, we'll see you tomorrow.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 18 April 2008 - 0 comments
Monday 7th April 2008
"It will provoke little minds."
While updating the site, we came across this, one of our favourite quotes about War on Terror ever. It prompted us to make a whole new page on the site ...
Our Favourite Quotes. Over the past few years, there have been some pretty funny things said about War on Terror, so it's high time we shared our favourite with you. There's even a form for you to submit your own, so go ahead, quote us happy.
On a roll, we made another new page: Our Favourite Things. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that this page has been live for months, but we only just got around to putting something up there today. (It takes time to work out what you like to the extent that you want to publicise it. I mean, I like to dress in a leotard and club seals to death and then wash my face in the blood of that seal before tossing off a Frenchman with a pine cone, but I'm not going to shout about it). This page now has links to other satirical and interesting games, alternative news and political sites and generally All The Good Stuff.
And finally, we've got some New Gallery Photos and even a stunning EVIL Challenge Winner. Enjoy!
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 7 April 2008 - 0 comments
Wednesday 2nd April 2008
World First! War on Terror Played Live on Radio
Recently, we were contacted by Resonance FM to take part in a series of programmes they were running about 'Art and War', covering things like the purpose of war memorials, the function of war and combat in art theory and one show was even set to discuss propaganda with our new friend, the curator of the Imperial War Museum. The series itself sounded pretty interesting, but what really got our attention was the presenter's intention to play a game of War on Terror live on air.
- "We've tried it on TV and ... it's quite slow", we cautioned.
- "Let us worry about that", they replied.
- "A full game will take about 3 hours to play".
- "That would be really interesting", they insisted, "but we only have 30 minutes".
Resonance FM were fearless - they were determined to play the game live on air and who were we to disrupt such ambitious plans? We decided to start playing an hour before we went on air, so that the game could be in mid-flow by the time the programme started. It was surprisingly difficult, playing War on Terror, answering questions about the game and the larger war on terror and also evaluating what cards you've just picked up or working out how much oil revenue you're due.
In the end, we only played one full round while the programme was on the air. It was a surreal mix of serious discussion and in-game comments ("There's a common belief that terrorism just happens and has no rational cause - Ah! West Canada's just gone ..." etc). Not sure we'd do it again live, but it was fun to try something different.
Listen to the full programme here:
- Streaming part 1
- Streaming part 2
Or download the MP3 files here:
- Download part 1
- Download part 2
This was the first we'd heard of Resonance FM and it turns out to be a very cool radio station - lots of arts, culture, politics, weird music etc. You should Give them some love and listen in.
Of random interest, we've noticed War on Terror cropping up in a few, slightly contradictory lists recently:
- World's most controversial boardgames
(Deputy Dog - no.7) - World's most inappropriate games
(Shortlist Magazine - no.1) - Boardgames to change the world
(A Just Life - no. 2)
Inappropriate, controversial and world-changing... That'd make a great epitaph.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 2 April 2008 - 0 comments
Thursday 27th March 2008
War on Terror in the V&A, London
We've done it again! Another prestigious Museum has accepted our board game into their collection. Last month, the Imperial War Museum welcomed WoT into their esteemed array of historical objects and now we're very happy and humbled to report that the Victoria & Albert Museum has also recognised the cultural value of War on Terror.
The V&A is considered (by themselves) the greatest museum of art and design. It holds over 3000 years worth of artifacts from many cultures. The scope of the entire collection is simply jaw-dropping and also bang up to date, so if you haven't been before we certainly recommend it. Once more we are pleasantly surprised that world experts deem our board game worthy of recognition, while the commercial sector continue to ban us in the name of public wellbeing.
What is more surprising on this occasion is that our game has been accepted into the Museum of Childhood branch of the V&A. This was their decision, not ours. We are absolutely stoked. Maybe this game isn't as mind-warpingly dangerous as we are lead to believe?
In light of these recent educational endorsements it seems apt to take this opportunity to thank some other educational types who have been in touch with us. The following men of good standing have understood our less-than-evil intentions and spoken up in our defense. We doff our EVIL balaclavas to you, gentlemen:
'A cleverly crafted satire that can be used by educators to provoke students to think critically about one of the most important issues of our time'
- Dr. Nick Megoran, lecturer in Geopolitics and Human Geography, University of Newcastle
'Genius is said not to stray far from madness but I'm sure you guys are on the side of the former'
- Dr. Duncan Salkeld, senior lecturer in English, University of Chichester
'War on Terror presents students with geographies they know they know. It also presents unknown geographies that they know about; that is to say they know there are some geographies they do not know. But War on Terror also presents geographical unknown unknowns - the ones that they don't know about yet but will begin to question before the end of the game. War on Terror makes a terrible starter for a lesson but an outstanding starter for an education.'
-Daniel Raven-Ellison, Head of Geography, Langtree School, Reading
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 27 March 2008 - 1 comments
« Hide form and comments