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Show B.C "Political Machine' in. Mr' wins, but it's no landslide victory Victor Godinez THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS are eight long until the Thereelection, but now you can take matters into your own hands. The new PC game The Political Machine ($19; suitable for ages 13 and up) makes you the campaign manager for a presidential hopeful, steering your candidate to victory. It's a strong performance, but the Ubisoft game doesn't quite score a landslide victory. All your favorite real-lif- e politicians from W to Kerry to Hillary to Schwarzenegger, are availphis dozens more able for you to direct at your pleasure. You pick a candidate, set parameters such as the state of the economy, the level of military conflict around the " globe and the level of rest- - er es FOXTROT HEBE'S YoUS HELMET. THE NR. SEASON OFF CN TV TONI6HT. KICKS WHAT'S THIS . . ITS NOT THS SUPER BOWV. WE CAN WATCH THE 6AME WITHOUT r PAIGE CLAIMS SHE HAS DOS ON THE TV. , Vfr , ' MMJHT NEED SOME SHOULDER PADS, Too, THEM fund-raiser- RHYMES WITH ORANGE - s THe q W C ran reoHTHe cqv? New well-receiv- ed mmmt point-and-cli- life--- You need to quickly establish large campaign offices in the biggest and most important states. Bigger offices give you access to more sophisticated polling data and increase the amount of cash you shake out of s. people's pockets at You also want to buy ad time as soon as possible, purchasing expensive national television ads on universally popular topics such as the war on terror. You can either come out in favor of a topic to boost your ratings or attack your opponent to , lower his. Then you can use local outlets, such as newspapers and radio, to air ads on topics that might be popular in certain such as gay marriage states in but less Jill among the populace, and off you go. You start off with a few million dollars in the bank, a home state base of opera tions and ac- ,f cess to basic information on the issues most important to voters in various states. The main battlefield is an electoral map of America. The goal is to amass 270 electoral votes, meaning you need to develop national policies but also pander to local voters. So while the war in Iraq is a popular topic for Republicans in Texas, you might not want to give that same speech in New York or California. In fact, you have several modes of attack. Once you your candidate to fry to"a state, you must decide whether to build or upgrade your cam- paign headquarters, do a j i s l speech, create an ad campaign, or spend postage a fund-raislitical capital on winning hiring behind-thecerioperatives. piRecnoM ) 9BB rasa NEIGHBOR Althis costs money, so occasionally you'll need to replenish your treasury with a fund- CRANKSHAFT raiser. But the more you stump in a particular stats, the smaller the payoff. So you can't camp out jn California ana pocket T $400,000 every five minutes. MARY WORTH If you're feeling devious, you XjlVtMBWm can hire operatives to harass your opponent in a particular state. Even with all the details, you'll want more. For example, it would be cool to download current controversies, such as the Swift Boat Veterans for : Truth ads or joblessness, to test the responsiveness of your campaign team. Finally, there s already ama 1 jor patch available for "The Pc-- ; FRANK AND ERNEST litical Machine," but there are still some bugs in the software. I was dumped back iritoWin- dows several times when I started the game, and the game n froze completely on me at one point. . But "The Political Machine" is flU$?ANtM a blast for political junkies who QUt$TlON$i love charts, graphs and arguing about gun rights or the war in f Iraq. . ' - WMW JUWAWJT ) CJ' Y ... . "NEW lW"? I'M ".X " . MM! Ill MM MA 1 W i HI ...I Prt. tKNlt, HOvV WOOLS YOU r AN$vtR$ - ,":TW- THINKINGT 3 Animal f n V. A V .AMfi1 - WA ... mwr 'W |