In an unprecedented move, the White House has launched multiple arcade browser games that support President Trump’s policies, but some have now faced online backlash for various reasons. US politicians have traditionally resorted to video games as a means of promoting their pre-election campaigns, as seen with Barack Obama’s in-game advertisements during the 2008 election. But what Trump’s administration has done with arcade games is a first in US history.
On September 4, the official White House account on Twitter started promoting “Trump Arcade,” a brand-new extension of the WhiteHouse.gov website featuring five free-to-play browser games. But two of them, titled Build the Wall and Rio Run, quickly sparked online arguments.
Trump Arcade Criticized for ‘Provocative Humor’
In Build the Wall, which is basically a replica of Tetris, players try to block the passage of “zombies” attempting to cross the southern border and enter the United States. Rio Run, on the other hand, is a game like Snake where the player must “patrol the line along the river and pick up every crosser” to deport them. Both games have been criticized for trying to gamify and trivialize sensitive topics like illegal immigration. But Build the Wall, in particular, might also face some copyright infringement problems.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Tetris Responds to Trump Administration’s Build the Wall
Amid the backlash against Trump Arcade, the official Tetris account on Twitter has issued a statement making it clear that the development team had nothing to do with Build the Wall. “At Tetris, we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” the statement reads. Tetris‘ response also includes a side note saying, “We take copyright infringement very seriously,” signaling that a lawsuit or perhaps a DMCA request might be awaiting the White House’s latest PR campaign.
Tetris isn’t the only game that’s been copied in the White House’s latest free-to-play arcade game lineup. Another government-backed game in the program is called Flappy Bill, which is clearly a simplified copy of games like Flappy Bird. There’s also a “MAGA” logo appearing in some promotions that looks almost identical to SEGA’s iconic trademark. That said, the Japanese company hasn’t commented on the matter as of this writing, and given the situation with Flappy Bird‘s developer, it is unlikely that he will ever respond to the White House copycat either.
Trump Arcade might be the first lineup of video games to be directly published on the US government’s website. However, it is not the first video game project backed by the government. One similar example is the America’s Army franchise, a first-person shooter series developed and published by the US Army. It is also not the first time Donald Trump has been involved in a video game project. Back in the early 2000s, Trump’s likeness and voice were used in a SimCity-like game called Donald Trump’s Real Estate Tycoon, which received mixed reviews.
At the time of writing, the US government and White House officials have not responded to the criticism surrounding Trump Arcade, nor have they acknowledged the Tetris Company’s statement.
- Created By
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Alexey Pajitnov
- Developer(s)
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Alexey Pajitnov, Nintendo, Bullet-Proof Software, Inc., Electronic Arts, Digital Eclipse, Spike Chunsoft, Tose, Intelligent Systems, T&E Soft, Jaleco, Arika, Capcom, Radical Entertainment, Hudson Soft, Monstars Inc, Resonair
- Publisher(s)
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Mirrorsoft, Spectrum HoloByte, Bullet-Proof Software, Inc., Sega, Atari, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Gameloft, Digital Eclipse, Enhance, Capcom
- Genre(s)
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Puzzle
- Original Release Date
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1985
- System
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PC, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, MS-DOS, macOS, pc-98, X68000, BBC Micro, NEC PC-8801, Famicom, Arcade, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Game Boy, Philips CD-i, SNES, Virtual Boy, Sega Saturn, PlayStation (Original), Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Sega Dreamcast, Mobile, PlayStation 2, WonderSwan, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii U, PS Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S