Molleindustria

Molleindustria
Web address http://www.molleindustria.org
Type of site
Political flash games
Launched December 2003

Molleindustria is an Italian guerrilla semiotics and culture jamming website[1] that produces flash videogames based on provocative left-wing socio-political points of view, like on topics like labour market flexibility and Queer theory, in explicit opposition with the mainstream video game industry.[2] They feature games like Queer Power, Faith Fighter and the McDonald's Videogame.

In June 2007 the game Operazione: Pretofilia (Operation: Pedopriest), inspired by the controversial BBC documentary Sex Crimes and the Vatican, was removed from the site after a point of order in the Italian Parliament called "Countermeasures to the religions' offences".[3]

In April 2009, Molleindustria initially bowed to complaints from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference by removing Faith Fighter from their site,[4] but later put up a new version that gives the player the choice between a full and a censored version. Molleindustria has later started producing a mock sequel that sarcastically pretends to promote religious pluralism and tolerance.[5] Both games have since been put back on the website.

In September 2011, Molleindustria released a game entitled Phone Story for smartphones that was promptly banned from the Apple iTunes [6] Phone Story focused on what Molleindustira called the "dark side" of smartphone manufacturing. When Apple banned the game Molleindustria released the game for the Android market. All the funds raised from the game were donated. The game is now available for free online.

List of Molleindustria games

See also

Notes

  1. Grindon (2008) p.36 quote:
    Cresswell suggests the two political objectives of Night discourse/culture jamming/guerrilla semiotics are [...]. The 'simple, meaningful graphics' of Molleindustria discussed in this paper, and the similar approaches of scratchware and others53, do much the same in relation to the games industry.
  2. Williams and Smith (2007) p.247 quote:
    these are games that, for example, seek to make trenchant criticisms of ever-more flexible labour markets and to visualise and make playable the claims of queer theory about the mutability of sexual identity, pleasure and desire. Molleindustria explicitly position their work in opposition to the mainstream industry, which they see as having been invaded by global entertainment giants, and position their work alongside broader indymedia movements.
  3. Operation Pedopriest: Banned
  4. Jesus vs. Mohammed? Video Game Upsets Islamic Group
  5. Nixed 'Faith Fighter' Game Gets Lovey-Dovey Sequel
  6. Olson, Parmy. Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2011/09/15/infamous-anti-iphone-game-goes-to-android/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "IndieCade 2012 Award Winners-The Complete List". indiegamereviewer.com. October 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
  8. Ryan Rigney (2013-04-05). "The Best Amendment Indie Game Takes On the NRA". Wired. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
  9. Tracey Lien (2014-03-04). "Poking fun at trademark disputes with Trademarkville". Polygon. Retrieved 2014-03-06.

References

External links