Swedish pirate party challenges rivals to SC2 match
This is pretty hilarious. If I could read Swedish, I might look more into it.
The election to the Riksdag (parliament) is closing in, and an for many young voters, it is important that the politicians understand and prioritise their recreational pursuits. An oft-neglected form of culture is computer games. The Pirate Party, in order to highlight this, challenges the swedish political blocs in a duel of Starcraft II.
- For the last twenty years, computer gaming has grown both as a recreational and professional pursuit. Despite this, computer gaming has been treated unfairly in comparison with other forms of culture, deputy party leader and MP candidate Anna Troberg says.
- The VAT for entry fees for opera performances and books is at 6%, but if you are buying computer games or attending Dreamhack, the VAT is at 25%. No matter what level of VAT should apply, it should be the same for all forms of culture. This is a form of discrimination against generations of gamers. Computer games is on an equal cultural level with museum or theatre visits, Anna Troberg continues.
Starcraft II was release on the 27th of July 2010 and is by many seen as the big thing of gaming this summer. The game is a sequel of the original Starcraft, released in 1998, which, apart from being one of the highest selling games of all time, further has a big role in e-sports. In South Korea, the game is all but a national sport, with professional leagues and matches shown on live TV broadcasts.
- The people in the party has been working with information politics since before the party was founded. We have no doubt that we can beat any team our political opponents can scrape together in Starcraft II. The question is: Do they have what it takes to take us on?, Anna Troberg concludes.
The challenge will be played on the gaming network Battle.net. The mode of play will be a 2v2, that is two participants per team. The winner will bear the prestigious title of Swedish political champion of Starcraft II. Any party that wishes to take on the challenge is asked to contact Simon Rosenqvist, who will be responsible for the championship.