The Political Machine 2008 Now Available

- Stardock's Political Strategy PC Game Transforms Players Into High-Stakes Campaign Managers for the Obama/McCain 2008 Election -

PLYMOUTH, MI – June 17, 2008 – Today Stardock (www.stardock.com) released The Political Machine 2008, the highly anticipated follow-up to its 2004 smash hit. The Political Machine 2008 is a PC game that puts players in control of the 2008 presidential campaign. Play as the campaign manager for a host of candidates including Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, historical candidates or design one from scratch. The game is available at major U.S. retail outlets as well as directly from www.politicalmachine.com for $19.95. It requires Wndows XP or Windows Vista to play.

Players choose their campaign battlegrounds and are off on the campaign trail to face a host of challenges including fundraising, talk show appearances, hiring spin doctors and winning endorsements. The game is won on Election Day by the player who gets the necessary electoral votes to become President.

Real-world scenarios are mixed in with fantastical scenarios. Players can choose the U.S. 2008 election, U.S. 1860 election or play in fun and humorous fantasy campaigns including one that takes place on an alien world and one that takes place in "Europa". Players can also choose what TV shows to be a guest on and will face tough questions from the hosts of shows like Colvert Report and the O'Malley Factor.

"Political junkies will appreciate many of the political consultants and strategies employed in the game such as the use of smear merchants, spin doctors, intimidators, cheer leaders, movie stars, etc.," continued Wardell. "Strategy gamers will appreciate the balanced game mechanics that allow players to research new campaign tactics that even novice political observers can see from the current election."

The Political Machine is both a single- and multiplayer game - players can either compete against the computer or against others online on www.politicalmachine.com. The website also provides an ideologically neutral location for users to discuss the current election.

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For more information about The Political Machine or to obtain high-res images, please contact Stephanie Tinsley Schopp at Stephanie@Tinsley-PR.com.

About Stardock

Stardock is one of the world’s leading developers and publishers of PC games and desktop software. Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire, the highest rated and best selling PC strategy game of 2008 as well as the critically acclaimed Galactic Civilizations series. Its desktop software includes Object Desktop, WindowBlinds, and a host of other programs for customizing the Windows experience.