Disregarded Demographics: Judges

Video games might get heard about a fair bit in courts, whether it’s questionable blame for a violent crime or copyright issues, but the reverse is not widespread.  Courts appear through games such as the Ace Attorney series, but when they do turn up it’s from an investigation or lawyer-battle perspective.  What about the lords of the court, the ones who are, ultimately, the most important ones in criminal trials? Judges, you’re up.

It must be great to be a judge.  You get to sit on a big high bench, nobody questions your authority and you might even get to wear a funny wig if you’re in the right country.  You can tell people off and stop them bickering with just a few words.  Basically, you’re The Boss.  It’s a bit of a mystery why there hasn’t been a game about them, then.  Probably because being right all the time and spending your life reading about the law isn’t quite as interesting as trying to physically catch those who have broken it.  Not that that’s going to stop us having a crack at a game.

A judge game could be a pioneer for the 3DTV technology that people are hoping will become prevalent in a few years time, though maybe we could even go a bit beyond that and hope for holographic displays.  In an ideal world you could switch on your console of choice, pop in the disc and have your entire living room transformed into a court room, with you sitting presiding over it all.  You’re going to have to suspend a bit of realism and have everybody either on the same level as you or a bit small and on the floor, I’m afraid, as unless you have your sofa bolted to the ceiling it’s going to be a little difficult to get that aforementioned big high bench effect at home.

If we’re going down the 3DTV technology route, you’ll be needing some 3D glasses.  While they’re not as crap as the old anaglyph ones anymore, some may still feel self-conscious wearing them, which is why this game will make 3D headgear more fun by attaching a judge’s wig to them.  Nobody’s going to think you look a fool dressed like a law-enforcing, gavel-slamming judge-master! The gavel is also included.  Its use is required in-game whenever you need to make people shut up; give it a quick slam on a nearby table ‘“ hard enough to press down the big red button that’s on the end – and you’re sorted.

There wouldn’t be a central storyline to a judge game; just an unlimited amount of court cases to sit through, updated regularly and seamlessly with downloadable content.  As an impartial bystander whose only commitment is to the law, you can’t really do much in the game itself aside listen to court sessions in their entirety, in real time, which can go on months.  You might occasionally choose to interject for clarification on matters, or you could put somebody in contempt of court for messing everybody about, but most of the time your job is to sit quietly, take it all in and try to keep your eyes open.  Quizzes will pop up at random to ensure you understand it all and not just slacking off.  It’s all worth it at the end, though ‘“ you get to be the one to decide on the sentence after the jury has had its say.  You could give people who drop litter ten year prison stretches if you’re feeling just a tad ridiculous, but your reputation will go downhill and it might mean you have to bang your gavel that bit harder to gather some respect.

Every game needs a bit of controversy to sell well, and this one is set up for it perfectly with the downloadable content side of things.  While normal trials would be free of charge, you could pay a premium to sit through full versions of real life court cases, celebrity or otherwise.  Want to change the outcome of that OJ Simpson case (whichever one you want) or let a favoured murderer roam free? 800 Microsoft points, please.  The Daily Mail’s going to have a field day.

Images: Flickr (Joe Gratz), Wikimedia, Clicket