Huzzah, I'm 20.

...god I feel old now.

So, for my 20th birthday, I bought myself a little gift. A Marlin 980S .22LR bolt-action rifle, specifically. Just a little something to train on, improve marksmanship, teach myself weapon maintenance, learn proper shooting procedure and shrug off the tiny flinch I developed from firing the Mosin Nagant 91/30 as my first rifle. It's a gorgeous gun, and I burned through 100 rounds on the first night at the range in less than an hour.

But, something popped into my mind while I was at the store buying it. When I bought my rifle, I had to fill out a long-winded ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) form, as well as a couple of forms from the store to do background checks, identity verification, yadda yadda yadda. All this red tape made me starting thinking back to the film "Lord of War." Now, if you haven't seen "Lord of War," you should probably stop reading this and go watch it.

Go on, I'll wait.

...

WAS THAT NOT AWESOME?

Ok, in all seriousness, "Lord of War" tells the story of a gunrunner named Yuri Orlov. Yuri is an illegal arms dealer - basically that guy who sells guns to all the factions in the little bush wars between the Democratic People's Republic of Fuckheads and the God's Liberation Army of Rapists down in Africa and the like. It's a profitable, yet incredibly risky business, and through some clever negotiating and political manipulation, Yuri manages to keep his operation running undercover, and even INTERPOL can't keep him locked up for long before he's free to conduct business again.

Now, what I've come to realize is that this would make an absolutely amazing game. Take one part X-COM politics and basebuilding, one part Rollercoaster Tycoon supply/demand economics and clientele interactions, one part Oregon Trail "JESUS CHRIST YOU GOT DYSENTERY AGAIN THIS GAME IS SUCH BULLSHIT" random events, and throw it all into a game with a time limit to see how fast and far you can spread your influence as an illegal arms dealer, and (at least in my opinion), you've got an incredible recipe for success.

The game itself would look very simple, something that can be put onto iPhone/PSP/DS(ha)/XBL Arcade/PSN/WiiWare(haha), and it wouldn't carry a very large price tag. Gameplay on the other hand opens up all kinds of options. Do you put an arms cache next to a global hotspot to decrease shipping costs/risk, but run the risk of getting caught in the crossfire, making you lose your inventory there and possibly your life, ending the game early? Do you buy tons of near-obsolete Soviet equipment and sell it en masse for dirt cheap, or fund R&D with major weapons manufacturers in hopes of getting some "surplus" that will sell for more? Do you side with a losing faction in an area to drag a conflict out and increase profit, side with the winning faction to crush the opposition and consolidate your security in the region with your new "allies," or play both sides against each other for maximum profit, but risk one or the other finding out and having them ally against you, pushing you out of the region entirely? Do you bring a son or daughter into the "family business" with hopes of doubling profit soon and reaching retirement quicker, or do it all yourself and not risk letting their greed coax them into attempting to usurp the business from you entirely? Do you expand quickly and try to let your influence spread worldwide and risk the UN/INTERPOL putting you away for good, or do you forgo quick profits for a slow, yet steady expansion of influence?

There's so much potential here, but I need people who are willing to help me out with this. I'm a writer and creative artist, that is, a professional bullshitter with some good ideas. Unfortunately, I need developers and artists to make this work.

Regardless, Gunrunner - Good idea or bad idea?

(and for that matter, if I decide to try and make something of it, would -you- be willing to sign on?)