How about program the game in such a way that it references up-to-date current events and topics where needed (sort of how Microsoft is making its next Flight Sim... use the Bing Maps data, so that the terrain and everything is always current). Could be an idea.
i remember when I was a kid, i wrote the author of a book series i read (Encyclopedia Brown) and he actually sent me a letter back with a personal note on the side. it still hangs in a frame in my elementary school library