BLOG: about two video games from the list. Talk about how they fit into the genre of games we talked about in class and how they fit into your own ideas about advertising, education, and politics.
http://www.planetgreengame.com This is a game put out by Starbucks Coffee partnered with Global Green USA. The game doesn’t show Starbucks Logos or Coffee which was different from other game presented by food chains. The game is about living in today's society with the threat of global warming. You are given choices to choose from like the type of car you drive. As you go around you find way to lower your CO2 emissions and reduce your impact on global warming. As you go around the town you face challenges which gives you a higher score. I think Starbucks partnered up with Global Green USA to show consumers that they are eco-friendly company and by buying Starbucks you are helping the planet. This game is very educational due to the fact, that there are mini quizzes that help you find ways to reduce your carbon foot print. Politics aren’t that involved in this game. Global warming is a political topic that some believe to be skeptical.
http://www.darfurisdying.com This game is put by MTV and Reebok Shoes. Their logos are only shown at the bottom of some pages. You pick a character and you go around collecting water and helping out in the refugee camp. This game shows some of the things that the people in Dafar go through. This game isn’t about advertising. This game shows the political, social, and education aspect of Darfur. It shows you that the Sudan government is bad and kills innocent people. The game educates you to be more aware of the issues Sudanese people face. Also it wants to go get involved and join peace groups and anti-war campaigns.
Lickglobalwarming.com This is another global warming game. It is put out by Ben and Jerry's. Unlike the Starbucks global warming game, you can tell Ben and Jerry put out this game. They advertise their logo the main page. Also the font is the same front they use at the Ben and Jerry cartons and their menus. The main purpose of the game is to drive around to different places stopping to educate you on how to curb your carbon output. I believe this game has a little bit of politics (global warming is accepted by all politicians) advertising (their logos and font) and education (teaching us treat the earth better)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I dont think Starbucks is only out for financial gain by creating this Planet Green game. I think they may have sincerely wanted to get worf out to a younger croud about greenhouse gasses and saving the environment. If they expected to be making extra money for creating this game, I think they would have put many more endorsements for their own products. But, I do agree that this is an educational game that could impact their sales. But, Starbucks does many other things to try and put out information about helping the environment through recycling. They even use free-trade coffee beans, which support poor farmers by giving them full price for their crops. I dont think this attept was in vein.
I dont think the Darfur game accurately depicts the real problems in Darfur. I actually find the game to be satirical of the real problems. I think they tried to make the game humurous by making the player run around as a little African.
The darfur game does as you describe legitimize and bring the relization of the genocide in Dafur. It is very informational. I like the fact that you added two games that both adress Global warming which tends to be a politicaly hot topic. The main difference as you point out is that the Starbucks version does not have a strong degree of advertising and is less of an advergame and more of an serious game. By my own political beliefs this the clear difference between those who actually believe in global warming as a human biproduct and those who hope to use it for their own economic gain based off of the mass commercialism and bombardment of commercials on Global warming.
I also played the Planet Green game and thought it was very effective in educating players on eco-friendly products available and ways to reduce carbon emissions. I liked that it was created by Starbucks but there was very little emphasis on that fact. I also liked the little environmental mini-movies that you could watch in the town theater. My favorite was the polar bear cartoon about the melting polar ice caps! :)
Post a Comment