"PETA's Super Chick Sisters"
This game is set up to be similar to Mario Brothers. However, Mario is a baby chick, instead of an actual human being. The colonel is an evil mechanical spider and, if the chick does not kill the spider, it will kill the chick. It advertises the organization PETA, in order to inform other individuals about the cruetly many fast food restaurants carry out to produce the needs of their costumers. The game also advertises the Mario Brothers game for the Wii, because during the introduction of the game, Mario and Luigi are sore from playing the game system. The game, however, is entirely persuasive. It persuades individuals on an emotional level, which causes the players of the game to feel for the cruelly treated chickens. As mentioned before, the characters of the game are baby chicks and not older chickens. This fact of the game causes the player to feel more of an emotional attachment to the baby chicks, than if they were older chickens. The game could also cause players from ordering food from KFC ever again, and it presents the colonel as an evil villian. This may persuade the players to believe the colonel was an evil individual in more than just one aspect of his life.
"Darfur is Dying"
In this game, the player picks an individual for his character, and the characters range in sex and age. The purpose of the game is to find water and food for the other individuals in the refugee camp. However, the player must forage for food or water without getting caught by the Janjaweed militias. The player is able to hide behind rocks, grass, and other objects, in order to keep from getting caught before returning to the camp. It is a serious game, because it portrays to the players in certain ways the reality of their situation in Darfur. In many ways we are priviledge to live in the United States, even though we have our faults, however, we will never be able to know the true reality of their situation in Darfur without living it ourselves. After the game, the players are able to donate money to help aid the individuals in Darfur and to end the war. It allows information to the public, which an individual may not have know before playing the game.
"Planet Green"
It is a game about reducing your ecological footprint on earth. At the beginning, the player picks a character and then a transportation service. Based on the character's transportation service, the player will gain or lose points, depending on the CO2 emission of the vehicle, bike, etc. The player goes to different buildings, within the town, and learns about reducing CO2 emissions in a variety of different ways. It is a serious game, because it introduces the player with a lot of information on the causes and effects of the CO2 emission every single day on our planet. The game allows a player to think not only about his own ecological footprint but others as well. It also advertises Starbucks in the game, which in a lot of ways is ironic. However, within the past year, the company has tried to cut back on the amount of waste their products produce and in other words, produce less energy.
6 comments:
"we will never be able to know the true reality of their situation in Darfur without living it ourselves"
I agree alot of people do not know
whats happening over there .But i feel in some way that this game is advertising to gain knowledge of the situation and actually do something about it as you stated before with the donation at the end.
I also like the idea of the Mario game with the chickens, it is a very effective way to get people informed about what kfc does and also it uses pathos to gain trust with the audience .
I think the use of Mario and Luigi is a very good ploy on the part of PETA. Both of those characters are internationally recognized and through their image a lot of people will side with PETA versus the Colonel. Having the set up similar also helps. I agree with your statement that there is an emotional attraction to the young chicks and is the most probable reason for using them over full grown chickens.
It is interesting how there are elements of other genres of games in the Super Chick Sisters game. For example, you mentioned the advertising of the Wii in the introduction. Although it is a persuasive game, the advertising elements make it more authoritative; if Wii is involved, many people will believe that Wii is affiliated with the message the game is sending.
The Super Chick Sisters game is also kid-friendly, allowing it to target a much wider audience. There isn't really any blood or guts as one might expect in an anti-animal cruelty game, and the Mario theme is a familiarity with children. Having their persuasive message avaliable to kids, who are more likely to be emotionally affected by this, is something I'm sure was thought-out.
I think it is interesting that they made a game to inform people of the amount of pollution we produce daily. I agree to the irony of having a starbucks advertisement at the end of the game instead of a hybrid car or perhaps a recycling company. With that being said, it could also be a clever advertising ploy. A major industry known for mass pollution being advertised to people who are probably eco-friendly may seem silly, but the statement: "...within the past year, the company has tried to cut back on the amount of waste their products produce and in other words, produce less energy..." could be just the thing to persuade unlikely fans to join the Starbucks craze.
I agree that us, Americans, "will never be able to know the true reality of their situation in Darfur without living it ourselves." Before I played this game, I had very little knowledge of the situation that the people in Darfur were experiencing. I feel that this game does an awesome job of informing people who are ignorant of the facts about the crisis that is occuring in Darfur. Not only does this game execute its idea well, it also allows the player to help the people in Darfur by offering donations which is really cool and considerate.
I think that planet green has a good idea abd has found a way to get that information across in a good way. For me these persuassive games need to have that bit of fun to draw in the audience and then be able to give them that information. People learn langueges through fun computer programs and we tend to like our fun teachers in school not only because these things are fun to do and listen to but because they have that message that we really need to hear. Once they get our attention then its easier for them to give us the message.
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