YouTube as Casual Gaming Platform?

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On this especially idle morning, @tim_nolan invited us to partake of YouTube Street Fighter, brought to you by Patrick Bolvin.

Give it a whirl. The game enables you to interact by sending you to a new video every time you take an action, like picking a character or choosing to kick or block.

It's a fractured and disjointed experience, and you'll probably only play it once, but it brought to mind that Wario Land: Shake It! thing and reminded us that even when you think you know a medium, some innovative mind will turn it into something totally different -- opening opportunities for both the medium to evolve, and for creatives to take advantage.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb- 5-09    
Topic: Consumer Created, Games, Online



It's an iPhone Advergame! Help Name It.

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Fuel Industries is preparing a new iPhone game for client Vans. But it's not really sure what to name it, so it's soliciting help from Y-O-U. See demo.

It's not immediately clear how you can get your ideas over to Fuel if you have any, but hell, we're sure they'll be perusing this page from time to time, so comment away if you want. (If you're thinking BoardX in honor of jPod, don't bother; we already did.)

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by Angela Natividad    Feb- 2-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Games, Mobile/Wireless, Online



Bud Macs, Portfolios Gamed, Animals Fed, Diversity Tackled

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- This is really, really lame but since it has to do with Super Bowl advertising we're gonna share.

- Some stupid game called Gal-ad-a lets you review portfolios. We have a headache already.

- Layoff blog Please Feed the Animals has morphed into a job site of sorts where "where job seekers and cash-strapped agencies could find each other." Check it out.

- On February 11, BDI will host its Advertising Industry Diversity Job Fair at NYU. Get the details here.

by Steve Hall    Jan-23-09    
Topic: Games, Industry Events, Spoofs, Weblogs



Charity Holiday, Enemy Gameplay, More Than Words with Alex B.

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- Top 10 virals of '08, courtesy of the guys that brought you this.

- Digitas Health donates to charity for the holidays, as does RAZ PR (which told us via paper card). Meanwhile, comScore pledges trees.

- "Unprecedented economic waters" (nice euphemism!) means no FedEx retardation during '09's Super Bowl. One less thing to look forward to. Honestly, anything involving Burt Reynolds makes us happier people.

- Remember that crazy/beautiful, semi-schizophrenic media orgy titled Game, Game, Game and Again Game? The sequel is called I Made This. You Play This. We Are Enemies. Creator Jason Nelson promises "More strange hand drawn creatures, with screen shot anchored levels and all the poetic bits known." And then we kissed him.

- Crowdsourcing horror.

- Beancasting Steve and Bill. Among other things, they talk online video marketing, Pepsi suicide ads and diversity (lack of?) in the industry.

- Learn to shred with CP+B. "But yeah, the biggest thing people will go after is Alex giving lessons on how to play Extreme's More Than Words." Sounds like a winner to me.



What is it About this Holiday Season that Just Screams 'RODEO'?

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Riffing off an idea first presented to us by Lucky Brand Jeans, agency Bernstein-Rein gives us the Reindeer Rodeo, yet another holiday game where the objective is to keep a skittish elf on a bucking...

...well, I'd hate to ruin the surprise.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-22-08    
Topic: Agencies, Games, Online



PETA Takes Fur Hags in Virtual Snowfight

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In its ongoing mission to condition otherwise-normal citizens into forming violent knee-jerk reactions toward people that wear fur or (le gasp!) eat animals, PETA's created this holiday snowball game.

It's sorta like hitting groundhogs with a hammer, except you're pitching snow at "fur hags" like Madonna (10 points), Donna Karan (+25) and the Olsen Twins (+50!). But watch out for Grandma and Generic Blonde! Hitting either of them could cost you 50 points apiece.

Idle good times. Just wish my mouse moved faster. Oh, and while the game is characterized as a "snow fight," nobody else throws snow back at you, which I thought was funny, because, you know, zealous institutions always see antagonists where none exist.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-18-08    
Topic: Cause, Games, Online



CPX Throws Snow Balls, N64 Kid Promotes Ballet

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- CPX Interactive wishes everyone a happy holiday with Balls of Snow, an online snowball fight.

- The Nutcracker Ballet at the Royal Opera gets Nintendo N64 Kid treatment. Weird.

- Frederick Samuel who blogs over at Advertising/Design Goodness just found out he's one of the 3,500 Omnicom employees let go. Help a guy out if you can.

by Steve Hall    Dec-18-08    
Topic: Agencies, Games, Spoofs, Video



Oh Look! Another Holiday-Themed Time Waster!

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It really shouldn't be a surprise. After all, it's December and that's when the flood gates open for holiday-themed timewasters, agency Christmas cards, silly videos and Elf Yourself. Yes, it's December and this December brings us Sprint's The Gingerbread Man With Everything, a dress the gingerbread cookie make which OF COURSE you can, YES, send to your friend.

So stop screwing around on Twitter. Stop updating your Facebook page. Finish Digging stories. Stop tagging photos on flickr. And for the love of God, quit hanging out on AdGabber! OK, maybe not so much the last one.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Ted Perez created.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 4-08    
Topic: Games, Good



Holiday-Style Frozen Pole Game Baffles

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It's official. Two makes a trend so the rebirth of the send-to-a-friend time waster is upon us yet again. Following Ceiva's Sit on Santa's Lap, Mullen has created Frozen Pole, an upload-your-face, choose-your-wardrobe, send-to-a-friend thing. It's purpose? To get your tongue stuck on...wait for it...a frozen pole. You know. Like in the movie.

One might assume this little effort could be for some sort of fireball-style candy or some hot chocolate brand or a even reverse logic effort to promote travel to the Caribbean. But no.

It's for...voice recognition company Nuance which is introducing a new product..

Hello? Hello? Anyone? Can some one explain this? Or at least point out my utter stupidity at not grasping the concept? Because it wouldn't be the first time my stupidity got in the way of grasping a concept.

UPDATE: Someone has saved me from my own idiocy. Apparently, though it wasn't clear when I did it, I've been told "when you send message to someone from the site, it translates what they are saying with their frozen tongue into a readable holiday message."

by Steve Hall    Dec- 3-08    
Topic: Games, Online, Strange



No, No. He Doesn't HAVE Crabs, He's HALF Crab.

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This random spot by Heat/SF for Electronic Arts depicts a tragic sk8erboi who can't play Skate It because he has crab claws for hands.

"All my friends play it. They say it's rad. It's just my dad married a ... crab."

Collective awwwww. Sucks to not be able to live the dream. But hey, he'll get over Skate It, and you know what they say about men who like fish.

By Green Dot.

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by Angela Natividad    Dec- 2-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Games, Strange, Television