Adver-games are nothing new

Written by Dan Zuccarelli

Tuesday, 03 October 2006 05:30

The post right before this one is talking about the Burger King games/advertisments, and how I am dying to check these things out. Usually I'm a bit leery of in-game advertising, unless it's done in a way that actually helps the realism (like in a Nascar game). The worst implementation may be in Fight Night for the 360, when the announcer tells me that "This knockout has been brought to you by the new Dodge Calibur.

But the difference here is that the games don't contain ads, they ARE ads. At least they're not trying to sneak it in on us, they're being honest about it (as honest as ad people will ever be). And truth be told, this isn't the first time that a company has made a game for no other reason than to get some ad time with the kids.

Back in the Atari 2600 days there were two games that were actually available. Tooth Protectors from Johnson & Johnson and Chase the Chuck Wagon from Purina, could be gotten through the mail by sending in proof of purchases.

So think about how embedded games were in the 80's when a dog food company is able to put out a specialized game ONLY available via postal mail.

Needless to say these two games suck, but they're much sought after by 2600 hundred collectors like myself, since they're so hard to come by. They pop up on eBay every once in awhile, but never as often as other "rare" titles. I've heard of stories of people find these games in thrift stores and such, but I've never actually talked to anyone that's found one in the wild.

Adver-games didn't stop there, with games like Cool Spot and Yo! Noid appearing on the NES, SNES, and Genesis. Ugh.

I may actually own cool spot, I think I got in a lot of games I bought awhile back. If I do in fact own it, prepare for a review!

What other games have I missed?

Comments (6) Add Comment

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written by Chris, October 03, 2006

Don't forget about the McDonald's titles like Treasureland Adventure and Mick and Mack: Global Gladiators for the Genesis and SNES.

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written by Adam, October 03, 2006

...and Kool-Aid man for the Atari.

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written by danzuke (NetPhantom), October 03, 2006

Holy crap! I forgot all about Mick & Mack...

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written by Patric, October 03, 2006

I remember a game came INSIDE a box of chex way back in the day, you didn't have to send away or anything. It was pretty fun too, for a few weeks. I really loved the super spoon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chex_Quest

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written by Dave Darko, October 04, 2006

Haha, Chex Quest. That was a fun game oddly enough, despite being an "Ad" game. I've heard there's an attempt at making a Doom 3 TC based on CQ, but it doesn't look too promising IMO.

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written by Spooooooock!, October 04, 2006

I don't really think of it as an adver-game, but there was that game "Journey: Escape" for the 2600. I remember Kool-Aid man. Still have my cart, in fact. I remember drinking about fifty gallons of Kool-Aid for it, too. I wonder if I can sue Kool-Aid for all the dental work I needed as a result?