Agenda
This game was designed by people who are angry about the way that big corporations like McDonald's seem to be doing immoral things to simply increase profit. First, the farm is set next to a rain-forest and indigenous village that you have to destroy to create more farm land. Second, the cows are simply being picked up like they are in a claw game and others that are sick are just "destroyed." This list goes on as it tries to show the player how little the consumer knows about where their food comes from.
Success/Improvements
From the beginning, the player has to make morally bad decisions just to survive, the message is conveyed clearly they they have a distaste for McDonald's and their agendas. But the game is too complicated and most of the negative information was written in long paragraphs which no player would want to read. It shows the player these horrible acts, like killing the mad cows, but because the game is hard, players don't want to sit and figure it out. The message is lost when the player has to work hard to just win. If the game were easier and could simply press a button to pay employees less and make more of a profit, the player could play this game and soak in all of the behind-closed-doors actions that McDonald's is supposedly doing.
Airport Security [Link]
Agenda
Because airport security has become something of a sore subject, this game pokes fun at the seemingly absurd things that airport security seems to be taking away. Instead of the simple water bottles, players are taking away cow skulls and head-dresses. While this is going on, the player has limited amounts of time before people start getting angry and the line gets too long so the player will lose.
Success/Improvements
As the game goes on, the player can simply let things through so that the line doesn't cause a game over. This game did a great job in portraying the frustration of going through an airport as well as how lax, yet absurdly picky security is thought to be compared to what the developers think is safe. The developers did a great job is showing their thoughts rather than telling the player like in the McDonald's game. The game started quickly, the player didn't have to read a lot and the message was still clear.
Border Patrol [Link]
Agenda
Obviously and overtly racist, the message is very clear that they want to say that Mexicans in our country are nothing but horrible people. The three different types of people that you are keeping from crossing the border are Mexican nationalists, drug smugglers, and obese women carrying multiple children called "breeders." The point of the game is simply to shoot as many as you can before they cross, but the game is rigged so that even the fastest person couldn't kill more than are able to cross.
Success/Improvements
This game could not be redeemed. It is offensive to most anyone that would play it unless they already felt negatively against Mexicans. Because of the graphics, this game would be appealing to young teens (for the violence). I think that no one would really be persuaded by this game, but would merely be for those who already believe in bigotry and want to amuse themselves. Had the game been more realistic, such as catching people rather than shooting them, this game would have been able to appeal to more people, but the offensive labels, I can't see this as being appealing to anyone wider than the group that made it.
No comments:
Post a Comment