Paro is a therapeutic toy/pet for people who cannot deal with a real animal. Obviously, it comes from Japan, land of the rising robots. I have been visiting a lot of toy stores lately, not because I am an early Christmas shopper, but as a way to get a better idea of what's going on in the toy business and how we can relate this to videogames.

I paid particular attention to new toy ideas and my general impression is that they try too hard to be innovative, even if that goes against its playability and the amount of fun time they may provide. In other words, many new toys work as marketing messages rather than as toys themselves: they aim to appeal to buyers (parents, not kids) with some innovative feature that can certainly be original but lacks what it takes to be a good toy. Of course, from an industrial point of view, this is ok: play with the toy just for a few days or weeks and then buy a new one.

The equivalent in videogames is the franchise game that is developed in a rush to meet the movie/TV show launch and appeals to the parents enough in order for them to buy it. Of course, it takes only a few minutes for the end-user to realize that the game sucks.

This is one of the clear dangers of early advergaming: they are flashy enough to catch our attention, but they do not provide a full gaming experience. Some may argue that this may be enough for the game to deliver its message. It is true, but I am not sure if advertisers want their products to be associated with a lame gaming experience. The best bet for Flash advergames is that they are good enough to be replayed several times. Their potential is just too big for being wasted as an equivalent to banner ads.

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