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 a forum for the uses of videogames in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment
ABOUT About This Site - RSS Feed Ian Bogost (editor) Gonzalo Frasca (editor emeritus) SPONSORS
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The UN Shoots an Air Ball April 14, 2008 - by Ian Bogost The UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign provides low-cost bed nets in an effort to reduce malaria-related deaths in Africa in particular. As a part of the campaign, they have created a game, Deliver the Net. If you play the game and sign up at the end, the organization will deliver a net to Africa on their behalf. The sentiment is a respectable one. But the game misses the net entirely. The player drives a motorbike in a desolate African setting, stopping at local huts to deliver nets and jumping over occasional obstacles. At the end of the game, the promised offer to donate a net in the player's name appears. As such, Deliver the Net is really more of a complex promotional delivery vehicle than a game. There's little sense of the lives of Africa either under normal conditions or under the suffering of malaria. What's disappointing is that the graphical design of the game is quite lovely, betraying its lack of depth as a simulated experience. When the game starts, the bright sun beats down on the plain. Over time it turns orange, then purple as midday gives way to afternoon, and afternoon wanes to evening. It's really quite striking. I just wish the game's simulated experience of the environment stood up to its sky. POST A COMMENT
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