http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2010/06/07/video-game-photoshops/
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I loved this article, being a gamer myself. Though I don’t think it necessarily raises awareness of going green, I think it gives readers something to think and have a good laugh about. It does specifically target environmetalism though, so I feel it is effective in that regard.
Memes and funny photoshopping will get any young kids attention, so with that this article was successful. But, it would have to take the viewer to actually research the puns on the images to understand them fully. A young kid may not want to do that, unless he finds Mario reducing his carbon footprint that funny.
This article really made me laugh with the spoofed boxarts and names. I’d laugh even harder if something like a Pokemon game about enviornmental conservation, a Halo game involving eco-friendly cooking, or Mario reducing his carbon footprint actually hit the shelves.
This was hilarious. These games look incredibly bad however. Who wants to race in a Prius, in Fuel Efficiency 3? But it does bring attention to environmentalism and that’s what is important.
I think the games sounded hilarious but I am really skeptical in the success of any of these if they were to actually come out on the market. People are very used to violence in games, along with doing things in the video games that in real life would send them to jail (aka grand theft auto). I get the feeling that not many people would be interested in being EXTRA cautious about how they act in a game when they are so used to doing whatever they want in these cyberworlds.
I think the video game parodies are relevant to kids, teenagers, and young adults that have played the original games, which is very useful. While none of these games may actually ever reach the market, it is good to have people laughing and seeing environmentalism in a fun, positive light. That being said, I would buy Metal Gear Salad in a heartbeat, so these games may actually have an audience beyond their amusing covers. The games probably wouldn’t reach sales numbers anywhere near what the original titles received, but the name recognition and comedic factor could help spread awareness at least a little bit.
Seeing some popular games transformed with a “green” element was pretty funny. However, the idea of creating a mainstream “green game” seems pretty viable, at least with the last image of “Mario reduces his carbon footprint.” If a game was created where the focus was to transform a city from a complete dump into a greener,utopian version of itself, it may be the first step toward introducing green ideas to people.
Currently, I know Honda has a ECON function on some of their “greener” cars that keeps track of drivers’ driving habits and gives feedback on how to improve their driving. As the driver becomes more fuel efficient, the car congratulates them with a digit trophy.
If a similar positive feedback system were introduced as people reduce their carbon footprint in everyday lives, I think this will create strides in moving toward a greener future.
I thought these revisions of popular video games was quite entertaining and funnny. Although, it also brings up the fact that the idea of “green games” especially on a high budget mainstream level would not be plausible and we laugh at the idea because it cannot be taken seriously. Although as mentioned before on this website, some of these games have these green elements, specifically Deus Ex which brings up technology and how it affects the environment around it. Things like this work in games because they get us thinking about the ramifications of our actions on the environment around us, also the game would be probably really boring if all it did was focus on greening. So these games can be someone affective, just like the book we read if they had this multidimensional story that had green concepts without making the whole thing about greening, which keeps the customer interested and promotes their multiple ideas through these games.
These were hilarious. Milly has a point – video games are generally escapist fantasies where we do things we generally couldn’t do in real life, so their appeal as a tool for teaching ‘green’ behavior is questionable. Then again, Super Mario Sunshine sold well, and that was essentially about cleaning up pollution…
Honestly, I want some of these to be real games. Some more than others though. Grand walk in the park? Yes! Plant-Life 2? What’s that about?… I liked the idea, but the idea hasn’t really spread. Instead of throwing it on this ridiculous site where I spend more time looking at “Hot disney princesses” and the movies coming out this week, do more to get this out. It made us laugh. It might make others laugh. And when it does, maybe a programmer will say “Why not?”
Haha this was very funny and quite clever. However this does nothing for green initiatives other than point out the fact that there aren’t any video games out there that panders to conservatism of the environment. It’s almost sad when you think about it, but then again I wouldn’t expect Grand Walk in the Park to be a very fun game. This article was just good for a couple of cheap laughs at people’s Photoshop prowess.
This is a nice take on environmentalism. It serves to translate the purpose and importance of environmentalism in a very subtle and almost unnoticeable way. Although these parodies wont inspire a generation of eco-crusaders to stand up and fight the good fight, it will open up the discussion between people who haven’t really given it much thought. Also, the use of humor is a nice, inviting touch to a topic which is stigmatized by society as a radical and unrealistic mentality. The key to being eco-friendly is the assimilation of responsible human interaction, with the ecosystem, on a massive level. Recycling is a good example of this: one person recycling will hardly change anything, but unified societal recycling can lead to massive reductions of hazardous waste and landfills. Opening and inviting others to the side of responsible existence is something that should be done by every environmentalist thinkers, and the traditional model of preaching rhetoric should be abandoned, for it only turns off the populace. The creators of this page should also consider expanding the parodies to other forms of mediums to attract a wider audience, as the current jokes would only be understood by gamers (which is a great demographic in of itself). All in all, anything that mainstreams the good fight is good in my book.
Very creative site. I was entertained by the various game spoofs and links. Was a little disappointed that I was redirected to a more “Adult” orientated site within 2 clicks. I really enjoyed the creativity and could see myself going back to this url. I thought they really missed the ball though on actually addressing or even explaining any environmental issues. This really doesn’t contribute to what I envision as a successful model to conservation/activism/practice. It really is more of a comical spoof on popular video games, nothing more nothing less
Being a gamer and all, I had fun looking at the some of the games I love (Mass Effect-> Grass Effect) being “changed” to create a more eco-friendly games that would interest adults, but the fact of the matter is that these games would be highly unsuccessful and I’m pretty sure that they would remain forever on the shelves until they’re pulled (I would know, as that’s my job to do so). Though, I believe it could become more mainstream if it was targeted more to a younger audience since they seem to be the “future” or something. Had they been designed as DS games or Wii games, they’d probably stand more of a chance, since it seems easy to make games that are fun for kids that also teaches them. Not really LeapFrog material though.
I thought this was pretty cool and funny at the same time. A lot of the originals of these games are really popular, so i can see how by changing them you can promote environmentalism. The whole idea of a green genre of video games is very interesting, however I think a lot more effort is gonna be needed than just changing the titles of popular video games to suit the whole green game theme. Um in terms of effectiveness, I wouldn’t rank this very high because its just promoting an idea and not really helping the environment directly in any way. Although they are some funny green spoofs.
These were funny. I don’t know how successful a real mainstream green game would be able to be though. I think part of the problem is that typically, in any sort of media attempting to address environmental issues, there is a tendency to beat consumers over the head with the message the creators are trying to get across. Subtlety is often lost, and the message becomes a sermon. I think if there was to be a mainstream game with a focus on environmental issues, it would have to be more subtle.
In the 15 games gone green I thought that the name spoofs were hilarious. As a routine player for many of these games I can see where environmentalism can intertwine into these games as a whole. For instance, some games that caught my attention include, Red Dead Redemption Center, Fuel Efficacy 3, and Grand Walk in the Park all looked hilarious. I felt that each of the covers were very comical and will be showing my friends these very funny twists on video games. I enjoyed the Cambela’s hunting game twist because he is protecting animals and it looks hilarious.
This is honestly the most comical yet clever method of providing awareness and conservation about the environment. It takes most of the most popular video games today and converts them to an eco-conscious and friendly way of showing how games can be influential to our younger generations.
Some of these games would be interesting to play, especially Fuel efficiency 3. This all seems like a very niche market, those who would take the time to the games that have been changed would do so out of curiosity. But I wonder if the message would still be taken seriously. Some of it makes me feel like its just making fun of environmentalism than actually promoting it. I feel that in many ways it would just create bad press and have environmentalism associated with jokes, which for the most part some people already view it as that. So it would depend largely on the execution of it all.
Comical, but from a gamer’s point of view I felt it was pretty lack-luster. Funny, can catch a child’s eye, but I’m not sure if anyone would give it more than just a chuckle and close the window.
The need for speed spoof “fuel efficiency 3″ made me giggle since I always wind up using a honda civic in need for speed. Either out of habit (I owned one in real life) or an engrained desire to be fuel efficient even in fantasy game worlds…….
I thought this article was really funny. The way they changed the names and spoofed real games was quite amusing and made me wonder about what other games out there could be redone in an environmentally friendly way. Maybe that was part of the point. If these games were ever in stores, they might actually sell because they are recognized by their original game and people may be too curious to pass up buying one and trying them out.