Serious Sam's WTF of the Week, Maybe of The Year

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Polygons per krundle people. Pick a sterotype and it's all her, here. Texas' own Beef and Sage created this trailer for the soon to be released gaming title Serious Sam HD from Croatia's own Croteam. They also have another version of this spot which will be released when this thread hits 100 comments. Won't you please help? (Below.) If you need to cleanse the palette, there's this real trailer too.

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by Bill Green    Sep- 1-09    
Topic: Commercials, Games



Remember the Svedka Fembots? Now You Can Become One

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We're written a lot about Svedka Vodka and their fembot-based ad campaigns. For the most part, they've been good (to be sure, you'll have to check the archives). We've even begun drinking the stuff. Why? It's half the price of Grey Goose and just as good. At least we think so.

Anyway, the folks over at uber-awesome Barbarian Group, working with Oddcast, have put together the Svedka Bot Builder which, after uploading your face (from your computer, your webcam of from Facebook) and choosing what you want your bot body to look like (and even give it a drink to hold), lets you to turn it into an IM icon, a widget, make an e-card or send if to Facebook.

by Steve Hall    Jul-29-09    
Topic: Brands, Games, Online



Finally! A Better Way to Manage Facebook Friends

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Don't you wish you could do something more with your friends on Facebook that poke them, tag them or comment on their status updates? Well, thanks to the Deep Focus-created Facebook app Make A Friend Famous, now you can.

The application is a Fan page-based contest whereby friends take on the roles of Entourage's E and Vince and manage themselves to the top. People vote for the best client/ manager team and the winners get to appear on a billboard in LA and an all-expenses-paid trip to go see it.

Now stop working and go pretend you're E or Vince.

by Steve Hall    Jul-13-09    
Topic: Cable, Games, Good, Promotions, Social



Elejump to Show Your Earth-Savvy

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Heh, this is highLARity. For Sustrans, which campaigns for sustainable transport in the UK by promoting a bike-or-walk commute, Rubber Republic launched Elejumper.

The object of the advergame is to build enough steam for the elephant to slide onto a ramp with sufficient momentum to get himself to work. Probably the best part about it is you can hit space bar mid-flight to flap his ears, and if you flap them while he's on the ground he kind of just lays there, thumping pathetically. Oh how we LOLed.

The game's objective is to promote Sustrans' Change Your World 2009 challenge, where, for the week beginning June 29th, people are invited to swap their cars out for more earth-friendly transport. If all car users do it for just one day, traffic is expected to go down 20% that week.

Pledge your support at the Change Your World site or at the end of the game.

by Angela Natividad    Jun-17-09    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Events, Games



Imagine Being Able to Take the Wii Experience ... Everywhere.

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Except with a Sony Ericsson F305 phone and not an actual Wii.

The F305 is a phone equipped with game and motion sensor technology, much like the iPhone, which -- like the WiiMote -- lets users control the game based on how they move their handheld.

To promote it, SocialMedia8.com launched the Motion Mania contest, where users are asked to shoot a video on mobile gaming and upload it to this website. Popular video producers could win tickets to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

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by Angela Natividad    Jun-15-09    
Topic: Consumer Created, Events, Games, Mobile/Wireless, Video



Celebu-Hatin', Crowdsourced Chrome Ads, Better Shopping By App

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- Celebs discover, via social media, that they are hated. And then the whole world cried.

- The best Facebook vanity URL, and more on that land-grab in general.

- Yummy and functional absinthe packaging.

- An app to aid conspicuous shopping.

- Film yourself building the Google Chrome icon; get love from the Internet's favourite monopoly.

- Eclectic Method remixes, mashes up and edits before live audience.

- Zombies. Skittles. Advergaming.

by Angela Natividad    Jun-15-09    
Topic: Events, Games, Online, Social



Chiquita Smoothie Bejeweled Effectively Tanks Our Thursday

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Few things entice us as readily as a Bejeweled knockoff. We've lost whole days to this game; now, on account of Chiquita, we've lost our whole afternoon.

This promotion for Chiquita Smoothies is a good way to not work -- plus, if you can fill the blender with aligned fruit well before time's up, you get entered (and re-entered!) into a sweepstakes to win a trip to Jamaica. (Where you can play iPhone Bejeweled, beachside, to tropical music.)

Work by matrixx, which knows the secret to a good advergame: keep it simple, incentivize gamers; tap into something they're already obsessed with and know how to play.

UPDATE: What the hell kind of advergame doesn't have a pause button. Are you trying to get us fired?

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 4-09    
Topic: Brands, Games, Good, Online, Promotions



Shakespeare County Makes Casual Gamers into Modern Romeos

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Heh. Shakespeare County just released the Shakespeare Game, a Prince of Persia-esque challenge in which you, Romeo, have to hunt Juliet down and whisk her off the balcony.

Gather books and roses to fortify you along the way, and beware walking skeletons, spiked ditches and warthog-looking things. Every once in awhile the Bard appears to drop hints.

After an infernal loading period we blew at least 10 happily-lost minutes on the first handful of levels. No word on if success results in double suicide though.

by Angela Natividad    May-27-09    
Topic: Brands, Games, Online



Jezebel Gets Frisky, Malibu Bowls (Again), Google Bitch Slapped

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- The Firsky thinks Gawker site Jezebel is engaging in double talk by lambasting sexist advertising while accepting money from advertisers who, according to The Frisky, make sexist advertising.

- Subway is out with a new Subway Kids game.

- More Malibu Rum Island Bowling silliness.

- adMarketplace would like us to know "For the second straight quarter, Google reported that it cut its Traffic Acquisition Costs (payments to AdSense publishers) in the first quarter of 2009. Their payout to publishers dropped 1.7% in Q4 2008, and an additional 2.1% in Q1 2009, costing AdSense publishers thousands of dollars."

by Steve Hall    May-19-09    
Topic: Commercials, Games, Online, Research, Weblogs



VW Digitally Does GM's Disneyworld Test Track

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Ever been to Disneyworld? Ever been on the GM Test Track ride? Then you know exactly what you're getting into with this Tribal DDB London-created online game, The GTI Project. It's to hype the launch of Volkswagon's new Golf GTI Mk VI.

While the work is inspired by the Golf's invention back in the seventies when VW engineers sequestered themselves in a secret room in their spare time to design the first generation Golf...it's a digital version of GM's Test Track Disney ride.

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Not knocking the work and we are a VW fan having owned three but if we had to choose the best ride, we'd have to go with GM's real world version. Of course, not everyone can go to Disney all the time so let's just thank Tribal DDB London for providing us a digital alternative.

by Steve Hall    May-12-09    
Topic: Games, Online