did i get completely lost and mind-fucked in Portal? no. did i beat Halo 3 and feel a sense of satisfaction at finishing the fight, yet cry my eyes out and long for more? no.

i downloaded and played Yaris, the free download on XBL Arcade this week.

WHY exactly is this the most confusing game experience of my life? because i'm not sure what i just played. was it a game? was it an advertisement? was it both???

and WHY exactly was this made? does Toyota really think people are going to get a Yaris based on an arcade racing shooter game starring a car with the same name? if they really wanted to market it, wouldn't they have had it perform realistically so people could get an idea of how the thing drove?

it's free, so people are going to play it. it's got achievement points, so more people are going to play it. it's got unlockables and multiplayer, so even more people are going to play it.

my questions are these:

- is it a game, an advertisement, or both?
- why was this made?
- how do you feel about this being released?
- did you like the game/advertisement?

i guess the line had already been crossed when Burger King released their games last Christmas, but hell, you had to PAY for those. if you don't want 'em, don't buy 'em. the intentions behind this Yaris "game" feels a lot more mischievous since it's a free download, has achievement points, unlockables, and multiplayer.

sure, you don't have to download it - just as you didn't have to buy the Burger King games - but it's FREE. who doesn't download something that's tagged as an XBL game for free???

now, if you'll excuse me, i've got to go buy me a Yaris.



- kawitchate