Generally speaking, David, I like your distinctions and I think it’s illuminating to categorize these games, but it’s a fuzzy area. How the products are released, their relationship to other products, and the intentions are all taken into account. Pretty tricky, but insightful regardless.

FYI, I lost my first version of this post as well. J

Ok. SHorter version of my thrilling but now deleted post.

First off, you lump games as features and promogames. I think that is incorrect. Promogames are just advergames, as far as I can tell. Burger King games are advergames. I suppose they are promo games in the sense that they had people come in to the store to buy them, but the games as features are distinctly different in that they are a feature. they are a part of the products functionality and differentiate it from competition usability-wise. Webkinz are different from other plush toys because you can DO something with them and that makes the product more fun. The BK games are fun, but they don\’t make my burger taste better. Another example of games as features that I thought of is Solitaire.

Secondly, I can\’t beleive Ian didn\’t cite his NY Times games as an example. Sure, it\’s ad-supported at the end of the day, but the fact that it\’s a part of their news editorial content makes it a bit different.

K

1) You lump \