New gaming system that talks, listens, and pushes the boundaries of “true” social interaction

The global reasoning and point of existence for advertising has always been to create interactions with one another in real time, in a real place, and to establish real emotional responses. A new Microsoft gaming system called Project Natal seems to challenge and possibly redefine what a “social interaction” really means and more importantly, it raises the question about the role we play as advertisers have when promoting these vehicles.

 Project Natal is an alternate reality game (ARG), which is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants’ ideas or actions. The point of this remote-free technology would theoretically allow someone to experience himself or herself as a controller and in turn allow them to have a very “natural” interaction and also a natural entertainment experience.

 The more advanced alternative reality capabilities become, the more difficult it becomes for us as humans to have a clear distinction between “our world” and a “virtual world.”  There is a reason that video games have always been developed as whimsical, supernatural, and fantasy. If we take the elements that separate virtual reality from true reality and muddle them up, we are left with a video game that runs the risk of attempting to be so realistic that one could possibly develop an emotional attachment to it.

The single point of advertising is to create interactions in the REAL world. This game creates a world for you.  Humans need to maintain the small amount of social interaction with one another that we have left. Here are some things to consider…

We have the responsibility to utilize media to explain the disconnect between these two worlds just as major tobacco companies produced anti-smoking campaigns and casino’s posted resources to contact if one has a gambling addiction. The tobacco and casino companies qualified their positions and perhaps we should follow suit.

 People have a hard enough time with new technology in general, let alone something that is several steps ahead of everything else. As advertisers, we must use media to explain how to use technologies in responsible ways. 

 If we start developing relationships with video game characters, I think we are in huge trouble. If we are developing aspirational qualities from these characters and then applying them to true relationships, that is one thing; if we are pulling qualities out of these characters and then applying them to a relationship with that character, it is a another. We as advertisers must be responsible about the things that we say when promoting. What information we give consumers to pass along must be thought out. 

Where do you think we (as advertisers) would go if the understanding of human interaction and connection becomes extinct?

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