Source: DiGRA ’03 – Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up, 2014 Volume: 2

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This paper signals the aesthetic and socio-economic implications of a new generation of commercial media culture in an age of computer network-facilitated participation. It explores the cultural status of the online game America’s Army: Operations (US Army, 2002) that has commerce at the core of its brand identity. The game exemplifies the linkage of commercial goals with cultural texts through creating engaging experiences, initiated by commercial corporations for reasons of promotion and profit, enabled by computer networks, and – to a lesser extent – given form by various members of the public.

Keywords: advergames, brand experience, design, marketing aesthetics, participatory culture