If there was one arcade game at which I had some skill, it was Defender. It was by far my favorite videogame and I wasted too many quarters on that one. It’s been more than 20 years yet I can still recount the sounds it makes (a testament to how loud those things could be). So it’s with some obvious skeptism that I read about Diary Defender, a game developed as part of the marketing strategy for Proctor & Gamble’s Vicks First Defence product offering. From the report over on iMedia Connection (Link):

Inbox was asked to come up with the online campaign and in particular a viral game to spread the word about this new and exciting product. Using the Diary Defender theme, we came up with the idea of a game that echoes the classic arcade game Defender.

And what do reviewers have to say? Well, the creative director at Freestyle Interactive sounds to me like someone who understands games. The other reviewer, a director from Razorfish, has me thinking they’ve seen their best days after that gusher of useless praise.

Having just tried it myself, all I’ll say is that I’d rather play Calderoids, an aesthetically attractive game based on “Asteroids” … without the marketing message.