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Saturday, July 26, 2008





Dream Day Wedding: Married in Manhattan Game

Well, at least one online game producer has finally gotten a clue that the world is not some monoracial microcosm where everyone is the same race and culture. BigFish has come out with its latest version of the Dream Day hidden-object series entitled Dream Day Wedding: Married in Manhattan. This latest edition features two couples who are planning elaborate weddings in Manhattan, and, surprisingly, one of the couples is interracial (BW/WM). The reason I was surprised is because I rarely encounter people of color, let alone mixed-race couples, in the online games I play. And as I've posted before, when some games do feature people of color, the stereotypes are often blatant and offensive. The original Diner Dash comes to mind with its depiction of the irrationally angry black women diners.

That's why this game is a breath of fresh air. In addition to the game's object, which is to help your couple orchestrate their wedding by choosing a variety of flowers, cakes and gowns while searching for hidden objects in various New York backdrops, you also get to pick their back story. Each diary proffers three options as to how you want the their story to go; my couple, Rachel and Micah, met when she was running late for a presentation at her architectural firm. They hailed the same cab and decided to share, after which he asked to see her again. Their romance came to a culmination when she met his Jewish grandmother. A nervous Rachel wasn't sure how the grandmother would receive her, but Micah's grandmother told Rachel that love should always prevail and offered her own story about how her relatives didn't want her to marry someone Catholic. Instead of listening to the voices without, she listened to the voice within, which told her to marry the man she loved. After the meeting, Micah proposed to Rachel, offering his grandmother's ring. I'm not ashamed to say, I sorta misted up at that point.

I also had fun choosing the wedding items, which included an art deco cake, a traditional bouquet of white roses and baby's breath, and a beautiful ivory wedding gown. A series of mini games determined where the couple would spend their honeymoon, which, in this case, was Tahiti.

At the end of each game, you get to see your choices featured in a wedding album. Above are pictures from my couple's wedding, including the proud mother and father of the bride (so you know there's no racial ambiguity).

Even the makers of Diner Dash have come out with their own wedding game called Wedding Dash, and lo and behold, a few of the couples happen to be I/R featuring BW/WM. In the hour trial I played, I didn't see a BM/WW, so obviously the game isn't as progressive as it could be. Still, there's hope that future game producers will get a clue to the wide array of colors and cultures that are out there.

Update: I did find some screenshots of a BM/WW featured in Wedding Dash, so I sit corrected.

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Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 7/26/2008 05:27:00 PM Permanent Link     | | Home

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