Common Sense Media Review
Lame games drive the way to Monster Car marketing.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
There are two games available at HOTWHEELS.COM. In the first, you find a large dinosaur surrounded by a highway cloverleaf. You point your mouse at cars as they pass, and T-Wrecks slobbers over to them and gobbles them down. In \"Crush Crashzilla,\" use the arrow keys to drive your monster truck around (or through) various hazards and get into the red zone of the speedometer to win. You won't be driving on a speedway track, mind you, you'll be careening through traffic, running stop signs, bisecting tractor-trailers, and busting through barns. At the end of your journey, should you survive, you'll accelerate into the Monster Truck arena, where Crashzilla awaits.
Is It Any Good?
Toy manufacturers should be able to market their products on their sites. What's funny about this one is that Mattel very carefully labels two small "advertisement" boxes -- while the rest of the site is pure products, links to sales partners, and marketing of both! And of the two games available, they rate from "This is dumb" to "What were they thinking?" Neither game has sound controls so you can't turn off the music, nor is there a way to quit the game before time runs out.
This is a missed opportunity to create edutaining games of value featuring a popular brand. Surely Mattel can do better.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the advertising on this site. Do you think the site needs to be so direct with its product push, or do most of the kids coming to the site already own Hot Wheels? Do all the ads annoy you, or can you ignore them?
Website Details
- Genre : Brand Sites
- Pricing structure : Free
- Last updated : September 4, 2020
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