Why are these Newsgames relevant?

Newsgames give the public an opportunity to link news with entertainment. It is an activity that takes somewhat serious issues and alters them into something slightly more fun. Popular newsgames involves news that has been widely spread. The familiarity to the story entices the public and urges them to want to play the game.

One of the most popular newsgames is The Bush Game:Can you throw a shoe at Bush?. The aim of the game is to be quick enough to throw a shoe at Bush whilst he attempts to dodge it. This is linked to the event when at a conference, a shoe was thrown at former President George Bush therefore it is clear that this is a 'newsgame'

Some games on the other hand are too personal bringing up the question of whether it is infact even journalism. Some games are named as con citizen games and exemplify extreme views, way passed relevant news. For example, the newsgame Airport Security. The player is the airport security who checks passengers for unsafe items. Although it is motivated by real events, it can be argued that it is not very journalistic as it more for entertainment than anything else.

Newsgames can also be pop-culture such as the Chris Brown hitting Rihanna game, where Rihanna seeks on revenge on Chris brown.

Youtube is seen by many viewers and in some cases the videos can become groundbreaking news. An incident where footage of a woman who decided to throw puppies into a river extended substantially from local news to global news.

Public control of the media plays a huge part in news. Websites created such as Twitter, Myspace and Facebook all play a part in citizen journalism.

http://www.syrianews-press.info/Shoeting_Bush/ - Can you throw a shoe at Bush?
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/485965 - Rihanna's Revenge