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Catch the headlines with Newsbreaker advergame


Tired of wasting time reading the news when you could be playing games? Wait, don't leave! OK, fine, go. We understand we can't compete with the games we cover. But at least promise us you'll go play a game like Newsbreaker so you can keep up with the headlines as you get your game on.

At first glance, Newsbreaker seems to be just the latest in a line of extremely generic Breakout clones, this time in the form of an MSNBC advergame. What's makes the game special is what is quite possibly the first recorded use of live news headlines as powerups. That's right, headlines pulled from MSNBC feeds slowly fall from some busted bricks, and catching 25 of them gets you an extra life. What's more, each caught headline is saved so you can read the full story once you're done playing.

We feel this combination of games and news is a good first step to combating the growing media illiteracy epidemic, but why stop there? How about giving Achievement Points for reading the newspaper every morning? Hiding secret codes for today's hottest games in the nightly news broadcast? Offering Gamestop gift certificates for listening to NPR? The game industry could single-handedly save the news business!