11/25/05 Plant that in your PC

11/25/05 Plant that in your PC

Now that the holiday shopping season gets into full gear today, the official countdown to worry about getting those gifts is also underway as well. But if you know someone who enjoys agriculture, or maybe someone who has no clue what it takes to run a successful farming operation, and they just so happen to be a computer game enthusiast, then here is a possible gift idea. The computer game, "John Deere: American Farmer", debuted earlier this year. Think the popular board game, "The Farming Game" entering the digital age. Steve Charbonneau represents the maker of "John Deere: American Farmer" & Bold Games. CHARBONNEAU: We created "John Deere" American Farmer" with the help of Gabriel Interactive, the developer that had a relationship with John Deere. With that game we basically focused on building and managing a farm and allow players to plant a variety of crops with livestock and other structures. And then threw in challenges, threw out the scenarios of unexpected events. You have to manage the farm with different events like that. And also the changing seasons and weather. Then we have all authentic John Deere equipment like tractors, combines, planters, cultivators. And then different starting levels of farms where you can start with a very small farm or you could manage a very large farm. And this game is not "Green Acres" meets some children's interactive computer game. Charbonneau says a lot of work and consultation went into the development of this game to make it as realistic as possible. CHARBONNEAU: We focused on making an entertaining game that is also educational as far as being able to have fun and learn quite a bit about the market and farming. So we've discussed a great deal with a lot of farmers and John Deere has been extremely helpful for providing resources for that as well. Currently, "John Deere: American Farmer" is only available for PC. But Charbonneau says based on the initial response of the game, who knows when "John Deere: American Farmer" will join the ranks of Tony Hawk, Madden NFL, and Doom on the Xbox, Playstation, and GameCube game shelves at retailers. CHARBONNEAU: It's been great to the point where we're right now finishing development of two children's games, "Mary with her farm" and "Welcome to Deerfield Valley". We've got those coming out shortly. And then we're also planning on some sequels as well. For more information about the computer game, "John Deere: American Farmer", go to this website, www.boldgames.com/johndeere.
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