I too tried out McVideogame over break. I tend to not really excel in games akin to SimCity without a cheat. And since this game didn't have a cheat, corporate fired me several times for bankrupting the company. All I have to say is "I didn't want the job anyway, McDonalds!"

Truth is this videogame is kind of a force to be reckoned with. I mean the subject matter is intense even if it comes off as a bit sarcastic and passive aggressive, it's what I would think to be a very economically and socially accurate representation of the production tank that is McDonalds.

Surface-level aspects of the game suggest that the creators formulated a videogame like this to increase moral awareness of the underground goings-on of big business. But at the same time you, as the player, are roped into a game where you WANT big business to win. For example: you may get a little box that says people are angry with you for tearing down the rainforest. At the same time you must argue that unless you grow enough grain to feed your cows, they will die. Ultimately you really want to feed your cows, so you can make them fat for juicy burgers in the restaurant. You aren't on the environmentally conscious side, nor are you on the animal rights side. You're on the side of big business simply by wanting to do well in this game. It's an interesting player juxtaposition. Most people would volunteer for the side of the environmentals or animal activists. By playing this game, it forces you to experience the life of a business tycoon.

That being said, I think I failed that particular life if my deficit had anything to say about it. I'm sure that had there an NGO game I would've done better...maybe. At the heart of this game is budget. I am no economics major. I have trouble budgeting my meager work allowance. Obviously, I would not be very productive in the McDonalds realm. What I did find strangely enough, to be the most difficult, though, was the agricultural aspect of the game. The fact that you had to wait for your grain to grow and be harvested meant, all other aspects of production had to wait as well. That made things difficult. And it took several playings of the game for me to get into any sort of swing with the grain production. I didn't even know McDonalds owned that part of their business. I suppose I just figured they paid another company to make special Cow fodder for them.

All in all, McVideogame was a McTreat. Kind of a McPain-in-the-butt, but definately a McEducation.