The computing industry is reaching maturity, having successfully catered its games exhaustively to populations in America. Games have been targeted at young men, teenagers, and women alike with varying styles and tastes. The announced release of “John Deere American Farmer,” promoted with the tagline “offering a slice of Americana,” shows that there are still exotic genres waiting to be tapped.
Within the simulation genre, the SimCity, SimPeople, and Roller Coaster Tycoon series have gained notable attention. Roller Coaster Tycoon was one of the first simulation games to break out of the traditional gaming mold and offer an original simulation game. The idea behind it is to create a theme park with roller coasters that you design from the ground up- from the half-twists to loop-de-loops. American Farmer takes that genre to a new extreme, opening the gaming world to virtual farming.
American Farmer is being published by Gold Games, a unit of Destineer. They announced the release of the game jointly with Gabriel Entertainment, also announcing that the John Deere Company has granted licensing rights for the likeness of their equipment to be used in the game. Deere & Company is the world’s leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment, and their deer logo is synonymous with American enterprise and its powerful farming industry.
“John Deere American Farmer allows players to build and establish their own successful farm utilizing their planning skills and John Deere equipment, the most recognizable brand of equipment in the farming community,” said Paul Rinde, Chief Executive Officer of Destineer. “It’s the most authentic farming experience available besides working the fields yourself.”
According to the company press release, player-farmers have full sovereignty over their soil and how it is to be planted. They are able to decide the crops to plant, equipment to purchase, employees to hire, and structures to build. After setting up the farm, the farmer then has to deal with the same travails as real farmers – plagues, weather, market trends, and even unruly farm-hands.
American Farmer is meant to give the users an understanding of the sort of farming work that has been a source of American industry for generations. It is a wholesome alternative to many other graphic and inappropriate computer games that are available on the market today.
