Nissan website 'The Planet Zero'

Nissan website 'The Planet Zero'

Have a few minutes to kill this Friday? Enjoy online games? Then you might like a walkthrough of Nissan's newest project, a "game-style promotion website" called "The Planet Zero".

Nissan's website envisions a planet where everything runs on electricity generated by the sun and wind, and thus, there are no emissions generated from fossil fuels. You play the character of Plug, and by clicking on the planet's surface, you can learn more about the thoroughly green utopia in which he lives.

Of course, this is all a branding exercise for Nissan, likely meant to cement the automaker's green credentials and indirectly tout its popular Leaf EV. And it may succeed -- although the site seems tailored to folks far too young to drive.

That said, it's an interesting exercise, featuring side-scrolling visuals reminiscent of Little Big Planet and a soundtrack lifted almost directly from Tetsuya Mizuguchi's award-winning Rez. There's a flipbook feature, too, that could help keep the kiddies busy during these last few weeks of summer vacation.

For the more narrative-oriented among you, here's a video about "The Planet Zero" that introduces the major characters. It's a little weird, but then, so's most Japanimation, right?

[ThePlanetZero]

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