Advertisers Are Playing Games With New Online Strategies Attracting Repeat Users Because "advergames" are branding efforts, it's tough to quantify their success.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: JENNIE L. PHIPPS

Desperate to captivate customers, advertisers are trying to lure them with a favorite pastime -- computer games.

Companies pushing these so-called advergames include not just high-tech and entertainment companies, but also old-line firms like Procter & Gamble, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Co. and General Motors.

GM has turned to advergaming to explain its innovative power-train control systems to an audience that sees its cars as stodgy.

Its eMotion game, which will appear at several places on the GM Web site, gives players the opportunity to choose a vehicle, set calibrations such as transmission shift, engine valve timing and engine torque control, then virtually drive the car and see how fast their tinkering makes it go.

Drivers start at the low end of the automotive line, and by demonstrating their skill work their way up to driving a Corvette.

"We're trying to lower our buying age and get our message across to potential buyers of our entry-level cars -- Grand Am, Cavalier, Sunfires -- particularly on the West Coast," said Bill Lussier, brand manager for eMotion, as GM has dubbed its control system.