Advergaming, virtual worlds, and the fantasy Olympic mascots of the new
millennium
The Summer 1992 Olympic Games held in Barcelona can be considered as the last
Games of the broadcasting era, and those staged in Atlanta in 1996 as the first of the
internet era. This transition, amidst rapid developments in Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) during the 1990s, contributed to technological
contradictions and limitations that left a symbolic and image-related question mark
over the Atlanta Games. ICT related problems in Atlanta resulted in widespread
criticism of the organizers from the national and international press, and the Game’s
mascot Izzy, itself subject to much criticism, often became a metaphor for these
shortcomings (de Moragas Spa` and Kennett, 2005)