For a generation of gamers the only way to
get your gaming information was from comic books, which helped create
the notion of pre-pubescent geeky gamers. There would be the occasional
print ad in a newspaper or such, but primarily, games were advertised
to and advertised in comic books and other youth oriented merchandise.
I
confess to being one of these - a pre-pubescent geek born of the 80’s
and the magnificent Commodore 64 and it’s associated comic book
advertising. Oh how controversial Mortal Kombat was back then! And how
far has gaming come? In all honesty, we’ve made some huge gains over
the gaming of yesteryear. Games I grew up with are downright primitive
compared to today’s blockbusters, and with that, advertising budgets
and the ways in which games are advertised to us has taken some drastic
steps too.
In the beginning, game advertising was very basic. Usually it would
be a background of the game’s art or logo and several screens
accompanied by a snippet of info on the bottom. It was and remains very
simple, and with this kind of advertising appealing to the very buyers
of those comic books, the demographics for games hadn’t reached the
mainstream audience it enjoys today.It was at this point of
time that gaming gained momentum and the world gave birth to video
games journalism. The first consumer oriented video game magazine was
Computer and Video Games Magazine, which launched in 1981 in the U.K,
and just two weeks later, was followed by Electronic Games Magazine in
the U.S.From here on, video game advertising became more
professional, and along with dedicated game information for the
increasing game industry, became more upmarket. Many game magazines
followed, and even Nintendo and Sega, the two heavy weights of the
gaming industry at the time, launched their own gaming magazines.
In 1994, the internet had matured to the
point where the first internet based games magazine was launched, Game
Zero Magazine. In this time, dozens of successful and not so successful
game magazines and websites launched, all of which had accompanying
advertising. But at this point, games advertising was still stuck in
the same rut it had been for years, showing minimal game information
and several accompanying screens. Word of mouth played a big part in
the success of games at this time, and games, while becoming more
popular, was still considered niche.
The Playstation helped change all that. Not only did it help usher
in 3D gaming, it brought arcade games like Ridge Racer and Tekken to
the home, and changed the perception of game advertising. Now gamers
could read a quality gaming magazine and receive a demo disc full of
playable titles and game videos. Playstation was seen in night clubs,
discos and sponsored major music and sports events. Playstation
advertisements won awards, they didn’t show game footage and were made
interesting through eclectic use of weird pop culture and hysteria
filled frivolities. Gaming became hip.And with it, so did the
advertising. Increasing bandwidths on the internet meant that video
game screenshots, designer diarys, and game videos became common, and
then the norm. And now that most gamers are on broadband and beyond
connections, we’re getting our gaming information faster and on demand
whenever we want it. Print magazines are hard pressed to keep up in a
cut throat world where exclusives really do matter - and no, I’m not
talking about the console wars.I’m talking about the news
exclusive. Magazines are losing their touch, having to spend more real
estate in their magazine to win over their audience with a big news
exclusive. The first information and screens of Grand Theft Auto IV
recently in a U.S publication is a great example of this, and it’s not
the only example either. Whether by accident or a state of today’s
“switched on” gamer, gaming print publications are falling out of
favour with the hardcore, and up to the minute advertising and
journalism is where it’s at.And you just happen to be one of
these consumers. You have stumbled on to this site and you are
obviously wanting to know what’s good or not so good in the world of
video games. Being open 24/7 we can deliver information at any time and
be available for far more consumers than print can ever be. This is a
potent combination for advertisers, and video game ads, along with
video games themselves, are becoming far more complex because of it.
Internet Memes (fads) are a big part of
this. Any gamer could easily tell you the origin of “All Your Base”,
and the Very Important Bunny Facts series of videos almost overshadowed
the actual game they were promoting (Rayman Raving Rabbids). From Memes
to viral marketing, advertising became a lot more interactive and
interesting. Anyone remember ilovebees? That bit of Halo 2 advertising
had people guessing for weeks, and that kind of advertising
intentionally keeps people talking about it - all referencing the game
without realising it, promoting a site which had little to do with the
game it promoted. And if the sales of Halo 2 are any indication, this
was a great campaign for Microsoft and Bungie.
So what is next
for games advertisers? How about the Countdown? Surely you’ve seen
these? The internet just about imploded while people logged into see
the last few minutes of the Grand Theft Auto IV counter complete. It
was hours before viewers could even download the first trailer for the
game, and this appealed greatly to the likes of Bethesda (Fallout 3),
EA (Simpsons) and Sony (God of War) - all having their own version of a
countdown which had people guessing, speculating and wishing, all the
while refreshing their browsers when the time was up.
And now
we’re back at the beginning. Unveiled at the Game Developer Conference
earlier this year, Sony plan to launch Home, an interactive 3D space
that will have dynamic advertising and is a launch pad for online games
on the Playstation 3 console. Advertising can be seasonally and
regionally adjusted on the fly, and Sony talked up the opportunities
for this while presenting this new program.
In game advertising is nothing new to gamers. See some of our rants
against Burnout and Crackdown in the forums about that. Billboards on
roadside race tracks and along side sports fields even adds a touch of
reality. But it’s becoming more widespread than that - and will become
increasingly common as we continue to push gaming mainstream.
Game
advertising has gone beyond the call - now pushing the medium with
interactive advertising, in game advertising and clever marketing which
doesn’t try to push a product as openly as it once did. Instead, it
uses subliminal and subversive elements to get you interested and aware
of the products existence. It can only be pushed further from here -
and where can it go next?
Source :
http://www.totalgamerzone.com/
posted by Gunny