Mining Spice In A RPG

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Aksis Games and developer Compile Heart have figured out how to set apart their otherwise standard looking role-playing game for a Western audience. The US debut trailer for Record of Agarest War highlights the hook for the hardcore console RPG as one luring gamers by showing the game’s steamy side.  To be fair, the trailer is promoting a dating feature in the game where some sort of virtual coupling with the opposite sex leads to new characters.  Yet if there’s mention of that game play mechanic in this trailer, it must have been covered up by pixelization. Does it work? Promoting the spicy aioli sells sandwiches.  Note the number of views the US debut has on GameTrailers compared to all other videos for the game.

 

Watch it at GameTrailers.

CES Expectations At A Glance

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Writing for Fast Company, Kit Eaton runs down major developments expected at next week’s 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. Eaton might be showing his cards as putting together very much a top line look at what’s coming out of the show by starting with the otherwise inexplicable assumption that readers of Fast Company might need to know. Just what is the CES? But get past the lead and it’s not a bad preview, if only to know major announcements from big players expected at the show. And it’s not as mired in rumor mongering as the hardcore techie sites.

 

Read it at Fast Company.

Ad Age Viral Video Roundup

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Ad Age looks at the ten most-viewed videos since it began featuring the top viral videos chart. The numbers pulled in by these number-ones are all staggering, ranging from more than 11 million views for videos that just made the list to more than 55 million for the top video. For those who’ve tracked this chart, whether through Ad Age when they began the feature in April or seeing it here in the[a]listdaily, the number one should be no surprise. It’s Evian water’s rollerblading babies. The others should be familiar as well, with videos from T-Mobile, Microsoft, DC Shoes, Nike, Samsung, NBA, Volkswagen and Air New Zealand.

 

Ad Age’s roundup chart includes total views to-date and average weekly views for each video. The data is compiled by Visible Measures.

 

Check out the full list and watch the videos at Ad Age.

‘Borderlands’ DLC Trailer

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Video trailers for 2K Games and Gear Box’s Borderlands have all had a distinctive tone matching that of the cheeky shooter itself. The new one promoting downloadable content Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot is no exception. The whole concept of tying new DLC levels to unique characters is a nifty one. One benefit of it to marketing has been helping the trailers stand out. Creating a DLC trailer can be a battle against diminishing content. Not only is there less content to work with, but what there is will likely have a lot less freshness and variety to it. With “Borderlands” DLC trailers, the character-hosted levels are helping provide a lot of fodder for creativity and a way to get around relying on game play footage.

 

Watch it at GameTrailers.

Buying Into The Walk Of Fame

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Writing for Ad Age, Brian Steinberg looks at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce’s effort to raise money to restore the Walk of Fame by selling spots to company brands. The city’s legendary avenue immortalizing entertainment s biggest names in stone and concrete is coming up on its 50th Anniversary, and the city says it s in need of restoration. To offset that cost, the city chamber is out to line up five corporate sponsors to buy their own spots. The price tag: a cool $1 million apiece.

 

Read more at Ad Age.

Wii Dominates Amazon Game Sales

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Nintendo Wii dominated videogame sales on Amazon in 2009, reports Edge-Online. Wii systems were the year’s biggest seller for game products sold through the online retailer. The system along with Wii peripherals and games made up nine of the top ten game items on the list. The best-selling Wii game was Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. The only non-Nintendo product in the top ten was the Xbox 360 version of Activision’s Modern Warfare 2. Edge-Online lists Amazon’s top 20 bestselling game products for the year, and links to 80 more. Read more at Edge-Online.

Sega Unlikely To Make More Mature Games For Wii

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Sega studio director Constantine Hantzopoulos cited poor performance of M-rated games for Wii in saying the publisher is unlikely to make more mature titles for Nintendo s system. Hantzopoulos comments made in a podcast with 1up are reported by game forum NeoGaf. He said Sega took a gamble on making games such as MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill for Wii, although he said the publisher did initially have research showing the system had an audience for mature games. He said Sega expects its games to eventually make their forecasts, benefitting from what he called longer shelf life for games on Wii.  However he added that additional mature fare along the lines of what his company’s already released for Wii is unlikely. Hantzopoulos also pointed to “Dead Space Extraction,” calling meager sales for EA’s mature Wii game a litmus test that stunned Sega. Read more at NeoGaf.

Episodic Game Model Will Grow, Predicts EA Producer

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EA Canada senior producer Jason DeLong has predicted that cheaper games that offer paid episodic content are on the horizon. DeLong made the comments in an interview with Game Informer magazine.  He said lower priced smaller upfront experiences  supported by paid episodic material are the industry’s answer to rising game prices. He said that games are getting so expensive that consumers can’t afford everything they want. Read more at Game Informer.

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Xbox Live Headed To Mobile?

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Microsoft job ads are hinting to plans to bring gaming over Xbox Live to Windows Mobile phones, reports Gamesindustry.biz. The ads are calling for engineers and other positions to work on bringing Xbox Live enabled games to the Windows Mobile platform.  GI.biz says the ads show a focus on integrating user information such as avatars as well as creating multiscreen experiences. Read more at Gamesindustry.biz.