Old-School Games Destroy New York City

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If you ever wondered what New York would look like if old-school video games came to life and started to attack, then this video is for you. The spot called “Pixels” by Patrick Jean depicts characters from classics like Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger and others destroying buildings and taking over the city. This is really a fantastically creative video, which should hopefully inspire marketers to do a better job with the games and game worlds they’re trying to present.

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Tiger Woods’ Strange New Nike Ad

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There seem to be two things dominating all media right about now; one is the iPad and the other is Tiger Woods’ return. The latter has been emphasized by a very strange new Nike ad, which features Tiger’s father talking to the golfing legend about personal responsibility. It’s a weird marketing strategy, which some are already calling “brilliant” while others are just entirely creeped out by it. Either way, it’s gotten tons of buzz, and that’s half the battle in marketing. Check out the video below.

Super Street Fighter IV’s Incredibly Stylish Ad Spot

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A lot of TV commercials for video games today can often provoke “meh” reactions from gamers, but Capcom’s latest ad spot for Super Street Fighter IV showcases some beautiful artwork for one of the publisher’s most beloved properties. The commerical utilizes visuals from the game and combines it with music from hip-hop producer Just Blaze. And Capcom made the smart decision to complement this commercial with a series of print ads designed in a similar style. These ads are appearing in several game mags now. It’s a solid strategy, and gives the overall campaign fluidity and cohesion. Check out the new ad below.

Brand-Sponsored Crops Appearing In FarmVille

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Social gaming on Facebook and other networks is taking the games industry by storm. Social games was without a doubt the biggest buzzword filling the halls of the Moscone Center and the recently concluded GDC. While micro-transactions for virtual items and offers make up the primary business model, we wouldn’t be surprised to see more in-game product placement in the future. As it turns out, according to Mashable, Zynga’s FarmVille is about to feature brand-sponsored crops.

“An ad agency in Tel Aviv is working on a rollout campaign for Elite Taami Nutz, which is apparently a peanut-filled version of a popular Israeli chocolate bar. “The new crop will roll out with a simultaneous farm design competition on April 14. The peanuts cost 20 credits to buy, sell for 78 credits and can be harvested in 16 hours,” Mashable writes. “Given the fact that FarmVille has 82 million users worldwide, do you think it s wise to run an ad campaign for a regional product on this platform ”

It’s certainly an interesting idea, and one that brand marketers will need to pay attention to as social games continue to grow.

iPhone OS 4 Gets Mobile iAd Network

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Apple has unveiled the new features for its iPhone OS 4, which includes multitasking, an Xbox Live-like Game Center, a unified inbox and better data protection. For marketers, there’s also the new iAd feature, which will be Apple s new mobile advertising network. Apple believes it can take on Google in advertising.

“We think most of the mobile advertising really sucks. We thought we might be able to make some contributions. This way you can keep your free apps free,” explained Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “We have figured out how to do interactive and video content without ever taking you out of the app. People will be a lot more interested in clicking on these, because they don t have to find their way back to the app.”

Source: Paid Content {link no longer active}

Iron Man 2 Promotional Partners Spending Over $100 Million

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Marketers are drooling over the chance to latch on to Marvel’s next blockbuster film, Iron Man 2. According to a detailed report about the film’s promotional partners on Variety, “the total promotional value, which includes images on soda cans and other packaging, as well as retail displays and comicbook giveaways, is expected to easily exceed $100 million, with some efforts running through the end of September.”

The movie has brought back many of the promotional partners that ponied up major cash for the first Iron Man, including Audi, LG Mobile, 7-Eleven, Dr. Pepper, Oracle and Burger King. Hershey Co.’ Reese’s brand, Royal Purple motor oil and Symantec’s Norton software have also partnered to support the film.

“This was not a hugely recognized superhero character,” Bob Sabouni, senior VP of business development and promotions for Marvel Entertainment told Daily Variety. “These partners got the mystique of the Marvel brand the first time around and took their faith in that. They were pretty well rewarded and are now stepping up their game and creating even better programs.”

Sega is publishing a game based on the movie, set to release on May 4. The movie hits theaters on May 7.

Masters Lack Of Title Sponsor: A Lost Opportunity?

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The Masters is often regarded as the Super Bowl of the PGA Tour and is doubly important this year because of the return of the much maligned Tiger Woods. Yet despite the prevalence of branding among most golf tournaments, there is no title sponsor for The Masters.

“The amount of media exposure that will be generated from this year’s Masters will be astonishing,” notes Eric Smallwood, vice president-project management at Front Row Marketing Services, “This will be one tournament that is likely to attract even non-golf fans. The media value that could be gained through broadcast exposure, news coverage, international television, national promotions, and on-site exposure will be extraordinary, possibly the highest in the history of golf.”

Smallwood estimates that the Masters could reap $78,398,286 in media value from coverage of the event.

Source: MediaPost {link no longer active}

Horror Director John Carpenter Brought On For F.E.A.R. 3

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Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today revealed that F.E.A.R. 3. is in development at Day 1 Studios. The co-op FPS title was made with the talents of John Carpenter, who helped craft the in-game cinematics, and horror writer Steve Niles, who co-wrote the game script. This clearly shows a higher level of Hollywood convergence for AAA games and the high priority that Warner Bros. is giving their games. John Carpenter as a brand should also give the game added weight, so it’s good to see Warner leveraging Carpenter from the start.

“Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is evolving the F.E.A.R. brand with top horror, co-op and first person shooter combat in F.E.A.R. 3,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Monolith Productions has passed the torch to Day 1 Studios to create a quality, powerful game that stays true to the roots of the F.E.A.R. franchise but takes players to a heightened level of gameplay.”

You can check out Ayzenberg’s great work on the campaign for F.E.A.R. 3 at www.whatisfear.com. {link no longer active}

Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}

Walmart Considering National Distribution Of Christian Games

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Is the Christian video game market big enough for Walmart to distribute the games nationally in its stores? That’s what the retailer hopes to find out with more regional testing of titles from Left Behind Games.

“Allowing us to further test our sales model regionally will provide us with ongoing market insight and a chance to enhance sales. Our Walmart strategy continues to be validated as we focus on placement, promotions and sales for the 2010 holiday gift giving season, when a majority of games are sold,” said Left Behind Games CEO Troy Lyndon.

IndustryGamers {link no longer active} has the full story.

TV Producer Teams With Vimby

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Producer Mark Burnett and Video In My Backyard (Vimby) are partnering up to create digital ad content. The ads will be focused towards mothers, millennials, and particularly those that are health and environmentally conscious.

“We have invested heavily in a network of highly skilled filmmakers who every day are capturing local content and telling stories that are at the forefront of national trends and ideas,” said Vimby CEO Dean Waters. “National brands get access to our local infrastructure to carry their message across the nation and, now, by aligning with Mark Burnett, the entire universe of blue-chip brands will take note of our unique content, scale and ability to go local with national messaging.”

Burnett has worked extensively with product placement in reality TV shows like Survivor and The Apprentice.

“I am incredibly excited about Dean’s vision for the future of branded digital content,” said Burnett. “With Vimby, he’s created an unmatched production infrastructure that we will use to deliver local and national content tailored to specific demographic verticals.”

Source: Ad Week {link no longer active}