Sometimes slowed action can be used to build emotions, but it also can be used to highlight detail. Such was the case with this Anarchy Reigns trailer, with the action slowly building until the four split screens merge into one and hell breaks loose.
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The open-ended fantasy games Elder Scrolls have a fanatic following that have been waiting for years for the fifth entry. Now that it’s confirmed to be coming, Harry Partridge gives us an animation complete with game references obvious and obtuse and a catchy little song.
Kia Motors America has indicated that searches related to the company following the Super Bowl ad watched by 106 million people shot up 700 percent. Also, the “One Epic Contest” has seen more than 165,000 visitors to www.oneepiccontest.com {link no longer active} and more than 30,000 registered entrants looking for a chance to win a new 2011 Optima.
“With ‘One Epic Contest’ we challenged consumers to use their wits to locate clues and solve a series of puzzles before, during and after the Super Bowl for the chance to win one of five new Optimas and people responded in a big way,” said Michael Sprague, vice president, marketing & communications, KMA. “Engaging enthusiastic consumers was a cornerstone of our Super Bowl marketing strategy and it’s clear with more than 30,000 gamers registered for ‘One Epic Contest’ and more than 450,000 views of the ad on YouTube, that this approach exceeded our expectations.”
Also, those who visit a Kia dealership and complete for a test drive of the 2011 Optima can download a $25 Visa pre-paid card voucher at www.Kia.com. Over 20,000 consumers have visited Kia.com to find out more about the offer.
According to inside sources, Apple is making a new iPad with a built-in camera and faster processor. There will also be more internal memory and a lighter weight, said those who are close to the company.
The device is expected to be available via AT&T and Verizon and help lead the company to sales between 27 and 35 million iPads in 2011. “It’s going to be a critical growth driver,” said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Killzone 3 features a lot of bells-and-whistles new to the franchise, including co-op play, stereoscopic 3D and Move support. The latter is especially notable, since the Sharp Shooter Move accessory was designed specifically for the game and developer Guerrilla thinks it will be the beginning of a trend.
“I think, as this develops, in a few years most of the first-person-shooters will be played like this,” said Killzone 3‘s principal programmer Tommy de Roos. “I really think so. Maybe not the Move specifically but a pointing controller like this. I think [gamers are] opening up to it. At the beginning there was a lot of reluctance but I know that a few of them picked it up, they tried it and they were actually quite surprised at how well it worked and the extra dimension it gives you.”
“You lose some of the accuracy when rotating, that becomes more difficult, he added. But you make up for that by being able to point anywhere on the screen and send your bullets flying there. So it’s a trade-off and a lot of hardcore gamers are seeing that and actually some of them are starting to prefer playing with the Move.”
Source: MCV
DC Comics has announced that there will be a comic miniseries that will bridge the story gap between Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. Written by game series writer Paul Dini and drawn by the Arkham concept artist Carlos D anda, the Batman: Arkham City comic picks up one year after the original, where Arkham Warden Quincy Sharp has been elected Mayor of Gotham City and launches an ambitious open prison for the worst of Gotham run by Dr. Hugo Strange.
In between all of the entries in the six-issue miniseries will be eight-page digital-first interludes. These will expand on the story of the comics and show the various super villains vying for power. The comics will retail for $2.99 while the digital-first interludes will be available for $.99
“The digital first stories offer a unique incentive for fans to experience interesting and exciting stories beyond the pages in the printed comic,” said Jim Lee, DC Comics Co-Publisher, “The additional pages will serve as interludes within the regular issues and won t be necessary to follow the main story of the miniseries. Fans will also be able to read these interludes in print later, when we publish the collected edition.”
Tapjoy has announced that it has launched the mobile industry’s first Pay-Per-Action app distribution service that will help iOS and Android app developers reward users for completing actions within a game. They’ve also partnered with Apsalar, making their mobile behavioral analytics available natively within the Tapjoy dashboard.
“The Pay-Per-Install model has proven extremely successful in driving cost-effective user acquisition for mobile developers. The release of our Pay-Per-Action SDK, however, takes that model to the next level,” said Linda Tong, senior product manager at Tapjoy. “Now, instead of simply awarding virtual currency when a user installs your app, we allow you to incentivize users to get past Level 1, for instance, or do whatever it is you feel will truly engage them in your app and get them to keep using it.”
“Tapjoy is a highly trusted partner for our mobile advertising efforts,” said Steve Hartman, VP of Marketing at GameFly. “They have been very effective in driving installs of our GameCenter app, and with the launch of their new PPA model, we expect our ROI to get even better. We expect to significantly increase conversions that will lead to acquiring GameFly users who are more loyal and engaged than ever.”
The fictional Sony spokesperson Kevin Butler made something of a marketing gaffe on Twitter. He was tweeted the USB dongle ID generator key (used for PS3 security circumvention) with the addition Come at me and, well, he retweeted it.
“Lemme guess… you sank my battleship” tweeted Butler, with the code included. The tweet has since been deleted, but not before it caught the attention of the general public.
It remains to be seen whether this is part of Butler’s devious plans. Travis La Marr, Kevin Butler is on to you!
Source: Engadget
Forecasting & Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE) recently released a report that PSN was worth over $49.4 million in the second half of 2010, up 40 percent during the samer period last year. While Xbox Live had roughly half of the digital sales two years ago, the split is estimates to be 55-45 in favor of Microsoft’s console in 2010.
Further, FADE estimates that over 100,000 PlayStation 3 owners have signed up for PlayStation Plus. Plus subscribers pay $50 per year or $18 for three months, and the subscribers get the benefit of discounted or free games along with exclusive access to multiplayer betas and other perks.
Eminem appeared in not one but two ads on Super Bowl Sunday. While the rapper was out in force, it was the Chrysler ad that was much more of a surprise than the Lipton Ice Tea ad, featuring him in the middle of the longest Super Bowl ad to ever air that was meant as a tribute to Detroit auto-works with his song Lose Yourself playing in the background.
“There was a secrecy around the spot on Chrysler’s end that was something they were concerned about,” said Andrew Hampp, Los Angeles bureau chief for Advertising Age magazine. “As much as the spot is about what it’s like in Detroit, it’s very much about having Eminem … and it wasn’t necessarily about a promotion for a particular vehicle, but I came away with a higher appreciation for the Chrysler brand.”
The message of the ad is clear: GM is going to help lead the comeback of the Detroit area which has been devastated in recent years through layoffs and economic ruin. It mirrors the career path of Eminem, who nearly lost his career to drug abuse and for whom ‘Relapse’ didn’t generate the sort of sales he had historically generated.
“Everybody realized that ‘Relapse’ was a very hard-core Eminem fan-based record, so the approach on the next album was to go wider,” said Eminem’s manager, Paul Rosenberg. “The songs fit a much more accessible format so that was the approach in marketing the record as well.”
Part of this plan is licensing Not Afraid for the NHL’s Stanley Cup final, Spike’s Ultimate Fighting Championship, ESPN’s basketball playoffs and HBO’s sports docu-series 24/7, while Won’t Back Down was featured in ads for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. While Slim Shady doesn’t necessarily play to all generations, his cultural cache and ties to his hometown were key to his participation.
“If anything, the spot did a good job coming up with a way to reposition Chrysler. … He’s authentic to a younger generation, which is what Chrysler needs, said Hampp. The toughest demo for them is not grandmothers, but younger kids who already listen to Eminem and might otherwise buy foreign cars.”
Source: MTV
