Atari Lifted By Online Revenue

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Atari recently announced that their online sales were $24.8 million for the first nine months of fiscal year 2010/2011, up nearly 500 percent over last year. Online revenue made up nearly 50 percent of the Atari’s total income.

“We launched Champions Online in the free-to-play model in January 2011, and the initial results have been promising. We have also released Test Drive Unlimited 2 in line with our forecasts and to positive ratings in the U.S. and Europe,” said Atari CEO Jim Wilson. “Over the next few months, we look forward to new game releases based upon our classic Atari game franchises as well as Ghostbusters, Dungeons and Dragons and The Witcher.”

PS3 ‘Not Even At The Halfway Point’ Says Hirai

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Traditionally, console cycles have run every five years, but with that mark already here for consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360, there seems to be no indication that successors are coming. SCEI CEO Kaz Hirai has indicated once again that Sony is in no rush to launch a PS3 successor.

“We’re not even at the halfway point,” says Hirai. “Every year, we reveal and release new features. That’s why, we’re not deliberating on a PS4 or a next generation machine, whatever you call it.”

Source: Kotaku

Dance Central Promoting Kylie Minogue Tour

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Microsoft has announced that they are partnering with Kylie Minogue to sponsor her upcoming Aphrodite: Les Folies European Tour 2011. Dance Central will be featured prominently at each of the tour’s 35 stops, with support from Xbox Live, online, social and outdoor channels.

“I am delighted that Dance Central is sponsoring my European tour, it s a perfect synergy,” said Minogue. “My fans will also have a chance to put their own dance moves to the test as ‘Can t Get You Out Of My Head’ is one of the tracks on Dance Central…  good luck!”

“Kylie is one of the most successful and much-loved artists in the world; a perfect fit for an entertainment brand like Xbox,” said Microsoft’s EMEA vice president interactive entertainment business Chris Lewis. “We re delighted to be involved in the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour 2011 and introduce the controller-free fun of Kinect and Dance Central to thousands of Kylie s European fans in a new, engaging and entertaining way.”

The Darkness Voiced By Mike Patton Again

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2K Games has announced that Mike Patton will reprise his role as The Darkness for the upcoming game The Darkness II. The front man of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle and Peeping Tom was praised for his rendition of the supernatural force of chaos that guided protagonist Jackie Estacado in the first Darkness game.

“The story behind The Darkness II wouldn’t be complete or authentic without the character of The Darkness,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Mike Patton brings a completely unique perspective to the role which is essential in creating the world of The Darkness.”

“It feels really good to be the bad guy, and The Darkness is as bad as it gets,” said Mike Patton. “I’ve read through the script and Jackie is going to be a brutally tortured soul. I m looking forward to making his life a living hell.”

Chris Evans Signs For Captain America

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Sega has announced that it has signed Captain America: The First Avenger star Chris Evans to voice the lead role for their upcoming Captain America: Super Soldier. His likeness will be used in the game, where Captain America faces Red Skull and his Hydra agents. The third-person action game tasks players to defeat Iron Cross, Baron Strucker and Madame Hydra with a combination of melee attacks and shield tosses.

“Signing Chris to star in Captain America: Super Soldier delivers the cinematic quality and emotional drive that fans expect,” said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega of Europe and Sega of America. “Chris will help fuel the character’s mission as he battles through the enormous Hydra castle full of legendary villains in a completely original story.”

Captain America: Super Soldier  will release in 2011 for PS3, DS, Wii and Xbox 360.

Pokemon Card Game Goes Online

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The Pokemon Trainer Challenge has launched, which will be a new online version of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Users will be able to play in pre-constructed decks of Pokemon TCG, with Pokemon TCG: Black & White decks available from April, and more features being launched in the months to come.

“Pokemon Trainer Challenge provides convenient, on-demand access to exciting TCG game play for all Pokemon TCG fans, whether they re currently playing, coming back to the action, or just getting introduced to the world of Pokemon TCG for the first time,” said J.C. Smith, director of consumer marketing for The Pokemon Company International. “Now anyone who wants to play Pokemon TCG can, either live or online.”

Find out more at pokemontcg.com.

Nintendo: Digital Market Doesn’t Come At Expense Of Retail Games

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The past several years has seen the rise and rise of digital offerings for games, whether it’s strictly online, downloadable or embedded in a web browser. However, Nintendo of Europe’s MD of marketing and PR Laurent Fischer doesn’t think that digital games are coming at the expense of standard retail products.

“We have never seen any link between growth in the mobile gaming market and decrease in the normal software market. It’s two different markets, two different topics. We couldn’t find any evidence of those two markets being linked, said Fischer. “It’s the users that decide. Every time we have a new technology or trend coming in, every time people say: ‘That’s the new expectation. It’ll be the mass market in one, maybe two or three years.’ You can bet it’s always wrong.”

“Sometimes it’s quicker than anyone expected, sometimes it’s dead before we can even talk further about it, and sometimes it is five or ten years later than anyone planned. None of us can tell that, he continued. “People who talk about the end of physical media don’t share the same daily reality as most consumers.”

Source: CVG

Kevin Butler Brings The Trash Talk In MLB: The Show ’11 Ads

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Kevin Butler is the man for all of SCEA’s marketing campaigns now, but many people probably don’t remember that the character made his debut in an ad for MLB: The Show. Appropriately, SCEA has something special cooking up Kevin Butler for MLB: The Show 2011 with cover athlete with Joe Mauer.

“We have all the baseball gamers on PS3… as far as market share we can’t target more baseball gamers, so we have to target sports gamers in general,” said Scott McCarthy, brand manager for PlayStation software. “And so with that in mind and using the Joe Mauer/Kevin Butler ‘Well Played’ [vibe] that we got last year, we wanted to expand on that just as we’ve expanded on PS3 in general with the ‘It Only Does Everything’ campaign. What that led us to in the spot was Joe and Kevin sitting down on the couch together really smack talking back and forth with each other, continuing that ‘bromance’ that started last year. .”

“That’s in an effort to talk to sports gamers everywhere, not just fans of The Show. So we’re targeting anyone who’s ever played FIFA or Madden or NBA, so they can look at The Show as something that provides them with that sports fix also, he continued. That’s something that’s been missing in general from previous year’s campaigns with baseball games. It’s really spoken to baseball fans who appreciate the nuances of the game, and so we want to bring that out to people who just appreciate great sports. The first airing will be during Red Sox-Yankees on Opening Day.”

This new theme for the marketing campaign is going to find its way into a series of web videos with Kevin Butler. “Another big thing this year is co-op. If I know baseball and you don’t we can actually play on the same team this year. Co-op is one of those important modes that helps us bring in the sports gamer. And how we’re messaging that is actually kind of funny. Going back to Kevin Butler, we made a series of online videos where Kevin is actually teaching consumers how to increase their level of trash talk,” said McCarthy. “Because The Show is on such a higher level this year, you have to increase your trash talk to get the most out of the game at least that’s what Kevin thinks. We’ll be unveiling a series of videos where Kevin is unveiling his shaft method of trash talk. So everyone’s going to get shafted by Kevin Butler!”

Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}

Game Marketing Execs Reflect On ‘New Games Marketing’

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Marketing has evolved in gaming, as it has with all entertainment media, given the changes the Internet has had on everyone’s lives. However, many senior marketing executives recently indicated that the fundamentals of marketing have not changed.

“Despite the changing media landscape, the basics of marketing haven t changed: start with the consumer, not the product; know where your audience are; be single-minded about your message,” says Sony Computer Entertainment UK’s marketing manager Alan Duncan. If you know what you are trying to say and who to, the rest will fall into place. Different media just achieve different parts of the job.”

“Many marketing directors had praise for what Nintendo has accomplished recently. A very important trend at least from a Nintendo platform point of view is the rejection of the traditional boom and bust approach to marketing,” said Nintendo marketing director Dawn Paine. “We discovered early on that non-gamers aren t as interested in day one as gamers and will pick up a game weeks, months and sometimes years after a release. This requires a different, less week-one focused, more disciplined approach using traditional methods like TV alongside experiential, PR and online.”

“Television is often considered the centerpiece of any campaign, and while it’s still a key component, its ROI has become more questionable. TV will consistently get you mass coverage and strong brand awareness, so it will always play a part,” said Yoostar marketing manager Tina Moore. “However, it does bring with it a huge amount of wastage and it is becoming harder and harder to guarantee that your audience are actually going to watch your ads without fast-forwarding through them.”

Thoughts about social media were even more mixed than television, with U.K. marketing director at Ubisoft, Murray Pannell saying, “There is still much to learn for everyone in this area, whether that s understanding social media as a tool for managing an online community or corporate image, or understanding how best to use these networks as a media channel to drive brand awareness and purchase intent. For me the jury’s still out on whether, for example, spending marketing budget on adding 50,000 Facebook Likes translates measurably into selling more games.”

Source: MCV