Showing is typically much more effective than telling and this ad is a classic example. Showing the 2 million data points of a crash test “genius” as brilliant points of light makes the message clear – safety is a top concern at Lexus.
The TV campaign for Rage is starting and it’s an assortment of action and quotes of praise from the press. The spot is accentuated with Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums by A Perfect Circle.
A new viral website for the Umbrella Corporation is recruiting to help preserve the health of the people. After loading, the site will appear to be hacked and a logo (similar to the hacking group Anonymous) and the phrase “inserted evil” will appear with a few lines stating that Umbrella is lying to you. Umbrella promises to “turn you into something incredible” and wants to know if you and your friends are Umbrella material. Try clicking on the link “help me uncover the truth…” to view a trailer of a figure all in black stating plainly about how Umbrella is a corporation on a mission to do evil. A Twitter account @InsertDevil has been launched that users can follow to track the progress of the fight against Umbrella. Fans are asked to recruit more members into the fight in order to reveal more clues behind the mystery of the Umbrella corporation.
Probably the most talked about element from Tokyo Game Show 2011 was the slider add-on for the 3DS. However, despite the external similarities to the PS Vita, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Shuhei Yoshida doesn’t think that either that or the price cut were a byproduct of their system.
“Well it’s not like they looked at PS Vita and said ‘we need to do that as well’,” said Yoshida. “I don’t know. It’s clear that they didn’t believe a second analogue was necessary when they designed the 3DS, so I can only guess it was requested by Capcom’s side. Maybe a Capcom producer told Nintendo that to play Monster Hunter we need [two] analogue sticks. That I don’t know, so I can only guesstimate. It was a bit shocking to see what they came up with.”
“I don’t personally believe that they dropped the price of the 3DS to respond to our pricing. We didn’t price PS Vita to their price, either. We had that plan since the last couple years,” he added. “My personal guesstimate is that they have their business plan and goals to sell a certain amount of 3DS units, and they realized post-launch was that the pricing was not helping them to achieve the goal that they set. That’s my estimate.”
Source: Game Informer
Nexon has revealed that MapleStory Adventures, has surpassed the 3 million player mark while in its open beta phase. The PC MMO version of MapleStory has over 100 million players worldwide.
“Nexon will continue to add new content to MapleStory Adventures’ open beta in coming weeks. There are plans to add new classes, as well as multi-character slots and personal spaces that can be customized to the player’s taste. Nexon also plans for additional language localization that includes Spanish, French, German and Chinese,” reads the release for the game. “MapleStory Adventures offers the same winning ingredients as the original MapleStory. Its colorful anime-style aesthetic, action-oriented gameplay mechanics and engaging plotlines are all present, adding a whole new RPG flavor to the current social gaming space.”
To find out more about MapleStory Adventures, please visit apps.facebook.com/maplestoryadventures.
According to a study commissioned by Google and conducted by independent market research firm Ipsos OTX MediaCT, more African-Americans own smartphones than those in the representative group (53 percent vs. 45 percent). More telling, African-Americans are more likely than members of the representative group to click on smartphone ads and visit the website of the advertisers (31 percent vs. 21 percent) and had higher rates of smartphone ad recall than others surveyed (40 percent vs. 31 percent).
“The big issue here is that there isn’t a lot of research and detailed information on the digital behaviors and online media consumption habits of the multi-cultural community,” said Torrence Boone, managing director, agency business development at Google.
Additionally, the study showed that African-Americans are more engaged in video and are more thorough in their pre-purchase research. After reaching a video site, they spend more time per visit (52 minutes vs. 42 minutes for the representative group) and they are more likely to search online for something they saw in a TV ad (82 percent vs. 78 percent for the general market).
“I think mobile is a new channel that we’re still very much figuring out and there’s obviously lots of opportunity there,” said Torrence Boone, managing director, agency business development at Google.
Source: AdWeek
In what is probably the best way to promote Everybody Dance we can think of, actress Christina Ricci (The Addams Family, The Opposite of Sex, Sleepy Hollow, Black Snake Moan, Speed Racer) tried the game out in a form-fitting dress. Recommendation to Sony is tap her for the official ads for the game — couldn’t hurt!
Source: http://www.gamefront.com/
Netflix recently announced a change to formally separate the DVD-by-mail business from their online streaming service, relabeling the DVD service “Qwikster.” CEO Reed Hastings apologized for the way the new services were introduced, saying they though he did not apologize for the increased price that came with the new division of services.
“I want to acknowledge and thank our many members that stuck with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly,” posted Hastings. “Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.”
The rental service also announced it is offering game rentals. “Members have been asking for videogames for many years, and now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done,” added Hastings.
Source: blog.netflix.com
ProjectorGames revealed recently that their Xbox Live Indie Games title FortressCraft has sold a half million copies. “After only 163 days of being available, I’m incredibly proud for FortressCraft [to] finally sell that magic half-million; thank you everyone,” said developer DJ Arcas.
Additionally J&D Apparel announced that they are running a special contest for the game. Those that buy the official FortressCraft t-shirt will be entered to win a $5 or $10 gift code, with a Grand Prize Winner will getting an opportunity to help design a brand new shirt design, with a free copy of said shirt’s final design.
Source: twitter.com/FortressCraft
Games like Star Trek Online, DC Universe Online and Age of Conan are all subscription MMOs that are games that have or will soon enter the free-to-play realm. Still, Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley sees strong possibilities for Star Wars: The Old Republic when that game eventually releases.
“It’s fair to say that subscriptions are likely going to be a strong component of revenue for the foreseeable future, although I don’t believe they will be remotely as dominant over time,” wrote Smedley. “There’s another large juggernaut coming out soon in Star Wars: The Old Republic from EA/Bioware. That’s a game that I think has a legitimate shot at a 2 million subscription user base and I believe they will stick with the subscription method.”
“This is going to be the last large scale MMO to use the traditional subscription business model. Why do I think that Simply put, the world is moving on from this model and over time people aren’t going to accept this method. I’m sure I’m going to hear a lot about this statement. But I am positive I’m right.”
Smedley notes that 40 percent of EverQuest II players that quit the game cite the subscription fee as the primary reason. “Economic times are hard out there and a recurring subscription is something that glares at you from a credit card bill every month,” he notes. “For some people, saving money starts with getting rid of subscriptions that hit the credit card.”
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
