After a series of ‘Future’ titles, Ratchet and Clank is officially back with an epilogue called Into the Nexus. Coming at a bargain price of $29.99, Into the Nexus has new weapons, new zero gravity segments and a brand new story in the Ratchet and Clank universe.
A new video from Ubisoft shows off some of the free exploration features in the next Assassin’s Creed game. The video displays the various exploits Assassin’s Creed IV protagonist Edward Kenway can partake in outside of missions, including treasure hunting, sailing the high seas and blasting away other pirates.
According to new data from Kantar Media, there has been a large uptick in the number of ad sales on iPad magazines while sales for print have remained relatively stable. Magazine advertisements on the iPad have risen a total of 24.5 percent over the course of the last year. In the time between January and June last year, there were a total of 11,461 advertisements in iPad editions of magazines, whereas this year the number has jumped to 14,272.
Print magazine ads are a different story. Last year saw 24,820 ads in magazines in the January-June time period; this year saw 24,566 ads sold. While the numbers are still much higher than they are on iPad, that represented a one percent decline in sales. Magazines are steadily gaining traction on tablet devices, and it seems that advertising dollars are shifting as well to fit the trend.
Source: Mashable
There were a slew of different prototypes for the Xbox One before Microsoft settled upon its current form, according to new information from Microsoft’s Xbox design team and creative director Carl Ledbetter. A picture shown by Ledbetter at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference displayed the incredible variation among the prototype designs.
“We wanted to make it simple and elegant, and we wanted it to be crafted and tailored, so it’s all about quality,” said Ledbetter.
The design team of about 30 people started by sketching out versions of the console and sent them to an in-house modeler to build prototypes. After that, they tested them in various environments to see how they would fit in. They then determined how internal parts would fit into the console. Ledbetter said that the design team also went through more than 200 different controller designs before accepting the current Xbox One controller.
Source: Polygon
Rambo is back and, true to form, bloody and brutal. Rambo The Video Game is exactly what anyone who knows the Sylvester Stallone films would expect. Set in circa 1980, the first-person game is about Rambo blowing things up and bloodying bad guys. Rambo The Video Game is expected to draw first blood this winter season.
When Microsoft reversed its Xbox One policies in response to overwhelming outcry, a number of gamers breathed a sigh of relief. They would be able to buy used games, share them with friends, and generally have the same rights they had on previous Xbox generations. Now, however, a petition has arisen on change.com showing that not everyone is satisfied with Microsoft’s 180-degree turn, and they would like some of the original policies and promises reinstated.
The petition ‘Give us back the Xbox One we were promised at E3’ looks at some of the benefits the new features would have had under the old policies. Among desired policies they want back is how the system was originally going to allow users to trade, sell or share digital licenses for games they bought.
The petition has already reached its initial goal of more than 15,000 signatures, and at last count had reached nearly 13,000. Some of the supporters claim they signed it because of the benefits the policies would have for consumers. Others seem to have gotten on board too bring irony to what signatories are asking, offering plenty of sarcasm and profanity laced comments, and with some evidence that PS4 fans are behind it.
The petition was started 20 days ago, shortly after the changes were announced, but has picked up in popularity as it gets more publicity.
“It can’t be all or nothing,” the petition warns. “There has to be a compromise.”
As some game industry pundits and analysts have pointed out, Microsoft’s original Xbox One policies garnered little support in part because Microsoft did little to explain the benefits of those policies to consumers. Microsoft may still offer some of those features to Xbox One owners, but they will probably come with more options and clearer benefits. It is unlikely Microsoft will make another quick change in policy based on the rumblings of a few thousand consumers online, but at least they know there is some support for the original policies.
Source: ArsTechnica
Kabam’s mobile game Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle Earth has been lighting up the top game app charts for months. With interest in the free-to-play game still at a high, and Peter Jackson’s next film barreling towards us this Christmas, Kabam has smartly decided to use a little TV play to broaden the game’s audience.
Kabam worked with Ayzenberg, publisher of [a]list daily, to produce two spots. Both hark back to the Lord of the Rings films rather than the recently released Hobbit, revolving around the rivalry between Gimli and Legolas (at least one of whom is expected to break Tolkien’s book fiction and make a Hobbit film appearance).
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0iXHAYzTPg0
https://youtube.com/watch?v=mH0oKx_snq8
Trailers are an intrinsic part of game advertising; some would even say the most important part. And if social media users’ reactions to Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V‘s gameplay trailer are any indication of the game’s future performance – it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
In fact, it was so good it made Hideo Kojima depressed. The nearly 5-minute long gameplay trailer full of criminal craziness dropped Tuesday and at the time of this writing has accrued over 90,000 mentions on Twitter, according to Topsy. What’s more, the trailer generated more than 4,500 YouTube comments (many of which revolved around masturbation – who knew self pleasure could be so closely aligned with gaming ). And being the strange beast that the internet is, somebody took those comments and put them over beautiful sunset photos to create the Tumblr Grand Theft Auto V Trailer Comments. Let’s just say, people of the interwebs got a little weird.
But with reason. The addition to the GTA franchise is the first since Grand Theft Auto IV back in 2008, making for the longest gap ever between games in the series. Fans were certainly bursting for another taste of the Los Santos mayhem.
Below are just few reactions our team got a kick out of:
https://vine.co/v/h7XFeQlzEze/embed/simple
Some of it got a little weird:
The following is a reprint of an article for iMedia Connection by Keith Pape, VP social & emerging media at Ayzenberg Group.
Integrating marketing strategies requires hard work. I’ve learned this lesson well during my twenty-year career.
I’ve also discovered that with every step forward we make in this industry, there is always a new fad ready to set us three steps back. The most dangerous offender at this time being the one-hit wonder, or even worse, the one-trick pony that fools us into believing that we can get by with spending zero dollars on advertising. Earned Media has flashed its one-off successes, and our ADD has kicked in. We believe it to be our savior to ever having to spend big money on advertising . . . a misconception that can reap disastrous results.
“But, what about Oreo” you say.
Oreo took advantage of skill, planning and a bit of luck, which showed us that with proper preparation, real-time execution can be effective . . . under the right circumstances. Red Bull has shown us that a commitment to amazing content and people can elevate a brand far beyond the ingredients of their products — but that doesn’t make it the right solution for your brand. We have a lot to learn from unique, individual brands and their extraordinary executions, but that doesn’t mean we can short-cut the hard work of their marketers and agencies and expect to achieve similar results. It’s naïve and presumptuous way of thinking; it could even get you fired. Respect their hard work and learn from them, but stop copying.
There is no miracle solution to get your audience’s attention, let alone everyone’s attention. The world is smaller, yet more fragmented than ever; and Social Media is not immune to this phenomenon. Wasting one’s time in search of a panacea is a game for entrepreneurs who want to make short-term money by building something that will eventually get acquired by another entity. This type of gimmick will not help marketers. Period.
Here are a few facts to consider:
1. Only a small fraction of content will go ‘viral.’
2. Only a miniscule number of products can successfully launch with zero paid media support.
3. In 2000, Pets.com spent its entire marketing budget on a Super Bowl ad featuring a sock-puppet, and failed miserably.
Folks in the Social space have been working hard to strike the right balance between their Owned and Paid Media Channels. Similar to paid and organic Search Engine Marketing, finding the right mix requires tremendous effort and takes smart people doing smart things over time with an amazing product. Earned Media, Earned Media Value (EMV) and Earned Media Actions (EMA) provide reinforcement and are a great metric towards establishing the value we all ‘feel’ that social brings. Quantifying how we leverage Owned, Paid and Earned media is critical to truly integrating Social Media into Marketing and Advertising campaigns overall, but without owned and paid media, there is no earned. You have to earn it.
To ‘earn’ your media, the principles remain the same: you’re going to have to deliver conversation, messaging, and content (impressions) across multiple touch points. Only then can your Earned Media program have a chance of grabbing hold of the ‘friends of friends’ connections in order to start the viral process (sharing, liking, commenting, viewing, etc.).
Of course, there are always exceptions. The greatest products can always overcome adversity by their superior offering; such as Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, foursquare. Most brands, however, can’t put all on black and hope for the best. For optimal results, one should use these new platforms jointly to execute foundationally sound integrated campaigns. You never know which impression is going to tip the audience over the edge, so your best bet is to use CPM, CPA and CPX tactics to ensure that there is sufficient presence to encourage the viral process.
Earned Media on its own is a single-channel approach; and every channel needs support.
Let’s not be fooled by short-term tactics that work once or twice due to novelty. Instead, let’s spend our time using smart strategy; let’s make use of the ever-growing platforms (digital, traditional and mobile) that are available to us and resonate with both the product we are representing and the audience that we are trying to reach.
With the diversification of our target audience and the busy online/offline lives they lead, we will need to think twice and execute once. This type of considered thinking will increase the longevity of the average marketing manager. We might not always be handed the next big product, but with solid foundations and creative thinking, we will be able to identify and deliver our message to an audience (as niche as it may be) that will love the product. That is the success that brings about future opportunity.
So, how are you dealing with pressures to ‘go viral’ or other ‘zero’ dollar concepts? Are you finding value in Earned Media Leave a comment and let me know what your success and challenges have been!
Keith Pape leads social, mobile and emerging media opportunities, as well as strategy and creative execution at Ayzenberg Group. He is a senior digital marketing executive with 14+ years of experience driving business growth, leading teams, launching brands and products, and achieving results through creative, results-driven and technology-enabled marketing.
Source: iMedia {link no longer active}
One of the most important marketing tools we have is also the simplest to use. It’s the price tag. This has been one of the core issues facing the console business lately as we watch retail sales drop year by year, month by month. Game publishers have been privately (and sometimes publicly) asking console makers to reduce prices in order to stimulate demand for software. Of course, reducing prices is the last thing anyone wants to do. Hardware makers in particular have a lot of costs that need to be covered somehow.
Hardware makers would much rather talk about value than price. And, it’s true, value is important. When you add in enough goods and services to something, its value increases — and so does its desirability. This is the basic argument going on between the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 right now, between $499 and $399. Sure, the PS4 is cheaper, but for $100 more you get the improved Kinect and all the additional cool features it brings. Even so, it will be easier for people to put together $399 to spend on a new console than it will be to get $499. Microsoft will certainly work hard to make people understand the value of the Xbox One at $499, but an extra $100 may be a deal-breaker for some buyers.
An example of just how important pricing is can be seen with the Nintendo 3DS. The handheld console debuted at $249 in the US, and while it had some good initial sales demand fell off sharply. Yes, there was a lack of great software. The 3DS sales began climbing once good titles began appearing . . . but only after Nintendo dropped the price to $169. Suddenly the hardware looked much more reasonable, and people started buying it.
This is why many publishers are hoping Nintendo will drop the price of the Wii U, currently at $349 (for the version most people buy). The hardware isn’t selling well right now, and its prospects look even dimmer when it’s up against a PS4 at $399 in a few months. Nintendo’s CEO Iwata has staunchly resisted any idea that a price cut is needed or imminent, and no doubt will continue to do that right up until the day when the price cut happens. The strength of the Wii U’s Christmas may depend on what its price tag will be — at $299 it would sell better, and at $249 it would probably fly off the shelves.
Hardware is not the only part of the game business where price is a big issue. Games have been suffering serious price erosion over the past decade, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at the standard retail price for new software. The massive growth of free-to-play games on PCs and mobile platforms has transformed consumer expectations for game pricing. The fact that you can download and play thousands of top-quality games for free means that people don’t think games need to be $60.
It’s not just free-to-play games that have caused this transformation. The growth of the used games trade has had a similar effect; if you’re not getting a collector’s edition, why not get a game for a little cheaper because someone else has already played it If you shop around on eBay and other sites, games can get remarkably cheap. The continuing value of online multiplayer also affects consumer attitudes and behavior. Why buy a new game if you’re still having plenty of fun playing Call of Duty with your friends As for PC game, Steam has changed player behavior dramatically with its steeply discounted sales. Not sure if you want that new game for $60 If it’s available on Steam, wait a while and see if it goes on sale.
Publishers have tacitly acknowledged this price erosion with bundles (Game of the Year Editions) and programs like Platinum Hits for the Xbox 360, where games that once sold for $59.99 go for $19.99. If you don’t need to have the latest game right when it comes out, you can get a great deal on it. There are so many games available now that you could make a huge stack of really great games to play and never spend more than a fraction of the original retail price.
Is it any wonder, then, that new game sales at retail have been declining for the last five years Publishers have wisely decided, so far at least, to avoid hiking prices on new games for next-gen consoles. We’ll continue to see high-priced Deluxe Collector’s Editions in an effort to wring more profit from the most enthusiastic fans. And new games will almost always be appearing with downloadable content (DLC) available on day one in order to goose the profit margins. Yet budgets continue to climb for game development, and pressures to reduce pricing continue to increase. What’s the answer?
Digital distribution holds part of the key by taking all the physical costs out of the equation. No more manufacturing and shipping costs means more margin, if you can hold the same retail price. Increasingly, though, we’re seeing that holding the same retail price is getting harder. No, changes will have to come either from switching business models or from changing the way games are developed.
The business model change is not easy. Games can either become free-to-play, or perhaps ad-supported or subscription-supported. All are difficult to implement on existing brands, as Activision discovered when it tried to add a subscription fee for the Call of Duty Elite service. Many MMO’s are transitioning to the F2P model, and it look like World of Warcraft is preparing to do just that in the future.
The development change is also not an easy one. Games could be designed on a less epic scale, with smaller teams and shorter development times, and then sell them digitally for $20 or $30. If it’s a new IP, that’s a faster and less risky way to see if there’s an audience for it. Yet game designers have to wrap their heads around an entirely different concept of the scale and scope of a design. Tim Schafer famously failed to do just that when he recently told the world his Kickstarter-funded Broken Age game would be delayed by more than a year because he “designed too much game.”
The amount of play time you get with a new game was set for years by the cost of putting a disc in a box, which meant the retail price had to be high enough to allow for a good profit. That lead to games being long enough to justify the price, and since games were sold mostly on having better graphics than the last game, budgets kept rising. Now it’s time to break that cycle and rethink everything from the ground up. Many new publishers are already doing that with success, but it’s a far more difficult task for large publishers with decades of experience doing things the old way.
In the end, the game industry has to come to grips with the fact that customers now have an enormous array of options for playing games, and many of them are free or low cost. Twenty years ago, if you wanted a new game you would go to a retail store every month and see a dozen choices over all the platforms. If you didn’t like one of those, wait for next month. Now, thousands of new games are released every week. High-quality games like League of Legends and World of Tanks are free, and have new content appearing every week or two. Many console games have strong multiplayer audiences and new DLC for them every month or two for only $10, and that can give a game a whole new life.
Does this mean the death of the AAA game Not at all. Publishers will continue to look for ways to make massive development pay off, and to reduce risks. We’re going to see new IP spread across multiple platforms, including mobile (such as Ubisoft’s helper applications for new console games). Marketers will be an important part of this discussion at all levels, from design to business models. It’s time to get creative with development and business models and marketing, not just with the game design. There’s no one guaranteed way to make money from a game. Customers are much more hesitant to spend a lot of money on a new game that can’t be returned. (Taking away the potential for resale was a big part of the backlash against Microsoft’s initial Xbox One policies.)
Pricing is going to be a very important issue this holiday season, as older consoles struggle to boost sales in a difficult environment. Most analysts expect price cuts on existing consoles to boost demand while making room for new consoles at the high end. Next-gen games will probably come without a price increase, and as digital distribution becomes standard practice on next-gen consoles we may see more titles from major publishers at lower initial prices.
