Advertising and Video Games

        Video games used to be so popular just among teenage boys. However,  in recent years, "over 40% of U.S. households own a video game console system, and more than 120 million people regularly play video games on their PC or on a console, according to DFC Intelligence. Strategy Analytics predicts the video game console installed base should reach 150 million worldwide by 2010."  It seems that gaming has become mainstream in U.S.

         In the past, marketers had traditionally shied away from gaming since the teenage boys had less purchasing power."But recent advances in animation and in communications technology mean that today’s games offer much more variety – and they appeal to multiple demographics, including men, women and seniors.
       "In fact, the gaming industry now generates more revenue than box office sales, movie rentals, and book and music sales. In 2006, video game revenues soared to $12.6 billion (+19% year to year), compared to U.S. box office receipts at $9.5 billion, flat from 2005. Worldwide, video game and interactive entertainment revenue reached $33 billion in 2006. According to Jupiter Research, the time U.S. teens spend with video games is now on par with radio, mobile devices, and music, and right behind watching television."

--Yi

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GTA V Coming Soon....?

Let's be honest, the GTA series are some of the best games ever.  Well we know that GTA V is on it's way, however we still don't know when.  There are rumors it release date as early as the fall 2012 according to GTA5realease.org but still no confirmation from Rockstar, although they do say they are "making progress."  If you just can't help your self as to whats going on with GTA V, all you have to is google those words "GTA V", and you will find a whole spew of sites dedicated to the game.

Some of the recent rumors suggest that the game will push the current gaming platforms Xbox 360 and PS3 to their maximum capabilities. Los Santos the fictional world it the game takes place, will be spanning 5 times larger than Liberty City in GTA 4.  The company that will produce the strategy guide, Brady Games, announced today that they expect to sell out of the strategy guide.

GTA has set the gaming standard time and time again. Each time Rockstar release's a new chapter of the GTA series, they set the bar higher and higher.  Taking years to create a game shows a certain dedication and passion for the game's brand.  Not wanting to compromise the brand equity that Rockstar Games has developed with their customers has remained a priority the Grand Theft Auto series.

~Brandon

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The Infinite Lives of Mario

Video inside.

We all know that Mario has been created time and time again.  Well wouldn't it be cool if someone made a video showing all the ways Mario has been dusted throughout the past 25 years. Good news is they have. The Video is put together by Master of Hyrule at Gaming Forever gives a great chronological timeline of the many ways Mario has kicked the bucket.

It's just an interesting take on the Super Mario dynasty and how Nintendo has continued to stay true to the Mario character.  If your a gamer you've got to love the fact that there is some real odd, lesser known games used in the video.  Even if you have only played a handful of these games, your still sure to enjoy it.

Games Used:

#1 = Donkey Kong (1983) NES
#2,3 = Super Mario Bros (1985) NES
#4 = Wrecking Crew (1985) NES
#5 - 7 = Super Mario Bros 2 (1987) NES
#8 - 11 = Super Mario Bros 3 (1988) NES
#12 = Super Mario World (1990) SNES
#13 = Super Mario All-Stars (1993) SNES... Lost Levels (1986) Famicom
#14 = Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995) SNES
#15 - 22 = Super Mario 64 (1996) N64
#23,24 = Mario Kart 64 (1996) N64
#25,26 = Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) SNES
#27 = Super Smash Bros (1999) N64
#28 = Paper Mario (2000) N64
#29 - 31 = Super Mario Sunshine (2002) GC
#32 = Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003) GBA
#33 = Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) GC
#34 = Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004) GBA
#35 = Mario Pinball Land (2004) GBA
#36, 37 = Super Mario Galaxy (2007) Wii
#38 = Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) Wii
#39 = Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010) Wii
#40 = Super Mario 3D Land (2011) 3DS


~Brandon 

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Halo 4 Preview Released

The Halo series lives on with the 4th installment expected this holiday season. (unless the Mayans are right)

While the series is not without its critics, personally, I am excited to see what the new Halo game brings to the table, especially since it is the first brand new Halo game made by 343 Industries and not Bungie.

The impact of the Halo series on the first-person shooter genre is undeniable. Last year, blogger Luke Larsen nicely compiled a list of the innovations the series has sported and/or made popular.

- John (MPG)

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The evolution of videogame advertising

           The commercials for video games today are very different compared with the commercials in the 80s and earlier part of the 90s. In the 80s and earlier part of the 90s, there were only a few and simple commercials for video games. Those commercials looked like this:

               However, the commercials for video games today are very creative and fancy. According to Kriel, "ad agencies really started getting a handle on this whole commercials for video games thing. The realisation that, even for serious gamers, the playing of games was only one facet of a larger life meant it wasn’t long before we starting seeing ads, that included wit, humour, poignancy and pathos. The ads moved away from the hardsell, from trying to schill us a on a product, but started to be a vehicle that validated our pastime. " We started seeing stuff like this:

~Yi

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Retro of the Week

Retro of the Week

Video inside (after the jump). Bet you didn't realize Mario actually hits it with his fist not his head.

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