Monday, August 31, 2009

Wipeout preload advertising gone wrong...

Here's a typical example of how ingame advertising can go wrong and even more importantly - how the online generation reacts to this misstep.

Wipe Out HD features ingame advertisement of some US bank (seems non relevant to me within the world of a futuristic racegame). During the loading time of a level the commercial features and apparently an individual (consumer) was curious whether the loading time would be faster or slower with or without commercial... surprisingly the loading time was longer... check the video and read the reactions on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX4f9zts6JM

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

OFFLINE FOR THREE WEEKS - SORRY!

BACK ON THE 27TH OF AUGUST!

The Cool Hunter - Kids


The Cool Hunter - Kids




The coolest Kids playgrounds and children dentists in the world!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Hardware pushes content - according to Gfk

About the Dutch Gaming Industry

Best sold games of 2008 in The Netherlands


GAMES TOP 10 (ALL PLATFORMS)
1 MARIO KART (NINTENDO WII)
2 WII FIT (NINTENDO WII)
3 GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 (TAKE - TWO INTERACTIVE, PS3)
4 GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 (TAKE - TWO INTERACTIVE, XBOX 360)
5 BRAINTRAINING (NINTENDO DS)
6 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (SEGA, WII)
7 WORLD OF WARCRAFT/WRATH OF THE LICH KING (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD, PC)
8 SUPER SMASH BROTHERS BRAWL (NINTENDO WII)
9 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES( SEGA, DS)
10 MORE BRAIN TRAINING (NINTENDO DS)



WII TOP 10
1 MARIO KART (NINTENDO)
2 WII FIT (NINTENDO)
3 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (SEGA)
4 SUPER SMASH BROTHERS BRAWL (NINTENDO)
5 SUPER MARIO GALAXY (NINTENDO)
6 MARIO PARTY 8 (NINTENDO)
7 SPORTS ISLAND (KONAMI)
8 BIG BRAIN ACADEMY (NINTENDO)
9 LINKS CROSSBOW TRAINING (NINTENDO)
10 DANCING STAGE HOTTEST PARTY (KONAMI)

XBOX 360 TOP 10
1 GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 (TAKE - TWO INTERACTIVE)
2 FIFA 2009 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
3 GEARS OF WAR 2 (MICROSOFT)
4 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
5 FABLE 2 (MICROSOFT)
6 HALO 3 (MICROSOFT)
7 SAINTS ROW 2 (THQ)
8 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
9 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
10 FAR CRY 2 (UBISOFT)

PLAYSTATION 3 TOP 10
1 GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 (TAKE - TWO INTERACTIVE)
2 FIFA 2009 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
3 GRAN TURISMO 5 PROLOGUE (SONY)
4 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
5 METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS (KONAMI)
6 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
7 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2009 (KONAMI)
8 LITTLEBIGPLANET (SONY)
9 BATTLEFIELD/BAD COMPANY (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
10 ASSASSIN’S CREED (UBISOFT)

PLAYSTATION 2 TOP 10
1 FIFA 2009 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
2 FIFA 2008 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
3 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2008 (KONAMI)
4 NEED FOR SPEED/PROSTREET (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
5 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2009 (KONAMI)
6 GOD OF WAR 2 (SONY)
7 GRAN TURISMO 4 (SONY)
8 TEKKEN 5 (SONY)
9 THE SIMS 2/OP EEN ONBEWOOND EILAND( ELECTRONIC ARTS)
10 CRASH OF THE TITANS (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)

NINTENDO DS TOP 10
1 BRAINTRAINING (NINTENDO)
2 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (SEGA)
3 MORE BRAIN TRAINING (NINTENDO)
4 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS (NINTENDO)
5 MARIO KART (NINTENDO)
6 MARIO PARTY (NINTENDO)
7 POKEMON DIAMOND (NINTENDO)
8 POKEMON PEARL (NINTENDO)
9 BIG BRAIN ACADEMY (NINTENDO)
10 SIGHT TRAINING (NINTENDO)

PSP TOP 10
1 GRAND THEFT AUTO VICE CITY STORIES (TAKE - TWO INTERACTIVE)
2 GRAND THEFT AUTO LIBERTY CITY STORIES (TAKE - TWO INTERACTIVE)
3 FIFA 2008 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
4 RATCHET & CLANK/SIZE MATTERS (SONY)
5 TEKKEN/DARK RESURRECTION (SONY)
6 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2008 (KONAMI)
7 MEDAL OF HONOR/HEROES 2 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
8 FIFA 2009 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
9 NEED FOR SPEED/PROSTREET (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
10 THE SIMS 2/OP EEN ONBEWOOND EILAND (ELECTRONIC ARTS)

PC TOP 10
1 WORLD OF WARCRAFT/WRATH OF THE LICH KING (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
2 CALL OF DUTY 4/MODERN WARFARE (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
3 SPORE (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
4 COMMAND & CONQUER RED ALERT 3 (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
5 CALL OF DUTY/WORLD AT WAR (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
6 THE SIMS 2/FREE TIME (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
7 GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 (TAKE - TWO INTERACTIVE)
8 THE SIMS 2 DOUBLE DELUXE (ELECTRONIC ARTS)
9 WORLD OF WARCRAFT BATTLECHEST (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD)
10 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2009 (SEGA)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Gaming Hardware declining, software still growing




Sony PlayStation and Nintendo presented their - somewhat disaponting - sales figures today.

Worldwide sales decline affects both hardware and software, but in The Netherlands software is still growing, though lightly.

Last quarter, PlayStation sold 14,8 million games for their PS3. In 2008 PlayStation sold 22,8 million pieces in the same quarter. On hardware, PlayStation sold 1,1 million PS3's and 1,3 million PSP's this quarter, compared to 1,6 million and 3,7 million consoles that's a bit disappointing, but logical if you consider the current economic circumstances.

PlayStation 2 is still performing well. It sold 1,6 million copies this quarter.

Nintendo showed a decline in sales of 40% and a profit decline of 60% compared to the same period last year.

Last year, this quarter, 5,17 million Wii's were sold, compared to a 2,23 million this quarter.

All in all no shame, but slightly disappointing.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

The History of In-Game Advertising | Gamer Limit


The History of In-Game Advertising | Gamer Limit

According to Steven Shepherd and Gamerlimit.com.

In-game advertising is now a large and integral part of our gaming, but, unbeknownst to some, it has some rather humble beginnings, culminating in an epic and interesting journey.

Using in-game advertising allows a developer to offset production costs, giving them the ability to take more risks and be more original, given a much higher budget. Considering the average production cost of a game is estimated to rise to a massive $20 million for a 7th-generation console, some see IGA as a necessity for ensuring we still see high quality, original titles in the future.

It stands to reason that, considering it is the fastest-growing media on the planet, IGA should be on the rise within video games. In fact, according to in-game advertising behemoth Massive Incorporated, the annual spend on this form of advertising will be worth $1.8 billion by 2010.