BrandRepublic (linked above) is reporting that Red Bull has become the first brand to build a presence in PlayStation Home.
Red Bull has apparently built a tropical island, featuring an aeroplane racing game based on Red Bull's real world Red Bull Air Race series.
To quote: John Beasley, brand marketing manager for Red Bull UK said Home represents an opportunity for brands to create "memorable and rich content".
"The game gave us the first opportunity to recreate in the gaming world what we try to do in the real world, which is to facilitate interaction, to give people stories, memories, experiences and a really good opportunity to interact with the brand," he said.
Beasley said Home will show marketers how in-game advertising can be used effectively and will open up the medium to more brands. "It's an easy environment for brands to take that first step into gaming," he added.
At the risk of sounding like a forum troll, I have to say, I'm not too impressed with the implementation of Netflix on Xbox 360.
The service, which is available to Xbox Live and Netflix -subscribers, allows you to stream movies to your TV via your Xbox 360, and on paper, it sounds ingenious.
Indeed, that's why I -- along with many others -- was so excited when Microsoft announced this forthcoming feature way back at E3 in July. Unfortunately, Netflix for Xbox Live users is now here, and it's not all it was cracked up to be.
For starters, the selection of streamable movies is lackluster. Netflix users who have used the service's "Instantly Watch" section know that there aren't an incredible variety of movies to pick from. There are few new releases available. Instead, the selection is composed mainly of films like Mission to Mars, The Abyss, Superman: The Movie, Batman Forever and Scarface.
There's nothing necessarily wrong with th... More »
Today, 7-Eleven announced that they will start carrying certain video game titles for sale, including Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.
Additionally, they will make several prepaid game cards available for companies (and games) like Nexon, Habbo, Gaia, Guild Wars, Runescape, Aeria, City of Heroes, ijji and Neopets.
Press Release: Gamers never die; they just grow up … and continue to play ... and play ... and play. Today, the average gamer is not in his teens, but in his early 30s and, not surprisingly, most likely male. They play at home, at social gatherings, at work (shhhh) and online.
That’s good news for 7-Eleven, Inc. whose customer base skews heavily male between the ages of 18 and 34. The world’s leading convenience retailer is ready to take the proverbial plunge into video game sales after dabbling in it over the past years with successful Slurpee® beverage promotio... More »
A short time ago Sony Computer Entertainment executive Ray Maguire was quoted in response to a question about a PlayStation 3 price cut.
"Well the pressure comes from the consumers obviously and so therefore there's always pressure on price," admitted Maguire, "but you know we have a business to run, and we have to make sure we're doing the right thing for the shareholders as well."
I am sorry, what? I know I am not a CPA, a high ranking business analyst, nor a senior executive at a multi-billion dollar company, but I can do basic math. Microsoft recently had some major price cuts on their hardware and has seen a big hardware surge in North America and especially Europe as a result. So let’s break out some hypothetical numbers shall we?
Sony is in deep trouble. The company has been forced to slash its earnings forecast by 57 percent amid deteriorating economic conditions and its inability to compete more effectively in markets throughout the world.
Of course, Sony will still post a profit--most analysts claim that it'll be about $500 million--but the downturn speaks to Sony's issues and the fact that this once-dominant company has been downgraded to an also-ran in the industry.
Remember the days of Sony dominance? It was a time when the Walkman was on the minds of tech lovers around the world and the PlayStation moniker was held in the highest regard. Sony TVs were everywhere, and the company's ability to capitalize on any market was truly astounding.
But since then, Sony has lost its way. It's no longer a company that can rely on its name to beat other companies to a pulp, and with more competitors realizing how to beat Sony, it has quickly become irrelevant in many markets.
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For years, the Tokyo Game Show has been the one show on the calendar you can bet Sony is going to put on a performance.
Okay, they may have had a few issues in the past (overheating PS3s) but in general, TGS is their best show of the year. They nearly always headline the keynote and usually announce something or other.
This year, however, I can't help but feel that Sony isn't trying. Firstly, conceding the keynote to Microsoft is bad news, especially on home soil. With no major announcements from Sony, it was up to the publishers to deliver. At Square Enix, they had a closed cinema screening showing a trailer of their upcoming titles.
Problem was, the queue took forever and the film was too long (around 20 minutes). They showed all their development projects, of which half I'm sure most were uninterested in. There were no playable next-gen titles outside of the 360 area and the Square Enix booth was right next to Microsoft's.
Tokyo Game Show is all about Sony... or at least it was. The annual event is in full swing now and that table has turned. Microsoft is usually as quiet as a mouse wearing slippers while the Japanese based Sony enjoys the love-in, but to date it has been Microsoft dropping bombs. Let us elaborate...
Back in the good ol’ days (or not so good ol’ days, depending on which side of the line you’re on) at the Tokyo Game Show, Sony would come in first, Nintendo second, and Microsoft would be a distant afterthought.
Indeed prior to this year’s TGS, the Japanese convention was dominated by Sony, plain and simple. Their booth was the size of a football field, they gave interview access to everyone who was anyone and, best yet, they delivered top notch treatment to game journalists.
Such was Sony’s dominance of TGS that they would fly upwards of 10 Aussie journos to Japan and put them up in the most pimping of pimped out hotel suites to ensure cove... More »
According to the official Japanese SCEJ site, the current closed PlayStation 3 Home BETA is due to end in a matter of weeks, presumably then opening up the final 1.0 version to a wider public.
Additionally, here’s a list of companies that have signed up as partners for Home, providing content, spaces etc:
- IREM
- Activision
- Acquire
- Atlus
- Walt Disney Japan
- SNK
- EA
- Capcom
- Q Entertainment
- Game Republic
- Genki
- Koei
- Konami
- Spike
- Sega
- D3 Publisher
- Tecmo
- Nippon Ichi Software
- Hudson
- Bandai Namco Games
- Ubisoft
Finally, Home has a major presence at TGS this year, as can be seen by these photographs from the show.
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