Final Fantasy XIII Fever Hits Japan Hard

It's typical that when a new Final Fantasy game is released in Japan, Square Enix naturally gets the hype train rolling.

With the December 17th release date for the Japanese edition of FFXIII just around the corner, fans and stores alike are preparing for What will arguably be the biggest launch Japan has ever seen for a videogame. Unlike North American retailers, Japan advertises the heck out of their big titles with such things as every drinks, full on building advertisements, magazine covers (almost all magazine labels it would seem) and even pop stars.

If you would like to see the full gallery of everything that Square-Enix has plastered across Japan to celebrate the new Final Fantasy, follow this link.

12/16/09 Colton West

Bethesda's Production Director: Microsoft 'totally bungled' OSDT marketing

Halo 3: ODST is a great game. Yes, may be overpriced to some, but still, the fact remains Bungie has delivered once more. Over at Bethesda, Ashley Cheng believes the uproar could've been avoided if Microsoft hadn't "totally bungled" the game's marketing. Cheng says on his blog that, "reviewers are now mentioning that Halo 3: ODST may not be worth the price point, that it should've been cheaper, etc... give me a break."

Cheng contends Microsoft, voicing that if they'd only kept a persistent note on what the game was, and not waver back and fourth, this wouldn't have been an issue. He says, "First saying it was a standalone extension pack, then coming out and saying wait, no, we're charging full price because - surprise! we put 'more' stuff in it and it's called Halo 3: ODST now, vs the original title, Halo 3: Recon."

Wow, pretty ticked off I see. Bungie in a recent interview with Joystiq, tried their best to justify the price point, expressing that Halo 3: ODST is indeed a full, well produced game. For some, that still won't suffice. Check out the interview after the jump.

09/23/09 Ernice Gilbert

The Naughty Dogs are Advertising their Killer App across the States

If you haven't heard about Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, then you must'v been living underneath a rock in Alaska, because since E3, U2 has been the talk of the gaming media. But just in case you do live underneath a rock in Alaska, uh, maybe not Alaska, let's say anywhere on the mainland, albeit underneath a rock, fear not, the Naughty Dogs are on their way to enlighten you.

See this monstrous machine we call a truck above? Yeah, keep your eyes open and you might just be in for a treat. The 1st party Sony developers have paired up with Best Buy for a promo package dubbed "The Best Buy Entertainment Holiday Kickoff," and will be touring the country promoting UC2 and other Sony games. First stop: Kansas City. Next stop: Might be at your doorstep, no kidding. Keep your eyes open.

The hotly anticipated game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will be on store shelves in the US on October 13th 2009, around the world soon after. And will be available exclusively for the PS3.

09/22/09 Ernice Gilbert

Game Bloggers, be warned. Advertisers, you too

Have you been making some extra change whilst blogging about your favorite pass time? Beware, because the regulators are looking at your site. Why? Apparently some bloggers have been making bold claims about their favorite products not because it's good, but because they get paid for giving rave reviews. And now two of the national advertising review council investigative units plan to announce Tuesday their first decisions involving blogs. Their recommendations call for clear disclosure when a company is sponsoring a site or paying for product reviews.

The announcement is not shocking at all, but it's one that should act as a wake-up call to bloggers who willfully talk up products even if they know the products are not good. Hitting even closer to home, the FTC used video blogger who receives a free copy of a new video game system from its manufacturer for review as an example:

“The readers of his blog are unlikely to expect that he has received the video game system free of charge in exchange for his review of the product, the commission wrote. As this fact would likely affect how credible consumers find the review, the blogger should disclose that he received the game free."

Gamers are aware that bloggers and gaming websites receive video games systems and software for free on many occasions. So using the gaming community as an example is far fetched to say the least. In fact, there are so many bloggers and websites giving their own opinions, that if a game or gaming console turns out to be crap, there's no running away from it; you will know. Gamers are bold like that. (smiles).

08/12/09 Ernice Gilbert

Editorial: Seriously Sony, where’s the advertising?

Sony has made a name for itself in the gaming industry. A good name minus all the negative press the company has been fielding recently. It is respected worldwide as paramount to the success of the gaming industry. Can you picture the future without Sony in the arena? Sure you can but your view won’t be that optimistic if you live in the real world. Millions of gamers worldwide remain loyal to the company, come what may it seems. And with good reason, Sony has led the industry for over 15yrs, with major 1st and 3rd party exclusives pumped out successively. It has been this way from since PS1 days, the best exclusives were home to the then white machine. I won’t even begin to list the games, time will ultimately run out. Next it was the PS2’s turn to shine and shine it did, with consoles being sold by the millions even into 2009, in fact, the company actually sold more PS2s than PS3s this past quarter. What a raving success the PS2 was, or still is. Matter of fact it has sold over 150million units worldwide; and that my made Sony extremely cocky. The company became careless, thinking no one would ever top them and some how managed to lose ground to the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo. Today they’re in 3rd place. Don’t be mistaken though, I would not be surprised at all if Sony made it to the top again. But even today after they’ve learned many lessons, some attitudes of the PS2 years still lingers. One of them, the lack of advertising.

Back when the PS2 was in full bloom, the giant did not have much advertising to do. Everybody knew about the console, every home had one in it's living room, and as I stated before people are up until now purchasing the system. Advertising was not an area Sony needed to push hard because, c’mon, the thing was ubiquitous. Most games sold very well on the system paying even more dividends to the company. Well it seems Sony forgot that those days are no more. You got a lot more Xbox 360s around, Nintendo Wii is omnipresent, and you Sony, is for now in 3rd place. Even President Obama gave ironic props to the Xbox360 while telling parents to turn off gaming and read with their children. The fact is Microsoft’s console has become a household name in the US. Yes PS3 is still raging strong. Believe me, Sony is here to stay but at the same time, they’ve got to up the ante and be way more aggressive, especially in the advertising department. The company has made great progress but much more is needed. And the price point does not help either.

Why do I hardly get to see ads for my favorite PS3 games before they hit the shelves? Gamers who are not as informed as some of us get there info from advertising. Duh. Seriously, before killzone 2 was launched the hype train was continuously breaking the speed limit online; but it was a no show on my TV. Most games I see ads for are multi-plat yet still I’m left with the feeling that they’re only on Xbox360. Yes I know they’re on both consoles, (they’re multi-plat) but some kid who’s not informed will most likely pick up the Xbox 360 version. My 360 on the other hand gets all the love, and I‘m glad. I just wish Sony could do a better job. Infamous is now out, yes the game is selling well as it should. It’s the best game out this summer. But don’t you think it could have done a whole lot better had Sony upped the advertising? Yes it sure would and still can. Word of mouth can get you far, but how far? You’ve got to push your games. Uncharted 2 is upon us, a game that every true gamer should be playing come October. But will Sony be aggressive enough and make it a household name? We’ll have to wait and see.

One could argue it’s up to the 3rd party studios to do their own advertising, but I would beg to defer, this situation has been ongoing more so with 1st party devs. But even with 3rd party studios, Sony must play a heavy role in advertising. Both Sony and Naughty Dog are invested in the success of this game, (Uncharted 2: Among thieves) therefore both companies should advertise aggressively. Can one hand clap? No. Can one leg walk? of course not, the same goes for Sony and it’s affiliates, and for that matter Nintendo and Microsoft.

Let me make one thing plain, lots of game studios from around the world have only praise for Sony. Many developers have come forward and declared how great a working relationship they have with the company and why they would never leave. In a climate where pressure is being mounted everyday to make games for all three systems because of rising costs, and also because it’s common sense, the companies that remain loyal to Sony, remain loyal not because they have to, but because they want to.

But in order to win, you Sony got to step it up. Remember the main reason I bought my PS3 was to play games. If you fail to advertise to the masses and depend solely on word of mouth and the internet, it could mean one less consumer, which equals to one less game, and one less game will mean one less dollar. And for all those who think one less is nothing. Think again, if one drop of rain keep falling in your cup continuously, eventually it will overflow.

08/03/09 Ernice Gilbert