I actually have no idea if they drink Capri Sun but a lot of kids do and that’s why Capri Sun is partnering with Ubisoft to promote Rayman Raving Rabbids T.V. Party. Kraft, the owner’s of Capri Sun, will feature the game in all of it’s promotional material including television ads and online sweepstakes. The game will also be promoted on the estimated 50 million boxes of Capri Sun sold in stores. If that’s not enough crazy rabbids for you, they have also created a micro-site full of web games.
Rayman Raving Rabbids T.V. Party is available today and in celebration we have included a video of the rabbids doing their very best bond impersonation.
The big machine that is Sony continues to pump advertising dollars at their newest franchise, Little Big Planet, now by incorporating an iPod style commercial showing SackBoy gyrating to some music. I like the overall look and the spoof on the existing Apple commercials. Many are hailing Little Big Planet to be a huge success and a possible Xbox killer, I am not sure I want to go that far but the game does look like a lot of fun.
CBS is looking to buy up CNET. CBS has offered to buy up all issued and outstanding shares of CNET Networks for $11.50 per share, for a grand total of $1.8 billion. Why bother? Because the acquisition will make CBS one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the US, giving them a combined 54 million unique users per month and 200 million users worldwide. That is some serious reader base for that price tag and a quick rise to the top ten in one shot. I wonder how this will affect the different channels within the CNET Network, especially Gamespot?
Here is the official press release:
CBS Corporation To Acquire CNET Networks, Inc.
CBS to Become a Top Ten U.S. Internet Company with Unparalleled Content and Reach, Boasting Approximately 200 Million Monthly Unique Users Worldwide CNET Networks’ CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot.com, TV.com, CNET News, UrbanBaby, BNET, CHOW and Search.com, Among Others, To Be Combined with CBS Corporation’s National and Local Interactive Businesses Read More »
There has been some talk over the years about video game journalists and their bias towards certain developer camps or platforms because of the “kickbacks” they may be getting. This includes advertising on their website or even the swag that comes with certain review copies. As all of us here at Loot Ninja are up and coming game journalists, of course not of the same scale as some of the other large video game reviewers out in the world, we do strive to stay unbiased and give you what our thoughts on everything is, positive or negative.
Some believe that is almost impossible to remain objective of a medium if you are presented with gifts form the franchise you are about to review and I have to tend to agree with them a bit. This would be like receiving a bag of money before going to watch Iron Man, this may sway your opinion on the movie just a bit, the movie was fantastic as I sat on this big bag of money to see better. Of course game companies are not stapling checks to the review copies they send but they are sending extras like sunglasses, pimp cups, game systems, I even heard of a review copy that came with a remote controlled car. Some of the swag that is given is very cool, but entirely not necessary. Read More »
We told you we would get some thoughts form the current Guinness World Record holder for fastest time through the first 5 stages of Tapper and we deliver. Look into the mind of man consumed by everything Tapper related.
Loot Ninja: Tell us a bit about yourself and how long you have been gaming.
Michael P.: I’m 25, and I’m from the middle of nowhere in western PA. I moved to NYC about 7 months ago, and I’m currently a graphic designer at a web marketing company in Brooklyn. I’m still trying to figure out what I really want to do though. I’ve been gaming for about as long as I can remember. Although my dad has long since stopped gaming, he is the one that got me started with ColecoVision. I can remember playing that obsessively until around 1990 when we got an NES. My favorite games for Coleco are Jumpman Junior, The Heist, Oil’s Well and Squish’em Sam. After SNES, I stopped playing the new ones so much. Every once in awhile though, I get really into a new game. I’m really into drumming in Rock Band right now. I love Mario Kart 64, and my favorite game ever might be Amplitude. I also like the color blue. Read More »
This is the Super Mario Kart commercial from 1992, I was waiting for Crazy Eddie to come out and sell me something. Boy has gaming commercials and advertising come quite a long way. Enjoy this trip down memory lane.
So it begins, two empires come together to conquer all. Microsoft announced today that it will be placing ads into Electronic Arts Inc. sports franchises, starting with Madden 08. Don’t expect to see the ads just be confined to the football title, Microsfot and EA have already confirmed ads for Skate, Tiger Woods, NHL and NASCAR.
It looks like a lot more emphasis will be put on in game ads as Google, Microsoft and others push the nvelope to deliver dynamic ads in our video games. But more importantly what will this all mean to the consumer?
From the article on CNN:
The deal comes as Massive faces increased competition from Google, which bought game ad service Adscape for a reported $23 million in March, and from privately held companies such as Double Fusion.
“We need to build an overall network and this is a major stepping point to have us do that,” Van Arsdale said in an interview with Reuters.
Massive acts as a broker between companies that want to get their ads in front of gamers, and game publishers eager to tap new sources of revenue to offset higher development costs for flashy new titles that can cost $20 million or more to make.
Double Fusion, who is basically the Michael Jordan of video gaming research has just conducted a breakthrough research project that will forever change how marketing is done for future games. Why is this important? Chances are if you are reading this, you are the ones being targeted for their findings. Here are some of the major highlights in the study:
75% of gamers engage with at least one ad per minute across most, but not all, game types; 81% of gamers engage at least every other minute
Less-cluttered ads are three times as effective at garnering gamer notice than ads that are either cluttered or within cluttered environments
While both contribute positively to ad engagement, placement of the ad in the primary camera plane (eye-level) is more important than large size ads
Not all ads are created equal – dynamic billboards, around-game interstitials, sponsorships, and interactive product placements all offer different levels of user engagement and pervasiveness in the game
The data obtained from the study forms the basis for a new view on gaming measurement, which will allow gaming media plans to be constructed in a way that is both comparable and additive to other media plans
It seems that the focus will be for in-game advertising or product placement. Some examples are the Axe ads or GM cars in Rainbow Six Vegas.
“The program we conducted for Double Fusion measures actual viewing and gives precise information on how to plan for ad units, how to design ads, and what to expect in terms of gamer engagement,” commented Michael Dowling, CEO, Interpret. “
Furthermore, it was also reported that Eidos has hired Double Fusion to help with ad placement in no less than 10 of their upcoming titles.
I suppose the moral of the story is that you will see A LOT more ads in games, so don’t feel like your developers are selling out, they are just trying to meet sales quotas. On the other hand, if I see a Home Depot sticker on a Warthog, I am going to be thoroughly disappointed.
We're like Spaceballs... we're making Loot Ninja everything. Coming soon we'll have hats, shirts, hoodies, possibly banana hammocks if one Editor has his way...
Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
So it begins, two empires come together to conquer all. Microsoft announced today that it will be placing ads into Electronic Arts Inc. sports franchises, starting with Madden 08. Don’t expect to see the ads just be confined to the football title, Microsfot and EA have already confirmed ads for Skate, Tiger Woods, NHL and NASCAR.
Double Fusion, who is basically the Michael Jordan of video gaming research has just conducted a breakthrough research project that will forever change how marketing is done for future games. Why is this important? Chances are if you are reading this, you are the ones being targeted for their findings. Here are some of the major highlights in the study:
