Tag: gaming insider

Video game consoles amp up the video

Posted on by Lab Team

Gaming consoles amp up the video (IPG Media Lab) Column originally featured on MediaPost

Game consoles are continuing their stealthy takeover of the living room. We’ve been seeing this trend for a while, but the pace is accelerating as the holiday season approaches.

The PlayStation 3 is going Netflix next month. The second console to get the streaming video service, this added functionality should help the PS3 sales for the holiday (which are already predicted to be high due to the lower price point of the PS3 Slim). The solution currently works using a disc shipped out from Netflix, though it’s been confirmed that eventually a native client will be released. There are still rumors of a similar disc-based approach coming to the Wii.  Read More.

How to avoid in-game ad debacles

Posted on by Lab Team

How to avoid outrage for in-game ads (Anyaka via Flickr)Column originally featured on MediaPost

Last week, columnist Shankar Gupta noted the loading time debacle with “Wipeout HD”‘s in-game ads. The story is a frightening one for marketers unfamiliar with the gaming space. What was essentially a 10-second mistake resulted in the early termination of a campaign and loads of upset customers. Is the gaming space really so unpredictable and volatile?

Yes and no. Gamers can be a surly sort, quick to band together for a common cause against a shared enemy. But it’s really not that difficult to know how to avoid conflict. A key concept here is one that really should prevail for all media channels: The best advertising is perceived by a consumer as content. The “rocket science” for gaming ads involves maximizing ROI, targeting the buy, and leveraging the in-game elements into a larger integrated campaign. Avoiding a riot shouldn’t be rocket science, and here are a few tips to help avoid such a scenario. Read More.