Games To Dust
A Weekly Look Into Video Game Culture From A Casual Point Of View
By: Bren Inou
Dancing The Night Away…
My name is Bren Inou. I’am the creater,producer and head writer on Games To Dust. A weekly blog about the casual life of a casual gamer. I don’t play a ton of video games. I wish I did,but life and responsibility has made sure I spend everyday working. I’am a former resident of Japan and very much enjoyed the time I spent there. I do plan to move back when everything is settled here. But for now I continue to write these blogs and I will continue to do so when I return to Japan.
The reason I’m writing this is because as of late,I feel that the quality of the blogs I have been producing have been of poor quality and for that I apologize. I do plan to turn things around this week by making a promise to all my readers that I will not only continue to write about video games but also I plan to start writing about other things too. So through prayer and and alittle bit of faith I have been able to turn around my overall attitude in life which brings me to this weeks topic….Positive gaming in Japan.
What is positive gaming? Is it something you can eat? Something you can wear? Well the answer to both of those questions is no. Positive gaming has always been around in Japan but the idea never took off in America or Europe. The idea is that the makers of games will send you special promotional items both in-game and in real life for just simply playing thier games. Usually the company sends you junk based on how many hours you played a certain game or for beating it. Game centers in Japan love giving away these little knick-knacks to ensure repeat visits. Positive promotion of a game leads to positive gaming.
A new Final Fantasy game comes out? Be the first one to get forementioned Final Fantasy game and get a t-shirt and maybe your picture with some of the game staff. Sometimes you can even get a free copy of the soundtrack from the game itself. Believe or not video game soundtracks do actually bring in some money in Japan. I once visited a game shop that was giving away energy drinks called “Potions” to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Final Fantasy 7 and had a contest to win a cool T-shirt (T-shirts tend to be big promotional items). So if getting junk from game companies for just buying and playing the games they make work so well in Japan,why does it not go over well in America?
Simple, The companies that pull off most of the big video game promotional give-a-aways are Japanese game companies. They probably figure it would be too much money to hold multiple promotional campaigns to promote the newest game world wide and would Americans wait for several hours outside in the cold just to play a game? You bet your ascots we would. Now I know GameStop (America’s biggest video game seller) gives out promotional items for the majority of its big releases but I would like to see a better reward for buying a game within minutes of its public release and standing out in the cold than a small ugly looking figurine.
Some games come with posters, some even signed by the game staff themselves. But I would love to see something like a book explaining the games production filled with fun-facts (I love fun-facts). Maybe a collectors cup like 4 in a set. This would be an awesome idea for fighting games. If Dead Or Alive 5 ever gets made, I would like to see cups made with each character getting its own cup design. This would make the cups collectable and probably make someone some money on Ebay.
WWE Raw Vs. Smackdown 2010 comes with Stone Cold Steve Austin as an unlocked character if you pre-order the game. Thats a good idea and I give THQ credit for making it worth something to preorder the game instead of waiting for it to just get released. I only hope I get to play as my favorite wrestler….Gail Kim, what? I think she is really pretty and she can kick some butt!
To conclude this weeks Games To Dust. I personally would love to see better promotional items for the hottest releases. The idea of a midnight launch was cool. But I want something I’m going to use like a T-shirt or a drinking cup. Game companies in Japan will always think of several neat ideas for video game promotions. But in America, I think the overall idea is that we have gotten too comfortable with just walking into a store picking up a game and going home. I want cool stuff for spending $60.00 on a game. Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia came with its own video game soundtrack CD. well just throwing an idea out there to video game companies both in Japan and America. (Don’t worry Europe, I have not forgotten about you)
See Next Week And God Bless!!
