GameSpot - along with a handful of other outlets – nabbed a private demo with us last week and had a chance to delve deeper into Square Enix’s upcoming action game, Mindjack. All of this during a first look preview tour Maverick put together in San Francisco.
While all of the outlets we visited will be posting their thoughts on the game shortly, including 1UP, Gamepro, GamesRadar, Worthplaying, and many more, GameSpot is first out of the gate with their exclusive first break, along with a new video and exclusive video interview with Square Enix’s Johnny Fournier.
If you’re not familiar with Mindjack, it is an unusual game that combines single and multi-player action in to a unifying, intense and always different experience. The way I try to explain this is imagine that you fire up your single player campaign as normal but at any time, you might discover the enemies your are battling and squad mates fighting by your side are controlled by other gamers somewhere in the world through Xbox Live and Playstation Network. Now THAT’s good AI.
Take a look at the video interview on GameSpot below – some pretty cool stuff happening in the world of Mindjack. And be sure to visit the game on it’s Facebook Page and “Like” away!
We Pwn Media and Show Off DLC FPS Awesomeness in San Francisco…
We just completed a nice preview event in San Francisco with our partners at Ignition Entertainment for their upcoming FPS Blacklight: Tango Down. It’s always fun doing hands-on with competitive shooters – me loves to pwn media.
So, what’s BLTD, you ask? The short of it is this — a multiplayer-focused, Unreal Engine 3-powered, near-future FPS that will available only through digital download for an expected price of $15.
Yes – Unreal tech, tons of modes and maps PLUS co-op, for a quick $15. My nephew is pretty stoked about this one already. And rightfully so.
There is a good looking man in this photo. Unfortunately, he's the one IN the GAME.
So, we’ve been working with Square Enix on their upcoming Action-RPG NIER for quite a while now, releasing cool videos, feature assets packs and providing product demos. Sure, we haven’t said SQUAT about the story details… but we’ve been setting the stage for some big reveals.
But you know what? That wasn’t enough. Oh, no, we had to go all the way, and put a public face on the game. And that face? None other than MavPR Partner, Matt Frary.
BREAKING NEWS: PR Firm Finds Client’s Product to be “Awesome”
Ya ya… but in this case, it happens to be TRUE. If you haven’t seen the news and review pouring in about the ASTRO Gaming A30 Cross-Gaming Headsets, you’re missing out. Especially if you happen to be one of the following people on this earth:
Xbox360 or PS3 Gamer
PC Gamer
DS, PSP Gamer
iPod/iPhone, Blackberry User and Gamer
Skype User
Music Listener
Movie Watcher
OK, so I know you’re covered in that list. And if you are, than you already know how hard it is to find headphones that can let you listen and talk through Xbox Live, move to your PC, and then still be cool looking enough and flexible enough to plug into your iPhone and take out on the streets.
Today on CrispyGamer, writer Kyle Orland explores the somewhat complicated processes that video game PR people use in determining who and what outlets receive free review copies of games. It’s never an easy decision to cut someone off the list, that’s for sure, but there are time when you really don’t have a choice.
Maverick PR Partner Matt (me!) is quoted throughout the article, sharing his thoughts based on a decade of deciding where to send these “free goodies.”
Disclaimer: these “free goodies” may not be as fun as you think, as they may require you to spend 10-20 hours completing a game and another 5 or so hours crafting a “review” full of useful facts, features and moments of note, all supported with insightful opinions and references; at the end of which you will be strong-armed into choosing a – let’s face it – somewhat arbitrary number or letter to designate the “fun” you experienced while slogging through the aforementioned 10-20 hours of gameplay…
Anyway… read on at this link and enjoy the article. A quickie quote from the article featuring Matt:
“Some publishers … still refuse to expand their list and stick only to the ‘big’ players in the space,” Frary said. “This is really too bad, and they end up missing a massive, and growing, segment of the market. … [It's] particularly frustrating because when you look at the smaller videogame sites out there as a whole, they have a huge voice that reaches a critical audience that the larger outlets sometimes miss.”
Over on PR_Flak’s Flak Attak, I’m discussing the impact that emerging business models and added content is having on the media cycle for video games and how PR and press are having to adjust. Between DLC coverage widening the coverage window and “new to us” online game emerging in North America, there’s a lot of confusion as to what should be covered and how…
A <snip>:
This is where the next challenge for the VG media and VG PR professionals lies – to define the terms and options for covering what, by current definitions, is simply uncoverable.
Now that you understand the key ingredients, you’re ready to rock n’ roll! So let’s cover more hands-on material, namely, what you need to do to work effectively with your PD teams to secure great shots.
Do this wrong and you’ll get shots that aren’t perfect along with a PD team that thinks you’re a total idiot. Do it right… well, then you’ve got PR gold.
Over on PR_Flak’s Flak Attak, I take on the issue of MetaCritic and its misleading and distorting aggregation of review scores. It’s a major issue in our industry, and it can no longer be denied or tolerated.
I can’t tell you how many times I get emails from the development team after reviews post saying: “Hey! We got a B- on XXX site, but on MetaCritic it shows up as a 67! WTF!?!?” It happens all the time.
What I’d love to see is some kind of resolution that removes the obvious issues and allows editorial integrity to reign supreme. Hopefully we can find a way to get the scoring system fixed.
Meanwhile, here’s a <snip> for you, and be sure to head over there and check it out:
It comes down to a simple fact — MetaCritic casts a powerful shadow but it is constituted of editorial inaccuracy, factual distortions and unchecked subjectivity.
…our job as PR and Marketers is to create an
emotional connection with our target audience…”
Before we get into the details of my advice for acquiring and distributing great and effective screens successfully, I want to take a step back to take another look at the BIG PICTURE.
Previously, in Part I, I suggested that screen shots should be more than just literal representations of what a game looks like; it is PR’s responsibility to ensure they are memorable.
In this edition, we’ll cover the importance of injecting attitude instead of action and showing the fun of a game rather than the activity of playing.
Over on PR_Flak’s Flak Attak, I look back at the process and fun of creating MavPR’s first item of swag — the [Skullcap of BUZZ] winter beanie. From failed designs to some rules that YOU should should use for determining whether to proceed with spending money on creating swag for a game, it’s a fun and informative read.
A SNIP:
“Swag can be really great and impactful, but swag can also be a colossal waste of cash — cash that could otherwise be budgeted towards PR activities that have a chance of producing tangible results.
You don’t NEED swag, folks. You DO need product tours. I really hate to see PR or marketing create swag just to fulfill a bullet point from a PPT in the hopes of generating “coverage.” There won’t be coverage from your swag, people. No one is going to do a cover story on your custom-molded USB key, OK? Get over it.”
Head on over and check it out! And don’t waste money on swag that doesn’t work!
