Scaper-X
05-08-2006, 7:27 PM
I suppose this is more of a concept for the whole of the online gaming world. What started as me on IRC divulging chakl's attempt to raid Flagship Studio's HQ for a copy of their latest Hellgate: London build led to a bit of a freak brainstorm. No doubt people are used to seeing toys in kiddie meals at their local fast food restaurants that fit the recent big-budget blockbuster or little goodies featuring the likeness of Saturday morning cartoon characters. Then the good people at McDonalds thought up a damn clever idea: why not use a popular board game to sell MORE food? And thus you have had however many rounds of the Monopoly game where customers collect "game pieces" to try to win prizes.
Here's where gaming comes in. You're playing online with your droogs, you get hungry, you go out to your local popular chain fast food restaurant. You eat your value meal and find a code on the bottom of the packaging with your game's logo on it. You punch in the code at the game's website, your characters in game get +5 stamina for a time period. Twisted as this might sound, bastardly as the marketing deal might be, tell me gamers wouldn't totally go for it.
It wouldn't only serve as a way for players to achieve a closer connection to their characters (they're hungry, they eat, their character gets a buff as if IT ate), it could also help prevent more games from resorting to monthly fees, assuming the concept really took off and was mutually beneficial for the chain restaurant and the game studio.
Naturally, there'd be a host of complaints about the commercializing of games. Thing is, I think your generic gamer of the non-hardcore variety would look past that and simply see a chance to have a better time playing by buying crap they already do.
Leaves one to wonder: what would the bonus be for buying, say, condoms (charisma?), computer accessories (weapon prowess?), or windshield washing fluid (not a clue?).
-- Scaper-X
Here's where gaming comes in. You're playing online with your droogs, you get hungry, you go out to your local popular chain fast food restaurant. You eat your value meal and find a code on the bottom of the packaging with your game's logo on it. You punch in the code at the game's website, your characters in game get +5 stamina for a time period. Twisted as this might sound, bastardly as the marketing deal might be, tell me gamers wouldn't totally go for it.
It wouldn't only serve as a way for players to achieve a closer connection to their characters (they're hungry, they eat, their character gets a buff as if IT ate), it could also help prevent more games from resorting to monthly fees, assuming the concept really took off and was mutually beneficial for the chain restaurant and the game studio.
Naturally, there'd be a host of complaints about the commercializing of games. Thing is, I think your generic gamer of the non-hardcore variety would look past that and simply see a chance to have a better time playing by buying crap they already do.
Leaves one to wonder: what would the bonus be for buying, say, condoms (charisma?), computer accessories (weapon prowess?), or windshield washing fluid (not a clue?).
-- Scaper-X