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History of video games/Media/Marketing

< History of video games

1970s

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Advertisement for the 1976 Sega game Fonz. The quarters in the background and language of the advertisement emphesized the profit the game would generate - something that would appeal to the owner, but not nessicarily the gamer.

Video and computer games were generally not intended for direct purchase and use by mass market gamers in the 1970's. What ads did exist at the time were typically aimed at arcade owners, and emphesized qualites that would appeal to the manager of the venue, rather then directly to the gamer.

Television advertisements for the Magnavox Odyssey are aired beginning in 1972 and 1973.[1][2] Advertising efforts on television include using commercials and product placement on game shows such as What's my Line.[2][1] Marketing for the system has many obstacles, and has to explain what the system does to an audience who is unfamiliar with electronic games or closed circuit television add ons.[1]

1980s

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Game box artwork

1990s

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A 1993 game demo floppy disk distributed in the magazine Amiga Format. Demo disks gave gamers a chance to play small portions of full retail releases for free or for minimal price, especially before digital downloads were common.

Pepsi released the PlayStation 1 advergame Pepsiman in March, 1999 to advertise Pepsi soft drinks in Japan.[3][4][5]

2000s

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In 2007 Mountain Dew Game Fuel is introduced to cross promote Halo 3 for the Xbox 360, achieving wild success.[6]

2010s

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App icon for the game Furmins. Icons such as this were used to grab attention on mobile phone app stores.

Many restaurants used the mania surrounding Pokémon Go in 2016 to promote their business.[7]

2020s

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Early in 2020 Burger King attracted negative attention for advertising on Twitch channels by using donation shout outs, instead of conventional marketing arrangements, effectively using a tool for fans to undercut the streamer.[8] In late 2020 Wendy's began working with twitch streamers.[9]

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    DVD-ROM box cover art for the game King's Crusade. Cover art was an important part of marketing games in a physical retail setting.
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    Marketing for The Last of Us Part II on a train in 2020.
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    Box art for the indie game Celeste. Box art is used to advertise the game to consumers in stores, both physical and online.

References

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Wikipedia has related information at Advertising in video games

  1. ↑ a b c "In Search of the First Video Game Commercial". Video Game History Foundation. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  2. ↑ a b Barela, Anne (19 December 2018). "The Magnavox Odyssey Commercial from 1972 #VintageComputing #Gaming". Adafruit Industries - Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers!. https://blog.adafruit.com/2018/12/19/the-magnavox-odyssey-commercial-from-1972-vintagecomputing-gaming/. 
  3. ↑ "No Corporate Mascot Will EVER Be as Bizarre as Pepsiman". CBR. 2 March 2020. https://www.cbr.com/weird-corporate-mascot-pepsiman/. 
  4. ↑ "10 Classic PS1 Games That Are Still Stuck In Japan". TheGamer. 4 January 2020. https://www.thegamer.com/best-classic-playstation-one-games-stuck-japan-only-exclusive/. 
  5. ↑ "Pepsiman: PlayStation's Strangest Moment? - IGN" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/03/10/pepsiman-playstations-strangest-moment. 
  6. ↑ "God, Halo 3 Mountain Dew Was Awesome". TheGamer. 1 February 2020. https://www.thegamer.com/halo-3-red-mountain-dew-game-fuel-nostalgia/. 
  7. ↑ Filloon, Whitney (11 July 2016). "How Restaurants Are Dealing With Pokémon Go Mania" (in en). Eater. https://www.eater.com/2016/7/11/12148020/pokemon-go-gyms-restaurants. 
  8. ↑ "Twitch: The streamers furious at Burger King". BBC News. 22 August 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53862091. 
  9. ↑ Zhang, Jenny G. (7 December 2020). "Wendy’s Makes Play for Gamer Market by Partnering With Popular Twitch Streamers" (in en). Eater. https://www.eater.com/22158698/wendys-partners-with-uber-eats-fortnite-for-ps5-xbox-series-x-giveaway. 
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