What is Digg?66 Comments
- TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+58A case study in game prices.......its amazing that games that are just as simple as BK games sell for $40+
- piper999, on 10/12/2007, -2/+33The increase in profit came from the increased sales of their 'food' (used in the loosest sense of the word) not sales of the games.
The games were good and every time I played them I got a craving for Burger King products. Its just a pity their burgers are so crap and my local Burger King is so filthy and soul destroyingly depressing that I can't bring myself to go there even under the influence of Sneak King. - HaltingPoint, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26I think a large part of this is due to FANTASTIC advertising and branding from their ad agency Crispin Porter+Bogusky. I'm an ad exec and while yes, the game sales did definitely drive store traffic, it is bigger than that. What CP+B have managed to do is make the entire brand go viral through the use of the King. Its not just that the King is a funny brand icon, its the way they've managed to get him insinuated into so many relevevant parts of modern culture and the fact that they managed to do it without drawing out the ill will of people screaming things about advertising being evil.
The King campaign of CP+B's is a case study that EVERY marketing, advertising and PR student should be made to study. Those are people who know how to do things right. And no, I don't work for them or BK, however I did used to work on a large fast food account and we had a similar icon that had successfully helped the brand, yet the client never let us push it to its full potential.
Believe me when I say that it takes CORPORATE BALLS OF STEEL to let the King do half the things he's done. How many CEOs and CMOs do you think want to have their brand mascot be recognized for being a creepy pervert? - TekeeTakShak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19People really don't understand that 40% is HUGE in the business world.
- n3tfury, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14"No, I'm, actually serious folks, I'll be here 'til eight."
is that your bedtime? - bjkrautk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9It shows that there is demand for these kinds of budget games outside of the XBox Live Marketplace.
Heck, I bought a copy of Sneak King....and I don't know if I'm ever going to buy a 360! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6If lost planet cost $4 it would sell that many too.
- Paroparo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I hope this encourages little developers to make innovative low-budget games, and sell them for under 30€. I'm sure the rise of purchasing games digitally via Xbox Live, Wii's Virtual Console, and whatever the PS3 has will help in the process.
- synaesthesia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Advertisers look at videogames and wonder "how can we get in on this". The answer isnt by throwing your product ads into preexisting games, its by creating fun and inexpensive games hawking your product that people will actually get a kick out of playing. I paid Burger King ten bucks to advertise to me through 3 videogames, you cant beat that.
- DiggityDugged, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8yeah, im not sure if it will help or hurt the industry tho. more restaurant games could be fun for a year or two, but it might get old quick
- infimprob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Contrary to popular belief the games are actually quite addictive. I was at a LAN recently and there were 6 X Boxes, 2 PS2's, and 2 X Box 360's, all eight of us were huddled around one 360 watching two gamers playing BumpKing. It was insanely fun and addictive.
- Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Um, maybe that profit figure has something to do with the fact that Burger King finally stopped selling Whoppers in the last of their stores for 99 cents. Those things had been on sale for something like 14 years! Now, they cost about $2.50.
- eqisow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4HaltingPoint - "I'm an ad exec"
http://sennoma.net/main/edits/Hicks.html - vypergts, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Flourish!
- waynesun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Profits are Sneak King into their pockets.
Sorry, couldn't resist. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4These games will probably become collectors items. I'm sure there are people who bought them and didn't open them for that reason alone.
- kpwells, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I also agree...and I have pocket bike racer..most fun I've had on a racing game with my friends since mariokart...and it was like $3
- Wisgary, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Angry Nintendo Nerd reviews McKids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVBerX6Dzmc - DiggityDugged, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I completely agree with Parokki - i think smaller PS3 and 360 games for 30 bucks would be awesome. A lot of big name games are already wayyy too small as it is - if smaller developers were willing to take the chance and make a small game for next gen consoles, then i'd be willing to take the chance to buy it if it were that cheap. i doubt it will happen tho.
- ryogahibiki, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4How much you wanna bet that we'll soon be seeing similar low-priced games at McDonalds, Carls Jr., KFC, etc. Microsoft would be smart to help encourage sales of these games as much as possible to help push the xbox 360.
- CrispyPassion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I still own a game called "McKids" for the NES. It was was full of McDonald's propaganda. Although I must admit, it was a blast. One of my favorite NES games.
- piper999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@haltingpoint
Your analysis is spot on about this. The games were so good mostly because they were just so relentlessy creepy and I've never seen any other big company do something so bizarre before.
However, you have used the phrase 'make the entire brand go viral' without any signs of either irony or shame. Its this kind of thing that results in 'all I want for Christmas is a PSP' type activity from marketing executives :) - davidrools, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The minibike game is sweet. I haven't played sneak king yet and the bumper car one is kinda lame.
Anyway, there's nothing that'll take you to the grave quicker than chomping down a BK quad-stacker and sitting on your ass playing video games all day. - BigSlacker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+33.2 million households apparently.
- yellekc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Another great advertainment game was pepsiman for the PSX
http://www.ex.org/4.5/55-game_pepsiman.html
I think video games are a great advertising tool, and have no problem with these types of games, because you know what your getting into. I would hate it in a $50 game however. - thunderhammer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I can't wait to see a game called "Avoid the Noid"
- d0ppler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6FWIW, the games may have been a part of this, but they did not drive all the income growth.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/01/30/ap3377747.html - astroman74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@eqisow
much diggs for anyone who uses Bill Hicks references, the man ruled. - Kale, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@wild: There are marketing techniques to analyze how well advertising is impacting your business, but these results have high confidence intervals and are not always accepted verbatim. A method does exist, though.
- HaltingPoint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2*sigh* Anybody who sees the word advertising and immediately points to Bill Hicks has just proved that they have ZERO understanding of the industry as a whole. Yes, there are shady people who annoy the ***** out of consumers. Welcome to every industry known to man. Advertising is a necessary part of today's business world and I have yet to have someone present a logical argument proving otherwise.
As to the comment on my usage of the term "viral"...it is industry jargon. It is defined as something that spreads by word-of-mouth. I know it sounds like just another buzzword to you, but its not and is indeed something quite tangible, so get over it. - EochaidRiata, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Will McDonalds follow suit with a kart and fighting game with Ronald McDonald, Mayor McCheese, Birdie the Early Bird, Hamburglar, Grimace, Captain Crook, Big Mac, Fry Guys/Fry Kids, Uncle O'Grimacey and Mac Tonight?
- edstate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Almost as amazing as what they've done to VW and Orville Redenbacher
- washcapsfan37, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Hail to the King, baby.
- doctorcaligari, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Kool-Aid Man for the Atari 2600 FTW!!!
- eqisow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I found the video. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo - rhombusleech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@thunderhammer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoid_the_Noid
From wiki: "Avoid the Noid is a platform computer game for the Commodore 64 and DOS operating system, written in 1989 to promote Domino's Pizza." - mhass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What Crispin Porter + Bogusky has done for Burger King is amazing.
- nypix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You should buy the other games as well since they work on a regular XBOX.
If you need more encouragement to own one look up XBMC and the emulation possibilities on the old XBOX. - HaltingPoint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Electricgrandpa, thank you for the comment, but don't waste your time with this troll.
Piper, you missed my point. And for the record I'm WELL aware of all the attempted viral ***** that Sony tried. I'm not sure which gained more viral buzz...the initial site or the backlash. Probably the backlash. In any event, my point was that you seemed to think the term "viral" is not a seriously used term from the tone of your comment. I wanted to explain that it was and why it was.
And why does it matter if any of my stories reach the front page? I'm sorry, my life doesn't revolve around Digg nearly quite as much as yours apparently does. My blog is not a source of income for me so I do not focus my efforts on generating traffic for it.
But your final sentence really sums up your whole goal....to troll Digg. Enjoy living in your delusional world where everything is black and white and you are always right. - nypix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The games are surprisingly fun and well worth the money.
The only problem is Sneak King gets old real fast but it's still worth 4 bucks. - shaneau, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Like Pizza Hut in Australia (not sure about anywhere else) sometimes gives away free DVD's and PC Games (like The Sims 2 + Expansion, Battlefield 2, Need For Speed: Most Wanted) - I wonder if they make much from that.
http://pizzahut.com.au/images/general/a0poster.jpg - handleonthis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah, either that or it was the e.coli outbreak at Taco Bell.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yo! Noid for the NES was greatness.
- ElectricGrandpa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Dear piper999, you come off as way more of an egotistical jerk than HaltingPoint does.
- MacNyce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's not hard to assume a four dollar video game could sell millions of copies, if Gears of War (best game ever for 360) were four bucks, I guarantee it would outsell the bk titles.
- malice8691, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its the pricing. Who wouldnt buy one for 3.99.
- curtis87xc03, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If someone has Big Bumpin and hasnt opened it they should. If you get a few people toghether that game is fun for hours.
- YellowJKT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1PEP PEP.. PEP-SI MAAAAAN!!!
hahaha that game was friggin awesome. Pepsi for TV game! - Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2You can't compare sales of two items if one costs 20x as much as the other.
- MrFlesh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Just goes to show that you don't have to simulate the 5 o'clock shadow and every pimple on some dudes face for it to be fun. In truth though the reason graphics is pushed so much as the standard for game quality is because it's the easiest thing to produce....opposed to originality, plot, and entertainment. Rock bottom pricing helps also....it's the main thing driving the success of the wii.
-
Show 51 - 65 of 65 discussions
The Digg Toolbar for Firefox lets you Digg, submit content, and keep track of Digg even when you're not on the Digg site. Download the official 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is 