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Pants? Yeah that’s right Pants. But bare in mind it is not just pants ohh no, there is lots lots more. Now before the chants of “Crazy foo” and “What in the blue hell is this?” begin to fill this thread just hear me out. What I am going on about is merchandise that is sold to do with computer games and all the other little extras of some sort.
The biggest one that I can think off is Nintendo’s Pokemon but I am sure that the cartoon came first and the game was another idea from the marketing team so I guess all the merchandise is for the cartoon just so happens that the game also got a lot of attention and merchandise. Maybe it could be argued that the game is a form of merchandise from the cartoon series. I for one dislike pokemon, it is the Microsoft of kids television, it is a poorly created cartoon (for today’s standards) and the idea behind “so much” merchandise aimed at children is just ridiculous. But that enough of that, lets move away and concentrate more on the games and the future of games (that’s what the topic is for) so what about merchandise with games? Is it good?
Is there a market for it? Should it be improved?
One of my first thoughts was to do with the music industry. The two industries (music and gaming) often get compared in different ways. I though of some of the merchandise that is available to do with music and bands, ranging from things from t-shirts to mugs and music books. So what about to do with games I here you ask? Well as far as I know the majority of games don’t have any extra merchandise released after or when a game is released. There are a few like MGS dog tags or toy figures but they aren’t what the people want. Like the free getaway t-shirt it is nice to get something a little more than just the game.
I for one would like to see more merchandise like T-Shirts, mugs, posters, books of early screen designs leading up to some final versions. One reason I think that we don’t see a lot of it is money. It is a risk making things if you are unsure as to whether people will buy it. All the merchandise I have seen is usually limited addition making it that little bit more appealing to buyers. But bare in mind that merchandise would also bring in extra cash to the developers, it may be just kept as profit or could be used on future products which would be good news for us.
One thing I think would be good for most games is a diary type book which shows the stages they went through and the decisions made during the games creation, showing early diagrams of characters, places etc and then in the end what they ended up with. Just something I think could sell well and that quite a few gamers would be interested in.
Now before I go on I would like to get one thing straight. I wouldn’t like to see developers let the standard of their games slip as they concentrate on merchandise as well. Make the merchandise after the game, in this day and age games are expected to be of a high standard, fail to meet these standards and the chances are it will sell very little copies and your merchandise will not sell to much either. If the quality of the game is at risk because of issues with the merchandise (or any other off the side project) then forget about it and concentrate fully on the game.
Right well back to the main idea, should merchandise be seen more in the gaming industry?
Many of you will be wondering about the pants issue from before (well those who managed to read this far) when I was young I remember having a pair of Super Mario pants, Sad I know but in their day they kicked major butt. A marketing idea to attract more money to the company (the whole idea of merchandising) and also giving customers those extra choices. I also had the pyjamas with Mario on them which were second favourite behind the Thomas the tank ones. But it reflects my idea that gaming style merchandise is a good thing.
Another downside could be that the merchandise is taken too far (pokemon) were ridiculous items are released in an attempt to blatantly rip people off with pointless items. Which could annoy people and prevent them from buying future merchandise products, they add the name pokemon to a product, up the price a little and watch the kids go crazy. Also developers could use money that would be better spent on games on merchandise instead which is not a good thing.
I have noticed card board cut outs which are good and no doubt sell well, books related to game have also been released but again only in small numbers for a few games. Is there a whole market that is waiting to be filled with gaming related merchandise?
There is also the whole retro look that keeps a lot of old gamers happy. Knowing that there Atari t-shirt or Commadore t-shirt is still there to remind them of there happy times playing away. Maybe it is just a fact that merchandise is only good when a console is ofrgoten about by most. When the few die hard fans want a little piece of history – a reminder of it all.
Merchandise has a lot of good points for companies, t-shirts, key rings and most products will no doubt have a name or logo which will also advertise the products to others (if someone sees a gamecube t-shirt or PS2 t-shirt the chances are they will take notice of it) No sure many seen my Mario pants but I’m sure the idea behind them was kind of similar. :-)
I guess there can be a link between merchandise and advertising but advertising could be a whole topic on its own (and I’ll not bore you with that) and I’m sure you all understand the concept of advertising (get noticed so that people know about you and buy your products). So my questions to you are these:
1. Do you have any gaming related merchandise? If so what?
2. Would you buy any if it was good?
I would like to see more decent stuff personally, the idea I mentioned at the start about the diary type book, t-shirts etc are all good too but there is also a lot of junk that not many people would really want to own unless they are a die hard fan.
I have seen the game related action figures, game related posters, mugs, cardboard cut outs, t shirts and some very strange adult themed merchandise which makes you a little scared of what the real idea behind the game is but all in all I think that some of it is worth owning and could sell well. I suppose you just need to know where to buy it, ukgamesmerchandise could be a thing of the future……
The biggest one that I can think off is Nintendo’s Pokemon but I am sure that the cartoon came first and the game was another idea from the marketing team so I guess all the merchandise is for the cartoon just so happens that the game also got a lot of attention and merchandise. Maybe it could be argued that the game is a form of merchandise from the cartoon series. I for one dislike pokemon, it is the Microsoft of kids television, it is a poorly created cartoon (for today’s standards) and the idea behind “so much” merchandise aimed at children is just ridiculous. But that enough of that, lets move away and concentrate more on the games and the future of games (that’s what the topic is for) so what about merchandise with games? Is it good?
Is there a market for it? Should it be improved?
One of my first thoughts was to do with the music industry. The two industries (music and gaming) often get compared in different ways. I though of some of the merchandise that is available to do with music and bands, ranging from things from t-shirts to mugs and music books. So what about to do with games I here you ask? Well as far as I know the majority of games don’t have any extra merchandise released after or when a game is released. There are a few like MGS dog tags or toy figures but they aren’t what the people want. Like the free getaway t-shirt it is nice to get something a little more than just the game.
I for one would like to see more merchandise like T-Shirts, mugs, posters, books of early screen designs leading up to some final versions. One reason I think that we don’t see a lot of it is money. It is a risk making things if you are unsure as to whether people will buy it. All the merchandise I have seen is usually limited addition making it that little bit more appealing to buyers. But bare in mind that merchandise would also bring in extra cash to the developers, it may be just kept as profit or could be used on future products which would be good news for us.
One thing I think would be good for most games is a diary type book which shows the stages they went through and the decisions made during the games creation, showing early diagrams of characters, places etc and then in the end what they ended up with. Just something I think could sell well and that quite a few gamers would be interested in.
Now before I go on I would like to get one thing straight. I wouldn’t like to see developers let the standard of their games slip as they concentrate on merchandise as well. Make the merchandise after the game, in this day and age games are expected to be of a high standard, fail to meet these standards and the chances are it will sell very little copies and your merchandise will not sell to much either. If the quality of the game is at risk because of issues with the merchandise (or any other off the side project) then forget about it and concentrate fully on the game.
Right well back to the main idea, should merchandise be seen more in the gaming industry?
Many of you will be wondering about the pants issue from before (well those who managed to read this far) when I was young I remember having a pair of Super Mario pants, Sad I know but in their day they kicked major butt. A marketing idea to attract more money to the company (the whole idea of merchandising) and also giving customers those extra choices. I also had the pyjamas with Mario on them which were second favourite behind the Thomas the tank ones. But it reflects my idea that gaming style merchandise is a good thing.
Another downside could be that the merchandise is taken too far (pokemon) were ridiculous items are released in an attempt to blatantly rip people off with pointless items. Which could annoy people and prevent them from buying future merchandise products, they add the name pokemon to a product, up the price a little and watch the kids go crazy. Also developers could use money that would be better spent on games on merchandise instead which is not a good thing.
I have noticed card board cut outs which are good and no doubt sell well, books related to game have also been released but again only in small numbers for a few games. Is there a whole market that is waiting to be filled with gaming related merchandise?
There is also the whole retro look that keeps a lot of old gamers happy. Knowing that there Atari t-shirt or Commadore t-shirt is still there to remind them of there happy times playing away. Maybe it is just a fact that merchandise is only good when a console is ofrgoten about by most. When the few die hard fans want a little piece of history – a reminder of it all.
Merchandise has a lot of good points for companies, t-shirts, key rings and most products will no doubt have a name or logo which will also advertise the products to others (if someone sees a gamecube t-shirt or PS2 t-shirt the chances are they will take notice of it) No sure many seen my Mario pants but I’m sure the idea behind them was kind of similar. :-)
I guess there can be a link between merchandise and advertising but advertising could be a whole topic on its own (and I’ll not bore you with that) and I’m sure you all understand the concept of advertising (get noticed so that people know about you and buy your products). So my questions to you are these:
1. Do you have any gaming related merchandise? If so what?
2. Would you buy any if it was good?
I would like to see more decent stuff personally, the idea I mentioned at the start about the diary type book, t-shirts etc are all good too but there is also a lot of junk that not many people would really want to own unless they are a die hard fan.
I have seen the game related action figures, game related posters, mugs, cardboard cut outs, t shirts and some very strange adult themed merchandise which makes you a little scared of what the real idea behind the game is but all in all I think that some of it is worth owning and could sell well. I suppose you just need to know where to buy it, ukgamesmerchandise could be a thing of the future……
As Whitestripes says, Pokemon the game came first (interestingly on a sidenote, it's inventor was a serious insect collector, which is what gave him the initial idea for the game). Once it was clear that it was a winner, Nintendo capitalised on it with the program/cards/lunchboxes etc.
There is a shed load of gaming merchandise. It's just that most of it never makes it outside of Japan, where the _serious_ obsessives (otaku) collect it all, well, obsessively. Even in the states, one of the big game chains GameStop (think Game but better) stocks a fair range of merchandise, not to mention a pretty impressive stock of retro software (8, 16 and 32/64-bit Sega and Nintendo games).
It just that the massmarket in the UK (i.e. Joe Numpty and his collection of FIFA games) won't support it. You should be able to find all that stuff online anyway, with any of the big importers. Check adverts in the back of Edge for a few decent places.
There is a shed load of gaming merchandise. It's just that most of it never makes it outside of Japan, where the _serious_ obsessives (otaku) collect it all, well, obsessively. Even in the states, one of the big game chains GameStop (think Game but better) stocks a fair range of merchandise, not to mention a pretty impressive stock of retro software (8, 16 and 32/64-bit Sega and Nintendo games).
It just that the massmarket in the UK (i.e. Joe Numpty and his collection of FIFA games) won't support it. You should be able to find all that stuff online anyway, with any of the big importers. Check adverts in the back of Edge for a few decent places.
Yeah I am aware what anime is. What I mean is with the technology available the pokemon episodes are not as good as the others we see around.
Still that isn't really the point, it is the range of merchandise available that was aimed purely at the kids.
Still that isn't really the point, it is the range of merchandise available that was aimed purely at the kids.
The game came first, the Pokemon episodes came after.
It isn't poorly made either, it's anime, surely you know what that is?
I had a Super Mario World T-Shirt, it ruled.
It isn't poorly made either, it's anime, surely you know what that is?
I had a Super Mario World T-Shirt, it ruled.
Pants? Yeah that’s right Pants. But bare in mind it is not just pants ohh no, there is lots lots more. Now before the chants of “Crazy foo” and “What in the blue hell is this?” begin to fill this thread just hear me out. What I am going on about is merchandise that is sold to do with computer games and all the other little extras of some sort.
The biggest one that I can think off is Nintendo’s Pokemon but I am sure that the cartoon came first and the game was another idea from the marketing team so I guess all the merchandise is for the cartoon just so happens that the game also got a lot of attention and merchandise. Maybe it could be argued that the game is a form of merchandise from the cartoon series. I for one dislike pokemon, it is the Microsoft of kids television, it is a poorly created cartoon (for today’s standards) and the idea behind “so much” merchandise aimed at children is just ridiculous. But that enough of that, lets move away and concentrate more on the games and the future of games (that’s what the topic is for) so what about merchandise with games? Is it good?
Is there a market for it? Should it be improved?
One of my first thoughts was to do with the music industry. The two industries (music and gaming) often get compared in different ways. I though of some of the merchandise that is available to do with music and bands, ranging from things from t-shirts to mugs and music books. So what about to do with games I here you ask? Well as far as I know the majority of games don’t have any extra merchandise released after or when a game is released. There are a few like MGS dog tags or toy figures but they aren’t what the people want. Like the free getaway t-shirt it is nice to get something a little more than just the game.
I for one would like to see more merchandise like T-Shirts, mugs, posters, books of early screen designs leading up to some final versions. One reason I think that we don’t see a lot of it is money. It is a risk making things if you are unsure as to whether people will buy it. All the merchandise I have seen is usually limited addition making it that little bit more appealing to buyers. But bare in mind that merchandise would also bring in extra cash to the developers, it may be just kept as profit or could be used on future products which would be good news for us.
One thing I think would be good for most games is a diary type book which shows the stages they went through and the decisions made during the games creation, showing early diagrams of characters, places etc and then in the end what they ended up with. Just something I think could sell well and that quite a few gamers would be interested in.
Now before I go on I would like to get one thing straight. I wouldn’t like to see developers let the standard of their games slip as they concentrate on merchandise as well. Make the merchandise after the game, in this day and age games are expected to be of a high standard, fail to meet these standards and the chances are it will sell very little copies and your merchandise will not sell to much either. If the quality of the game is at risk because of issues with the merchandise (or any other off the side project) then forget about it and concentrate fully on the game.
Right well back to the main idea, should merchandise be seen more in the gaming industry?
Many of you will be wondering about the pants issue from before (well those who managed to read this far) when I was young I remember having a pair of Super Mario pants, Sad I know but in their day they kicked major butt. A marketing idea to attract more money to the company (the whole idea of merchandising) and also giving customers those extra choices. I also had the pyjamas with Mario on them which were second favourite behind the Thomas the tank ones. But it reflects my idea that gaming style merchandise is a good thing.
Another downside could be that the merchandise is taken too far (pokemon) were ridiculous items are released in an attempt to blatantly rip people off with pointless items. Which could annoy people and prevent them from buying future merchandise products, they add the name pokemon to a product, up the price a little and watch the kids go crazy. Also developers could use money that would be better spent on games on merchandise instead which is not a good thing.
I have noticed card board cut outs which are good and no doubt sell well, books related to game have also been released but again only in small numbers for a few games. Is there a whole market that is waiting to be filled with gaming related merchandise?
There is also the whole retro look that keeps a lot of old gamers happy. Knowing that there Atari t-shirt or Commadore t-shirt is still there to remind them of there happy times playing away. Maybe it is just a fact that merchandise is only good when a console is ofrgoten about by most. When the few die hard fans want a little piece of history – a reminder of it all.
Merchandise has a lot of good points for companies, t-shirts, key rings and most products will no doubt have a name or logo which will also advertise the products to others (if someone sees a gamecube t-shirt or PS2 t-shirt the chances are they will take notice of it) No sure many seen my Mario pants but I’m sure the idea behind them was kind of similar. :-)
I guess there can be a link between merchandise and advertising but advertising could be a whole topic on its own (and I’ll not bore you with that) and I’m sure you all understand the concept of advertising (get noticed so that people know about you and buy your products). So my questions to you are these:
1. Do you have any gaming related merchandise? If so what?
2. Would you buy any if it was good?
I would like to see more decent stuff personally, the idea I mentioned at the start about the diary type book, t-shirts etc are all good too but there is also a lot of junk that not many people would really want to own unless they are a die hard fan.
I have seen the game related action figures, game related posters, mugs, cardboard cut outs, t shirts and some very strange adult themed merchandise which makes you a little scared of what the real idea behind the game is but all in all I think that some of it is worth owning and could sell well. I suppose you just need to know where to buy it, ukgamesmerchandise could be a thing of the future……
The biggest one that I can think off is Nintendo’s Pokemon but I am sure that the cartoon came first and the game was another idea from the marketing team so I guess all the merchandise is for the cartoon just so happens that the game also got a lot of attention and merchandise. Maybe it could be argued that the game is a form of merchandise from the cartoon series. I for one dislike pokemon, it is the Microsoft of kids television, it is a poorly created cartoon (for today’s standards) and the idea behind “so much” merchandise aimed at children is just ridiculous. But that enough of that, lets move away and concentrate more on the games and the future of games (that’s what the topic is for) so what about merchandise with games? Is it good?
Is there a market for it? Should it be improved?
One of my first thoughts was to do with the music industry. The two industries (music and gaming) often get compared in different ways. I though of some of the merchandise that is available to do with music and bands, ranging from things from t-shirts to mugs and music books. So what about to do with games I here you ask? Well as far as I know the majority of games don’t have any extra merchandise released after or when a game is released. There are a few like MGS dog tags or toy figures but they aren’t what the people want. Like the free getaway t-shirt it is nice to get something a little more than just the game.
I for one would like to see more merchandise like T-Shirts, mugs, posters, books of early screen designs leading up to some final versions. One reason I think that we don’t see a lot of it is money. It is a risk making things if you are unsure as to whether people will buy it. All the merchandise I have seen is usually limited addition making it that little bit more appealing to buyers. But bare in mind that merchandise would also bring in extra cash to the developers, it may be just kept as profit or could be used on future products which would be good news for us.
One thing I think would be good for most games is a diary type book which shows the stages they went through and the decisions made during the games creation, showing early diagrams of characters, places etc and then in the end what they ended up with. Just something I think could sell well and that quite a few gamers would be interested in.
Now before I go on I would like to get one thing straight. I wouldn’t like to see developers let the standard of their games slip as they concentrate on merchandise as well. Make the merchandise after the game, in this day and age games are expected to be of a high standard, fail to meet these standards and the chances are it will sell very little copies and your merchandise will not sell to much either. If the quality of the game is at risk because of issues with the merchandise (or any other off the side project) then forget about it and concentrate fully on the game.
Right well back to the main idea, should merchandise be seen more in the gaming industry?
Many of you will be wondering about the pants issue from before (well those who managed to read this far) when I was young I remember having a pair of Super Mario pants, Sad I know but in their day they kicked major butt. A marketing idea to attract more money to the company (the whole idea of merchandising) and also giving customers those extra choices. I also had the pyjamas with Mario on them which were second favourite behind the Thomas the tank ones. But it reflects my idea that gaming style merchandise is a good thing.
Another downside could be that the merchandise is taken too far (pokemon) were ridiculous items are released in an attempt to blatantly rip people off with pointless items. Which could annoy people and prevent them from buying future merchandise products, they add the name pokemon to a product, up the price a little and watch the kids go crazy. Also developers could use money that would be better spent on games on merchandise instead which is not a good thing.
I have noticed card board cut outs which are good and no doubt sell well, books related to game have also been released but again only in small numbers for a few games. Is there a whole market that is waiting to be filled with gaming related merchandise?
There is also the whole retro look that keeps a lot of old gamers happy. Knowing that there Atari t-shirt or Commadore t-shirt is still there to remind them of there happy times playing away. Maybe it is just a fact that merchandise is only good when a console is ofrgoten about by most. When the few die hard fans want a little piece of history – a reminder of it all.
Merchandise has a lot of good points for companies, t-shirts, key rings and most products will no doubt have a name or logo which will also advertise the products to others (if someone sees a gamecube t-shirt or PS2 t-shirt the chances are they will take notice of it) No sure many seen my Mario pants but I’m sure the idea behind them was kind of similar. :-)
I guess there can be a link between merchandise and advertising but advertising could be a whole topic on its own (and I’ll not bore you with that) and I’m sure you all understand the concept of advertising (get noticed so that people know about you and buy your products). So my questions to you are these:
1. Do you have any gaming related merchandise? If so what?
2. Would you buy any if it was good?
I would like to see more decent stuff personally, the idea I mentioned at the start about the diary type book, t-shirts etc are all good too but there is also a lot of junk that not many people would really want to own unless they are a die hard fan.
I have seen the game related action figures, game related posters, mugs, cardboard cut outs, t shirts and some very strange adult themed merchandise which makes you a little scared of what the real idea behind the game is but all in all I think that some of it is worth owning and could sell well. I suppose you just need to know where to buy it, ukgamesmerchandise could be a thing of the future……