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A strange title you may be thinking? Well don’t worry; it is not the new “Italian midget flavour” from Pizza Hut.
Whilst shopping in Iceland the other day (the high-street frozen food emporium, not the country) I saw the range of “Frankie Dettori’s Frozen Pizzas” in one of the chest freezers and I thought to myself, “Mr. Dettori’s pizzas have a lot in common with many video games”.
Why? Well, it’s all about celebrity/ company endorsement.
In hiring the gregarious jockey, are the company who made the pizzas attempting to give their product a more authentic Italian feel? I wonder if these pizzas are any different to other frozen pizzas on the market or are they good quality that Frankie has had a hand in making to “mammas special recipe”?
Would those pizzas sell as well if an unknown Italian endorsed them? Probably not.
Back to video games then.
Fifa mainly relies on its official sponsorships and endorsements to sell many a game. Its main selling point is those official names and the actual game engine (the most important part) has pretty much remained the same for the last 4 or 5 years apart from steady graphical improvements.
Despite having no big advertising campaigns, ISS is always number one with the real footy game enthusiasts because it has superior gameplay, but more often than not, it is the latest Fifa game that tops the charts. The latest Fifa cash-in for this years World Cup will yet again be style & hype over substance and a massively over-hyped hit. Sure, Fifa does provide good atmosphere with those stadiums and real player names, but give me “Gagham”, “Greggs” & gameplay in ISS instead of “Beckham”, “Giggs” & cash-in of Fifa.
Harry Potter is to games what Frankie Dettori is to frozen pizzas, namely a big name that everyone seems to like.
Harry Potter has absolutely massive appeal and was milked for all it was worth. The video game was a poor cash-in, relying on the big name hype to sell it. And it did, as Potter went to number one in the charts and even achieved the coveted “Christmas number 1” (I think).
All this will happen again later this year when the new Potter film comes out, accompanied with bigger hype and yet another poor game tie-in.
These two games have been greatly helped because of big name endorsements.
However, it doesn’t always work…
David Beckham Soccer had huge hype, especially in the newspapers, where they kept showing pictures from the t.v advert (I never even saw the ad on t.v & I watch a lot of t.v!).
Yet, despite all this publicity, the game pretty much sunk without a trace.
I can imagine that the developers signed up Beckham straight after he scored that great & vital goal against Greece. After a couple of weeks of development, they released the game when Beckham was still the nations favourite son. But it didn’t work, as the shameless cash-in sunk, proving that the pull of a big name is not always big enough if the game is not up to scratch.
Colin Mcrae Rally was successful because Colin, co-driver Nicky Grist and his various driving teams like Subaru and Ford had an active input into the games rally physics engine. Colin Mcrae Rally was and still is a great game, and the celebrity endorsement helped it, but was not the most important thing because the gameplay and atmosphere were great.
Codemasters didn’t just get a famous name to plug their product like was the case in David Beckham Soccer.
I wonder how the new Tomg Raider game will turn out? If it’s not a huge next-generation improvement, many people will be disappointed. But it doesn’t really matter what the game is like, as it will go straight to the top of the charts anyway, and the developers will cash-in on their license to print money.
Are many games becoming too commercial and relying too heavily on big names to sell their products leading to a market flooded with movie tie-ins and other cash-ins?
Originality does still exist, but when Fifa, Harry Potter and Tomb Raider are still the biggest sellers, how long will it be before companies decide to go with the safer option of releasing a game with mass market appeal and a guaranteed sell and not a quirky and original game like Rez and Vib Ribbon?
And what do Frankie Dettori’s pizzas taste like?
Whilst shopping in Iceland the other day (the high-street frozen food emporium, not the country) I saw the range of “Frankie Dettori’s Frozen Pizzas” in one of the chest freezers and I thought to myself, “Mr. Dettori’s pizzas have a lot in common with many video games”.
Why? Well, it’s all about celebrity/ company endorsement.
In hiring the gregarious jockey, are the company who made the pizzas attempting to give their product a more authentic Italian feel? I wonder if these pizzas are any different to other frozen pizzas on the market or are they good quality that Frankie has had a hand in making to “mammas special recipe”?
Would those pizzas sell as well if an unknown Italian endorsed them? Probably not.
Back to video games then.
Fifa mainly relies on its official sponsorships and endorsements to sell many a game. Its main selling point is those official names and the actual game engine (the most important part) has pretty much remained the same for the last 4 or 5 years apart from steady graphical improvements.
Despite having no big advertising campaigns, ISS is always number one with the real footy game enthusiasts because it has superior gameplay, but more often than not, it is the latest Fifa game that tops the charts. The latest Fifa cash-in for this years World Cup will yet again be style & hype over substance and a massively over-hyped hit. Sure, Fifa does provide good atmosphere with those stadiums and real player names, but give me “Gagham”, “Greggs” & gameplay in ISS instead of “Beckham”, “Giggs” & cash-in of Fifa.
Harry Potter is to games what Frankie Dettori is to frozen pizzas, namely a big name that everyone seems to like.
Harry Potter has absolutely massive appeal and was milked for all it was worth. The video game was a poor cash-in, relying on the big name hype to sell it. And it did, as Potter went to number one in the charts and even achieved the coveted “Christmas number 1” (I think).
All this will happen again later this year when the new Potter film comes out, accompanied with bigger hype and yet another poor game tie-in.
These two games have been greatly helped because of big name endorsements.
However, it doesn’t always work…
David Beckham Soccer had huge hype, especially in the newspapers, where they kept showing pictures from the t.v advert (I never even saw the ad on t.v & I watch a lot of t.v!).
Yet, despite all this publicity, the game pretty much sunk without a trace.
I can imagine that the developers signed up Beckham straight after he scored that great & vital goal against Greece. After a couple of weeks of development, they released the game when Beckham was still the nations favourite son. But it didn’t work, as the shameless cash-in sunk, proving that the pull of a big name is not always big enough if the game is not up to scratch.
Colin Mcrae Rally was successful because Colin, co-driver Nicky Grist and his various driving teams like Subaru and Ford had an active input into the games rally physics engine. Colin Mcrae Rally was and still is a great game, and the celebrity endorsement helped it, but was not the most important thing because the gameplay and atmosphere were great.
Codemasters didn’t just get a famous name to plug their product like was the case in David Beckham Soccer.
I wonder how the new Tomg Raider game will turn out? If it’s not a huge next-generation improvement, many people will be disappointed. But it doesn’t really matter what the game is like, as it will go straight to the top of the charts anyway, and the developers will cash-in on their license to print money.
Are many games becoming too commercial and relying too heavily on big names to sell their products leading to a market flooded with movie tie-ins and other cash-ins?
Originality does still exist, but when Fifa, Harry Potter and Tomb Raider are still the biggest sellers, how long will it be before companies decide to go with the safer option of releasing a game with mass market appeal and a guaranteed sell and not a quirky and original game like Rez and Vib Ribbon?
And what do Frankie Dettori’s pizzas taste like?
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Quite a funny post as well as good.
Well done on the GAD.
Well done on the GAD.
Sadly I tasted said pizza the other day and it was bloody awful.
I had a 'chicken diabalo' pizza. It was absolutely rammed full of the peppers from hell.
It nearly blew my head off. Which is fine if you like that kind of thing.
Also the topping was placed on top of what can only be described as industrial strength cardboard.
So there you go. Steer well clear.
Although i can't dis Frankie 'cos he's an Arsenal fan.
I had a 'chicken diabalo' pizza. It was absolutely rammed full of the peppers from hell.
It nearly blew my head off. Which is fine if you like that kind of thing.
Also the topping was placed on top of what can only be described as industrial strength cardboard.
So there you go. Steer well clear.
Although i can't dis Frankie 'cos he's an Arsenal fan.
Well done. It certainly entertained me...
Haha!
That was very funny!
Well worth the GAD you got for it!
;-) Nice one!
That was very funny!
Well worth the GAD you got for it!
;-) Nice one!
Lol, nice one on winning. I still aint going near his Pizza's though..
This is a talent I lack. If I see celebrity endorsed snacks in shops, I write about that, instead of turning it into an informative computer games related topic of discussion that gives me a chance of winning a game. Well done Totoro.
Hey, itsa no problemo!
Thanks for choosing this topic as the GAD SR!
Also a special thanks must go out to Mr. Frankie Dettori, for without your delicious looking range of brand name cash-in frozen pizzas, i would never have had the inspiration to write this post!
Also a special thanks must go out to Mr. Frankie Dettori, for without your delicious looking range of brand name cash-in frozen pizzas, i would never have had the inspiration to write this post!
Oh No! ... Mr Snugglys got 'the shinning!'
(ad apparantly I've turned into a lemming!?)
(ad apparantly I've turned into a lemming!?)
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