Wolf Tracking

I am not an avid gamer. I’ve dabbled into the world of Grand Theft Auto and Ultimate Fighter, graduated from novice to “knowing what I’m doing” while playing Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, and of course my Wii Bowling League had me ranked in 3^rd place at the end of our recent season. But, just as with any industry, especially in entertainment, unless we’re a part of the insider group, consumers only begin to build buzz about new products and look deeper into an industry when press coverage spills out of only trade and into mainstream and social media.

This week, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, kicked off in Santa Monica – the event where enthusiasts of the gaming entertainment world get super geeked up for sneak peeks and launches of new consoles and software.

The heavy hitters, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, who I will refer to as the Gaming Gods, lead the annual event with anticipated genius. In past years the E3 event was known as somewhat of a spectacle, including massive laser light shows and mammoth sized booths at the Los Angeles Convention Center packed with sound systems and “booth babes”. This year however, E3 was split up between multiple Santa Monica and Los Angeles venues. The reasoning was to bring the focus back on the games and less on the “show” (Many of us PR folks wouldn’t agree with this move, but hey what do we know, right?!?). Microsoft dared to be different by staging their press event at a high school amphitheater – why?

A recent CNN article summed up that PR effort quite nicely “With the format for this year’s event designed to cut down on the number of rabid gamers who would inevitably sneak their way into the convention center, what better way to keep prying teenage eyes away from what you’re eventually going to be marketing to them in the Fall than by setting up at the one place they wouldn’t be caught dead near in the middle of July?”.

So what’s being discussed at this years event?

• Microsoft is introduced its highly anticipated XBOX 360 game, Halo 3, the first person shooter conclusion to the Halo Trilogy.

• Microsoft also announced that they are partnering with Disney to bring the studio’s library of films to the XBOX Live Marketplace. Microsoft says that with the expansion into the video-on demand marketplace, they expect to expand their online community to 10-million members by this time next year.

• And of course for the Madden lovers, New Orleans Saints star running-back Reggie Bush helped show off this year’s edition of EA’s Madden ‘08. The word at the expo is that Bush might be just as good with an XBOX controller as he is on the field.

Even though E3 toned down the production of this years event, consumers are still in a chatter this week about what “The Gods” have cooked up for electronic entertainment junkies. Closing my point about the importance industry events can be for building brands and creating buzz, even while subtracting lasers and babes. Game on.

I’ve never been as obsessive about video games as most of my friends, in fact I’ve never bought a video game console. It’s not that I don’t like playing video games, I can get as addicted as the next guy once you hand me a controller or Wiimote. I just haven’t seen the need to spend hundreds of dollars to get a console and library of games that I’ll probably ignore within five years.

There are millions of people just like me who haven’t seen the need to keep up with latest video game consoles, particularly as the competition to attract hardcore gamers with graphics and elaborate roleplaying scenarios made the games too complicated for casual players to enjoy. That’s why Nintendo’s strategy to get out of the graphics rat race and simplify their games was such a brilliant stroke - rather than compete directly with Sony and Microsoft for a limited market, they broke down the walls of that market and went after all the neglected fans like me who prefer simplicity.

Last week at E3, the premier video game event of the year, Microsoft made a few announcements that show they’re not going to let the Wii keep all the unconventional gamers for themselves. This includes adding family-focused games like “Scene It?”, complete with less intimidating controllers. But the announcement that caused the most chatter was their partnership with Disney to offer 35 movies for download through the Xbox.

It’s no secret that the Xbox’s endgame is to become the central item of a full entertainment system in the digital home, and in that quest Microsoft will find itself butting heads with numerous media heavyweights. Cable giants such as Comcast and Time Warner are currently the main source of television entertainment in the home, and will fight tooth and nail to squash “over-the-top” threats to their position from Xbox, Apple TV and Vudu.

And what is there left to say about the PS3? It’s been a rapid fall from grace for Sony, who had astounding successes with the first two Playstation consoles but now can’t seem to find customers outside of the diehards who waited in line for over a week to get their calloused thumbs on a $600 monstrosity. As with the Xbox, the PS3 had a higher purpose for its parent company: tipping the scales of consumer favorability towards their Blu-Ray standard for hi-def DVDs. Yawn.

So do any of these changes make a skeptic like me actually want to buy my first video game console? I’m actually more intrigued by the news that there’s a new version of Mariokart on the way, complete with a wireless “Wii Wheel” to play the game, than the prospect of adding a third device into my home that can play movies. In other words, Nintendo is the only console manufacturer that doesn’t see their device as a stepping stone to larger media ambitions, so it’s no surprise that the Wii has proven to be most popular with today’s consumers. I hope it’s not too late to add it to my wedding registry.