Message Received. People are awesome and Syrian Children need help. The sympathy factor is off the charts. I wonder how many just ignored the child.
Play with Disney in Times Square?
Did you ever want to experience a hallucination? Recently, Disney debuted an interactive billboard, similar to those found in the Netherlands, that use bystanders as part of a prerecorded video advertisement.
“This week, we’re not only shared some special moments from inside the parks but also a few from New York City. In case you missed it, hundreds of people joined in the fun on Times Square as we launched our first ever augmented reality event. Take a look.”
They call it “Augmented Reality,” I call it MAGIC!
I thought I might share this unique use of interactive advertisement. Enjoy.
Blood Bath Advertisement!
Found this little gem while running around the internet. I am always amazed by the unique placement of advertising. Last time I noted the living billboard. This time, HBO has made a point that the rivers will run with blood. Warner Bros. has made a fountain look like blood.
See the full story here.
http://collider.com/true-blood-viral-campaign-romania/12033/
Inventive or creepy – Contagion billboard made of bacteria
Here’s a disgusting but cool out-of-home ad: Warner Bros. Pictures Canada hired microbiologists and immunologists to create a one-of-a-kind billboard made of growing bacteria in an abandoned storefront window in Toronto—to promote Steven Soderbergh’s movie Contagion. On Aug. 28, the scientists inoculated two large Petri dishes with live bacteria—including penicillin, mold and pigmented bacteria—which rapidly grew to spell out the name of the movie on the board. Revolted passersby were assuaged by free passes to see Contagion and other themed prizes. Add this to the pile of impressive out-of-home executions we’ve been seeing lately.
Read the full article. http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/truly-infectious-contagion-billboard-made-bacteria-134695
iCan get paid with iCloud
While E3 2011 was going on a little fruit company made a big announcement. Apple launched iCloud on Monday. This world changing story made little more than a squeek in the 24 hour news cycle, but this launch changes the world of Intellectual Properties (IP) more than anyone has let on. The current way IP holders get paid is through a the sale. You buy a CD and the $17.95 you pay, pays the retailer, the distributor, record company, artists, and copyright holders. The argument has always been that when you pirate music you steal money from these individuals. This is true, until iCloud!
Now with iCloud those who have lost revenue from pirated music will be able to recoup some of the losses. The genius part of Apple’s iCloud is that it removes the physical media. Rather than having to have a file, you rent a temporary license to play songs from your iTunes Library. The fee you pay is distributed amongst those artists you have listened to. These fees that paid the retailer, distributor, record company, artists and copyright holders can be recouped by you just listening to them. At $2 per month, the amounts paid to IP holders will still be next to nothing to you buying the physical media files, but better than nothing.
E3 2011 – Day 2 wrapup
What does an Ambulance sound like?
Wii U, Wii U, Wii U!
Call the ambulance for XBox and Sony, Nintendo made some stunning announcements. Firstly, Nintendo teased a console and announced a controller. While not earth shattering, the controller which looks similar to a high end home theater remote does feature some amazing tech. While the thought of being able to suppliment my gaming with a second touch sensitive screen or continue playing by taking the game off the TV sounds great I could only think about $$$. How much will this controller cost? Furthermore, is this new WiiU able to work with multiple magic controllers? While future tech was interesting the best news was both based in reality and also through the window of the 3ds.
The Legend of Zelda: Symphony series sounds like a wonderful idea. I can’t wait to hear a full orchestra playing some of the most memorable music in video game history. What made Video Games Live amazing can only be made better when it focuses on a single game. From the world of the real to a simulated third dimension, the announcement of Starfox and MarioKart were not surprising. Lugi’s Mansion 2 was a true surprise. This sequel to the quirky original can only be better in the third dimension.
Some of my burning questions from yesterday were answered. Prototype 2 and the new Hitman game were shown. Still no new news about GTA 5 or HL2:E3
E3 2011 – Day 1 wrapup
E3 2011 Day 1
Yes I did! I sat through all of the first day press conferences and I’m not even a journalist. Why? I love the game industry, I love presentations, and I love set design. I’m still eagerly awaiting for Nintendo to release details of “project: cafe”. Ok… The morning started with Microsoft. While I do not own a Kinect and have only played up to Halo 2 and Gears of War 1, I found the highlight of the show to be Double Fine’s Sesame Street game. I know, before you say what about the awesome spoken dialogue tree of ME3 or what about the fact that you can use Kinect to play gunsmith the game on GR:FS. The Sesame Street game is something I was looking forward to.
When Kinect was anounced. Peter Molineux showed a tech demo named Mylo. Mylo was able to interact with you on a one to one ratio. He spoke, listened and reacted to what you did. This is something I saw in the Sesame Street Game on a base level. The posibilities of teaching children with interactive characters and not a tiger blew me away!
The next press conference was EA. While I’m looking forward to the canceled, not canceled, just a misunderstanding sequel to Mirrors Edge, EA showed off Battlefield 3. Built with the Frostbite 2 engine, this game looks amazing. The textures and lighting actually look too crisp to be real, but that comes from a man wearing glasses. EA also showed a brand new IP named ‘OverStrike’. This game looks over the top and reminds me a bit of Team Fortress 2. Additionally, Peter neglected to mention if Kinect integration might be available for Madden. I would like to call audibles.
The stand out title for EA was Rocksmith. I might actually have found the tool to help me learn Guitar. Visit the website to learn more about this edutainment game.
Then came Ubisoft. They are celebrating their 25th anniversary and wanted to make sure everyone knew. They kept showing a rendition of what the game might have looked like in 1986. Known for Assassins Creed, and the Splinter Cell franchises, Ubisoft showed off a beautiful Rayman sidescroller. It features hand drawn animation and a cartooney style that is oh so hip. My main gripe was the absence of Sam Fisher? Instead we get an overactive MC with questionable jokes and some rabbids that you can kick.
Finally, Sony! Somber and apologetic this was not the apology I was hopping for. I really wanted them to troll out Kevin Butler to make a joke about downloading porn. I can just imagine him clicking on a naughty link that brought PSN down. The true highlights for me were two. Firstly, two players one screen. Sony showed a very creative use for active shutter 3d tech. The ability to have two individual player screens from one TV. The idea of a switching display is pure genius! Secondly, cloud saving. With always on internet, this idea makes game portability between PS3 and PSVita amazingly easy.
I will address the concerns and benefits of the “cloud” on another rant.
Still missing from E3 2011 are news on the following.
- GTA 5
- Half-Life 2: Episode 3
- Mirrors Edge 2
- Kingdom Hearts 3 (just for x-play)
- Microsoft console updates – hardware, disk capacity
- Prototype 2
- THQ – Press Conf
- Valve Software – Completely missing from E3
- and Hitman
Google Offers Groupon A Way Out
I was reading about Google Offers. Currently in Beta and only in Portland, Google Offers aims to present localized coupons to it’s juggernaut mailing list. In my opinion Groupon was a bit too late marketing and expanding to be large enough to defend against imitators. First Living Social comes online and now Google. Unlike Twitter who expanded and grew almost overnight, Groupon has been slow to gain adoption. While they do offer amazing service to customers their business model is not unique enough to change the game.
Read the article “Watch out Groupon, here comes Google Offers” for more info.
Movie Review of Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
Quick Review of Atlas Shrugged: Part 1. While Rearden metal may be hardest metal on earth, this movie was soft on delivery. The film felt constrained by it’s own setup. Gas Prices are at $37/Gal. and Rail is now an affordable transport. Also setting it in 2016 meant that some truly beautiful Art Deco set pieces were absent. What could have been a Chinatown was railroaded into a Made for TV drama.
3rd Place Victory Eroded By Convenience
As you know McCafe’s, and other coffee sellers have been appearing lately to pounce on the Grandfather of modern branding, Starbucks. In a 2007 article By Nichola Groom, you can read the article here. Nichola points out that McDonalds is will be competing against Starbucks directly. Since then, Starbucks has closed stores and relaunched their brand.
I know why Starbucks is declining in market share. When they started they created what they called the 3rd place. The 3rd place is a place between home and work. When they began installing drive-thrus, they lost the uniqueness of the 3rd place. You could now get your coffee and head home.
There is no meeting, no social and no loyalty when you have no vested interest. McDonalds and others can compete with Starbucks on the basis of product and price, and in fact I do think that there are better coffee vendors out there.
Because of this dilution of the 3rd place Starbucks is now fighting for their life.