Blog Report: December 8th

Official U.S. Playstation Blog
Announcing the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge
Stephanie Yoshimoto // Senior Product Marketing Manager
December 3rd, 2009
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/12/announcing-the-gran-turismo-5-time-trial-challenge/

We spoke a little about how Gran Turismo has an interesting marketing model within the United States and this post re-affirms that notion, but leaves out an interesting fact. With the release of the new Demo for GT5, Sony is offering the US & Canada the opportunity to compete on leader boards in a time trial. The Grand Prize for this is “round trip airfare and hotel accommodations for two (winner and guest) to attend the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, a.k.a. the Indy 500, on May 30, 2010. It doesn’t end there, because the winner and guest also get a VIP package which includes two (2) all-access passes for Carb Day – which includes the final Indy 500 practice, pit stop competition, special concert festivities, special event car rides in the 2010 Indy 500 event vehicle, as well as all-access passes to the garage, pit area, and Victory Lane for pre- and post-race celebrations for the race and two (2) VIP suite tickets” That being said I looked into what Europe was being offered, as they are more avid racing fans, than the Nascar following in the U.S. and they are getting a much more interesting offer. It is posted across various Blogs, but European gamers on the other hand will have the opportunity to receive a “full racing contract” via a program known as the Gran Turismo Academy. The previous winner is actually starting his professional racing career and recently placed 2nd at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal. Think about it, one weekend at Nascar is fun, but the opportunity to play a videogame and become a professional race car driver is priceless. Wonder why we North Americans are not allowed to compete?

Gamasutra – Substitute for Set on Stun
What Gamers Think About Microtransactions
Daniel Kromand
December 3rd, 2009
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4207/what_gamers_think_about_.php?page=3

Microtransactions are the driving force behind the “free to play” genre emerging in the industry of video games. The idea is that, a user is allowed to play a portion of the game if not all the game for free and content can be unlocked by paying a premium. This content usually relates to character development, allowing users to take shortcuts when making progress in the game, by simply paying to get ahead. The problem some companies are running into, is balancing these transactions so it does not inhibit those that choose to work for the content in game or those that receive the content by paying, are getting a fair deal. Looking at a couple of examples, there are a few different ways these things are balanced. Typically, all the content one can purchase with a microtransaction can be found playing the games. That way, it doesn’t allow people who pay to have a competitive advantage over those that don’t. Another model lets you rent the content, say pay for the content based on the number of hours you can use it or number of times. Take a in game weapon, some allow players to rent one for x number of realtime hours, or game hours, or number of times you can battle with it. When any of these constraints are reached, the content disappears, along with your money. Not sure how I feel about this, since I have yet to participate in a game that follows this model, but it seems like the future for some markets in the industry.