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Xbox push for new Ben 10 title D3P ramps up heavy investment in Vilgax Attacks marketing for franchise’s 360 debut by James Batchelor D3PUBLISHER is targeting Xbox 360 owners with the marketing campaign for its next Ben 10 video game. Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks will be the first title in the successful franchise to be released on Microsoft’s console when it debuts on February 5th, 2010.
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market,” said marketing and PR exec Marlene Fitzsimmons. “With an attractive price point and an aggressive marketing campaign to capture family gamers, now is the obvious time to bring Ben 10 to the platform. “We’re heavily investing PR and marketing methods in this area to ensure we tap into the new Xbox family market, in
Microsoft invested heavily in expanding the 360 audience so now is the right time to bring Ben 10 to the platform.
Marlene Fitzsimmons, Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai Partners will distribute the game for D3P and is preparing a marketing campaign that will engage with this new audience, hoping to build on Microsoft’s successful gambits to broaden the console’s demographic. “Microsoft has heavily invested in expanding the audience of the Xbox 360 to include the growing family
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addition to marketing to the core audience on the other consoles.” The game’s launch on Xbox 360 – alongside versions for Wii, DS, PS2 and PSP – will coincide with the February half-term and the start of a brand new Ben 10 animated series on Cartoon Network, as well as the premiere of Alien Force on GMTV.
ACTIVISION: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was identified as the ‘most pirated game of 2009’ according to recent web reports. More than 4.1 million downloads were for the PC version, while 970,000 were for the Xbox 360 version.
The latest Ben 10 title marks the franchise’s first next-gen outing
D3P and Namco Bandai will be taking full advantage of the partnership between the publisher and Cartoon Network that has driven the success of previous Ben 10 titles. “With continued support from Cartoon Network, we’re aiming for a strong synchronised interactive marketing and PR campaign at
launch to work alongside the new episodes running on Cartoon Network,” Fitzsimmons added. “The franchise is still the hottest boys property, so we’re expecting the same great results we continue to see from previous Ben 10 games.” Namco Bandai Partners: 020 8222 9700
A4T scores licensing UK spells success deal with EA Sports for Nordic Games ACCESSORIES BRANDED by EA Sports Active and other EA Sports games will soon be available from A4T. The peripherals firm has signed produce a range of console and iPod kit based on the publisher’s flagship label. “We have steadily been increasing our focus on the licensed side of our business over the last couple of years and now believe that we have struck the ideal partnership with the world’s leading interactive entertainment software
company," said A4T MD Andrew Shephard. A4T sales and marketing director Bill Stirling added: “Our new relationship with EA really does open up some amazing opportunities for a range of realistic products that complement some of EA’s best known sport titles, whilst adding a bit more fun and realism along the way.” A4T will distribute the items into the UK and Ireland, Iberia, Nordic, Australasia and emerging markets. A4T: 01204 369 220
THQ: The publisher has secured an eight-year exclusivity deal to create more WWE-branded games. The company also reached a settlement with the US wrestling organisation over a long-running lawsuit that surrounded a joint toy and game licensing venture with Jakks Pacific.
NORDIC GAMES says the UK was a major part of its first year success in 2009. The company released games across a number of territories last year. Speaking to MCV, the firm’s sales and marketing director Nik Blower revealed that the publisher’s key titles recorded their best performances at UK retail, outselling neighbouring European markets. “It varies from title to title and from PS2 to Wii, but We Sing was strongest in the UK – although only just,” said Blower. “On the other hand, Kart Racer and Dance Party Wii were by far the strongest
CAPCOM: Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet 2, Super Street Fighter IV and Monster Hunter Tri have all been pushed back to Capcom’s next fiscal year. They will be released after April 1st so as to avoid the crowded Q1 season, the publisher said. MICROSOFT: A job advert has revealed that the platform holder is looking to bring Xbox Live enabled games to Windows Mobile. Meanwhile, Gears Of War has been added to the Xbox 360 service’s range of Games on Demand titles. DISNEY: The entertainment giant is now even bigger: its $4.3bn buyout of SpiderMan-owner Marvel has been approved by stockholders. Previously, the two have said their respective games businesses will not be impacted in the short-term.
We Sing sold well during Q4, says Nordic sales boss Blower
in the UK. We are also naturally successful in the Nordics, especially on PS2. “We sold out of We Sing at launch, we sold out our second shipment and now are doing our best to keep up with demand.” Nordic Games: +34 952 930 927
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