Video game marketing and TV commercials have come a long way since I’ve been a gamer. We’ve gone from these “corny” Zelda commercials (I say “corny” lovingly, because at the time I thought they were pretty awesome) to having a “World Premier Trailer” show up during an NBA playoff game. We’ve gone
As I’ve been thinking about it, I’ve also been thinking a little about marketing these games to kids. To be fair, those Zelda commercials were targeted to kids (albeit older kids) and maybe that’s why, twenty-five years later, they appear corny to my jaded eyes. But now, during the holiday season, I have become more acutely aware of how kids are targeted from all sides with commercials and marketing geared specifically for their attention. And it works. With the date of a hot new game release approaching, you can bet that the promotional efforts for the game will seemingly become more amplified. It seems like every time you walk into electronics section at Wal-Mart and other major stores, there are employees and displays with various products to offer as a promotion resource for the latest new videogame. If I were a kid, how could I resist.
They are effective. I recently read this good article by JP Sherman at the Escapist and suggest everyone go read. What struck me the most telling was that web advertising is still the wild frontier. While there is hardly any marketing of violent video games to kid audiences, websites that kids frequent still routinely show ads for M-rated games. Even shows that cater to the younger teenagers have decreased their advertising of violent video games, which was a surprise to me.
In the end, it’s still about monitoring not only the content our kids are consuming, but what is on the periphery as well. We let our kids use sites like Kizi, which houses tons of flash-based games, but the ads are still troublesome. We still look to find ways to let them have fun online but maintain that safety net at the same time.
I’d love to hear any techniques you guys use. Or sites you have found to be mostly safe.