7 11
Latest
Amazon's 7-Eleven lockers are very real, very gray, slated for Friday activation
After an arduous expedition that must've lasted hours, an intrepid frontiersman in the Seattle area has finally unearthed the Holy Grail of convenience store cubbies -- Amazon's elusive delivery locker, at 7-Eleven. GeekWire's John Cook discovered the prototype lockers at a 7-Eleven in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, where store clerks told him that the system wouldn't be activated until Friday. According to Cook's description, the setup consists of about 40 different sized containers, centered around a keypad and monitor (neither of which was illuminated during his visit). All told, the array of P.O. Box-style cabinets stands about seven feet tall and is completely devoid of Amazon branding. The in-store pick-up program may roll out of a nationwide basis next summer, but you can check out a photographic sneak preview at the source link, below.
T-Mobile announces deal to sell prepaid at Family Dollar, costs more than a dollar
A Radio Shack lost is a Family Dollar gained. Now that T-Mobile's ended its allegiance with The Shack, the carrier's looking for a few new companies willing to hoist its prepaid service up on a pedestal. Family Dollar, following in the footsteps of 7-Eleven, will be the next business to dole out the LG GS170 blister packs on T-Mo's behalf. The phones will be sold for $30 and come with a $50 / month plan that consists of unlimited calls, texts, and 100MB data. With such a large emphasis now being placed on its no-contract offerings, we can't help but wonder if this is the result of T-Mobile making an adjustment in its strategy. Any other companies want a piece of the prepaid pie? The press release can be found beneath the break.
Nexon's Daniel Kim talks demographics, pre-paid gaming cards
Our friends at Joystiq recently spoke with Nexon CEO Daniel Kim about the runaway success that is the company's pre-paid gaming card program. While Nexon is a well-established gaming powerhouse outside of the U.S., the company's American market is nothing to sneeze at either, with 12 million users spread across its portfolio (7.6 million of them in MapleStory alone). A big part of Nexon's American success is the pre-paid gaming card, an ubiquitous fixture at retail outlets including Target and 7-11. Kim tells Joystiq that a key factor in raising pre-paid card awareness among consumers was the implementation of an in-game quest designed to train users to head for the music section of their local Target superstore. "So three months leading up to the actual release of the card, we actually had a quest in-game to go get allowance from an NPC, go to the Target store, go to the music section, go find a CD card," he says. Kim also provides a bit of insight into Nexon's customer demographics, stating that "our median age is really 17, 18, 19." Many of the company's users weren't previously online gamers, and Kim says the microtransaction model is the key to customer attraction and retention. "There's no barrier to entry. If they have a computer and an internet connection, they can download the game and play for as long as they want," he says.
Zynga and 7-Eleven partner to bring game content to ice cream, Big Gulps
If the image above of FarmVille-themed ice cream wasn't telling enough, Zynga and 7-Eleven today announced a co-branding of various products in "nearly 7,000 7-Eleven stores in the US and Canada." In addition to the vanilla ice cream, Big Gulps and Slurpees featuring YoVille, FarmVille, and Mafia Wars are also available, all coming packed with redeemable codes for in-game items. We've already received a handful of tips of the ice cream being spotted in 7-Eleven outlets, but the announcement indicates customers should be able to find the products everywhere by June 1, through July 15. The ice cream runs $2.29 per pint, while the Big Gulps and Slurpees range in price depending on the contents -- the shame of purchasing said products, however, that's priceless. We've listed all the in-game items and how to get them in real life below the fold.
GDC09: Applied RMT Design with GoPets and Live Gamer
Massively sat in on a GDC 2009 session this week titled Applied RMT Design which was part of the Worlds in Motion Summit. Andrew Schneider, Founder and President of Live Gamer and Erik Bethke, CEO of GoPets, Ltd. presented a case study on balancing a game's primary and secondary markets, using GoPets as an example of how it can be done. The market for virtual goods in massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds is worth billions. Not all of this is grey market, and more games are now being designed with microtransactions in mind. Live Gamer aims to bring greater legitimacy to microtransactions through a regulated secondary market providing benefits to companies as well as the players themselves. Thus far they've worked with EverQuest II, Vanguard, and GoPets, with Acclaim's 9 Dragons on the way. Bethke and Schneider kick off their talk by explaining the fact that RMT in MMOs is inevitable, explaining how developers can be proactive about incorporating RMT into their titles rather than having it exist outside of the game. Live Gamer works with developers to create a legitimate system for trading virtual items for real money, one that's safe and secure. Of course, legitimizing RMT can also stir up controversy. %Gallery-48454%
7-Eleven getting comfortable with game sales
7-Eleven, bastion of the 2AM munchies, has announced plans to expand its video game offerings. The company's current stratagem is to offer seven titles over the holiday season (like Wrath of the Lich King, Fallout 3, CoD:WaW, Gears 2) "while supplies last." Depending on how things go, Sleven plans to have more titles beyond the predicted "hot-selling" games.Though we're all for 7-Eleven carrying games, we're even more for it continuing to break street dates on blockbuster titles like Gears of War 2 and Lich King*.*Yes, we realize in the case of Lich King it didn't mean much because the servers weren't up, but it's avoiding the midnight lines that counts.[Via Gamespot]
Midnight launch parties herald the Lich King's wrath
Wrath of the Lich King launched in numerous locations across the USA at midnight (albeit much of the rest of the world needed to wait until business hours). People queued outside Best Buy and Gamestop stores for hours beforehand (though 7-11 broke the street date and were selling copies a couple days early, we hear). Several locations were particularly magical. A Best Buy in New York City and a Gamestop in San Francisco both sported particularly carnival atmospheres. Eurogamer says it was the UK's biggest launch and from the photos that's easy to believe. The French also had a blast with huge crowds and costumes. All of the celebrations made one thing abundantly clear: We can all get in and enjoy our favorite MMOG with each-other -- even when we're not actually playing it. What the heck is gaming, if you can't celebrate it? Gallery: Wrath of the Lich King Midnight Launch
Wrath shipped to stores, copies being sold early at 7-11
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Wrath_of_the_Lich_King_being_sold_at_7_11_right_now'; We're getting multiple reports that Blizzard has shipped Wrath of the Lich King out to stores -- one of our readers in Australia ordered the CE and actually got his edition shipped to him already (the game will install, but won't run yet), a few Gamestops around the country have confirmed that they have copies in store (though not for sale yet), and a few people have told us that they've already picked up their copies at 7-11 (notorious for suddenly selling games, and then very recently selling them early).So odds are that you might be able to grab the game early from stores that are breaking the street date, but it does appear that Blizzard hasn't actually flipped the switch on the expansion, and likely won't do it until tomorrow evening. We'll keep an eye out for more places Wrath may have already popped up.Update: Thanks to one of our readers for sending along the pic of his Wrath box and the receipt above. The game is indeed shipped and being sold, though Blizzard is saying Northrend won't be available until Wednesday evening. Another reader picture of a purchased game after the break. Are you ready for the challenges that await you in Northrend? WoW Insider has you covered with our 8-day guide to Preparing for Wrath. Also, check out our feature on AddOns new, old and outdated and Essential AddOns for Wrath written especially with the expansion in mind.
Shopping list: Milk, bread, MMO game time cards...
Let's face it, getting time cards for your favorite game is a necessity. It's up there with the milk, bread, and eggs that you need for your daily survival. We have enough stories about MMO withdrawal to fill a shopping cart, so why not sell our addiction where we can easily grab it? NCsoft got the message and is pushing their time cards out to the masses by partnering up with Target, Rite Aid, and Best Buy. Now you too can literally walk down the street to the drug store and pick up your favorite addiction -- more play time. More importantly, if you're a subscriber to City of Heroes/Villains, grab yourself a time card because it will unlock an in-game jet pack for you to use. The approach isn't anything new, as Nexon has already been providing their cash cards to customers of 7-Eleven convenience stores for some time now. What all of this does show is a marketing push by more game companies to get their cards into the mainstream market of consumer products. Lastly, as a friendly reminder, when you're running out to get those "essentials" at Rite-Aid or Target before that "big storm" hits, remember your desktop computer doesn't work when the power is out.
Activision, 7-Eleven to promote Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, quench thirst
While Activision's upcoming Aerosmith-centric flavor of Guitar Hero may still have some of us sitting on the fence, a new partnership between the publisher and 7-Eleven ensures that we can at least enjoy and icy cold Slurpee while considering rocking out to the "bad boys of Boston." Activision and the convenience store chain, along with Coca-Cola and Microsoft have teamed to promote Guitar Hero: Aerosmith by offering 22-ounce Slurpee cups branded in the series' artwork, though bizarrely the above art is not of the upcoming version at all. Each the cups will include codes on the underside to enter an online contest to win the game, an Xbox 360, or Microsoft Points. According to an official announcement of the promotion, the parties plan on giving away 744 copies of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and 711,000 Microsoft Points throughout the month of May. In addition, 10 Slurpee drinkers will walk away with a shiny new console and a copy of the game, leaving us pondering the only other question worth asking: Wild Cherry or Classic Cola?
Maple Story invites retailers into the game world
Hot on the heels of the announcement that Nexon's MapleStory would be invading 7-11s, the company has passed on word that retailers are now being invited into the game world. In a twist that sounds almost too hilarious to be true, Nexon is going to be sending Maple players to virtual versions of the mega-retailers on themed quests that will promote both the retailers and the availability of Nexon Game Cards in these stores. The special quests will prompt users to complete various tasks and visit any of these chains to earn their own virtual Nexon Game Card, which will provide Maple Points, the in-game currency of MapleStory. "We're now able to provide a new and unique avenue for major businesses to reach consumers," said John H. Chi, CEO and president of Nexon America. "Nexon creates the exclusive, branded content, retailers receive a powerful, direct line of communication and our players get a new, rewarding gameplay experience. High visibility through new content and interactive rewards makes it a win for everyone!"While this may seem something like a joke, this is definitely news worth taking seriously. Best Buy and Target don't just hand around their brands to anybody; it's a testament to Maplestory's growing cachet here in the US that this partnership is going forward. For more on Nexon's virtual sales practices, Min Kim's keynote at this year's Austin Games Conference might be helpful. Next Generation has a close look at the American approach to Nexon's business model. The technical term? Microtransactions.
7-Eleven sells Nexon Game Cards
Worlds in Motion reports that you can now buy game cards for MapleStory and other Nexon games at your local 7-Eleven convenience store. The game cards -- which cost $10 or $25 -- can be used to purchase in-game items.At first, this struck us as bizarre, but it actually makes some sense. A 7-Eleven representative is quoted in the Worlds in Motion article saying that the cards are perfect for the "tweens and teens" who enjoy MapleStory -- a demographic that also happens to frequent 7-Eleven. The representative calls it "the Slurpee-beverage crowd."It's a strange world. Next thing you know we'll be buying EQ2 game-time cards at the gasoline pump!
A look at 7-11's potential Wii slip up
GameSpot does a nice breakdown of this issue that Infendo brought up concerning the 7-11 Wii promotion and a listed approximate retail value of the console stated at $299.Since Nintendo has already gone on record and said the price of the Wii will not go above the $250 mark, could this 7-11 slip up be a sign that Nintendo changed their mind amidst the hype? Not so much.Conventional wisdom would suggest that perhaps the 7-11 ARV price would include some sort of package deal with the Wii, maybe an included game. The only sign that this is not the case, is the other products listed in the promotion are consistent with their normal retail value. At the moment, Nintendo has kept quiet about the whole thing, so we'll all just have to keep a close eye on whether or not the company will go back on their sub-$250 word.Oh, and by the way, the contest begins Nov. 1.
Slurp this -- free Wii from 7-Eleven! [Update 1]
In what has to be the coolest promotion of the year, 7-Eleven is offering 711people (of course) a chance at a free Wii starting in November. Distressed because there's no 7-Eleven in your neighborhood? Not to fret, fanboys and girls -- the official rules include a backup plan for those of us denied the pleasure of a Purple S'Creme. Until the Wii becomes available as a prize in November, there are other goodies to tide you over, like iPod Shuffles (that look like they can double as a pregnancy test stick in a pinch) and portable DVD players. Now that's awesome cool![Thanks to thebigL for sending this one in!][Update 1: Link issues.]
