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Nielsen: In-game ads increase real-world sales
We hate to be the ones to break it to you -- but those in-game advertisements that some of you aren't terribly big fans? Well, they're actually pretty effective at boring into your subconscious and making you want to buy Axe Body Spray or Snickers, or whatever. A recent Nielsen study of six EA Sports titles, including NHL 10 and NBA Live 09, found that in-game ads for Gatorade increased household dollars spent on said beverage by 24 percent. For more information on how the study was conducted, you can check out Nielsen's press release. We'd normally take the time to summarize that process in this very post, but we've suddenly been struck by the strangest, most powerful urge to go out and just start slamming some sports drinks.
Xbox Live deal of the week: NBA Live 09 subscription
So what if we've known about this week's Xbox Live Deal of the Week -- NBA Live 09's downloadable "Live 365" feature -- for, oh, say, three weeks now? That doesn't make it any less rebateful at 560 ($7), down from the usual 800 ($10). What does, however, make the now bargain-priced content less valuable, is the impending end of the 2009-2010 NBA season and the relative uselessness of the feature during the off-season. For a feature that touts "updated player trades, injured players, free agent signings, starting lineups, as well as hot and cold streaks of players," buying the DLC at this moment, just months from the end of the NBA season, might not be the most fiscally responsible idea. How is EA Sports going to push all those hot, up-to-the-minute statistics to you when there isn't a season to push out?[Thanks, Samit!]
Where's his fizz? Bow Wow challenges gamers as April's celeb gamer
Hulk-loving artist, Shad Gregory Moss (aka, Bow Wow) is challenging gamers as April's Xbox Game With Fame celebrity. NBA Live 09 fans are invited to go up against the Tokyo Drift survivor today at 5:00PM ET on Xbox Live. If you're up to the task, make sure to add the Gamertag Bow Wow GWF -- Xbox.com has all the deets for the event.In case the possibility of playing against a "world-famous celebrity" is frightening to you, we've developed a list of questions you can ask Bow Wow. They include: Did you find your fizz? How does one procure fizz? If Train A leaves Berkeley at 1PM and Train B leaves Toronto at 4PM, at what point -- when they intersect -- will the fizz be made available? Can you please stop singing into the mic?
Shipping this week: Earth shattering edition
We mean the headline literally, you see, because this week's marquee title (arguably) is Fracture. You may recall Fracture as the earth molding third person shooter from LucasArts. If you don't remember it -- and we wouldn't blame you -- there's a demo of the game available on Xbox Live Marketplace right now. We've also got a platformer, two basketball titles, and ... um ... Guilty Gear 2: Overture. All told, we have: Crash: Mind over Mutant NBA Live 2009 NBA 2K9 Guilty Gear 2: Overture Anyone out there planning to pick something up this week?[Via Joystiq]
Deals: Mercenaries 2 for $45, free gift card with 360 and more
As is customary every Sunday, we diligently looked through the Sunday retail ads on the search for Xbox 360 related deals, discounts and offers. So here you go shoppers, enjoy the money savings fruit of our ad searching labor.Starting off with Best Buy, they're giving away a free RC Centaur tank with Gears of War 2: CE pre-orders (available when game picked up) and Toys R Us has the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith bundle for $79. Over at Circuit City, they're giving away a free $20 game with purchase of an Xbox 360 Elite, are giving out life-size Tony Parker growth charts with NBA Live 09, and they're selling Mercenaries 2 to $45. Finally, Target stores are offering a free $40 gift card with the purchase of NBA Live 09 and an Xbox 360 Pro 60GB. Shop on!
European PSN releases for September 18th
That's more like it. Have you noticed that we haven't been moaning about European PSN releases for a little while? That's because SCEE has clearly stepped up their game. Big releases are nigh-on simultaneous and demos and add-ons are rarely late, either. Being a European is pretty good this week, with three demos, two song packs for Rock Band and some decent videos and themes. Here's the full release list:Playable content Fracture demo SoulCalibur IV demo NBA Live 09 demo Add-on content Rock Band DLC (listed after the break) Rock Band Song Export Key (£2.49/€3.49) Having said that, the Rock Band DLC is lagging slightly, but we're going to give them the benefit of the doubt for a few weeks, until they get everything synced up properly. The most confusing thing about this update is the Rock Band Son Export Key. Why would Europe need that now, if Rock Band 2 is nowhere in sight? Unless EA is going to surprise the region with a sooner-than-expected (ie, within the next 6 months) release? Who knows. What it does mean is that the song export patch (which includes GHIII controller compatability) should be available soon. Right?
Dem-o-matic: Guitar Hero Aerosmith and NBA Live 09
The whole point of Guitar Hero Aerosmith is to give you a taste of what it would be like to be part of the seminal classic rock band. So, what would a taste of a taste of Aerosmith be (besides bitter with a hint of copper)? That's right: A demo for the game, now available on Xbox Live, including "Sweet Emotion," "Dream On," "Walk this Way" and others.Also on XBL is the demo for NBA Live 09, the taste of which we can't even begin to contemplate.
Overheard@E3: The wisdom of Bill Walton
At their conference yesterday, EA invited NBA hall-of-famer Bill Walton onstage to help them show off NBA Live '09 and its Dynamic Player DNA, and ended up stealing the show. Peter Moore, who also hammed it up with Natalie Gulbis, kept saying that Walton had gone off script, and that must be true -- anyone who wrote a script like this would never want for a job in Hollywood.
E308: NBA Live 09 'Player DNA'
EA Sports head marketing ninja, Peter Moore, has announced Dynamic Player DNA for NBA Live '09, which will update player attributes on a daily basis for connected consoles. Dynamic DNA also changes player attributes when trades are completed that takes the player's new surroundings into account when editing player stats. The system promises to keep the game continuously updated through the NBA season and is an addition we hope is added to all EA Sports games this season.
Joystiq hands-on: EA Sports All-Play
"All-Play" is the new brand of Wii-exclusive EA Sports titles that takes the publisher's perennial franchises and simplifies them in ways that make the games accessible to, well ... all. It's the obvious direction to take, as the changes in the Wii versions of EA Sports' games continue to distinguish themselves from the linear advances of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. All-Play isn't groundbreaking, it just wants to fit. All-Play succeeds in its commitment to consistency. Whatever whip Riccitiello is cracking has got the herd moving together in the right direction. We recently spent time with four of the five featured All-Play titles (sorry NCAA Football!) and can report that each has been treated with a certain level of care above the usual year-to-year tweaks EA Sports has come to be criticized by. These treatments are most definitely shaping a more casual product, which gives EA an advantage at both ends of the current-gen playing field.
