Game systems, all-in-one entertainment

I recently played my first tennis match on the Nintendo Wii. Sadly, that's my first-ever tennis match, real or electronic... and boy, is my arm sore! It has been years since I seriously played a video game. In fact, I'd say it probably dates back to the days of Super Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo game system. I recall getting accustomed to the techniques using the "A" and "B" control buttons on Nintendo, and, at times, actually jumped out of my seat mimicking Mario jumping for starts and coins in the game; however, it was nothing like the action-packed game on Wii. As I've talked to friends and co-workers, many of them are getting back into the video game scene, not only to pass the time, but as a means of socializing with their friends. Now, when your friends invite you to their home for dinner, don't be surprised if you end up playing Guitar Hero or the likes instead of an oh-so-invigorating board game (hint: sarcasm) like Scrabble. So what's making adults, of all ages, get back into electronic games?

Well, I decided to give myself a rudimentary lesson on the new game systems (since I'm about two years behind Wii's introduction to the marketplace). Beyond the extraordinarily realistic graphics and the ease of use, I think part of reason behind the renewed popularity is the way game companies are cross-marketing their products. In the days of Mario, you really didn't have an option to easily download game components directly through the system. With Wii and other game systems, like Xbox 360, this is possible from the touch of a button. In simple terms, the new game systems can be connected to the Internet allowing for easy downloads, just like on the computer. Xbox even features a Live marketplace for users to access news, download game components and learn information about new features, software and games.

That's not all. With the cross-platform technology in place, this new generation of game systems is truly a one-stop shop, directly from your TV. You can watch movies, surf the web, check the weather, create your own Web page, demo games... and the list goes on and on. For marketers, this seems to be a perfect cross-marketing opportunity since many of the components are wrapped up in one nice little package. It almost makes it too easy to gain information about consumers and track their purchasing, game-playing and other related habits. The marketing and advertising possibilities for the Internet entertainment industry are endless. Are we consolidating technologies too fast to really conceptualize the implications?

More to come on the topic of Internet advertising and the use of customer data... for now, here is an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about the newly released Guitar Hero III and its competition.