There have been more punches thrown in the hype and hoopla surrounding the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV than during the recent Calzaghe-Hopkins fight. Our favourite spleen vent belongs to Jack Thompson. The campaigning Florida lawyer wrote a spectacularly venal letter issued via an attorney but directed at the mother of Strauss Zelnick, - chairman of publisher Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two - in which he associates Zelnick with the Hitler youth and accuses him of inciting the murder of policemen and trafficking in pornography and violence. As well as corrupting America’s teenage boys. See Wired for the letter in full: http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/04/jack-thompson-p.html
Whatever your stance on the gaming world’s latest blockbuster release, there’s no denying the title’s ground breaking design, intense detail and complex narrative. Contagious advises you to buy shares in eye balm companies, for there’s going to be millions of heavy bags and drooping lids worldwide over the next few weeks. Microsoft Xbox's Halo 3 shifted a massive $170m in its first day of release last October (going on to earn more revenue than the Bourne Ultimatum) – but GTA4 looks set to smash all records; leaving Hollywood to scratch a very sore head.
GTA’s expansion as a franchise is an intriguing one. At a time when branded involvement in video games was exploding, the last instalment of the successful franchise (GTA: San Andreas) eschewed all kinds of interactive billboards and background branding in favour of fake brands like ‘Clucking Bell Fried Chicken’. This may well have been because skittish brands were unwilling to align themselves with GTA’s many controversial interactions (killing a hooker for points is positively encouraged). However, we suspect that the queue for GTA IV may have been somewhat longer, not least because it was set in New York, home of the branded skyline. Still, it’s only Amazon.com
that broke through the barrier, selling tracks from within the games’ radio stations and expanding on their already considerable influence in the music industry.
Stoking the pre-release frenzy, pop-culture blogs went into overdrive when murals were placed throughout New York City with the help of counter culture artists, creating a game of ‘who found it first’ amongst those in the know. Rockstar also launched ‘Social Club’ where gamers can check their stats throughout the game against those across the world and even the ‘100 club’ competition, for hardcore gamers to demonstrate who can complete the game first.
GTA
has been scrutinised for its violence for a long time, yet the new
release is as self-aware as a slew of recent cinematic efforts focusing
on uberviolence in order to criticise it. Here at Contagious, we’re
thrilled to see the immersive interaction of the gaming world taking
such a front seat. If somebody chooses to spend their time with
something, it’s because they want to get something out of it, whether
that’s hours of exciting interaction, a degree of healthy competition,
or an enjoyably twisted social experiment as they work their way
through playing with friends and strangers. Whether we approve of it or
not, the GTA franchise is both wildly popular and hugely lucrative. Are
there are lessons to be learned for the marketing industry here?
www.rockstargames.com/IV
