In Response to Joseph Maturo's Post

The New Race In Marketing

When it comes to the new generation of consoles it comes down to the PS4 and Xbox 720.  Both Microsoft and Sony have been very secretive on many of the details of their product.  The design of the consoles are still unknown.  However branding has a lot to do with this console war.  Each system has a loyal fan base for the current systems that came out in 2005-2006.  They will stay faithful so it comes down to the neutral parties that are waiting for more details to decide what they want.  I personally prefer the Xbox 360.  I've had it since 2005 and its worked out alright.  Having Netflix and HBO GO on Xbox Live makes it more than just a video game system, its a home entertainment system.  And that is really the goal for both Microsoft and Sony.  

Video Game Marketing

Now that video games are more mainstream now than ever, there is an urgency for more aggressive marketing plans.  The marketers for these games have bigger budgets and are able to bet more and more creative with their advertisements.  All their hard work is not forgotten because there are game marketing awards and there are multiple categories.  Awards range from best retail marketing campaign to outstanding overall marketing campaign of the year.  That award went to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The problem Bethesda Softworks had wasn't with its core demographic, they wanted to make sure the genre of fantasy role playing could compete with a market mostly dominated by first person shooters.  They had a strategy to build its brand by showing its strengths which was its sweeping cinematic style. Everything they did was to try to excite their core audience and get gamers who would never buy Skyrim interested in the product.  Huge outdoor billboards and a live action commercial really helped in achieving this goal.  All of this paid off because in the first 48 hours of the launch Skyrim sold 3.5 million copies, shipped 10 million copies worldwide and made 650 million dollars in sales at launch.  Skyrim made its case for game of the year due to the fact its a really good game and the hype its marketing team built during the months leading to its release.

Source: http://www.gamemarketingsummit.com/awards/winners/