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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Outdoors or Inside, Sony Offers Users a Perpetual Game


EFORE the Android phone, before the iPod, before the GameBoy, there was the Walkman, the device that taught a generation to expect entertainment on the go.
Fast forward 30 years and behold the digital landscape of mobile phones that do nearly everything, like taking photos, playing music and, of course, allowing for video game applications like Angry Birds.
ith sales of tablet computers and mobile phones expected to increase steadily over the next few years, the market for portable video game consoles is starting to come under pressure, analysts say. According to eMarketer, 42.5 percent of the United States population is expected to use mobile phones to play videos games by 2015, but it remains to be seen how many people will buy a device dedicated only to video games.
Despite that, Sony is hoping to recapture some of its video game luster with the PlayStation Vita, its newest hand-held game player. The PS Vita, as the company calls the device, is a stand-alone player but can also control a PlayStation console. Part of the marketing pitch for the new device, which will make its domestic debut on Feb. 22, is that users can continue playing the same game they started at home on their PlayStation.
John Koller, the senior director for PlayStation hand-held consoles, said the PS Vita would allow users “to feel engaged and still feel like they’re playing on a console.” The target audience for the Vita are men in their 20s who play video games eight hours a week or more and own a PlayStation3 console.
The trick will be getting those young men to put down their phones and pick up the PS Vita.
The cost of the marketing campaign at $50 million is “the largest platform launch in terms of marketing investment we’ve ever had,” Mr. Koller said.
Sony worked with Deutsch, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, to create the campaign that includes television commercials, billboards, retail partnerships, digital banner ads and a significant presence in  social media. The theme of the campaign, “Never Stop Playing,” will be featured on many of the ads as will the Twitter-influenced hashtag, #gamechanger.
Jason Elm, the executive vice president and creative director at Deutsch, described the campaign’s audience as “very socially plugged in, mobile, out and about, both physically and on the Internet.” Using the Twitter hashtag on the ads would help aggregate all of the conversations people were having about the product in one place, Mr. Elm said.
While the hashtag conversations will be organic, the company will also buy promoted Twitter posts that will direct consumers to the device’s Web site, playstation.com/psvita, where they can learn more about the product and make a purchase. Facebook users will find a tab dedicated to the Vita on the PlayStation page and how-to videos about the device.
Another part of the campaign, naturally enough, involves putting the PS Vita into people’s hands. Users looking for a more tactile experience can play with the device in pop-up stores that the company is calling Vita Social Clubs in cities like San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles.
The commercials for the campaign were shot in three days in Buenos Aires and were meant to show how the Vita “affects you socially,” Mr. Elm said. In one spot, the male character is using his Vita to continue playing a game during his commute that he started before leaving for work. Another spot highlights the augmented reality features of the console with a narrator explaining how “the world is your next battleground,” while a third spot shows a man playing games against other people he sees in the street.
“Gaming is no longer playing alone in a basement by one person with one machine; it’s all networked,” Mr. Elm said. To reach its core consumer, the company will show the commercials during television programs like “The Simpsons,” “South Park” and “Tosh.0,” the popular Comedy Central show, and during N.B.A and N.C.A.A. basketball games.
Online users will see banner ads across 26 Web sites like Yahoo, ESPN, CNN and YouTube. Billboards and wallscapes will be seen in cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco and radio ads for the Vita will be broadcast on the Howard Stern show on Sirius Radio during March Madness.
Analysts said the PS Vita was impressive for its technical specifications and functionality, but questioned whether it would do well in the market. A report from the market research firm IDC said the worldwide revenue from dedicated hand-held gaming devices, including hardware and software from Nintendo and Sony (but excluding mobile phones like the iPhone), was $10.7 billion in 2010 and $18.1 billion in 2008.
“The portable hardware market is holding its own but it hasn’t been faring well over the past couple of years,” said David Riley, an analyst at the NPD group, a marketing research firm. “Gamers are fickle,” Mr. Riley added, “The casual gamer is going to lean toward any platform that provides cheap or free gaming.”
The Vita, which made its debut in Japan last year, will be sold in the United States for $249 for a Wi-Fi version, and $299 for a 3G version. The average price for its games ranges from $9.99 to $49.99 — many mobile game applications are cheaper or even free.
“It’s an amazing device,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, a financial services firm. Mr. Pachter said that the market for hand-held games was still active, but under pressure from a down economy and the free apps available on tablets and smartphones.
“Would you rather have a 10-hour immersive experience for 40 bucks, as opposed to 400 10-minute experiences for free?” he said.        

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