NEWS - Monday, September 11, 2006
Expanded Marketing Campaign For Dead Rising
Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced its plans to expand the marketing campaign for Dead Rising™, the company’s first game for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The company has planned an additional $3 million national television campaign that matches the one which just concluded, doubling the overall scope of the program. The new TV campaign will support the overall extensive marketing initiative, which includes print and online advertising as well as radio promotions and retail partnerships. Dead Rising has already shipped more than 500,000 units within its first two weeks of launch and is the fastest selling next generation title for a Japanese publisher. “Dead Rising delivers a truly unique, exciting gameplay experience and has been an incredible addition to the lineup for Xbox 360,” said Jeff Bell, Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft. “Quality titles like this attract additional gamers to the system and exemplifythe amazing capabilities that next generation gaming has to offer.” “We’ve already seen great results for Dead Rising which has been fueled by the national coverage it has received from its various marketing campaigns,” said Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, GameStop Corp. “With the additional exposure from Capcom’s expanded TV campaign, we look forward to continuing the momentum into the crucial holiday season.” The first television campaign consisted of national spots aimed at the adult markets, ages 18 to 34 years old, and appeared on cable programming in the U.S. on networks such as Comedy Central, SpikeTV, MTV, VH1, and ESPN. The additional $3 million spend will mirror this, with additional spots on these networks as well as FOX. The print campaign has featured single-page ads in leading video game magazines including Electronic Gaming Monthly, Official Xbox Magazine and Game Informer. Online efforts included premium ad placement on top gaming sites such as GameSpot.com, IGN.com, GamesRadar.com and 1up.com as well as support for the dedicated Dead Rising website, www.capcom.com/deadrising, which features game information and downloadable content. Radio promotions have broadcasted on alternative rock stations in majormarkets including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta and San Francisco with national retail support encompassing pre-order and point of sale purchase campaigns at major retail outlets. Dead Rising has already received phenomenal reviews and coverage in several major media outlets across the country. The game received Game Informer’s September Game of the Month honors as well as high marks from additional gaming publications such as Hardcore Gamer, OXM and Play Magazine. Additionally, the game has been featured in lifestyle magazines including Playboy, Stuff, Spin, Wired and Blender as well as newspapers including Boston Globe, New York Times, USA Today.com and San Francisco Chronicle. Dead Rising is an action horror game that follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance photojournalist in pursuit of the story of a lifetime. What he finds is a small suburban town completely overrun by zombies. He seeks refuge in the local shopping mall, but soon learns it is far from the safe haven he had thought. Dead Rising takes place over 72 hours, during which Frank must unravel the mystery behind the catastrophe and survive the dangerous swarm of enemies that lie in wait. The unprecedented level of freedom provides players with a vast array of gameplay possibilities to do anything and everything they’ve wanted to do in a mall. Hundreds of unique objects can be used as weapons to fend off the hordes of zombies - everything from golf clubs and baseball bats to cash registers and stuffed animals. A demo of the game as well as additional outfits for use in-game are available for free download on Xbox Live® Marketplace, and there are plenty of other options to customize Xbox 360 experience with Dead Rising themes. The game carries an “M” rating for mature audiences by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) and is now available at retailers across North America.Source: http://www.capcom.com/
