Richard's Online Journal
[29/08/08] World of Branding
Maybe I’m just naive, but I expect better of Blizzard than its newly launched Mobile Wallpaper/Sound range. £1.50 each? For some simple pictures? Oh, Blizzard, really? A company with as much money as you should be far above this kind of thing, even if it will make you squillions. I however am not, so I can only turn to face you, stare sternly, and state, in no uncertain terms, that I can sell out too! I want in!
As a sampler, here’s my prototype for the new World of Warcraft credit-card. Yes, there are already several out there, but this one’s different. This is the only one designed to help even the most hardcore gamers truly savour and celebrate the most important part of the Warcraft experience - pouring money into Blizzard’s pockets by the trowel full. And isn’t that life is truly all about? Yes. Yes it is.
Please, no need to thank me. Just tell me where to collect the cheques.
(Coming up next, the official World of Warcraft Makeup Kit. When rouges attack Stormwind, it’s gonna be a mascara! Will you be ready?)
OMG NERF RINGTONES!
I doubt it. I mean, there’s a tiny chance the final wallpapers don’t have the copyblah on them; I’m not actually about to order one just to check. I only just paid Blizzard £15 to move a few entries from one database table to another.
As for Spore, yep. It’s especially silly when Amazon is selling it for £28 and Play for £30. I’m not about to pay £40 for a version I can only download for six months. It’s £43 if you want it with ‘cough’ the Extended Download Service.
This is something that Blizzard does pretty well, actually. Their online store is very cool, especially the way you can put in an old serial number and from then on be able to download the game whenever you want. My Diablo 2 disc hasn’t worked for years due to a really big scratch, but now I can play it again.
Posted by Richard on Friday 29th August
£28 is about as much as the converted dollar price…
Sadly there isnt any equivalent offer in Germany. I would prefer an English version anyway (the Translation in the CC trial didnt impress me).
But without a credit card I also cant order it from play or amazon uk :(. (Not even a paypal option...)
I’m a sad panda.
Posted by Therlun on Friday 29th August
What’s annoying me at the moment is the number of Collector’s Editions of games in the next few months (spefically Spore, Fallout 3 and Red Alert 3) whose collector’s editions are available just about everywhere in the US, but in the UK they’re all exclusive to Game. I haven’t got anything against Game per se, but they’re not known for having the cheapest price, and it annoys me immensenly they have a monopoly on the Collector’s Editions over here. I am a sucker for shiny extras, but seriously - 45 quid for the Galactic Spore? Bah I say!
Posted by The_B on Friday 29th August
Heh. Collectors Editions have never really done it for me. The extra stuff you get is never that cool, and it always brings back memories of the games of old, when the packs of feelies were genuinely fun to uncover.
If you buy, say, Halo 3 in a Master Chief helmet, big deal. You’re not getting a fun extra, you’re buying a helmet with a game in it. Getting a Zorkmid in the box? Or the old Ultima cloth maps? That could be neat.
Posted by Richard on Friday 29th August
But a Pip Boy Lunchbox/Bobblehead/Alarm Clock thingy! Behind the scenes DVDs and art of Spore books!
I guess what I’m trying to say is: “Oooooh...shiny!”
Posted by The_B on Friday 29th August
The Pipboy is fairly cool. Artbooks? Zzzzz. Soundtrack discs? Usually likewise. Very few game soundtracks are worth listening to in isolation outside of maybe a couple of tunes. I’d just spend the cash on a VGL ticket/CD/download.
Posted by Richard on Friday 29th August
Yeah, I’ve picked up a couple of special edition things recently, and they’ve never been worth it. The one I liked the most was Halo 3, and even then I just grabbed the gamerpics and theme, took a quick look through the stuff on the DVD and a quck look at the book and now it’s all just been sitting in its admittedly quite attractive metal case for the last year…
Posted by Cradok on Friday 29th August
If you look at the FAQ on the website, it states:
“Q: Will the copyright notice/watermark on the wallpaper preview on the website appear in the version I purchase and download for my cell phone?
A: No. The version you purchase does not have the copyright notice/watermark.”
Still, I can easily take an mp3 or picture, and just transfer it to my phone with a usb cable. It’s a lot cheaper too.
Posted by Simone Pleizier on Saturday 30th August
In that case, I take it back. Although the credit card design is still available, as is this one, exclusively for members of XXXodar - Azeroth’s premiere (as in ‘first’) gentlemen’s club.
Posted by Richard on Saturday 30th August
You should have patened it after all...
Posted by The_B on Monday 29th September
Eh, there were cards already. There still aren’t any official ones entirely built around the joy of giving Blizzard money though.
Posted by Richard on Monday 29th September
Are you sure they are on the “final” versions too?
If so it indeed is a rather odd decision…
Other topic: I wanted to buy Spore, but the huge differences in price for the download only versions in Euro and Dollar made me change my mind.
55€ vs $50 ($50 would be about 34€ at current rates) is really too much for a version that costs them a few cents to distribute. Seems to be about the same with the UK version costing £40.
I know its an often discussed topic and I really dont expect publishers to adjust their prices to international exchange rates all the time, but I’m simply unwilling to support such selling strategies.
Selling download versions for brick&mortar;prices is bad enough, but then doing price discrimination is crossing a line for me… sadly I will have to wait for a budget version of Spore. :/
Posted by Therlun on Friday 29th August