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We’re all familiar with toys and other prizes that used to come in cereal boxes and other treats. Lately, we’ve seen software in the forms of CDs and DVDs contained in these packages. It’s a marketing technique designed to sway consumers to purchase the product in question, even though the prize or toy has nothing to do with the contents being sold. Enter: GamingDicing, the latest trend in merchandising involving video games embedded in products. But, unlike cereal boxes, where the prize can be extracted and held in your hand, GamingDicing ensures the software remains embedded inside the product. With GamingDicing, you can actually play with a golf club, or a pair or sneakers; even a mop or wood duck decoy. “All of the software is permanently embedded in the selected merchandise,” explains Alan DeFibber of Lost Marbles Enterprises. “Gamers will actually have to have the merchandise next to their gaming systems in order to play them. A micro-output device installed on the merchandise, with the aid of a special adapter, allows you to access the software on any gaming system by plugging directly into it. Each piece of merchandise will be loaded with a game relevant to that item. For instance, you’ll be able to play sports games with the running shoes, or a fighting game when plugged into an action figure,” DeFibber says. He goes on explain that retailers will love this concept not only because it will result in more sales for otherwise average products, but the embedding concept will preclude kids from sharing the software. He maintains that not too many kids are likely to lend out their shoes or skateboard just so their friends can play a video game. It’s hoped that this will force kids to purchase their own merchandise. “It’s no secret that a lot of these products we are pushing with the GamingDicing concept are second-rate. They just don’t sell very well, so they need a push. You’re unlikely to see games embedded in Nikes, Old Navy and other well-known brands,” confesses DeFibber. “Even the video games are of questionable quality. I can honestly tell you that I would never buy either of these offerings separately, but as a package deal, who can resist? Everyone likes a bargain,” he adds. In a recent hands-on, the games that we tested worked extremely well. We were able to play all of the games on every system that we plugged into, from the GBA to the X360 and everything in between. The games were simple, little more than mini-games. We were especially intrigued by the game that was assigned to the porcelain toilet. We were told it was a craps game. “In the future we hope to have game software embedded in prescription drugs,” says DeFibber. “We just can’t figure out where you would plug the adapter into.” *This article is presented as an exclusive Cheat Code Central feature titled “Are you dumb enough to believe this?” Please check back each Friday for the newest edition. |