Why Celebrating Gaming Anniversaries Is Important? *************************************************************************** As the current generation of consoles continues on, companies should…

Why Celebrating Gaming Anniversaries Is Important?
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As the current generation of consoles continues on, companies should do well to remember to honor the past by celebrating upcoming franchise anniversaries!
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While not quite old as other industries in the world, video games have formed a large base of users thanks to pioneering companies like ‪#‎Atari‬, ‪#‎Nintendo‬, and ‪#‎Activision‬ to name a few. Gamers are typically passionate about franchises, which makes celebrating certain achievements like anniversaries an important step. Just this year, Nintendo helped its most well known character and company mascot, Mario, celebrate his 30th anniversary, with two special ‪#‎amiibo‬ figures and a community driven website all culminating in ‪#‎SuperMarioMaker‬ – a Wii U exclusive that allows players to build their own stages using themes and items from four iconic Mario games.
Believe it or not, ‪#‎Ubisoft‬ also fits into this category as well. Long before they were known for the Tom Clancy games or mega franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft plucked the limbless hero ‪#‎Rayman‬ from the creative mind of Michel Ancel. 2015 marks Rayman’s 20th anniversary and to celebrate Ubisoft announced smaller items such as fan driven contests, an infographic, and a brand new game called Rayman Adventures – the latter of which was greeted with ample excitement. Unfortunately, after watching the debut trailer, it was revealed that Rayman Adventures was a mobile based game, and not a traditional game in the same spirit as the well regarded Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. The comments under that YouTube trailer spoke volumes as almost universal disappointment quickly set in with fans. At the very least, this shows that fans are hungry for another traditional Rayman game.
Companies also find ways of promoting games by using tie-in methods with these celebrations in hopes of utilizing that fan base excitement to purchase merchandise. Back in 2011, Nintendo used the Legend of ‪#‎Zelda‬’s 25th anniversary to help promote ‪#‎TheLegendofZelda‬: Skyward Sword with special edition ‪#‎3DS‬ consoles, merchandise, and released a special edition bundle with a gold ‪#‎Wii‬ controller and a CD featuring classic Zelda music performed by a live orchestra. Meanwhile, Sony celebrated the PS4’s anniversary with an incredibly limited PS1-themed console and controller.
Most would argue that declining sales are the biggest reason why franchises are left behind, causing companies to shy away from creating new entries in a series. To me, the bigger issue here is that companies are completely missing out on golden opportunities by not taking franchise anniversaries seriously. Gamers tend to be a nostalgic bunch, so on one level, celebrating a big milestone will immediately resonate with a faction of gamers. Not only does this attention help with the IP itself, but it reinvigorates the fan base as well.
What about you? Would you like to see more thoughtfulness and care put into celebrations that honor beloved franchises?
‪#‎Game‬ ‪#‎Ranter‬ ‪#‎Banter‬, Mario, ‪#‎PC‬, ‪#‎PS4‬, Rayman, Wii U, ‪#‎Xbox‬ One
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[By Derek Nichols]

[The games were chosen for their influence, longevity, reach and iconic status] ************************************************************************** Pong and Doom have been inducted into…

[The games were chosen for their influence, longevity, reach and iconic status]
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Pong and Doom have been inducted into the first Video Game Hall of Fame.
The project to find influential games that deserved to be in the Hall of Fame was begun in February by The Strong - a US museum of play.
Tetris, Super Mario Bros, Pac-Man, and World of Warcraft were also chosen to feature in an exhibit of iconic games.
Angry Birds and Minecraft were nominated but did not make the final list.
The museum invited people to nominate games played on PCs, consoles, hand-held gadgets, phones or in arcades.
Game changers
The winners span three decades of gaming from Pong, first released in 1972, to World of Warcraft which debuted in late 2004.
[Pong was released into video game arcades in 1972 and into homes three years later]
Pong was chosen because it launched the entire games industry, said the museum in a statement, revealing the six entrants in its Hall of Fame. It acknowledged that it was not the first electronic game but was the first to get "wide-scale public attention".
Other games were chosen for becoming cultural icons (Tetris), making games a mass-market phenomenon (Pac-Man) and changing the way games were made (Doom).
World of Warcraft was chosen, said the museum, because of its longevity and the way it has brought millions of players together into one game world.
[About seven million people currently pay to subscribe to play World of Warcraft]
The winners were whittled down from a long list of 15 that was picked by an internal panel of academics, journalists and game experts recruited by The Strong. Their decisions were based on a game's longevity, influence, geographical reach and iconic status.
The museum now plans to feature the winning games, the other nominees and many others in a permanent exhibition.
The other nine nominees included Legend of Zelda, Space Invaders, the Oregon Trail and Pokemon. Nominees for the 2016 inductees to the hall of fame are now being accepted.
Based in Rochester, New York, The Strong was founded in 1968 by Margaret Woodbury Strong a collector of toys, dolls and other play paraphernalia.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33005297