Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group- Video Games

The Video Game world has only been around for 60 so odd years, but considering how far technology has come since then however seems like quantum leaps from where we started.  Video games have had a very interesting history and its uses are and can be applied to almost any profession by means of a tutorial training or just simulated scenarios. The opportunities of use are endless, which has led to some winners in the video game world and some serious duds. A great example of a new found winner is PokemonGo the genius creators at Niantic got the idea to create the mobile app game off an April fools joke google had played where people could go online and search the virtual world for Pokemon.  This sparked input Pokemon Go we now have this very same game on our mobile phones and it has taken the world by storm! What has been interesting to me the most about this game is what it is doing to the marketing and advertising world.  Particularly how it is changing it, for once the public is not only being accepting of the marketing they are literally flocking to places that hold Poke themed events and that offer patrons special offers for being a high leveled player.  Consumers are actually showing up to places face to face, they aren’t just simply searching them on the web and clicking, no they are going in spending time in the establishments and spending money into the economy. Brian Smith for Search Engine Magazine stated, " At this moment, it’s hard to imagine a world in which augmented reality takes off beyond the realm of video games. But once augmented reality becomes truly ubiquitous, brands will figure out how to start making virtual billboards. And then all bets are off."  Not once has any video game ever  been as successful as this game has been at getting other business involved into the game.  It is setting a new precedent and I think this is just the first of many games creating similar mobile app. What is ironic and also kind of impressive is the lack of marketing and advertising the comapny did for the game pre-launch, "Niantic, has done very little to promote the game since it launched. Beyond a handful of release notifications from the official Pokémon Go Twitter account, no TV commercials have been commissioned and in-app advertising is minimal."