Being a video game lover (not a geek) since 2nd grade, I’ve been experiencing  the console evolution and witnessed the amazing innovation of technology. I still remember that 15 years ago parents and teachers considered and expressed how bad playing video/online games is. It probably is still bad now if you’re too addicted to it, but not that bad to marketers anymore.

A report issued by a stat-tracking firm, The NPD Group claims that 72% of United States residents aged 6-44 years played some sort of video game across 2007, representing an 8% jump from 2006. Gaming actually becomes one of the mass media however it can also provide rich experience plus one-to-one interaction at the same time.

Why should marketing be interested in gaming? The answer is simple – to find a new connection with your consumer and have fun with it. We all know that people’s media consumption habits have been changing; we have so many options that not only  make us to spend less time on one specific medium but the technology also make us to even consume multiple media simultaneously. (I always read when I’m watching TV). So the only thing matters is ENGAGEMENT, which is exactly the word to describe gaming.

I could and I will spend a lot of time introducing how fast the gaming market is growing; My first question, however, will be how to really connect gamers’ engagement to marketers’ goals, without interfering their gaming experiences? That’s something to be continued….

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