Movie renditions of Double Dragon and the Super Mario Bros. are proof enough that marketers have no idea how to market video game movies to gamers. What’s more, though, is that there is a way to reach gamers with a fervor for nostalgia, it’s just not quite what you might be expecting.
I think both movie-going aficionados and gamers-alike have (mostly) given up on game-to-movie adaptations and movie-to-game adaptations. However, Lawrence Sonntag from TheGameReviews digs up a topic about video game marketing – and how to reach back out to gamers from an era past and gone – with something a little different than the factitious game-to-movie productions.
Sonntag wistfully throws a good suggestion out there for marketers to take a look at: Retro Game Challenge. The nostalgia that gamers would want to relive without the awful dialogue and miscast characters in a low-budget movie can be had with this rather simple retake on the classic 80’s gaming era. It features two kids playing games that you, the player, are actually playing. The characters make one-liners when they die and there are even cheat sheets to unlock for the games featured within the compilation. It’s like playing a game based on a weekend of playing the NES with a friend. How sweet is that?
Unfortunately, it’s about the only solution mentioned in the article. But I’ll venture further in saying that Sega’s recent Mega Collection isn’t a bad way to relive the hey-day of the Genesis era. It’s not quite as engaging or unique as Retro Game Challenge, but at least it wasn’t a collection of games redone in awful 3D fashion (I’m looking at you Golden Axe and Sonic).
You can check out the whole article on TheGameReviews to get a full understanding of the topic at hand. For more gaming news, info, updates and insight, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.
