Has Activision taken marketing too far?

As you well know here at Gamecrawler.co.uk we are wetting ourselves daily in anticipation of Modern Warfare 2 being released, however, with each pee stain there also appears to be another announcement from Activision about how they can get that extra pound out of your pocket.

Here’s a run down of what’s been announced so far:

Standard Edition Game –  If this had not been announced then gamers would be outraged but this is not to say there isn’t upset. The RRP for this game was £55, a 10% increase on other AAA titles. - Format (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Hardened Edition of the Game – Same as the Standard Edition but also comes with Premium, special-edition SteelBook case with custom artwork by Infinity Ward, “Behind the Lines”hardbound artbook, designed by artists at Infinity Ward, featuring the art of Modern Warfare 2, Call Of Duty Classic’ full downloadable game – RRP £69.99 – Format (Xbox 360, PS3)

Veteran Edition – Only recently announced and a Game exclusive. Same as the Hardened Edition but also comes with a 12″ Soap MacTavish Statue – RRP £120 – Format (Xbox 360, PS3)

Prestige Edition – HMV Exclusive. Same as Hardened Edition but also comes with Night Vision goggles and a moulded head to keep them on – RRP £120 – Format (Xbox 360, PS3) – HMV has sold out of these editions.

In addition to the 4 different game versions there are also the accessories.

Throat Mic – Yes they are releasing a throat mic. Expect this however to work like a conventional mic not a true throat mic. This is Xbox only, however for those PS3 players there is a Modern Warfare 2 Bluetooth Mic.

Modern Warfare 2 Controllers for both Xbox and PS3 – These seem to be quite standard now for most big releases with ODST having one aswell.

In case you PC gamers were feeling left out there is a Keyboard and Mouse available for you to blow near £100 on!

There is also the Xbox 360 Special bundle priced at £250. This is a Xbox 360 with 250GB hard drive, 2 black controllers and a copy of the Standard Edition Modern Warfare 2. This is available from Game. I personally am not impressed with the design of the console and think its was a bit of a last minute idea.

In addition to the direct gaming merchandise (much of which hasn’t been mentioned here) they have also announced a comic is being produced.

I haven’t seen a merchandising campaign like this around a game. I keep expecting to hear Action Man has been renamed and seeing kids on the way to School with their Soap MacTavish lunch boxes. Is this a sign of the future where gamers and parents are bled dry by games companies. Personally I have ordered the Prestige Edition of the game but at the same time I wouldn’t do this too often and if the price of games are set to rise, then the growing market could slow or even decrease. Luckily during these difficult financial times, game crawler is there to make sure you get the best price.

One Response to "Has Activision taken marketing too far?"

1. Tweets that mention Has Activision taken marketing to far? | Game Crawler Blog -- Topsy.com says:

   September 21, 2009 at 4:24 pm

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Edward Brumhead. Edward Brumhead said: RT: @Gamecrawler "Has Activision taken marketing to far?" – http://tinyurl.com/nwpyc2 [...]

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 4:21 pm and is filed under PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.