Corona | Coming Attractions

When a game company launches a new IP (intellectual property), there's high pressure to make it deliver. These days putting in a couple of years of manpower and millions of dollars isn't enough to guarantee that consumers will take notice, especially if your company is launching a new racing franchise into an already crowded game genre. That's where some innovative marketing can come in handy.

Blur is the new racing game coming out soon from Activision. While it may have smooth and sexy graphics, what it doesn't have is a brand name behind it. Sony's got Gran Turismo, Microsoft's got Forza Motorsport and EA's got their Need for Speed series -- titles that have already built up a brand recognition and will get a certain level of sales. Blur is the new kid on the block, and in being so it needs to draw on every trick that it can to grab peoples' attentions.

So if Blur is supposed to be a realistic racing game along the lines of the power-ups world of Super Mario Kart, why not draw the obvious distinction and market your game to draw the attention from the Nintendo gamers? After all, Super Mario Kart is one of the biggest gaming franchises of all-time, not just within the racing niche. Add a little humor to your ad and voila, this is what you get:

Imagine that: a racing video game where you can shoot cars and upgrade your car by driving over power-ups but there isn't a mushroom person or a princess in sight. And that little broccoli dude's name that so wants to be driving in Blur's universe? Brock Lee.

Blur dropped onto store shelves four days ago and is available for PCs, Xbox and PlayStation 3. Eat it, Pinky.