Bad Press For Gamers

A friend gave me the heads up on this last Sunday, but I've been taking my time to talk about it here, simply because I didn't want it to be just another rant, I plain forgot and also because playing Sudeki's quite time consuming (since Fable's coming in 2 months, it's better than nothing).

So yeah, anyway. Last Sunday the aforementioned friend attended a game launching by a budding local online gaming company held in Midvalley. My friend was taken aback (for want of a better term) at the sloppiness of the whole affair: the supposed new game to launched merited only a lame PowerPoint slide show with no audio, and there were only 4 PCs dedicated for the launch. That in itself wasn't too bad (considering the officiating was done by a batik-wearing government official) until they decided to reveal the coup de grace: two guys dressed in black burst in on the scene, pointed BB guns towards the officer (who happened to be a deputy minister) and started threatening to "blow his brains out". Another guy also in black grabbed a female member of the audience and she started screaming until a camo-clad guy walked in, "despatched" the intruders all the while screaming "mampus kau!". Now, while I'm all for good gimmicks at trade shows and fairs ala E3, there is a line between a smartly done stunt (Spec Ops men rappeling out a heli at E3) and sheer stupidity (read: this).

Now one does not have to be an analyst to realise that this kind of publicity stunt does not help with the public perception of video gaming in Malaysia. We gamers already have to contend with scientists, government people and the general public blaming everything from drunk driving to Columbine on the awesome destructive power (??) of computer and video games. Having an ill-orchestrated stunt that involves pointing a gun at a senior government official does not help matters any, especially when the poor soul probably has no idea what the whole thing involves in the first place.

Note to game companies thinking of doing the same thing: don't. Or, get a competent PR team who can actually come up with something entertaining, awe-inspiring or just freaking related to the bloody product. Regardless of how many gamers exist in Malaysia these days, the purpose of a launching is still to get the message across to the whole spectrum of people, not only the gamers. If this kind of irresponsible marketing persists, don't be blaming anyone else if you run into bad press. So in the end, this promising little company made a boo-boo. It was damaging, yes, but it can also be avoided.

Here's hoping no one else decides to dab some more mud on the gaming pie. Please.

Coming up next: King Arthur Reviewed!, The One About Missing The Ex, Skoda Speeding, Ghosts of Genting and plenty more! Keep tuning in, folks.

Cheers.