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Look out "Gears," Burger King is out for blood

What’s better than pocket bike racing? Pocket bike racing with the King.  The only word that comes to mind when thinking of the trio of Burger King games is... really?  The idea of Pocket Bike Racing, Sneak King, and Big Bumpin' is completely ridiculous but compelling at the same time.  The developer, Blitz Games, was also the developer of Fuzion Frenzy, the multiplayer title that features minigames, arcade games and tournament modes.

The latest news, according to Gamespot, consists of the unbelievable sales of the three games.  All three Burger King games saw over 2 million cumulative copies sold in just 4 weeks, while the highly acclaimed Microsoft shooter, Gears of War, hit 2 millions sold copies in roughly 6 weeks.

Sneak King takes a Splinter Cell edge with stealth.  The goal of the game is to give people platters of burgers without them knowing you are sneaking up on them. Pocket Bike Racing is exactly as the title states, and well, Big Bumpin' is just bumber cars with crazy twist and turns.  You have to watch out for ice patches and dodge saws.

While the Burger King partnership has outdone Microsoft, it also helps that each of the Burger King games is sold for only $3.99 when you purchase a value meal and is available for XBOX and XBOX 360.

The question is how long will this novelty last, and will the Burger King videogames actually reach top sales on the videogame charts?  Gamespot has also reported that none of the BK games have rated higher than 6.0 out of 10.

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....
By cciesquare on 12/27/2006 8:32:38 AM , Rating: 2
Well its hard to say because I know a few who got the game but didnt have a xbox. They bought it cuz they thought it was for PC.

You also have to figure that its a fast food chain, so you'll get lots of customers, throw in "Would you liked a game with that for $3.99?" Who would say no?

The games were fun but i got bored of them real fast. They now serve as toasters.




RE: ....
By ThisSpaceForRent on 12/27/2006 8:38:35 AM , Rating: 5
How did you turn them into toasters?


RE: ....
By casket on 12/27/2006 8:46:05 AM , Rating: 2
looks like "toasters" should read "coasters"


RE: ....
By NotAok on 12/27/2006 8:47:31 AM , Rating: 3
i can't stop laughing at this


RE: ....
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 12/27/2006 9:39:25 AM , Rating: 2
He likely meant Coasters.


RE: ....
By rushfan2006 on 12/27/2006 8:57:39 AM , Rating: 1
LOL...yeah that's legitimate.

You can't seriously consider a $3.99 game tossed in with a value meal as valid for the game sales charts.

That's just retarded.


RE: ....
By SmokeRngs on 12/27/2006 12:01:52 PM , Rating: 5
Why isn't it legitimate?

From your post you say it's not legitimate because the games are cheap and only sold at Burger King.

I do not see why that would matter at all. The price shouldn't matter unless every game to be considered for the list has to be the same price. Last time I checked, many of the games are priced differently.

Where it's sold shouldn't matter either. If anything, just being sold at one business would hurt sales. I go into stores that sell games a lot more often than I go to a fast food restaurant; much less a specific one.

I see this as a good thing. I doubt it cost much to develop the games considering the price they are being sold at. And yet, many people are buying the games and having fun with them. I wish people would see the implication of this. You don't need to spend millions to design a game you must charge $50 for to get people to buy it. Not every game has to have a price tag like that. Believe it or not, there is a market out there for simple, fun and cheap games.

Basically, the price of the game doesn't really matter for the game charts. What does the price have to matter if a lot of people are buying the game. It's not necessarily a game itself that's spurring all the sales but the price which may be low enough that a lot of people see it as low risk. If the game sucks, they are only out a few dollars. I would consider $5 a much lower risk on a game than $50.


RE: ....
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 12/27/2006 12:10:36 PM , Rating: 1
I agree with everything you've posted. However, do keep in mind that publishers are a lot more like movie studios now. It doesn't cost millions to develop each game, so the studios "normalize" their gains/losses by charging the same for each game.

It's the same reason why DVDs are all about $15-20 regardless if its a $400M movie or a $10M movie (in some cases, the independent movies are actaully more expensive since they have to make up the margins on *that* title).


RE: ....
By SmokeRngs on 12/27/2006 6:01:21 PM , Rating: 2
I just wanted to make the point that it is possible to have a successful game that didn't require a company to spend a fortune to make.

Also, let's not get started on the specific model for financing movies and games. I'll just say that I think that's one of the reasons for the majority of the craptacular movies and games I've been seeing for years.

Just to clarify, the previous statement does not say in any way that there have been no good movies or games; just that it seems a majority of them have been rather uninspiring.


RE: ....
By rushfan2006 on 12/27/06, Rating: 0
RE: ....
By SmokeRngs on 12/27/2006 5:56:16 PM , Rating: 3
A small price to pay? Yes it is. It's a very small price to pay. Jump the price of the Burger King games to $20 $30 or $40 each and you won't see as many people buying them.

Most people won't take a chance on buying an expensive game of unknown quality. However, they will do so if it's cheap. That is the point I was trying to make. I would guess most of the people that bought these games figured they had little to lose and bought them because of that. Some people have found a good value in the games and some have not. That does not alter the fact that the games were bought up. Pricing can make a huge difference and in this case, it jumps the numbers up as high as some of the top games brought out by the major players.

You still have not given me a concrete reason to not allow these games on a list of the bestselling games. The price and the distribution model are irrelevant when talking about sales numbers. Top selling means those that have sold the most. These games were sold. How can you argue against that?


RE: ....
By mindless1 on 12/28/2006 2:09:54 PM , Rating: 2
The only real point you could have is that it's not fair to compare because it costs so much less and is conveniently promoted. Are these not two goals of the producer and the buyer?

If anything it signals that consumers want lower cost games.


RE: ....
By tacorly on 12/27/2006 1:12:15 PM , Rating: 2
You can't seriously fail to see the difference between $4 and $50 for a brand new title...
And to parents, everything is the same...


RE: ....
By copiedright on 12/27/2006 7:43:15 PM , Rating: 2
I also agree with you, however, I think its not so much about risk but value .

Crappy/OK game + availability + very affordable = Good Value

OK/Good game + availability + expensive = Bad Value

This is all about value to the consumer. If a game producer has made a game, determined its pricing, determined its target market, determined its distribution method, all quite successfully. And is doing very well at it, why should it not be considered on the charts.

If its because they are crappy? A lot of expensive games have received worse scores than these games!

If its because they are cheap? Good on them for choosing an appropriate price point.

If its because of their distribution method? Selling games with fast food is nothing special, its been done before. This way they have a better chance of penetrating there target audience.


RE: ....
By funnyduddy on 12/31/2006 6:14:20 PM , Rating: 2
Crappy/OK game + availability + very affordable = Good Value

Crappy/OK food + availability + very affordable = Good Value

Burger King's formula for success.

Just a thought.


Sheer marketing genius
By masher2 (blog) on 12/27/2006 11:17:58 AM , Rating: 4
Whatever executive thought of the idea for these games deserves a promotion...this was the best marketing tie-in of the year.




RE: Sheer marketing genius
By TimberJon on 12/27/2006 11:59:51 AM , Rating: 2
Secret Agent King is next. Or maybe an 'Empire Earth' or 'Rise of Franchise' with the King's empire in it.


RE: Sheer marketing genius
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 12/27/2006 12:05:14 PM , Rating: 1
Well.. It's been done before, a lot. McKids? Yo Noid? Cool Spot? .... dare I say it... America's Army?

Of course, BK was pretty smart in marketing it as three $4 games as opposed to a full price title.


RE: Sheer marketing genius
By mindless1 on 12/28/2006 2:14:19 PM , Rating: 2
What we need now is the Sneak-King mod for other popular games to promote love and sharing. Instead of killing that alien zombie, serve it a Double Whopper.


Great fun for $4 dollars
By 05SilverGT on 12/27/2006 9:05:47 AM , Rating: 2
Don't knock the games because they're some of the best fun I've had for $4 dollars. I can think of a few $60 buck games they beat out. Oh say half the of the 360 launch lineup. A couple friends of mine played Pocket Bike for hours the other night. Remember folks we are only talking $4 DOLLARS here! You shouldn't expect a 40hr. Zelda experience out of these.




RE: Great fun for $4 dollars
By djcameron on 12/27/2006 12:53:54 PM , Rating: 2
We pay more than that in sales tax on a "regular" Xbox 360 title.


Pocket bike
By OrSin on 12/27/2006 9:07:47 AM , Rating: 2
I got the pocket bike racer and it was fun. My daught is trying to getthe hang of it now. For $5 its a great buy. Now if i payed $30 I would be disappionted. But really for $5 I would recommond it to any one. I have not even unlocked all the bikes or tracks yet.




Whatever
By IMPoor on 12/27/2006 10:00:33 AM , Rating: 2
All I wanted was the pocket bike racer game but at the Burger King next to me they only had big bumpin and sneak king. I got them both and they both suck big time. I think that they would be fun for young kids and for $3.99 I am not sure what I expected anyway. Unless you are young or have kids I would recommend spending the money on xbox marketplace and get some funner games. BK was very smart and I bet we see this again in the future but I also bet that many were disapointed and will not buy them again.




Microsoft to sell burgers ?
By SaintSinner1 on 12/27/2006 12:48:46 PM , Rating: 2
I'll say Microsoft should offer Gears of War with healthy value meal ... and war is on !




Mario on DS...
By bunnyfubbles on 12/27/2006 10:06:29 PM , Rating: 2
New Super Mario Bros alone is approaching ~7 million in sales. Burger King what?

It's funny how the hand-helds tend to slip by the wayside despite the sheer dominance. The Wii isn't the most/best/fastest selling console this year, the DS is. Is it surprising one of the best selling games/franchises is for that system?

Of course there are the other Mario games for that system still selling well this year...Mario Kart DS, Mario 64 DS




By nurbsenvi on 12/28/2006 12:19:59 PM , Rating: 2
This is a good example of how expensive games are
Let me do a simple and dumb calcuation here

Both GOW and Sneak King sold 2million copies

GOW would have cost 10 million dollars to make while S king would have cost some where between $50,000 to $100,000 dollars
based on this rough "assumption"

dev cost - (MSRP x copies sold) = revenue

GOW: 10,000,000 - (60 x 2,000,000) = 110,000,000 11x revenue
S King: 100,000 - (4 x 2,000,000) = 7,900,000 79x revenue

revenue differnce
79/11 = 7.2

price differnce
60/4 = 15



revenue : price
7.2 : 15 =
1 : 2

so!! if GOW was $25 buck they would have sold 4 million copies... OK?




what I'd really like to see
By marvdmartian on 12/27/2006 9:43:23 AM , Rating: 1
As tired of that idiotic Burger King character as I'm getting to be, I think I'd rather see more of a "Death Race 2000" setting, where we get to drive a car and run over countless Burger Kings! Or perhaps something with guns, and we shoot the BK!! How about make one with guns and axes and chainsaws (and other FUN items!!), where we can mutilate and chop up the good ol' BK!!!! YEAH!!!

And with the game rating system in place, the last one wouldn't receive much more than a "T for Teen" rating!! ;)




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