Get Your Game On

When I say “get your game on” I’m not talking about the delayed NBA season, spring training or your struggling fantasy team. I’m talking about video games, where the least athletic kid from high school might be killing you on the leaderboards.

While video games may have gotten a bad rap in recent years due to the perceived violence or addicting nature, my experience with the gaming world has been genuinely positive. My first job out of college was in gaming PR, an industry that was completely unknown to this wide-eyed transplant to Los Angeles. Turns out, it was the perfect place to start my career.

Video games, and the PR that comes along with them, thrive on creativity. Finding success in the gaming world doesn’t necessarily mean you have to create a billion dollar first-person-shooter, harvest thousands of crops on Facebook, or hold a PR dance stunt in the middle of Times Square (don’t worry – all of these successes have already happened).

The beauty of gaming is that every level, mission or mini-game gives you the chance to experience success. The industry’s constant state of change gives you, the developer, journalist or PR guru, the chance to attempt new designs and launch plans with each development cycle. This freedom and emphasis on creativity assures PR teams everywhere that they’ll be consistently challenged and running full-speed ahead at the latest breakthroughs and trends. It’s clear that my team at Porter Novelli, with our affinity for inter-office contests and technology debates, was built to tackle a fast-paced industry like gaming.  As if this doesn’t sound enticing enough, gamers seriously know how to have a good time.  If you ever have to chance to attend E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), take it, just trust me on this.

The term “gamer” is no longer limited to 20-something guys sitting in their bedrooms playing World of Warcraft every night, although there are plenty of these lovable characters out there. Gamers can now be found in all shapes and sizes; on your morning bus route incessantly playing Fruit Ninja and Temple Run on their iOS devices, or collecting coins and clues in their favorite Facebook games. Gaming has truly transcended demographics, which gives us PR folks the ability to reach everyone from the most hardcore MMO (massively multiplayer online) fanatics to the tweens playing Dance Central 2 in their living rooms. It seems that lately, everyone has a bit of gamer in them.

[science & medicine matter a little too]

If you’re interested in keeping up with the wonderful world of games, check out a few of my favorite sites dedicated to this seriously entertaining industry:

• Kotaku – Part of the Gawker family, this blog has recently changed up their reporting format and always manages to crack me up.
• VentureBeat’s GamesBeat – Check out GamesBeat for the business end of this billion dollar industry.
• Game Informer - The gaming industry’s largest magazine & home to some of the coolest journalists.

Comments

[Jessica Gaylord]

Brings me back to the olden days of playing Aladdin, Donkey Kong, and Street Fighter on my Super Nintendo. Hadouken!