Kuma Advergames with DinoHunters

04/25/06 - TheGameFeed

It’s been said that advertising is a necessary evil to bring consumers free TV-programming (i.e. great network shows such as ‘Lost’ on ABC, or ‘Veronica Mars’ on UPN are interspersed with ads and commercials). But can advertising of this sort find a market in videogames? Kuma Reality Games attempts to answer that very question as they’ve announced a high-profile free release for the PC entitled DinoHunters. The game, which uses Half-Life 2’s impressive graphics engine, will be an online FPS featuring a much-lauded comedy script from former Maxim Magazine editor-in-chief Keith Blanchard. The game is being labeled the first ever ‘advergame’ title by Kuma.

“DinoHunters is an innovative online gaming series that combines intense first-person shooter action with the comedic storytelling sense of a first-rate television show,” says Keith Halper, CEO of Kuma Reality Games.

Previous games have attempted to merge the film industry with videogaming (ala the ‘cinematic’ RPGs from Square such as ‘Parasite Eve,’ containing about as much CG cutscene content as actual gameplay). Kuma’s DinoHunters, on the other hand, signals the growing trend of small-screen format sit-coms being combined with interactive gaming. If gamers are receptive to the free-with-advertising model of ‘advergaming,’ expect a new market niche to be born in the American gaming industry. Also, expect jaded TV sponsors to pop up and support the new brand of advertising, as TiVo and similar ‘commercial-skipping’ digital video software has left a lot of companies that rely on TV-advertising out in the cold.

“Kuma’s ability to marry quality gameplay with engaging storylines, while maintaining focus on the brand’s communication objectives enabled us to make it a centerpiece of the Schick Quattro campaign strategy,“ said Alex Kakoyiannis whose company Navigame worked with Carat Fusion to develop Schick’s overall integrated game strategy for DinoHunters. “Kuma’s episodic model also allows the brand to continue its relationship with gamers for an indefinite amount of time, which cannot be achieved with other advergames because they are not created with a serial approach.”

Kuma Reality Games’ DinoHunters is available now for the PC. Future episodes of DinoHunters are scheduled to premiere on the fictional Total Hunting Channel each month and are available for download at http://www.thedinohunters.com/.