| EVENT REPORT 07.21.08 10:32 AM |
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| Game Plan |
| To bring its assortment of games and merchandise to the New York media, Microsoft created a two-day invitation-only showcase that allowed attendees one-on-one time with reps and Xbox products. |
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Last Monday's annual E3 Business and Media Summit in Los Angeles brought out all the big names in computer and video games. And while there was no official New York counterpart to the entertainment software trade show, Microsoft Corporation brought its new Xbox products to Manhattan for a two-day showcase at Splashlight Studios. On Tuesday and Wednesday, invited members of the media played with new games and spoke with Xbox reps during scheduled appointments. Microsoft Xbox's event team—John Ellard, April McKee, and Jen Puzio—hired Zed Ink to produce the event (as well as another incarnation in Los Angeles) with an eye to creating an intimate setting for orientation and interviews and comfortable lounges for game testing.
To ease traffic and give editors enough time with the right game genre, the two-floor studio was divided into three distinct environments. A room on the first floor held three partitioned sections for orientation and interviews. Specifically, this was for attendees to have one-on-one time with company representatives as well as familiarize those not well versed with the video game console. Adjacent to this was a studio just for the hard-core games—including Gears of War 2 and Halo Wars. Upstairs held the more family-oriented titles as well as sports and interactive games. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | On the lower floor, a separate orientation and interview room allowed press one-on-one time with reps from Microsoft.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Upstairs in the section for sports, family, and music games, white lounge furniture abounded, creating mini living room environments for different games.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Like the room upstairs, the area for hard-core games was marked by white sofas, mirror-topped tables, and illuminated props.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | At E3 in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced a partnership with online DVD rental company Netflix. To highlight this in New York, a special section complete with a Netflix representative gave attendees a full tour of the new offering.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Enabling attendees to get their fill of food and drink, Zed Ink filled bars around the venue with fruit, crudité, crackers and cookies as well as chilled bottles of water and cans of soda.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Zed Ink also used various screens, dividers, and props—including an igloo-like dome for karaoke game Lips—to separate sections as well as add additional visual elements to the venue.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Dishes and pots filled with green candy added a playful touch to the event. Studio Blu hunted down green-apple flavored Gummi Army Guys specifically for the hard-core game area.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Zed Ink filled some of the partitions at the event with Xbox-related accessories, such as game controllers, and other green items.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Other decorative elements include a chandelier-like piece with green pieces of paper clipped to metal clasps.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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 | Green toys hung from hooks on the wall, matching the overall color scheme and adding a tactile element to the studio space.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash |
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Dominating the visuals at the event was Xbox's signature green color, with green light flooding the white studios and projections of the circular Xbox 360 logo on walls throughout. Accenting this, white lounge furniture, mirrored tables, and various props formed separate areas for each game station, with white partitions and dividers creating more formal divisions. Candy, too, was green—from Jelly Belly beans to packs of lime-flavored Now and Later—sitting in dishes all around the venue.
In fact, the only non white-and-green section of the event was the one for Netflix, an area decorated with red props and a large bowl of popcorn. Earlier in the week, Microsoft and the online DVD rental company announced a partnership that will allow Xbox 360 users to stream movies from Netflix to their TVs through the video game console.
Rounding out the two-day showcase was a party on Wednesday evening, which took place at Splashlight. Moving a minimum of the furniture set up for the showcase, Zed Ink opened up some of the studios and added a bar and furniture to the second floor's outdoor terrace. In total, approximately 100 attended the daytime showcase and 150 showed for the evening party.
—Anna Sekula
RELATED TOPICS
Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Netflix
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