Vivendi announced this morning that gangsta shooter, 50 Cent: Bulletproof, has sold over a million copies in the US since its launch late last year. The game has drawn mediocore reviews but seems to have been well received by the rap artist's fans, perhaps drawn in by the four CDs worth of music as well as pop videos and other bonus features.
'"The exciting convergence of gaming and music helped make 50 Cent: Bulletproof one of GameStop's top selling titles in the month of December," said Bob McKenzie, Sr. Vice President of Merchandising.'
Has Vivendi ushered in a new era of music/videogame crossover, in which traditional gamers are all but by-passed (or at least marginalised) in favour of directly targeting the obsessive fans of pop stars? Certainly, this new audience is less likely to be critical of a poor videogame tie-in - they're just in it for the music and the chance to interact with their hero.
Of course, this isn't the first title to be based around successful music artists - we've had plenty of Def Jam games, for instance - but here, the sheer wealth of exclusive audio and video material probably makes Bulletproof a worthwhile purchase for hardcore fans. The game itself is almost incidental.
I was going to end this with one of those 'hilarious' tabloid-style pun lists, suggesting possible videogame titles for other pop artists...
...but I could only think of Arctic Monkey Ball... Oh and P Diddy Kong Racing
Help me out here, will you?
