Some days you look at the latest videogame press releases and despair as a limp parade of lifeless sequels and movie tie-ins skulk apologetically before you. But once in a while, a couple of completely unexpected gems bob to the surface amid the oh-so-predictable slurry. Today, as Ice Cube so eloquently put it, was a good day, with two of the strangest product endorsements of recent times.
Horses First up, Ubisoft has announced the development of Pippa Funnell: The Stud Farm Inheritance, an equestrian sim sponsored by the eponymous Olympic horse rider. You play as budding young starlet Estelle (I don't think it's the rapper, that would be an endorsement too far even for this project) who must compete in a series of riding events, through ten different environments. Brilliantly, one of the USPs listed on Ubisoft's press release is 'customisable horses' - obviously they have one cunning eye on the large horse riding/car modding crossover market.
I am pretty excited about this game. While Sony and Microsoft are continually banging on about how games must now appeal to a wider audience than just young men, Ubisoft has just rolled up its sleeves and leapt straight in there. And not with the usual disco dancing title or weak Sims rip-off, but with a horse game that blatantly and gratuitously has 'Stud' in the title. As John Parkes, marketing director of Ubisoft, himself states:
"Pippa Funnell: The Stud Farm Inheritance is a first for the UK gaming market. This is a game that can appeal to a wide range of people, even those who may not have played videogames before"
You said it, John!
graffiti Later, another press release arrived, this time for Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, a graffiti sim set in an oppressive near-future distopia. According to the release, Marc Ecko is a fashion pioneer and ex-graffiti artist who wants to ask the vital question, "What if graffiti could change the world?". To help him answer, you must take on the role of a young graffiti brat as he hones his tagging style, fights bad guys, sneaks into prime graffiti locations and eventually becomes an "All City King," the most reputable of all graffiti artists.
Alright, so there's more than a whiff of Jet Set Radio about this Atari PS2 release. But a licensed graffiti sim? Who saw that coming?
Clearly, the industry's obsession with brands and tie-ins has reached a kind of warped crescendo here today. Bizarre game concepts endorsed by anonymous experts - is this a Dadaist comment on the state of the videogame market? Oh who cares, it's brilliant. Take your retro cop shows, your life-draining summer blockbusters, your idiot millionaire sportsmen. The future is the micro-brand, designed to expertly target a small group of dedicated enthusiasts. TV has fractured into a thousand channels, videogame licensing may well be going the same way.
I've seen the future and it lives on Pippa Funnell's stud farm.
