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Freebies. Goodies. Bonuses. Tat. Bling. Whatever you want to call it, game-related paraphernalia is cool. In Japan -- more so than in Western countries -- games are surrounded by all sorts of shiny, glittering free stuff. Take Club Nintendo as a textbook example. Japan's Club Nintendo is a generous institution which sends out gifts as rewards for points amassed through Nintendo purchases. There's a yellow voucher tucked inside each piece of Nintendo software/hardware which contains a special code; just tap in the code at club.nintendo.co.jp and then, when you have a healthy stash of points, go on a Club Nintendo catalogue spree.
Last week I received a package containing five Mushroom Kingdom figurines: Mario, Luigi, Kinopio, Peach, and Yoshi. They look lovely and cost only 350 points. Each game bought yields between 20 and 50 points, so it doesn't take too long to rack up sufficient points for some bling.
Information Age
In Japan's convenience stores the book and magazine sections are surprisingly extensive. For gamers who want to feed their heads with information regarding new releases, Weekly Famitsu is the first port of call. Beyond Famitsu though, there are dozens of other game magazines and mangabon (weekly manga anthologies) which showcase forthcoming games.
The unusual thing is, most people in conbinis stand 'zine-in-hand to read what they want to read right there without distraction from staff. They then leave the store without a magazine, but having bought something cheaper (a can of hot coffee, for instance) instead -- and no one considers this practice to be odd. While they're in the conbini, however, they face an onslaught of advertising.
Retail Battle: Consumers Win
Conbinis double as the perfect place for publishers to promote their new games. Sometimes, as with the recent Final Fantasy XII launch, convenience stores themselves take the lead in promoting and selling major new releases. Huge banners were draped above the doorways of Family Mart to advertise the impending launch of Square's latest, for example. Although games aren't sold directly alongside comestibles, they are kept behind the counter and are often sold at more competitive prices than major game retailers mark their games at. And here's the sinker: Conbinis usually offer discount incentives to pre-order that many high street game stores can't compete with. Gradually, games are becoming an even more mainstream form of entertainment in Japan, filed right alongside the DVD movies and music CDs which conbinis also stock and promote.
