Burger King games go double-platinum
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Dec 21st 2006 at 9:35AM }
What burger-backed trio of minigames reached the 2-million-in-sales mark faster than Gears of War? That's right ... Burger King's Value Meal threesome! Well, technically, 2 million is the number of combined sales (of the three games: Pocketbike Racer, Big Bumpin', and Sneak King); and each is only $3.99 with the purchase of an E. coli-free meal.Still, 2 million of these games consumed in just four weeks must represent a milestone in the evolution of fast food chain promotions. Look to Taco Bell to start thinking inside your 'Box to claw its way out of the doghouse.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ALICE UNCHAIND @ Dec 21st 2006 9:43AM
Aint nobody thinking inside MY box
Neccy @ Dec 21st 2006 9:53AM
My girlfriend just got back from the staes with Sneak King, too bad its region locked. *sigh* I wouldn't of thought it would be. The price was worth the risk.
Chocolate Starfish @ Dec 21st 2006 9:52AM
Something tells me a burrito in the box might cause an infection.
PS. T-bell is in the doghouse? I thought my consumption alone could keep them in business.
White Rose Duelist @ Dec 21st 2006 10:28AM
So when do these games come out as greatest hits for $20?
Steven @ Dec 21st 2006 10:45AM
Most BK's are selling all 3 games for $10.99, which is probably while they sold so well.
Zequel @ Dec 21st 2006 10:50AM
Not sure about Sneak King but the bumper car and mini-bike games rock. Stocking stuffer written over all over them. Where else can you can get 2-3 great stocking stuffers/x-box games for $4 each?? BTW, they have local multiplayer, live and multiple game types each. They work with xbox and xbox360.
nick @ Dec 21st 2006 11:08AM
Sneak King is pretty cool if you play it long enough, it's surpisingly hard at some points, and there's a ridiculous number of challenges between all the levels.
When I spoke to Burger King about the games when this promotion first started, I was told each store would receive XXX amount of copies of each game and that would be it. I suspect they made an initial run and simply are selling through their inventory. That the games actually sold, is pretty good, but the price is right and the games are better made than I would have imagined.
Firegirl @ Dec 21st 2006 11:31AM
I'm sorry, but the Burger King guy is just way too freaky for me. Are we going to have Michael Jackson making games next?
SuicideNinja @ Dec 21st 2006 11:34AM
Pocketbike Racer, aka "Ghetto Mario Kart", FTW! I played this game all day Saturday.
Big Bumpin' is okay, and I bought Sneak King yesterday...not much positive to say about that one.
What the hell is wrong with game developers with camera controls anyway. Why would you ever want to press the stick right to look left (Sneak King)? Final Fantasy always has this problem.
I've worked on several security camera systems in the past. If there's a joystick control, left goes left.
Venting, FTL.
Zack @ Dec 21st 2006 11:43AM
Pocketbike Racers is worth getting just for the intro menu screen. I have never laughed so hard because of a video game -- never. Not even a movie has made me laugh that hard in years.
The game itself is amusing, but Big Bumpin is the best of the three in terms of actually being a game and not counting novelty points.
As for Sneak King, well, eh, I hated Double Agent so there wasn't much chance I was going to like Sneak King. *shrug*
Ian @ Dec 21st 2006 9:23PM
#9:
Camera setups like that make lots of sense, actually. Picture a physical camera floating behind the character. If you want to see what's to the left of the character, you'd move the camera around to the right side of the character, and vice versa. It all comes down to individual player preference.
v1cious @ Dec 21st 2006 12:11PM
HAHAHAHA wow. i know they're only 3 dollars... but they outsold Gears Of War. you can't help but laugh at the irony of this.
solomonrex @ Dec 21st 2006 11:55AM
MGS gonan 20ck Sn3akKING'a55 on PS3!!
Hey, someone had to say it.
karlito @ Dec 21st 2006 12:47PM
^ not really it makes a lot of sense. GOW is 60 dollars and rated M the burger king games are 4 and rated e. So a family can get three games that are suitable for the children( i know sneak king is a little creepy but it does have a e rating) for a 1/4 of the cost of GOW which is not suitable for the kids. Thats just good strategy if you ask me.
atomheart @ Dec 21st 2006 12:34PM
That's not irony. Actually not even close. Why do people use irony wrong all the time?
vidGuy @ Dec 21st 2006 12:42PM
I dismissed these as being advertisements, but I'll have to check them out now thanks to some positive views here.
@SuicideNinja,
I understand your frustration. I have this problem a lot with vertical viewing controls - some games, like flying games, I like the vertical axis to be inverted, others, like FPS, I like it to be Up=Up Down=Down. I HATE it, and have a hard time getting used to it, when games won't let me flip it to how I want.
I guess the horizontal decision is dependant on how the camera moves. If the camera is locked behind the character (in a 3rd person game), left=left and right=right. If the camera can move around the player, think of it like it was on a circular track around the character. Moving the stick right moves the camera farther right, allowing you to see more to the LEFT of the character.
vidGuy @ Dec 21st 2006 12:45PM
@atomheart,
Yes, that is irony. The accepted definition of irony in the US is
"incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result".
One would expect GoW, a "super-leet-blockbuster" to sell more than a Burger King ad game. That is not what occured, thus it is ironic.
atomheart @ Dec 21st 2006 12:47PM
I would consider this irony IF:
Those BK games were 59.99 as well.
Sorry.
sparrow @ Dec 21st 2006 1:35PM
I'm trying not to think too much about the fact that I'll be purchasing a Core system just to play these ads.
Zack @ Dec 21st 2006 1:46PM
I would only consider the BK games outselling GoW ironic if BK had a tongue-in-cheek advertisement about how bad their games are compared to GoW, or if there was any way of connecting the sales of the BK games to the sales of GoW. But there isn't, as far as I can tell.
The BK games are $5 and worth it, and although I'd say GoW is $60 and worth it, it's a much bigger investment to make. No real surprise that the BK games (the three of them, mind you; I have all three but only bought GoW once) are together outselling GoW.
Skyler Jermyn @ Dec 21st 2006 2:00PM
I'm not surprised at the popularity. They are solid games well worth the purchase price. I got alot of entertainment out of them.
jchensor @ Dec 21st 2006 2:39PM
Ugh. Not to derail the topic and become the literary police, but:
There is nothing ironic about the BK games selling more than Gears of War. Irony is only present if something occurred that was opposite the intended result. Both the BK games and Gears of War were intended to sell. They both sold a lot. BK games sold more. That's all you can say.
If Microsoft was asked to promote the BK games and they said, "Look, we're looking for positive hype for our console. So we're putting our advertising efforts into Gears of War. Selling millions of that game will give us good press. Advertising throwaway games that come with a fastfood meal that only a few people will buy won't," THEN that's irony, due to thew positive hype and press they WILL get from the BK games.
atomheart @ Dec 21st 2006 2:59PM
jchensor,
Thank you. I get soooo tired of seeing people use that word without proper knowledge.
Sportscasters are particularly fond of using this word when they actually mean "coincidental".
vidGuy @ Dec 21st 2006 3:34PM
"Irony is only present if something occurred that was opposite the INTENDED result." = incorrect
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/irony
definition 3A
I still side with v1cious on the irony bit. The BK games are cheap and their sales make sense from a price viewpoint, but I find it hard to believe people expected them to sell better than the 360's current killer app. If that was so why weren't people buying 360s because "There's these killer Burger King games for it for real cheap!"?
coincidence
"the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection"
Nope, that doesn't explain the same thing. We aren't saying there's only a connection but that one thing occurred when another very different thing was expected (a definition of irony). The logical assumption would be that the game millions of 360s were bought for would sell better than some fast-food game.
Anyway, I'm tired of arguing semantics. If there's any discussion left on the thread topic, please let it commence.
just_somebody @ Dec 21st 2006 4:09PM
what about people using the 'word' irregardless? it has a built in double-negative. Why is this so widely accepted? Also.. why can I interject, object, inject and even reject.. but never just 'ject'? How can i redo something I can't do in the first place?
GTgamer @ Dec 21st 2006 4:43PM
I've actually wanted these games for awhile, but I never eat at Burger King...at least not since college. *sigh* So it's a question of whether choking down a Whopper rather than some In N' Out is worth the cause and if I can find a BK that will sell all 3 in one shot rather than adhering to the 1-per-meal stipulation.
Jeramy @ Dec 21st 2006 4:47PM
@ SuicideNinja
i know what you mean. i'd played sneak king a lot for a few days and then played gears with my friends. i got so accustomed to the inverted camera that i honestly started freaking out when i started playing gears. and i had played that game a lot and never had any trouble with the camera.
idk for some reason the inverted left-right seemed intuitive for me, even though i can't really justify it making sense on any logical level. but they really should allow you to customize such controls in every game. but, i mean, it only takes a little bit to get used to it. i was pwning my friends in gears again only after a minute or so.
v1cious @ Dec 22nd 2006 12:46PM
"That's not irony. Actually not even close. Why do people use irony wrong all the time?"
the most advanced shooter ever made was outsold by a burger promotion. sounds like irony to me.