Tag Archive for: video game pr

Unwrapping The Mysteries of NIER

GameSpot Is First Outlet To Go Live With New Preview of Square Enix and cavia Inc’s Action-RPG NIER

We’ve been working somewhat behind the scenes on NIER for a while now, methodically plotting and executing its reintroduction to the world like Dr. Evil in his underground lair.  While it’s slated to release in Spring 2010, nobody has really seen what the game truly is.  Until now.

GameSpot is the first media outlet to start taking the wraps off of NIER, posting their exclusive first-look preview tonight that reveals the game’s RPG gameplay and features, Nier’s powerful magic and the twisting storyline of a father trying desperately to save his daughter.

There will be more previews coming up tomorrow, but in the meantime, grab a piece of a really thorough and informative preview over on GameSpot right now.

We’re really excited to be working on the game, and even moreso to see the previous months of work starting to pay off for the game, and the team!  Congrats everyone!

And you can keep up to date on NIER news and assets by checking out the game’s bran-new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NIERgame

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Hazard on Destructoid, PLUS A Nice Shout Out For MavPR

Our friends over at Destructoid picked up on our release about Matt Hazard hitting 1,000 friends over on his epic, badass (and such) Facebook Page.

First of all, let’s all acknowledge that nabbing 1,000 friends is a pretty solid achievement for a classic video game character.  For reference, we are now only about 350 fans behind the much-ballyhooed and uber-hyped “Master Chief.”  Clearly that guy’s fame is all smoke and mirrors!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we dove deep into the Hazard archives and found other major achievements in Hazard’s history that involve the number 1,000.

My favorite?  The reference to the lost game Corona and its repetitive Bungie-jump Gameplay design… you can check all the fun facts out right here on the Facebook Page, or hit the Destructoid link and read them there!

Meanwhile, we totally love the commendation offered up from Destructoid, as they open their story thusly:

You really ought to commend the folks at Maverick PR (and Vicious Cycle Software) for their work on Matt Hazard. They’ve done a tremendous job of creating a back-story for the videogame character who’s got a fictional past, both in and outside of the games.

Hazard rolls on as Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond gets closer to ship.  Remember, the Facebook Page is the official online home for all things Hazard, so you can check him out and keep up to date there.  Also, Hazard is running his own Twitter account – which is interesting to say the least – which you can find over at @HowHazardRollz

Follow him… OR DIE! 🙂 (that’s a joke, by the way)  OR IS IT?!?!?! (it is).

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Just Cause 2 Grapples Up Some Previews

We’re happy to report that Just Cause 2 looks awesome and is showing off its grapple + parachute stunt-filled combat explosion open-world hijinx.  Can we make that its own genre?

Recently we had a chance to set-up some in-person, hands-on showings of the game for some sites here in North America, and we’re really excited to see some great coverage hitting from the visits.

But, rather than us telling you JC2 is a great game – which I’m sure you kind of expect us to do — why don’t you take a peek for yourself at what the professionals have to say about it:

Kotaku | Joystiq | Destructoid | Game Revolution | Gaming Target


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Maverick PR Gets Its Puzzle On with Gyromancer

So, Square and PopCap Games decided to pool their considerable n3rd-cred and come up with a game that combines the addictive casual play of a puzzler with the depth and complexity of an RPG.

While seemingly  unfathomable just a few years back….we at Maverick KNOW this formula works because we’ve sunk more hours into D3’s Puzzle Quest series than we care to publicly admit.

The result of Square and PopCap’s hard work is none other than the soon to be released Gyromancer — a time-sucking, black hole of a game I believe they designed with the sole purpose of stealing away every last bit of the year 2009 I have left.  Others suggest there may be something divine in Gyromancer‘s origin…

Penny Arcade on Gyromancer's immaculate conception

“Gyromancer appears to be the work of a nefarious intellect, when the truth is substantially more beautiful: Gyromancer stands as proof of an interested, active, and present divinity, like spontaneous fermentation. Such indicators are rare, and when we find them we must cling to them, like hunks of bobbing wreckage.” – Tycho Brahe, Penny Arcade

Of course, it’s also possible they are simply trying to make a great XBLA/PC title!

Regardless, we released a great new trailer for Gyromancer today as well as the planned release date of November 18th on XBLA and PC.  You can check out the trailer here:

Giantbomb, Shacknews or Team Xbox.

Stay tuned for more on this highly anticipated title.

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Maverick PR And Square Enix Join Forces Again, This Time For Just Cause 2

Maverick PR To Drive Innovative Community and Viral Campaigns, Provide Extended Media Support for Open-World Sequel

Um, ya... this looks AWESOME. [Just Cause 2]

Um... Awesome, much?

Have I mentioned how much we love it when we get to work with our client partners more than once, and on multiple titles?

Well, then you’ll know why we’re so pleased to announce that we are expanding our relationship with our friends at Square Enix to include work on their upcoming blockbuster sequel, Just Cause 2.

We’ll be working with the Square Enix and Eidos teams to support and augment their work by providing community development and management, innovative and creative viral outreach and content creation, and extended media relations.

As for the game?  It looks amazing.  It’s jammed full of interesting content for us to explore and reveal so we’re really looking forward to digging in and “peeling the onion” to show off exactly what makes the title truly unique.

You want a taste?  You know you do.  Go ahead – check out this video that broke just last night, and is currently spreading across the Internet.

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Maverick PR Saddles Up Again With Matt Hazard

Maverick and D3 Join Forces Again for Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond

If he doesn't kill you with a rocket launcher, he'll get you with his good looks, ladies.

If he doesn't kill you with his rocket launcher, he'll get you with his good looks, ladies.

Our old friend Matt Hazard, he of classic video game ass-kickery and old-school action-badassitude, is rolling back into town with his mega-guns and snappy one-liners in a new XBL and PSN game – Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond.  And giddyup, ‘cuz we’re going along for the ride.

Maverick will be driving community outreach and online viral activities for the upcoming game, in a reprise of our role from the award-winning launch of D3’s first Matt Hazard game, Eat Lead.

While we may not be writing fictional blogs or drawing cartoons this time (of course… we might), there’s plenty to do and tons of content to explore.

We’re really excited to get our creative on again and continue the momentum we built up from the first launch while extending our relationship with a great partner at D3.

The first trailer is now out and kicks some serious ass (created with aplomb by our friend Amy at mOcean) and there is also nice preview up on IGN right now as well.

Come join the official Facebook Page, which we’re actually using as the official Web site for the game – a first for us and pretty cool, frankly!

I’ll quit my yapping now, it’s time to grab a gun.  A big gun.

It’s Hazard Time.

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Square Enix Taps Maverick to Support Arkanoid Plus!, Dragon Quest Wars

Maverick Jumps In With Community and Media Support For Dragon Quest Wars and Arkanoid Plus!

Arkanoid Plus!

We’re really excited to announce that Maverick is continuing its relationship with Square Enix here in North America, this time jumping in to support media activities and community outreach for some of Square Enix’s awesome upcoming downloadable titles.

These downloadable games will be coming out on a bunch of different systems and they represent some pretty great video game franchises, so we couldn’t be more excited about this.  First up – the aforementioned titles:  Arkanoid Plus! for WiiWare and Dragon Quest Wars for DSiWare – good times!

Dragon Quest Wars

Dragon Quest Wars

We’ve really enjoyed working with the entire team at Square Enix on Order of War (out now!!!) – and of course with all the people out there in the real world who we talk to every day about the game — and we expect great things from this new project.

So keep an eye out right away for information coming from Maverick about Arkanoid Plus! and Dragon Quest Wars — they are great games and come out very soon!

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Maverick Hits SanFran with Square Enix’s Order of War

OOW Multiplayer Mode Gets a Hands-On Showcase in San Francisco to Online Outlets

We love going to San Francisco.  Really we do.  We’re there quite a bit.  In fact, besides cities that I’ve lived in, I would say I have spent most of my time in San Francisco.  To be fair, the entirety of my knowledge of SanFran revolves around a small, 5-block cluster centered on the W Hotel, The Palomar, The Argent (now Westin), 1UP and GameSpot… and then a tiny peninsula in South San Francisco.  So… I’m no tour guide.

This, the view from the Westin, is all I ever see of SF. If you look hard, you can see Alcatraz back there. I've never been there.

View from the Westin: all I ever see of SF. If you squint, you can see Alcatraz . I've never been there.

However, I do know where everyone works.  So when Maverick was tasked with whisking Order of War up to San Francisco for a showcase of the game’s cool multiplayer mode, we had a pretty good idea of what we needed to do.  So off we went!  And, we had a great time talking about the game and facing off head-to-head with some of the industry’s top PC journalists in the two maps we were showing.  I can’t say I was victorious often, but it was a blast either way.

Take a minute to check out some of the coverage that has hit online since our tour.  You can find it here on IGN, GameSpot, Kotaku, GamesRadar, 1UP and Worthplaying.

I utilized my rocket artillery with much ballyhoo, but alas, most editors shamed me anyway.

I utilized my rocket artillery with much ballyhoo, but alas, most editors shamed me anyway.

And keep an eye out for the multiplayer demo – 2 levels of WWII strategy action are going to drop on your head this coming Tuesday – 9/15!!

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Maverick Partner Matt Frary Shares Thoughts on Review Copies with CrispyGamer

Today on CrispyGamer, writer Kyle Orland explores the somewhat complicated processes that video game PR people use in determining who and what outlets receive free review copies of games.  It’s never an easy decision to cut someone off the list, that’s for sure, but there are time when you really don’t have a choice.

Maverick PR Partner Matt (me!) is quoted throughout the article, sharing his thoughts based on a decade of deciding where to send these “free goodies.”

Disclaimer: these “free goodies” may not be as fun as you think, as they may require you to spend 10-20 hours completing a game and another 5 or so hours crafting a “review” full of useful facts, features and moments of note, all supported with insightful opinions and references; at the end of which you will be strong-armed into choosing a – let’s face it – somewhat arbitrary number or letter to designate the “fun” you experienced while slogging through the aforementioned 10-20 hours of gameplay…

Anyway… read on at this link and enjoy the article.  A quickie quote from the article featuring Matt:

“Some publishers … still refuse to expand their list and stick only to the ‘big’ players in the space,” Frary said. “This is really too bad, and they end up missing a massive, and growing, segment of the market. … [It’s] particularly frustrating because when you look at the smaller videogame sites out there as a whole, they have a huge voice that reaches a critical audience that the larger outlets sometimes miss.”

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Eat Lead Claims Mi6 Award for Viral Campaign

D3Publisher of America and Maverick PR’s Campaign for Eat Lead Claims 2009 Mi6 Award for Most Effective Viral Community Oriented Campaign

Let’s take a moment here to pat ourselves and our awesome client on the back.  I mean, pat our “award-winning” client and selves on our collective “award-winning” back.

We’re incredibly proud and excited to see that the Mi6 video game marketing awards has recognized the viral community campaign for D3Publisher’s Eat Lead with a Bronze Award for the “Most Effective Viral Community Oriented Campaign” of the past year.

  • You can read more about thecampaign in GameSpot’s interview with D3 and Maverick HERE

Read more

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