Hardware Makers Woo Pro Gamers

Posted by simoniker on Thursday August 28, 2003 @06:04AM from the pretty-graphics-from-expensive-machines dept.

Thanks to Wired News for their article discussing PC hardware makers, and their marketing efforts aimed at gamers. The piece suggests: "High-stakes video-game tournaments may be all the rage, but the real fights occur behind the scenes, where companies spend millions trying to get their technology directly into the hands of gamers." It goes on to point out the big competitive gaming deals: "Nvidia... ponied up $125,000 for QuakeCon, $30,000 for the Cyberathlete Professional League's Unreal Tournament competition and $350,000 for the winners of the Make Something Unreal game-design competition... AMD spent more than $300,000 on this year's QuakeCon." And the largest LAN parties are now greatly sought-after: "The closed bidding and increased competition has forced companies to pour more money into these tournaments or face losing coveted sponsorships."

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Re:does this really influence the hard core gamer? by Grand · 2003-08-28 06:56 · Score: 2, Interesting

I think it is more about them giving out prizes like Video Cards. I know if I ever went to a gaming event and a bunch of people around me got 500 dollar video cards for free, I would be more inclined to buy from that company. Both ATI and NVIDIA dont need advertising since the benchmarks do that for each of them. But a company giving out free products at events shows that they actually support gamers. Especially since it seems like big LAN parties are growing in popularity lately. NVIDIA giving away free stuff gets people in the door and makes for a much better experience for the hard core and casual players.