Online PR for Digital Games in a Nutshell

Duane Brown's Online Public Relations: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly over at Gamasutra is a concise, informative piece on gaming PR covering all kinds of webs 2.0 issues. Not only does it include some neat' n' clever ideas (my favourites: use an online wiki to construct and update a game's user manual and podcasting the side story of a game to show off the story telling ability of a team as well as its imagination), it –again – shows how the nature of PR in an online environment changed to two way communication which is based on exchange and mutual respect. Something to appreciate:

There are roughly 6 billion people on earth and a good number of them probably play video games. Each of them is unique and special in their own way, but they all have one common trait. They want to be treated as the intelligent person they are.

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with producing compelling content, and the answer is everything. The minute you treat your audience as anything but intelligent is the minute you’ve lost. Regardless of whether you are making a video, a podcast, or setting up a blog or wiki, you need to take some items into account.

And when talking about how blogs can be used to foster a relationship with your audience:

A blog for your video game is a great way to communicate with your audience. You can use the blog to give your audience an insider’s look at the process of making a video game. The blog could be written by the game’s producer, game designer or by a lead from each of the game’s departments.

As long as the people are writing from the heart and being truthful, your fans should find the content interesting. You can also use the blog to show off exclusive content and announce in-person appearances, as well as allow your audience to see pictures and video from events you’ve attended that they might not have been able to.

I also like his take on ethics. In true mother's day spirit: