I realize that video games don’t make up a big part of what the BlueFur blog is all about, but there is one video game in particular that is great at illustrating what the slow release of information can do for your product. I’m talking about Super Smash Bros. Brawl, an upcoming fighting game that will be released on the Nintendo Wii. The game has been discussed on several occasions on my fighting games blog, in case you’re interested.

From a marketing standpoint, Nintendo has done a fantastic job of promoting the Wii to casual and non-gamers, as well as doing a good job in attracting more conventional gamers. The Wii is still hard to find in stock in stores, despite being out for over a year. The same can be said about some of the more popular titles and we have every reason to believe that Super Smash Bros. Brawl — which will feature characters like Mario, Sonic, Solid Snake, and Pikachu — will be a very hot item when it hits shelves. The game has been delayed several times, but interest remains increasingly high. Why?

Nintendo has managed to maintain the attention of the gaming public through a Smash Bros blog of sorts, which provides small smidgets of information with each update. Popular gaming blogs like Nintendo Wii Fanboy, Kotaku, and Joystiq pick up these stories the moment they arrive at the Smash Bros Dojo, furthering the excitement surrounding this title. By slowing releasing tidbits of information and cool gameplay videos, Nintendo keeps reminding us of SSBB, ensuring that it stays at the forefront of my minds. If they all they did was release a massive press release every few months, they would not be garnering the same level of attention as they do now.

This marketing technique can easily be applied to all sorts of other products, including software launches, new products, and more. If you have something a-brewing at your company and you want to create some buzz around it, launching a blog that slowly releases new information can do wonders. The same can be said about any online services that may still be in the design and/or beta phase.

Trying to get in good with Google can be a smart strategy for getting traffic pointed toward your blog, but search engine optimization can only get you so far and it can result in some rather inconsistent traffic. If you’re hoping that your blog will get as popular as Shoemoney, Problogger, and John Chow, the key to success is to increase your number of RSS subscribers. When people subscribe to your feed, they are motivated to return to your blog on a daily basis, checking up on your latest content and contributing to your online community.

In terms of tactics, you can try many different things to get people to subscribe to your RSS feed. Over at Beyond the Rhetoric, I’m trying to get people to subscribe via email by giving away a free video game. People love contests that are easy to enter, so this is one strategy that you may try to employ on your own blog.

There’s also the Stripe Ad that I’ve mentioned in this space in the past, but one of the cooler plug-ins that might help increase your subscriber base is the What Would Seth Godin Do WordPress plug-in. What this does is place a text box underneath the title of your blog post, asking readers to subscribe. You can use the plug-in for other purposes as well, but the call to action (RSS subscription) is its primary purpose. You can see it in action at Bloggrrl.com.

You don’t want to bombard your readers with too many messages, but the What Would Seth Godin Do plug-in could be a viable option for increasing your number of subscribers.

Last week we asked which domain extension would you add and 75% of you said that we should add the .tv extension. We will be adding this service to our bluefurdomains.com site shortly (we will blog about it when it is done).

This weeks question is…

Last night Netenberg updated Moodle, Noahs Classifieds, PerlDesk, TYPO3, ZenCart and WordPress…

- Moodle: 1.8.2 -> 1.8.4
- Noahs Classifieds: 1.3 -> 1.3 [Patched-1]
- PerlDesk: 3.09 [Patched-1] -> 4.012.2
- TYPO3: 4.1.1 -> 4.1.5
- WordPress: 2.3.1 -> 2.3.2
- Zen Cart: 1.3.7.1 -> 1.3.8a

If you are using these software’s I suggest you upgrade.

You may have heard about the recent news wherein the Province of British Columbia will be the first in Canada to offer “enhanced” driver’s licences. From the outside, these new driver’s licences will look just like their current counterparts with the notable exception of a Canadian flag in the top-left corner. However, inside the card will be an embedded wireless chip (RFID) that contains a specific identification number which can then be cross-referenced with a national database containing your name, address, birthdate, and so on.

The idea is that the enhanced driver’s licence (EDL) can replace the need for a passport when crossing the border (via land) into the United States. As you know, the easiest form of identification that you can use when driving to Seattle, for example, is your Canadian passport, but you might not always have that on your person. By contrast, you probably carry your driver’s licence with you everywhere you go. As such, it is much easier to take a spontaneous trip to the States. Have to meet up with a business contact on short notice? No problem, because you don’t need to go home to grab your passport and/or birth certificate.

Naturally, there are all sorts of privacy concerns that go into such technology, because someone with an RFID tag reader can illegally pick up your information without your knowledge. This is because the tags are completely wireless; as you approach the border, you simply wave your EDL in front of a reader and the border guard immediately has access to your information.

The pilot program will consist of about 500 volunteers and if successful, the EDL will be offered for an additional fee to the rest of BC. This program will cost taxpayers about $4 million. What do you think? Is this a good idea?

CaseCamp is about telling stories. Presenters, following The Rules of CaseCamp, share case studies of their work. The goal is to create a commons for discussion, learning and networking between all participants.

Potential presenters include Thao Ngo from Marqui and Radiant Communications, who will break down the mysteries of the marketing cycle, along with David Gratton of the Donat Group, who will explain his company’s involvement with MTV’s Virtual Lower East Side project. Also planned are talks from Alan Bedingfield from Smak and Chris Goward from WiderFunnel.

When is the event happening?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 6:00 to 8:00 PM

Where is it happening?
TBD – Most likely in Vancouver*

Registration
To register you need to edit this page and add yourself (it’s a wiki). Admission is free.

*I will update this post when a location is decided.