Okay seriously I need some help here.
I am in a bit of a strange situation, I have a fantastic relationship with some of the distributors in SA and they are more than happy to give me some cool things to give away as prizes, but I am struggling to come up with some good ideas for competitions.
I have run a review competition and the response was good but not great, I ran the poster competition and again I got a good response but not great. The hidden Dharma thing had you guys being more interactive but I feel we can do better.
So this is just a call for help really, what type of competitions are best?
The thing is that unless I can get more people entering there is very little chance of being able to offer better prizes, I really want to be the first South African website to give away a full HD TV, but for that to happen I need you guys.
Also let me know what prizes you want, I know most of you don’t comment but you are more than welcome to send me a mail (support@lazygamer.co.za) and I can then see what I can do.
Last Updated: April 3, 2008
Evilredzombie
April 3, 2008 at 12:33
For the xbox gamers a comp for highest game score..they send their live id and you verify
Just some general comp’s like a send your name and email and do random draw
Some Q and A comp’s where you ask a question like…who is this , or what mega man did u fight cutman…stuff like that
Evilredzombie’s last blog post..Take 2 now EA’s Bit@# !
doobiwan
April 3, 2008 at 12:43
What’s the prize for coming up with a decent competition? 😉
How about a fanboy face off?
1. Select a panel of neutral judges, because there’s no way public voting will work.
2. Select an inflammatory subject like “What’s the weather like today”
3. Contestants have 48 hours to argue their perspective.
4. minimum of 5 posts to qualify.
(bonus round) Only posts written in L337 or LOL will be accepted 😉
doobiwan’s last blog post..Evil Genius 101: How to open Xbox Live part 2
Jinja
April 3, 2008 at 12:45
Ye, maybe a whole lot of quotes or screenshots and we have to tell you from which games they are from?
Also remember to put a banner about the competition you are currently running on the left or right, I didn’t even know about the poster and review comps.
Jinja’s last blog post..Sick, Twisted…Awesome – Blind Girl
LazySAGamer
April 3, 2008 at 12:48
@Jinja, that is a valid point… I need to find space for a banner I think.
Thanks to the other two for the suggestions as well…. I am adding them to the list
nanomiles
April 3, 2008 at 12:51
You know, I really liked the live Guitar Hero competition at Megarom. Something like that may be hard to organise. You could have a draw for a couple of persons to come and choose any game really and compete face-to-face. Way more fun…I’ll supply the beer…
abe
April 3, 2008 at 13:06
Dress up comps are cool, as are design comps, things that really engages the viewer. Comps like spot the Dharma frustrate me, as that purely luck of who see’s the article first (i.e. I might not get to check the site all day).
I also like Doobi’s fanboi idea, but purely cos I love to argue and wind people up 😉
LazySAGamer
April 3, 2008 at 13:09
@Nanomiles, The problem with real life comps are that I will instantly cut out a large section of the audience.. We don’t all live in JHB 🙂
@Abe, You just like dress up comps because you won a PS3 through one… not sure I can offer a PS3 but I do like that idea, thanks.
Fred
April 3, 2008 at 13:37
Just have the people register and do random draws , that way you build up a databse of viewers.
ewie
April 3, 2008 at 13:53
best comment of the week.or some comment related comp.
evilredzombie
April 3, 2008 at 14:16
yes i like the register idea…
evilredzombie’s last blog post..Take 2 now EA’s Bit@# !
Thomeval
April 3, 2008 at 18:55
How about a “Which console is best” argument competition? The argument with the most research, logic, motivation, and professionalism (read: un-fanboyness) wins.
Lupus
April 4, 2008 at 09:27
Perhaps have a quiz section as well? Maybe a few more reviews etc… I wouldn’t mind attempting reviews, but I don’t buy games when they are immediately released 😀
bokka1
April 4, 2008 at 10:02
How about who looks the worst on a Friday night at 1am photo comp.
baba
April 4, 2008 at 13:44
Everybody is complaining about games not being original. Let everybody send their idea of an original game to you. Maybe one of the software houses keeps an eye on the site.
And what about a prize for the best idea for the competition? 😉
LazySAGamer
April 4, 2008 at 14:02
Thanks for the ideas everyone, I have some more ideas now…
And no you ain’t getting a prize for the best idea unfortunately…. YOu can have a virtual noddy badge if you like
Justin
April 5, 2008 at 13:42
Competitions where you get extra entries for getting your mates to enter too will help spread the word, cos then you get the benefit of spreading the word rather than keeping it quiet in the hope that fewer entries gives you a better chance of winning.
Physical competitions aren’t great as it cuts out the rest of us who aren’t in Jhb (as has been pointed out). Also, you need to decide if you’re aiming for the broadest cross-section of people or for hard-core gamers. A number of the suggestions above are not aimed at the pick up and play casual gamer.
LazySAGamer
April 5, 2008 at 14:12
@Justin, Thanks for the really good points..
I am aiming at getting more of the pick up and play gamers but obviously my core is the hard core guys…
How would I know if someone has spread the word though? I need to have a think