Encouraging people to organize their own wine tasting parties, 4xProeven (Tastingx4) combines a board game with a four-pack of wine.

The concept is simple: four small (0.375 litre) bottles of red wine are packaged in a carton that folds out to a board. Four blank stickers are included to hide the bottles' labels. A leaflet explains the basic elements of wine tasting: look, smell, taste and compare. It also describes the four single grape varieties included in the game. Players shuffle the bottles and start tasting. By comparing a wine's taste to the four descriptions, the objective is to guess which is Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Just launched in The Netherlands, 4xProeven is currently sold online for EUR 24.95 and by a small number of wine shops, and the company is planning to launch internationally soon.

While wine tasting games certainly aren't new, they generally include game elements only, not the wine itself. And here's where we think 4xProeven missed a great opportunity (or maybe they're working on it). Instead of including unbranded wines, partner with a well-known label and turn the game into a smart and simple way to tryvertise, getting customers to sample a variety of reds or whites while connecting with the brand. We're sure Springwise has a few readers at E&J Gallo and Jacob's Creek. Time to give this one a spin? ;-)

Website: www.4xproeven.nl
Contact: info@esegui.nl

With the rise of virtual worlds, the burgeoning fashion market for avatars brought real-world brands and designs into the virtual realm. Now, the trend appears to be going the other way as companies begin to let consumers get their avatar fashions made into real-world clothes.

Avatar clothes have become big business in the virtual world, and a new partnership between Swedish avatar dress-up site Stardoll and German t-shirt commerce site Spreadshirt could allow users to take virtual clothes they create or see online and get them made into the real thing for use in the real world. To start, users will be able to take logos or graphics from popular labels in the Stardoll world and get them emblazoned on real-life t-shirts, hats and other items. Eventually, though, the possibilities could expand dramatically, Matt Palmer, Stardoll's executive vice president and general manager, told Virtual Worlds News in April. "We know through our research that kids would love to get their hands on them," he explained. "The opportunity allows us to experiment with what we can take from our world that's a simple idea that kids can customize, get made and have sent to them. That sort of translation of virtual world to physical world—I view this as the first step in looking at what that could look like for us."

Virtual world Gaia has also begun selling real-world fashion on its site, and one can't help but wonder how long it will be before Second Life and other popular virtual worlds starts experimenting with something similar. From there, of course, the next natural step will be to let users sell their real-life creations for real-world money, just as they can currently sell their virtual ones. One to watch!

Websites: www.stardoll.com — www.spreadshirt.com
Contacts: www.stardoll.com/en/help/contact.php — www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/Contact-1336

Spotted by: Iconoculture via RK

In much the same way that movie studios market soundtracks, video game producers have published game soundtracks for years now. With the release of Grand Theft Auto IV later this month, in-game music marketing is being taken to a new level. Whenever they hear a song they like on one of the game’s fictional radio stations, players can call a dedicated number from their cell phones. Within seconds, they’ll receive a text message with information on the song and artist. The game’s publisher, Rockstar Games, is also developing a community site around GTA IV, and members will be able to receive emailed links to the songs for easy downloading from Amazon.com’s MP3 store.

Besides songs, GTA IV's radio stations—which include international funk hosted by Femi Kuti, and disco tunes courtesy of DJ Karl Lagerfeld—also feature commercials and DJ banter. Music has always been an important part of Grand Theft Auto’s virtual world, serving as a background to the gritty action in the same way songs helped define the ’80s TV series Miami Vice. So it makes perfect sense for Rockstar to create an additional revenue stream around music downloads. Smart way to cater to consumers' infolust while promoting music sales. (Related: Online database can name that tune.)

Website: www.rockstargames.com/IV
Contact: www.take2games.com/index.php?p=global_contacts

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the developed world, and the widespread obsession with sedentary computer games certainly doesn't help. Nintendo's Wii has been applauded as a step in the right (more active) direction, as have gyms that integrate gaming. Now a UK-based firm is gearing up to go a step further—and right out the door.

LocoMatrix, which is still in beta, has developed location-based games kids can play outdoors using their GPS-enabled mobile phones. Fruit Farmer, for example, is a game in which one or more players run around a real environment such as a park, football field or beach collecting virtual oranges (visible on their mobile phone screens) while avoiding virtual obstacles and killer wasps. Multiple levels of play are available, and users can even create their own versions using a special program on LocoMatrix's website. In Treasure Hunt, meanwhile, the player follows a set of pictorial clues to find a series of locations. The game can be configured to display information about the destination locations, while its "warm-ometer" feature shows pictorially whether the player is getting hotter or colder in relation. As with Fruit Farmer, users can produce their own customized versions. Coming later this month is Locix, in which players capture territories by running in a circle around that area. If another player enters the circle before the first player has completed it, he or she has to start again. All games are free to play during LocoMatrix's beta phase, but it will soon begin charging a small fee. Ultimately, the company plans to adopt a subscription scheme in which users pay a monthly fee for access to games and more, such as the ability to enter teams into competitions.

LocoMatrix hopes to expand its offerings into role-playing games, strategy games and games of cooperation. It is also working on making its platform open so that other developers can create their own games for it.... Ideas, anyone?

Website: www.locomatrix.com
Contact: info@locomatrix.com

Spotted by: Bryan McAndrews

There's nothing like compelling content to engage potential customers, and that's just what Realius is aiming for with its Fantasy Real Estate suite of online games.

The first of these, Price Me Now, was demonstrated at the TechCrunch40 Conference in September and crowned Most Creative Idea at the Web 2.0 Summit a month later. Now in beta, the game challenges players to guess the prices of actual homes for sale in their market by viewing the photos and property details provided by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Players earn points based on their performance against the Realius price, an aggregation of previous player estimates and the actual list price; in the near future, prizes will be awarded to the best pricers. The game is free to users, but real estate companies and professionals can purchase in-game placement as “coaches” who guide players and make their own professional guesses. Licensing fees, referrals and market reports are also part of Realius's planned revenue model.

Chuck Teller, CEO of the California start-up, explains: "Realius captures the synergies between the enormous popular interest in casual gaming and Americans' obsession with real estate. Our games engage consumers as they dream about, search for, buy, furnish, remodel and sell their homes in ways that are incredibly fun—but also instructive."

Other games in the works at Realius include Fantasy Flip, which lets homeowners give their homes virtual makeovers and then solicit opinions on how much the changes would increase their value, and Major League Investor, which pits players against one another as they build fantasy property portfolios. The games currently focus on the company's home base of the San Francisco Bay Area, but they're a nice example of marketing through content--which could be particularly important for weathering tough business climates such as the one faced by real estate today. One to bring to a market near you...?

Website: www.realius.com
Contact: info@realius.com

Spotted by: Peter Yu