Gaming events in Asia are always more for the fans

Last week, official Nintendo distributor for the Southeast Asia region Maxsoft organized Singapore’s first Pokemon Day in conjunction with a football match involving Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) and Home United FC.

Pikachu on the pitch!

Apart from bringing a giant Pikachu mascot onto the pitch before the game – something that had never been done before outside of Japan – Maxsoft also gave away freebies like Shiny Gengars holding mega stones for Pokemon X & Y and assorted Pokemon merchandise.

While Maxsoft focuses on its distribution business most of the time, it occasionally organizes milestone events such as annual Pokemon Trading Card Game championships and fan-centric game launches. Previously in 2012, it organized the Pika Pika Carnival together with Pokemon Japan and Isetan, where Pokemon Centre merchandise was up for sale.

But do such events really do its organizers any good? Gamers buy the video games they want regardless of whether there’s a launch event or not. Some don’t even step out of their houses; they get the games shipped to them (or they download them online). Yet distributors, developers, and anyone working in games retail will tell you: it’s not all about brand recognition.

Manesh Lal, speaking for Maxsoft, said that the company chose to hold Pokemon Day because it always strives to give back to the community.

See: Pokemon X & Y launch in Singapore draws hundreds in Singapore

Ian Purnomo, marcomm manager at Asiasoft Singapore, said that while community events do raise awareness of games and the company publishing them, they’re also a way to reward gamers. Asiasoft frequently organizes fan-centric non-ticketed events that anyone can attend free of charge. Its most recent “celebration” was a hands-on event with its upcoming World In Audition game, while the one before that was a competition centred around AuditionSEA called Clubber of the Year.

Joe Wee, marketing director of custom gaming laptop builder Aftershock PC was a little more pragmatic. “Events are great,” he said, “but they depend on the game [involved] and the community.”

It’s so easy to reach the community online it’s hard to justify the cost of [physical] events. It’s more for giving back to the people.

Aftershock PC hosted several competitive gaming tournaments back when it was still located in its shophouse store, and these all saw overwhelming turnouts.

Fan-centric events are actually a great way to reach out to Asian gamers, who are usually starving for them. Asia is rarely privy to the shiny Pokemon giveaways or the official midnight product launches you see in larger cities in the Western world, and any event, however small (the Pika Pika Carnival was held in a small corner of Isetan Scotts in Singapore) will see fans turn out in droves.

Fans at 2013’s Pokemon X & Y launch at Funan Digitalife Mall in SIngapore.

Actually, Singapore is one of the most lucky countries in Southeast Asia when it comes to fan events. Recognized as a central hub from which to reach out to the rest of the region, Singapore has seen everything from next-gen console launches to long, around-the-building queues at an official Diablo III launch. However, some companies are eyeing larger markets, albeit ones with less spending power. For the Playstation 4 launch, Sony held events in Indonesia and the Philippines – a first for both countries.

See: Here what happens when you’re first in line for a Playstation 4 launch 

While spending power is certainly not all that strong in developing countries yet, awareness of the global market – in particular, how much swag and fun audiences from Japan and the West get – is rising, and Asian fans are hungry for the same treatment.

The next Pokemon event from Maxsoft will be the Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire launch at Funan Digitalife Mall, on November 21, 2014.