14 DAY TRIAL // THQ has pulled one of the most outrageous publicity stunts of this year by sending Elizabeth, the Queen of England, a gold plated Nintendo Wii gaming console and a copy of the THQ published game BIG Family Games, which the Queen probably could play with her extended family.
Danielle Robinson, who is a product manager at THQ, declared that the move was justified on the part of the publisher as “The Royal Family is arguably the most important family in the country so we felt that they had to have a copy of the new game. But we thought that Her Majesty the Queen wouldn't want to play on any old console, so an extra-special gold one was commissioned. We hope that she and the rest of the Royal Family enjoy the game!”
It's true that royalty requires privilege but gold plating a Nintendo Wii home gaming console is a bit on the bad side of taste. After all, if the rest of us simpletons can enjoy the white Wii, the black PlayStation 3 and the color choices offered by the Xbox 360 surely royals can also do that. And sending the Queen a family game might be an interesting concept, but will she have the time to play it, given the schedule that she needs to keep? Representatives of the Queen have not commented on the gift sent by THQ.
Maybe a better publicity stunt would have been to send gaming consoles like the PS3 and the Xbox 360 and an assortment of videogames made by THQ to the Queen’s grandsons, William and Harry, who are surely gamers. It would have offered much better exposure for the game publisher, given that they represent the demographic that spends most on videogame purchases. But we do not think they would be interested in BIG Family Games.