How do you feel and think about gaming merchandise? I am talking about coffee mugs, t-shirts, posters, books and so on. I have two gaming mugs that I like a lot. I have some gaming t-shirts. One of them is Diablo III and the other has a large Atari logo printed on it. I have also read some books about games like Diablo, Starcraft and Halo. Of course I also have many other books related to games and gaming. I also have some science fiction books. My favorite books are non-fictional and often I read life stories like Elon Musks, Stephen Hawkings and Steve Jobs’.
For small time independent gaming companies this is definitely a way to get more promotion and income for their game designing efforts. So it feels nice to spend some money knowing that it will be benefiting that company a lot. What about major big time game studios? Do they need your support? Do they need it as much as some smaller gaming companies? Of course they need to make some money also so they can bring you new games that are of good quality.
What do you get out of buying this kinds of merchandise? Maybe you have some nice brand that you admire and somewhat even respect. In gaming it is very meaningful to find games that you like and even love. Some games have more importance than others. Some games’s logos and graphics are just so legendary. While gaming is increasingly popular you find this merchandise even more and more available in stores and even some supermarkets. You don’t necessarily have to go to game shop anymore to get these material things you like and love so much.
Do we need more material things made for gamers or is this too much already? Should we put our money to something more important even if we are dedicated to our dear hobby? Do game companies actually benefit of merchandise and what are relations of companies that produce these t-shirts and mugs.