Vans targets iPhone users with branded interactive experience
April 15, 2009
Put your skills to the test
Action sports footwear company Vans has made its debut on the iPhone with its new "Vans SK8: Pool Service" game.
The game was created in collaboration with Fuel Games. Players get to pretend to be Vans pro skaters Bucky Lasek and Omar Hassan and put their skills to the test in an old gated up recreation center.
"I think Vans SK8: Pool Service will bring another dimension to the way skaters and gamers interact with skateboarding," said Dan Maiman, interactive marketing manager at Vans, Los Angeles. "It's a relatively new platform (mobile gaming) and an entertaining way to experience how amazing the tricks that great skaters are able to pull off.
"It's also cool when you apply the fantasy aspect of a video game to the sport you actually participate in," he said. "It sort of helps push how you approach things mentally."
Vans began in California in 1966 when skating was first coming alive.
Pick your board
Skaters liked the way the Vans shoes and their waffle sole gripped their boards and they began using the shoes as a means of self expression by customizing them with their own designs.
"We started off with the desire to not only make the most addictive skate game on the iPhone, but create something that was truly authentic," said Mike Burns CEO of Fuel Games, New York. -- So we reached out to skate shoe pioneers Vans to come on board and bring their culture to the game.
"While just having them involved was amazing, they upped the ante and asked two of their sponsored skaters, Bucky Lasek and Omar Hassan, to lend their likenesses and voice talent to the game," he said.
The iPhone game is meant to make players associate skateboarding with the Vans brand.
The game's old recreation center has been gated up for years and the once pristine swimming pool, long since drained, is now home to insects and small rodents.
That is until Vans skaters Bucky Lasek and Omar Hassan luckily stumble upon it and skateboard on this abandoned wasteland turned concrete paradise.
"On our end, we benefit because Vans' participation make our game a richer and more official skate experience," Mr. Burns said. "For Vans, they benefit from being a partner on what's shaping up to be one of the hottest new games on the App Store. It's a win-win. Also, working with the Vans team was an absolute blast. "
Players are able put Bucky and Omar to the test with all the tricks in their bag and achieve hero status once they unlock their pro model skateboards.
"I think the main challenge was working in a new space. Mobile gaming is pretty new in general and definitely a first for Vans," Mr. Maiman said. "Another challenge was making sure the game was true to our riders and skating. You learn that are some aspects you just can't control when it comes to technology."
Pool Service boasts a bunch of features such as letting users to customize their board, choose their own wheels, and play in ten different events.
The game is full of rich 3D graphics, pushing the standards of current iPhone games.
Players are able to choose from 20 different board designs including skater's official boards from Black Label and Element.
Additionally, players can also customize their own music playlist, featuring music by The Methadones, Penuckle, Base 9 and Slowride.
Bucky and Omar also have special tricks that the player is supposed to discover.
"I think being able to unlock Bucky and Omar's special tricks and signature skate decks will be really cool," Mr. Maiman said. "I'm also glad we were able to incorporate some actual skate footy of Bucky and Omar riding pools, so folks can see them in their element- it pumps you up to skate."
Users are asked to put their skills to the test by unlocking 30 different Achievements. They can compete in 10 different events ranging from easy to difficult.
"Working with Fuel has been really cool," Mr. Maiman said. "To combine the talents of both their team and ours was something new and inspiring.
"In the beginning some people over here were kind of skeptical of doing a video game and how good it could really be," he said. "And, since this isn't our area of expertise we didn't really know where to begin.
"The guys at Fuel listened to our concerns and what we wanted for the game and didn't want as well. They took the ball and ran with it. Even the most hardcore skate hessians here were sold on the game once they played it for the first time."