360voice

360voice.com is a website where gamers can read or subscribe via RSS to a blog about what their friends are doing every day on Xbox Live, including tracking gameplay and issuing gamerscore challenges. It is the major product of It Can Talk Systems Inc., a company founded by Trapper Markelz and Steve Sopp in 2006. [Xbox Domain Interview, May 2006, http://thexboxdomain.com/2006/05/25/360voicecom-interview/] [Brian Crecente, April 27, 2006, Kotaku, http://kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/give-your-xbox-360-its-own-blog-170510.php] For example, one may view all the games played by Xbox Live director Larry Hryb (better known as "Major Nelson") on his [http://www.360voice.com/tag/Major%20Nelson 360voice blog] . It has been recognized as part of a new trend in technology where inanimate objects acquire the ability to blog about their owners' activities. [August 31, 2006, Mike Musgrove, Washington Post, "When the Machines Talk, They Talk About You," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083003009.html]

Experience Challenge

360voice has been the home to advertising programs such as the Old Spice Experience Challenge, and has been recognized as part of a trend within advertising to depart from standard media buys and focus on associating brands with online activities that an audience are participating in. [Brian Morrissey, Old Spice Seeks Gaming Experience, Adweek, December 11, 2007, http://www.adweek.com/aw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003683965]

Acquisition by GamerDNA

In April 2008, the company was acquired by GamerDNA under undisclosed terms. [April 28, 2008, Mass High Tech, http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2008/04/28/daily8-GamerDNA-buys-360voice.com-parent.html] [April 28, 2008, Boston Business Journal, http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/04/28/daily5.html] [Wade Roush, GamerDNA Targets Xbox Community, Xconomy, http://www.xconomy.com/2008/04/28/gamerdna-targets-xbox-community/]

References