I think it’s safe to say that we love Viral Marketing here at Engauge! Clearly, one of the best ways to get your viral videos the most exposure is to get some attention on YouTube. I was browsing last night and stumbled upon a video which totally blew my mind. Check it out for yourself:

Now you might wonder “how is this a viral marketing video?” Well, I’m not sure if it is or isn’t. But, the video itself made me very curious to find out how this “trick” was done. I started searching the Web for answers and ran across a couple different theories. Check out Snopes to learn more about similar videos.

The most logical theory is that something else is heating the popcorn underneath the table, as suggested at About:Urban Legands. They also suggested it could be a viral marketing campaign for some still unknown popcorn brand. If that’s the case, the marketing team behind this campaign is doing an excellent job of creating a YouTube hit.

People have been duplicating the video in several languages and many of them are getting tons of exposure. Hey, if they come out with popcorn that can be popped using cell phones then we could all eat on-the-go without microwaves. How great would that be?!

Urban Legand or Viral Marketing? Either way, it’s really cool! Maybe we should just test this popcorn trick out! Who’s hungry??!!

At 11:30pm on Monday April 29, 2008 I was standing in line at Best Buy in Buckhead with about a hundred other die-hard Grand Theft Auto (GTA) fans awaiting the latest release of the game - GTA IV.

Being a Gen Y kid I have grown up with a video game in one hand and a computer in the other hand. So what’s the appeal of this game that makes me (and millions of other people) wait in front of a store for hours just to get it? Interactive game play.

The world that has been created by the Rockstar team is simply unbelievable. The amount of experiences that a user can have in this gaming world is amazing. For example, you can stand on a street corner and watch traffic, weather, people, and animals all interact with each other and with you all in a virtual world type of environment. The size of the city is mind boggling. In fact, there is such detail that you can roam most of the city and not run into the same character twice, which in the gaming world is very rare.

Truly the biggest appeal for me is the multiplayer component to this game - you and a group of friends can play in a match up to 16 players at one time! People can go to restaurants, clubs, bowling, pool halls, the beach … you name it, you can do it. The way the console makers and video game developers have teamed up to create a completely unique online experience may very well have changed the way we game forever. Fifteen years ago if you wanted to play with a friend you needed to be in front of a television together. Now, you just pop on Xbox Live or the PS3 Network and boom connected to millions of people.

To sum it all up this is a truely unique gaming experience with unlimited possibilities and it simply makes me very excited about the future of gaming and online interactivity.  But, it isn’t just me who thinks so. GTA IV is the first game in nearly a decade to receive a 10 out of 10 review from IGN. Impressive to say the least. Check out the full review.  

Honestly, I could ramble about how great this game is for hours, but I’ll let you find out for yourself. See you online and happy gaming!