• by Josh Lovison , December 21, 2007

With the holidays coming up, I thought I'd point out what is, in my opinion, one of the coolest gaming-related gifts I've ever seen.  It's been very popular of late to include miniature character statues of game characters in limited edition releases of games.  "BioShock" had a Big Daddy figurine, while "Assassin's Creed" had one of Altair.

Just recently, a new service has been announced for "World of Warcraft" players. FigurePrints creates a figurine of the player's in-game character, replicating all of the personalization features the in-game customization offers.  For anyone who has played the game, or knows someone who has, this is clearly a brilliant product.

Of similar brilliance, Dell incorporated this service as a possible promotional prize in the purchase of the "World of Warcraft"-branded XPS M1730 laptop.  And thank goodness, too, as this kind of product is the sort that begs for sponsorship.

Luckily for marketers out there, "World of Warcraft" is not the only place for real-world representation of in-game personalization.  Off the top of my head, how about "The Sims" family portraits, or a model house from "Animal Crossing"?  Many games offer customization, and bringing these elements to a physical manifestation is both an ingenious service, and a brilliant marketing opportunity.