LOS ANGELES: Bender/Helper Impact has added audio powerhouse Dolby
Laboratories' gaming division as a client.
BHI will spearhead a dual-focused PR effort to encourage game developers
to use Dolby sound in their products, and to raise awareness with
consumers of the benefits of good audio in video games.
"Now that game consoles are in people's living rooms rather than
teenagers' bedrooms, gaming audio is becoming more important," says
account head Steve Honig, who also heads BHI's recently reorganized
digital entertainment and convergent technology division.
Dolby has already implemented an outreach effort to developers called
the Virtual Incubator Program (VIP), which helps game creators put
content in Dolby format. Dolby capabilities will also be available on
all three major gaming consoles: Microsoft's Xbox, Nintendo's GameCube,
and already-released Sony PlayStation2.
Honig declined to give the account's value or duration, but said that
BHI had approached Dolby's in-house PR representative at a trade show,
and developed a relationship from that encounter that lead to a formal
pitch.
