The show is being timed to coincide with Activision's (NASDAQ:ATVI) release of Call of Duty 3, so it's no wonder that product placement will be prominent. The SpikeTV show, after all, will be called Game Head: Call of Duty 3: Challenge. Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) has lined up as a sponsor and will help kick in with some of the prizes, which include a home entertainment center and a trip to the Video Game Awards (also airing on SpikeTV).
Even the casting call has a corporate bent, since it's taking place on CNET's (NASDAQ:CNET) popular GameSpot.com, a site for diehard gamers. There, interested gamers -- some possibly donning Motley Fool jester hats -- will submit brief application videos.
Game Head is already a show on SpikeTV. This publicized recruitment effort may appear to be a way to grow brand awareness of Activision, Best Buy, and CNET's GameSpot. But if the reality show draws a crowd, the big winner would be SpikeTV.
Will folks tune in? You never know. If you asked someone stuck in the 1990s whether they could fathom televised poker games as a major draw today, they'd probably laugh in your face. As way too many hit reality shows have taught us, it's often the caliber of the contestants' personalities that defines success, rather than the actual gameplay. Besides, the creators of the show are pairing video-game bouts with physical boot-camp challenges, so it will likely prove entertaining -- with or without military crew cuts on the way in.
Activision and Best Buy areMotley Fool Stock Advisorrecommendations. CNET has been singled out toRule Breakerssubscribers.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is old enough to remember playing on an Atari 2600 before it became a relic. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.The Fool has a disclosure policy.
