The video game executives and the mall moguls knew each other from random parties, but were surprised to find the others in the same boardroom. The group gathered to witness the next idea from Miles, who ran the firm Miles of Ideas. As one former partner of Miles described, his ideas grow on trees, but he never picks the fruit.
Today’s idea from the Miles of Ideas team was a video game that does the shopping for the guys who would rather not shop.
“Picture this,” Miles said, for the game had no concept art yet. “You’re a fighter in a post-apocalyptic world infested by monsters. Sometimes you have to blow those suckers off the face of the Earth, and sometimes you have to attend an art gala. Luckily, there’s a Nordstrom’s in the game that needs your help getting rid of a monster infestation. Get rid of the monsters, and they’ll let you buy a suit in the game, and Nordstroms will ship a real suit to your house.”
The mall moguls looked at each other. They didn’t know a ton about video games outside of GameStop locations. Was it possible that a virtual mall could help attract new customers?
Miles continued his pitch. “After fighting monsters, your girlfriend wants to move in. However, you don’t own any cookware. Luckily, there’s a Target that’s fallen into another dimension. Free it from the alien overlords, and they’ll help you buy pots and pans.”
“What if you want to use the pans to fight monsters?” a video game exec asked.
“I mean, it won’t damage the pans that Target ships in real life, I guess. I don’t know. Would companies be upset if their products served as a weapon in a video game?”
Neither the mall people nor the video game people had an answer.
“The game also works well in real life,” Miles asked. “Are you about to go on a beach vacation? Well, there’s a level where you can pick out your swimsuits.”
“These players aren’t going on a beach vacation,” a mall mogul said. “They’re not leaving their basements.”
“Hey, that’s an outdated stereotype,” a video game exec countered, “They just don’t want to go spend money at malls because the stores sell poorly made products with a large markup.”
“So people should just spend money in the virtual world,” another mall exec yelled, “where nothing is real, and has no basis in reality?”
Miles waved his hands to settle everyone down. “Don’t you want to hear about the boss levels?”