Do you think the typical video game marketing strategies work well?

[winb83]

you know how secretive they are about everything. how they constantly tease info and make announcements of announcements also how they gradually put out small bites of information.

the perfect example is Killer Instinct. every now and then they tell us a character that's gonna be in it. they could have chose to just put out the roster with the initial announcement but they told us to characters then one by one reveal more.

honestly it does create an ongoing discussion about their game but i don't think doing that sells more copies. i don't get all the secrecy in this industry.

 

[lutha]

yes, it works well....we live in a 'what's next' society....people barely enjoy shyt without thinking/worrying about the next, new thing that's coming...if you drop all the info about your game at once and that game doesn't come out soon after that, all the momentum built up will be lost cause it will be 'forgotten' about by the time it does get released...that's why you drop tidbits here and there until it's close to release date, then you drop that shytload of info...this strategy works for more than just video games....

 

[winb83]

yes, it works well....we live in a 'what's next' society....people barely enjoy shyt without thinking/worrying about the next, new thing that's coming...if you drop all the info about your game at once and that game doesn't come out soon after that, all the momentum built up will be lost cause it will be 'forgotten' about by the time it does get released...that's why you drop tidbits here and there until it's close to release date, then you drop that shytload of info...this strategy works for more than just video games....

enthusiast, nerds, and geeks know what they want. thy don't need to be reminded. GTA V kept a low profile until release. they dropped a couple trailers sparsely apart and did a billion in sales in 3 days. granted that's a larger name in gaming but all these lil tidbits don't do much of anything IMO but keep threads created on forums for people who already either decided to buy your product or not.

to me all these teasers and announcements of announcements are just preaching to the choir. i'm not saying don't put out trailers but with KI back at E3 they could have put out the roster. all these little announcements threads and tweets just create new threads at places like Gametrailers, Gamefaqs and Neo Gaf. places enthusiast, nerds, and geeks frequent.

 

[HookersandIceCream]

Wrong thread

 

[lutha]

enthusiast, nerds, and geeks know what they want. thy don't need to be reminded. GTA V kept a low profile until release. they dropped a couple trailers sparsely apart and did a billion in sales in 3 days. granted that's a larger name in gaming but all these lil tidbits don't do much of anything IMO but keep threads created on forums for people who already either decided to buy your product or not.

to me all these teasers and announcements of announcements are just preaching to the choir. i'm not saying don't put out trailers but with KI back at E3 they could have put out the roster. all these little announcements threads and tweets just create new threads at places like Gametrailers, Gamefaqs and Neo Gaf. places enthusiast, nerds, and geeks frequent.

true, people that already know about things they want will cop no matter what...but developers aren't just going after their money, they going after the money of the people that aren't in the know....the people that play games here and there, and might be interested in trying something new...so they gonna keep reminding them with info here and there to stay on their mind when they go in the store to make that choice...like the saying goes 'outta sight, outta mind', and developers trying to avoid that...

reading your post: it seems you have more an issue with what people are doing on forums rather than the marketing itself...so your distain is misplaced and being projected on the wrong thing...

 

[winb83]

the marketing is what's manipulating the forum post. every time a developer says something about what they're working on a new thread pops up about it. developers will do shyt like have IGN tease an exclusive huge project they go to see that everybody is gonna love. they can't talk about what it is right now but they played it and its great. all these NDA and review embargo.

its gotten to the point where i read about these teases that are anonymous and then when the game is revealed i don't even link it to the tease or do so much later.

i'll give you a perfect example. Geoff Keighley made this tweet


now if you've played and got to about the end of The Last of Us you know what he's teasing about but if not it's worthless. there was a a 12 page thread on Gaf about it.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=575905
if you look at the very last post in the thread somebody figured out what it was and posted it well after the convo about it died.

 

[godkiller]

It's hard to tease out the answer, OP, but maybe you find some research on this question. I surmise it would be more easily answered if you provided quantifiable sale receipts for the same games, but with differing marketing strategies.

 

[daze23]

I think things like harsh review embargos are often a sign they're not confident in their product, and hoping to generate a lot of sales off hype and/or name recognition. TLOU bucked that trend, but they were confident in their product, and needed the reviews to let people know their new IP was quality

the internet has really empowered word-of-mouth. personally I know when a new game comes out, there's plenty of places to look and get real opinions on what it's like

 

[winb83]

I think things like harsh review embargos are often a sign they're not confident in their product, and hoping to generate a lot of sales off hype and/or name recognition. TLOU bucked that trend, but they were confident in their product, and needed the reviews to let people know their new IP was quality

the internet has really empowered word-of-mouth. personally I know when a new game comes out, there's plenty of places to look and get real opinions on what it's like

internet word of mouth means more than all the marketing they do. i bought Rayman Legends just cause i saw people ratting it so highly and talking so well about it. never watched a trailer or paid attention to any pre-release info on it.

 

[Regular_P]

enthusiast, nerds, and geeks know what they want. thy don't need to be reminded. GTA V kept a low profile until release. they dropped a couple trailers sparsely apart and did a billion in sales in 3 days. granted that's a larger name in gaming but all these lil tidbits don't do much of anything IMO but keep threads created on forums for people who already either decided to buy your product or not.

to me all these teasers and announcements of announcements are just preaching to the choir. i'm not saying don't put out trailers but with KI back at E3 they could have put out the roster. all these little announcements threads and tweets just create new threads at places like Gametrailers, Gamefaqs and Neo Gaf. places enthusiast, nerds, and geeks frequent.

This.

Casuals are not paying attention to each new character release for Killer Instinct and are not actively scouring news for upcoming games.

 

[daze23]

internet word of mouth means more than all the marketing they do. i bought Rayman Legends just cause i saw people ratting it so highly and talking so well about it. never watched a trailer or paid attention to any pre-release info on it.

yep, at the risk of sounding too pretentious, I feel like I'm immune to traditional marketing. like do people really buy GTA V because there's billboards everywhere? I'm sure there's plenty of data that says it works, but I feel like that shyt is old school

 

[lutha]

the marketing is what's manipulating the forum post. every time a developer says something about what they're working on a new thread pops up about it. developers will do shyt like have IGN tease an exclusive huge project they go to see that everybody is gonna love. they can't talk about what it is right now but they played it and its great. all these NDA and review embargo.

its gotten to the point where i read about these teases that are anonymous and then when the game is revealed i don't even link it to the tease or do so much later.

i'll give you a perfect example. Geoff Keighley made this tweet


now if you've played and got to about the end of The Last of Us you know what he's teasing about but if not it's worthless. there was a a 12 page thread on Gaf about it.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=575905
if you look at the very last post in the thread somebody figured out what it was and posted it well after the convo about it died.

ok and?...again: it seems you pissed people online are running with shyt more so than the marketing itself...the marketing isn't making people make threads, they are choosing to do that themselves to talk about something they like...what's wrong with that?...

like that giraffe shyt...i'm sure naughty dog didn't tell him to post that...he probably chose to do that more to keep up the 'i get access to exclusives and shyt before hand' image he has to have for his job....even so, why does that piss you off so much?...just don't pay attention to that shyt...don't click on a thread that's talking about something you waiting for...

 

[lutha]

internet word of mouth means more than all the marketing they do. i bought Rayman Legends just cause i saw people ratting it so highly and talking so well about it. never watched a trailer or paid attention to any pre-release info on it.

no it doesn't....they go hand and hand, but it's the marketing that starts the internet word of mouth stuff....also, that marketing is for people that don't look on the internet for everything initially...just cause you don't pay attention doesn't mean others don't...

 

[lutha]

This.

Casuals are not paying attention to each new character release for Killer Instinct and are not actively scouring news for upcoming games.

what does that have to do with people creating threads?...his problem is with that, yet he's blaming the marketing...his anger is misplaced....

as for casuals: the marketing is to keep the product on their mind when they go in the store to make a choice about a game....they might be willing to try out whatever game cause that was the last game they saw from marketing...

 

[MushroomX]

It all depends on the product.

Here are the franchises in which they can be totally secretive: Skyrim, Fallout, Mass Effect, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Uncharted. They are 'AAA' games, so everyone knows they will be made at some point, just a matter of when.

For the most part, if your a potential franchise with a known developer, your best bet is for a E3/Toyko Game Show/PAX type of booth, because it's easier for word of mouth.

If your a small time developer, it's harder, and your relying on niche gamers spreading the word. One of them for me is Payday, I heard about when they said 'Left 4 Dead clone in the works' and luckily it became a hit. So there is various degrees on how you market.