I read this amazingly well written article on Kotaku scribed by Lydia Heitman. It was all about how terribly Duke Nukem was marketed, and it isn't a surprise because the project is a failure in every way. It really is the zenith of how the video game industry does not understand it's customer base at all.Stay with me!
Bethesda is stupid because they are wasting money on marketing for the already hyped up sequel to The Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Skyrim. Like all good PC master race out there I can not wait until November when this game comes out and would get a second mortgage on my house for the privilege to play it. I'm already sold. The demographic that Skyrim appeals to is me. We know the game is coming, and we will pay full price on release day.
Seeing ad's for Skyrim on sites like The Escapist is like watching an advertisement for the Next Food Network Star during an airing of the show; I'm already watching. You don't need to waste time and money getting my attention.
When Valve spent millions of dollars to air a television commercial for Portal 2 what was in the video? Was it Glados? Was it Chell? Nope! It was two adorable robots hugging. Why you may ask? Because Valve knows that people like me are already going to purchase the game no matter what they do, so they want to get my wife to buy it. They wanted to advertise to another demographic who wasn't already predisposed to having a favorable view.
Advertising a game like Duke Nukem is tough. Most people old enough to remember the original (ME!) have long outgrown the mechanics and spirit of the game. People who are younger and into FPS's are curious. The people you want to market to are the people who wouldn't normally purchase your game, but might be interested. You don't need to market sex to young men because hey; it's what they (we) will flock to like flies on stink.
If Duke Nukem was really a good game they would go after the second largest demographic in our indusrty (women over 25!!!!! Its true!!!!). Let's not also forget that the largest group who consumes video games is men over 25 and the second largest is women of the same age range. We have careers, spouses, often kids (yikes!), we have mortgages, life insurance, and real world problems. We aren't college kids or teenagers. We don't care what our parents think about games. When Duke Nukem 3D came out we were 11 to 15. Now we are in our late 20's to 40's. We don't care about digital boobs, we care about a fun escape from our normal, mundane lives. We want a mature plot, a well realized world, and a story that can make sense. That doesn't mean it can't be full of dick and fart jokes, but that won't be enough to make a successful experience.
Problem is the game is crap, so they thought they could pull a fast one on "hardcore" gamers and throw a fastball by us. When a game is actively marketed towards me (the apex of the largest consumer demographics for video games, see previous paragraph) it makes me very wary, because I know what games I like. I know what sequels are good and which are crap, I know what new IP's look awesome. I'm too savvy for box art blurbs. If you aren't marketing towards a new demographic to whom you can expand your userbase, and instead are solely focused on who should be your bread and butter it is indicative of a big ol' desperate move.
That is clearly what the king has become.....
Epic Fail.
Sort of related... HollyConrad Holly Conrad
ReplyDeleteFemShep's perspective on the new ME3 Marketing! youtube.com/watch?v=z6SL3l… #FemShep #alienloveisok
First off, hello there. You've got a pretty interesting blog thing going on here.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a good idea to completely ignore the people who will 'already buy' it, cuz people are pretty dumb. Granted for something like Skyrim, they'll probably only need a little nudge to get people amped up, which could easily be done with marketing to other demographics. Also not all consumers are going to be happy with idea of 'appealing to a wider audience' and being reminded that the game is still for them is a good idea.
I was told quite awhile ago (and I can't confirm the correctness) that a beer (I think PBR) was once the most popular beer in the US and they decided to save money on advertising and... not. The next year they were very much not the most popular. But that's different and extreme and not advertising at all would be way dumber than advertising to people who already want it.
So... I guess that was a point or something.
The problem is duke nukem was a lot more interesting as a failed dev cycle than as a game. The game itself was never all that good or interesting.
ReplyDelete@axle hey thanks for stopping by and welcome! You have a very valid point and thanks for sharing! I would have to retort, however....
ReplyDeleteI would argue that videogames are art and as such are different than consumables. Now as someone who also loves beer I would definitely be open to the fact that brewing beer is art, but with that said a piece of art and a beer are two products that are consumed in different ways.
The Louvre does not need to advertise that the Mona Lisa is there; people know and millions travel to Paris to see it every year. Consumer's of art know where to get it. Of course there needs to be awareness and publishers need to make sure that we, as videogame enthusiasts, are aware of the products that will immediately appeal to us, they need to really focus their resources to grow the industry as that will greatly help them in the short run and exponentially in the long run.
Whew =D
@David so true! Did you read that awesome article on Wired about a year ago about the rise and fall of 3D Realms? I think I linked it like last week. One sec.... http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/
ReplyDeleteGood article Brian! It's so true. Although, I couldn't picture Karen playing Portal even if it is awesome. I wasn't all that phased by Oblivion, but am interested in Skyrim because Mike has been foaming at the mouth since he heard it was coming out. We shall see.
ReplyDelete