Duke Nukem (and the videogame industry) is Sexist, and another Post About Marketing

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.

Israeli Propoganda Games: Why they should be awesome

*Disclaimer* this blog is not about politics per-say and I don't want to go on a rant about the Middle East or pretend to know what I'm talking about over there. What I will do is condemn a really stupid advocacy group for hurting it's cause, bringing even more negative press and hate to Israeli's, and completely misinterpreting what makes video games special as an artistic medium.

I first read the story on Kotaku yesterday about who a ultra-right wing group of Jewish settlers created and released some really crappy FPS's about pieces of Jewish history. When you release games that are minimally functional in an attempt to blatantly indoctrinate youth it is just a pure epic fail for the Israeli people and for your cause. Now if the games had some actual historical educational quotient, or actually played like they would encourage children to want to learn more about their heritage that would be pretty awesome. That, unfortunately, isn't the case.

I will say it would be irresponsible to condemn Israel as a country for these games for the same reason you can't condemn America as a country because of the crazy southern pastor who burnt the Koran (not very nice of him).

Whew! With that said.....

I love the subject matter of these games. There is so much history around Israel and the Jewish people that you just can't make up. The struggle of the Macabee's, a Jewish Sect during the Roman occupation that rebelled against the foreign rule and are actually the origin of the holiday Hanuka. They were known for using giant hammers in battle. That's bad ass, historical, and there could be a lot of great gray area and drama.

Making a well thought out game about the struggles between Palestine and Israel would be what I would like to see the most, but would never happen for obvious reasons. Being able to interact with a actual mature, diverse, complicated issue in an immersive medium and be able to really understand the struggle's of both sides; it is what I dream of (well that and Skyrim). It would be thought provocative, original, and relevant. It would also be near impossible to pull off, no publisher would fund it or pick it up, and it would befall the same fate as 6 Days in Felujah, but that is what I personally would consider a mature game.

Bottom line is that the games are stupid, but I would love for someone to have the balls to do it right.