Category: Marketing Sucks (Page 4 of 4)

Fixing E3

May 24, 2005 / Damion Schubert

While a lot of people were delighted by their E3 experience, there was a lot of grumbling by people who had been there before. The author of GameDrool is one of those people.

Why am I so cranky about these fan boys? Because they prevent me from actually looking at the games on the show floor, which is not only my job, but also everyone else’s. Do you really want to be pushed and shoved around as you walk from booth to booth by a dude whose sole objective is to get the attention of that young lady throwing out a t-shirt?

Sony Picks On Imaginary WoW Problems

March 15, 2005 / Damion Schubert

Apparently, the SOE marketing department plays on a different server than I do (found by MMODIG). I’ve had no significant downtime on my server, and no queues since launch. Hint: if your server population is listed as ‘Please Mommy Make It Stop’, perhaps you should consider switching realms.

I wish there was some visibility to how effective this PR campaign of Sony’s was. Positioning yourself against the competition’s flaws is all good and well (”the uncola”, “we try harder”), but if you haven’t nailed a flaw that really resonates with your playerbase, you’ll just come across as small and bitter.

Does this flaw resonate? I don’t know. I do think that most people would rather wait in line for the cool club than get a drink immediately with the one that’s lame. Which means that Sony’s problem should be, first and foremost, to change the perception of their game. Personally, I think they should advertise on their strengths — more content and more elder game. This should be a powerful message as people start to get their characters to the end of the WoW content train.

Game Drool and the Game’s Press

February 10, 2005 / Damion Schubert

Game Drool is a cool new blog that talks about the industry from a game journalist’s point of view. Very interesting stuff. Primary problem: not enough updates, and it ain’t Bloglineable. Continue reading

Another Pile of Bones on the Elephant Graveyard

January 10, 2005 / Damion Schubert

So another one bites the dust. Wish being cancelled has spurred a fair amount of discussion here and there.

One of the things that the Wish experience brings home is the importance of having a solid vision of what your game is about, a vision that you can communicate in a single sentence (this is something that Raph has harped on in his GDC talks). Consider the MMOs that have actually shipped: Continue reading

Video Game Awards – Travesty As Usual

December 17, 2004 / Damion Schubert

The 55 things to hate about the Video Game Awards (thank god I had the ability to fast forward the Tivo’d version) and 3 things I liked.

1. Why have we opened with 2 rap songs and no awards?
2. Why have we opened with 3 rap songs and no awards?
3. Why have we opened with 4 rap songs and no awards?
4. Who thought that Snoop Dogg would add gravitas to a field that needs it?
5. How much did EA pay to pimp Def Jam twice in the first 10 minutes.
6. Who wrote these god awful jokes where Snoop Jokes with his alter ego?
7. “If there’s one thing I appreciate, it’s Human Females Performing for me”. Ugh. And who came up with the category “Best performance by a human female”?
8. Vectramonkey is the name of the award? And no, miss victoria secret angel, it’s not ‘hot’.
9. Were there no good voice actors who were also big stars?
10. My fiance’s response to “Hot girls read cheat codes” was, and I quote, “Fucking Christ.”
11. No one ever starts their sentences with “I racked my nuts” at the Academy Awards.
12. “The most addictive game feuled by Dew”. Can we get more shameless please?
13. I somehow doubt that that’s the only PSP in America.
14. “Halo 2″ by Microsoft, “Doom 3″ by Activision, “Unreal Tournament” by Atari. How about actually giving love to the people that MADE the game? You don’t give awards to the moneymen at the Oscars, do you?
15. How much did EA pay for that completely insubstantial zombie-Brando in-show advertisement for Godfather?
16. No, I think getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari is actually a little better than getting behind the wheel of a video game.
17. How many people who love driving games want to buy the GTO that Pontiac product-placed on stage? Maybe they should have tried a Porche or something?
18. Finally, music with drums.
19. Why have the musical acts play songs with words you have to bleep out? Do they not realize how unprofessional it makes it sound to have the sound cut out?
20. Sorry, it’s not impressive that Danny Masterson was playing video games while his costars were dating the likes of Lindsey Lohan. Is he an idiot?
21. Who are these idiots talking about how cool the game of the year candidates are? Why do I care about their opinions?
22. Wouldn’t it be more impressive to have a candidate for music that was exclusive in a video game, rather than major songs just slapped in?
23. Is it kosher to sing a song at a show you’re hosting?
24. Is it just my imagination, or can Snoop Dogg not sing? Why would you do that on national TV?
25. Who wants to waste time reading out pesky nominees when we could have bad rap? Do 7 categories at once, and only list the winners.
26. Was there really not a better fighting game last year than Mortal Combat?
27.”Cybervixen of the year”. Classy. Couldn’t they at least also have “Virtual Beefcake of the Year”?
28. Were these asian women ordered to dress up like prostitutes?
29. If you’re supposed to present an award, wouldn’t it be nice if you could speak English to some degree?
30. Samuel Jackson looks like the first person happy to have won. No, scratch that – bemused. Look at what the wacky kids are hip to this year!
31. Must we really have a rapoff between Snoop and Virtual Snoop?
32. The victoria secret angels hadning out awards is stupid and distracting.
33. “Riddick” gets best game based on a movie. Thankfully for the team, being based on a GOOD movie wasn’t a requirement.
34. This show is reminding me quickly that I hate rap.
35. Another batch of award winners that apparently don’t deserve more time that could be spent on, say, hot chicks reading cheat codes.
36. What the hell category is “Kickass Newcomer” and why does Carmen Electra qualify?
37. Was Halo 2 really the best designed game of the year? There was nothing more original anywhere?
38. Doesn’t GameSpot sponsor this thing? How’d they ‘win’ that award?
39. Samuel Jackson as coach: note to show creators – anytime you say to yourself ‘this skit will be kinda stupid but also kinda cute’ – no, it’ll just be really stupid.
40. “You know what’ll be cool? If the ‘envelope’ was a DVD cover!” Bah.
41. Nothing says spontaneity and surprise like Madden giving a long thank-you speech via prerecorded video.
42. Dear Busta Rhymes: your introduction should not be longer than the song you’re introducing.
43. Is it kosher to sing 2 songs at a show you’re hosting?
44. Re Snoop Dogg: Is this good rap? I hate rap, so I can’t tell, but this sure sounds like it sucks to me.
45. Re Snoop Dogg: If you must have a song with words bleeped out, could you choose one where those words weren’t in the frequently repeated chorus?
46. More Hot Girls Reading Cheat Codes. Enough said.
47. Snoop Dogg’s going to be in a video game! Even the host is product placement! We have reached product placement Utopia!
48. Why are the candidates for Reader’s Choice different than Game of the Year? How were the candidates for the former chosen?
49. “Whose better to announce biggest game of the year than Method Man, Red Man or Ludacris?” I don’t know, how about Will Wright, Peter Molyneoux, and Sid Meier?
50. Samuel L Jackson accepts the award for the “Grand Theft Auto 2″ team.
51. You would think that after 25 years of rocking, Motley Crue would have learned to, say, do soundchecks.
52. Flaming drumsets are, like, SO 1988.
53. Snoop Dogg and Motley Crue share the stage. Someone shoot me now.
54. Is it just me, or did it seem like Snoop Dogg wrote his rap interlude on the limo ride to the show?
55. Ted Williams expired with more dignity than this show.

3 Things I liked:
1. Katamari Damacy being mentioned.
2. I like Michelle Rodriguez on principle.
3. The Spy vs Spy ads.

Yes, it took me including the advertising to find 3 things I liked. Thank god that piece of crap is no longer on my DVR.

Original comment thread is here.

Doom Movie to Not Contain Doom-like Content

December 8, 2004 / Damion Schubert

Idle Thumbs has been in a tizzy for the last couple of days because the Doom Movie will not be based on Hell, Space Marines or anything else vaguely Doomish. To quote their source article:

Doom 2 was subtitled ‘Hell on Earth’, and the key plot point of Doom 3 is that the monsters in-game are Hellspawn, hence the multiple pentograms and such vile creations as dead-baby-cherub-wasp combinations. A ‘necessary’ change, or a neat way to avoid right-wing criticism? We wonder.

To quote Idle Thumbs:

Why bother?I

t may be worse than this. I’m not a zealot about brand protectionism the way that some people are. Hell, I even like the taste of Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. I tried to put steampunk into Ultima (I plead duress). But I still firmly believe that brands have real value, more value than the people who create these brands seem to grok. If you’re Id, then the Doom brand is your bread and butter. It’s got a core fan base that loves what the brand stands for and is willing to evangelize it, so long as you don’t betray what the brand stands for.

Doom is, fundamentally, about being a space marine killing demons from hell on a space station with a shotgun. At its core, when I think of my fondest memory in any of the Dooms, that’s what comes to mind. It’s also shockingly original – except for perhaps Event Horizon, what other movies can you think of that bring theological themes of heaven and hell into sci fi?

The Doom movie, as currently slated, looks to strip out the demons from hell, strip out the space marines, and set it in common times. If we’re lucky, though, maybe they’ll remember to give someone a shotgun. The Id guys would be better served by having a crappy movie that exactly fit Doom’s themes and values than by having a mediocre to good movie that betrayed them. They risk enraging their core evangelists, and confusing more tertiary fans who thought they knew what Doom was about. They also end up looking like ‘me-too’ers with a warmed over Resident Evil ripoff, rather than the venerable market leader with a golden IP that they are.

In the long run, this could easily weaken the franchise, hurting it in the long haul. But try telling that to the money guys, who see a quick way to cash in.

EDIT: It seems that lately, Penny Arcade has been annoyed by exactly the same things I am.

Bad Market Positioning Makes Me Smolder with Generic Rage

December 6, 2004 / Damion Schubert

I try not to talk too much about games that I haven’t played yet (which is why I haven’t, for example, talked about Everquest 2 much – haven’t had time to try it). But I’ll make an exception for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, solely because I loved the prequel so much. Once I get my copy in the mail, I’ll offer my own thoughts.

What do you do if you have a wildly fun game that constantly gets good reviews, but doesn’t fly off the shelves? Marketing’s answer: go darker. And sexier. I loved the first one, but huge parts of the reason I loved it – the storybook feel and the cocky yet idealistic prince – looked to be swept under the rug. Penny Arcade pretty much confirms my fears, as if the Godsmack soundtrack in the TV commercials did not.