Bad marketing?

XboxMaster

XboxMaster

CAGiversary!
I'm convinced now that UbiSoft is the worst at making commercials for it's games. First, I think reading that the reasons Good and Evil failed was because bad marketing and it didn't really appeal to anyone. I'm not sure is this happened with POP, but it might've. Then the RS6 for Xbox came out and was one about every channel EVERY COMMERCIAL BREAK. It was horrible hearing the "My country tis of thee...." each time, I'm not unpatriotic, but I don't like to have my glass crack over and over. Then, I just saw the RS6 for PS2 commercial. One word for that commercial; corny. When the hell is UbiSoft gonna get it right?
 
I disagree.

I doubt that the percentage of people who buy games based on commercials is more than 20%
 
BG&E failed because there was too many better games being released during that time. With the internet I doubt a lot of gamers pay attention to TV commercials, they are prolly posting on forums or reading articles on games they plan to buy.
 
I disagree, a large majority of gamers just buy games off of the marketing. People only ask questions about the games with the cool comercials. I believe that 20% is the group that does look at reviews and forums. You may hate the rs3 ad but that game sells very well.
 
[quote name='BULL_Ship'] a large majority of gamers just buy games off of the marketing. [/quote]

Where is your evidence for that?

The fact is that most gamers know what games are coming out and what games they plan on getting months before the first commercial for said game hits the air.

And I base my statement on the fact that most games don't have TV commercials made for them.
 
[quote name='Scrubking'][quote name='BULL_Ship'] a large majority of gamers just buy games off of the marketing. [/quote]

Where is your evidence for that?

The fact is that most gamers know what games are coming out and what games they plan on getting months before the first commercial for said game hits the air.

And I base my statement on the fact that most games don't have TV commercials made for them.[/quote]

Two words: True Crime
 
haha true crime is a good example of a game selling on a commercial, i played the demo before the commercial and it sucked, but when i saw the commercial i thought it looked pretty cool...so i popped the demo back in, but it still sucked Xop
 
[quote name='st0neface']Two words: True Crime[/quote]

Word. My favorite part of that commercial

"**** [4 stars]
Maxim Magazine"

"Winner of some award
Spike TV Video Game Awards"

WOOOOWWW!!!! :roll: I've decided any game that cites a Maxim or Stuff review in their commercial is instantly suspect. :lol:
 
Also look at Enter the Matrix. That game sold tons of copies regardless of the fact that just about every reputable gaming site and publication panned it.
 
I don't think it was marketing that sunk BG&E. I'm on record as saying the game is quite awesome indeed, but I just finished it a day ago with all pearls and animals found and it still took me under 9 hours. Now, it was my second playthrough, so I might have shaved a couple hours off my first time, but the fact is the game is a little on the short side and everyone and their mother belabored that point to no end. I think that word of mouth turned most people off more than anything. Of course, we'll never know if it was that or the glut of great games around the holidays that sunk it since Ubi totally pussed out and slashed the price within the first 2 months. I can't figure out why the hell they did that so quick, especially when they're in a position to make retailers do what they want (with Pandora Tomorrow coming down the line, I mean.)
 
I liked the PoP advertisments. Hell, I can still remember the arabian-style techno beat going on in the background. At one point, they ran a 3 minute commercial on Cartoon Network or Comedy Central that was pretty amazing.

BG&E, however, got no push. Sad, too, since it's a great game.

They did throw a decent amount of cash behind RS3, although plagued with inaccuracy to the book! Dieter Weber was a sniper, dammit.

Overall, though, Konami is far worse at advertising than UbiSoft will ever be. Can anyone remember seeing an ad for MGS1, 2, or TTS? I think I remember seeing a commercial or two for Castlevania LOI, but that's about all I can remember from the last year or so.
 
[quote name='FlipSide']BG&E failed because there was too many better games being released during that time. With the internet I doubt a lot of gamers pay attention to TV commercials, they are prolly posting on forums or reading articles on games they plan to buy.[/quote]

Okay.. no. If they were online reading articles and posting on message boards, they would have heard how kick-ass PoP and BG&E were, not the other way around. They're making their purchases based on something other than internet articles and forums.
 
[quote name='wubb'][quote name='st0neface']Two words: True Crime[/quote]

Word. My favorite part of that commercial

"**** [4 stars]
Maxim Magazine"

"Winner of some award
Spike TV Video Game Awards"

WOOOOWWW!!!! :roll: I've decided any game that cites a Maxim or Stuff review in their commercial is instantly suspect. :lol:[/quote]

Same can be said about any movie that MTV does a "making of" special about.
 
[quote name='Scrubking']The fact is that most gamers know what games are coming out and what games they plan on getting months before the first commercial for said game hits the air.[/quote]

No, most gamers are in the mainstream group. They buy games ONLY on the basis of commercials, magazine ads, box art, and peer pressure.

Your comment was just want you want, not reality. Next time do some market research.
And don't defend your comment, it will just make you look like an idiot.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla'][quote name='Scrubking']The fact is that most gamers know what games are coming out and what games they plan on getting months before the first commercial for said game hits the air.[/quote]

No, most gamers are in the mainstream group. They buy games ONLY on the basis of commercials, magazine ads, box art, and peer pressure.

Your comment was just want you want, not reality. Next time do some market research.
And don't defend your comment, it will just make you look like an idiot.[/quote]

Uh... shouldn't you have included a source for your information then? Seems kind of hypocritical to just pull your own stat out of thin air and call someone an idiot for doing the same thing.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla'][quote name='Scrubking']The fact is that most gamers know what games are coming out and what games they plan on getting months before the first commercial for said game hits the air.[/quote]

No, most gamers are in the mainstream group. They buy games ONLY on the basis of commercials, magazine ads, box art, and peer pressure.

Your comment was just want you want, not reality. Next time do some market research.
And don't defend your comment, it will just make you look like an idiot.[/quote]

This thread was specifically about TV COMMERCIALS as was my comment. If you would pull your head out of your ass you would see that you fucking moronic troll.
 
CAGers Know what I'm about out here
I don't toot my own horn cause I don't have to
You can run your mouth I don't care
but if you get too close I'm gonna clap you
It's too real out here to be scared
A real CAGer is gonna do whatever he has to
A man is the last thing you should fear
it ain't considered a crime unless they catch you
We all die one day
 
[quote name='SolinariDotCom'][quote name='FlipSide']BG&E failed because there was too many better games being released during that time. With the internet I doubt a lot of gamers pay attention to TV commercials, they are prolly posting on forums or reading articles on games they plan to buy.[/quote]

Okay.. no. If they were online reading articles and posting on message boards, they would have heard how kick-ass PoP and BG&E were, not the other way around. They're making their purchases based on something other than internet articles and forums.[/quote]

Ehh. no, they were busy buying GTA:DP, Crimson Skies, Castlevania:Loi, RS6, Mario Kart:DD.. I need to go on? They were all released within the same timeframe
 
"Gamers" are not the audience for these commericals--the "casual gamer" is. Do u think that everyone who owns a console is a gamer? They are not.

Gamers are a core audience that does not need to be catered to. It is the general public, who may or may not game that is.

Think about all the people who buy an XBox only because it pushes more polys. Sure the XBox is a good console, but buying on polys is not a reason to buy an XBox for general gaming by a 5 year old--yet I have seen it happen hundreds if not thousands of times.
 
I commercial that dosent show game footage dose jack in comparison to one that does. The true crime commercial was ALL game graphics and thus would be a lot eaier to insite people to want to play it, a commercial that shows 3 seconds of game and crams the other 27 with stupid gags *COUGHninjagaidenCOUGH* excuse me... dosent help and leaves the game to survive on word of mouth.

If word of mouth is good the game sells, if not no ammount of beating us iver the head with the comercial will help. Games like the matrix are only as poopluar as the movies it's based untill people start sharing notes... of course by then the thing had sold like 2 million copies

I look foward to a day when people base their purchases on reviews alone and not just hype.
 
I for one never bought or did not buy a game because of a TV ad. IGN.com, EGM, and GI are all damn good scources of information. Plus in most cases I know I'm going to buy a game a couple of months after it's announced, when previews start to help the game take shape. Now I'm not saying what majority does what and whats most common, but I do know that before a commercial, if you want to sell a game, you should get a form of media to do a kick ass preview for you game to get people excited about it before the commercials even air.
 
There are always MULTIPLE reasons why a game doesn't sell well. I think in the case of PoP and BG&E it's the fact that, compared to the other games being released then, they didn't have a strong, recognizable license (Enter the Matrix, Mario Kart, Need for Speed, Grand Theft Auto), nor did they have strong marketing (True Crime). The lack of a recognizable franchise also hurt Manhunt, I think, even though there were lots of commercials. Maybe it's not-so-great reviews also hurt it? Go figure.
 
[quote name='donssword']"Gamers" are not the audience for these commericals--the "casual gamer" is. Do u think that everyone who owns a console is a gamer? They are not.

Gamers are a core audience that does not need to be catered to. It is the general public, who may or may not game that is.

Think about all the people who buy an XBox only because it pushes more polys. Sure the XBox is a good console, but buying on polys is not a reason to buy an XBox for general gaming by a 5 year old--yet I have seen it happen hundreds if not thousands of times.[/quote]

Since when has Xbox been a target for casual gamers just to buy it because of it's graphics? PS2 has usually been a target for casual gamers because of Madden and GTA before it came on Xbox.
 
Personally I think BG&E didn't sell as well as it should have because on the surface it seems to be a kiddy type game. You have a (non-super hot) female lead with a pig-man for a sidekick. But then the game actually has a pretty deep story and T ESRB rating. So young kids maybe brought it up to their parents who said, oh this looks good waitaminute a T rating, no get something with an E rating little Johnny. And then kids who are a little older thought, I aint playing a cartoony game with some chick (who doesn't have giant boobs) as the main character.

That and the game being very short. Personally I wouldn't have paid $50 for such a short game. (Although I guess I wouldn't pay $50 for nearly any game...)

It would be very interesting to see some data on the number of people who buy a sample of games and what percent read a review in a mag or online, or on a TV review show (like X Play) I'd be very curious if the percent is low (20% maybe) or maybe I'd be surprised and it is up around 60%+
 
[quote name='DenisDFat']Ubisoft should get better at making games before they concentrate on making better marketing pushes[/quote]

Ubisoft is one of the top non japanese 3rd party publishers. Sorry you don't like FPS, sleath games, or anything realistic because they always seem to make the Tom Clancy games awesome and Ancel makes some really good games
 
While Ubisoft may suck at marketing games, same with Konami, I believe Namco does a good job at marketing. Besides the ones people know whether or not they will buy (i.e. Tekken, Soul Calibur), they did a good job marketing games like kill.switch and I-ninja. Out of all my friends, I don't know a single one that didn't want to take a crack at kill.switch. And I-ninja looked pretty fun and weird at the same time, and I payed $20 bucks for it the same time I got BG&E.

And this is my 100th post, I'm no longer a newbie, thank god. WOOHOO.
 
[quote name='DenisDFat']Ubisoft should get better at making games before they concentrate on making better marketing pushes[/quote]

They have alot of stuff. They definitely have shooters; Rainbow Six 3, Ghost Recon, Island Thunder, and probably some more. They got they game that kinda redefined console graphics (Splinter Cell), not to mention it's another category, stealth. They got a good platformer, Prince of Persia. And then while Beyond Good & Evil is pretty much a platformer, it's also kinda wierd and quirky. They also helped make that new monster truck game for PS2, if you dig that kind of stuff.
 
I personally believe that several things lead to B&E not selling well. Somewhat generic looking design, not much background, or good mascot. I remember seeing TV advertisments for it and wasn't hyped like when I saw the GTA VC commercial or the killswitch commercial. I believe its one of those games that is a hidden treasure, sort of like otogi
 
I believe the commercials can make and break a game. I am a gamer but not that harcore in the snense that i know when evry game is coming out what day it'll be out! If I see a cool commercial it gets me intersted in the game! Then I go to the sites to find out more about it! So yes the commercials do affect my decsions on what to buy (that and the clearence price at target!) If the commercial maks me snore then the game probily will too! So I guess it works both ways though! I never saw a commercial for B g&E! But from word of mouth I became interested in it and bought it when it was 20.00 I couldv'e baught it when it was 49.99 if i had even know about it!
 
[quote name='Mr. Anderson']The PoP commercial with the guy running on the crane was freakin' awesome. One of the best video game commercials ever.[/quote]

I enjoyed the techno music in the background of those commercials.
 
I just saw the Pandora Tommorow commercial. Do they have some obsession with little kids singing and corny partriotism. I mean, I'm definitely not against partiotism, but it's a little corny. It would've been cool if the whole time the commercial was silent to portray the stealth in the game.
 
what channels are you people watching that you see all of these commercials? the only ones i remember seeing way too often were the commercials for True Crime, Rise to Honor, and the ad for the Zelda collectors edition Gamecube bundle, which just makes my skin crawl.
 
BG&E had no real marketing push, PoP had a pretty big one. It isn't the TV ads or lack of them that hurt these games. It is mainly due to not catching the casual gamer's eye. These games don't have guns/ultra-violence or an easily recognizable lisence. Until you play them you don't really realize how unique and good these games are, unless you follow reviews, which I don't think most gamers do. Despite how good these games are (they were awesome IMO) most people aren't willing to give them a chance. I don' think being too short hurt these games, I don't think most gamers even knew about that. Most games that did well during the period that these games came out had either a big lisence (Mario Kart, NFSU, GTADP) or big marketing with violence (True Crime had Snoop Dogg and Grand Theft Auto written all over it).
 
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