|
There are two words that really define the tools of game marketing: graphics and game play. Gamers constantly
demand greater realism in their gaming experiences. And games are unbelievably realistic today. There are two
aspects to this visual beauty – the “frame rate” and rendering speed possible, and the art behind a game.
You’ll probably hear game people talk about polygons at some point. This basically refers to the polygons within
the graphic content of a game. If a computer can process more polygons, there can be more polygons on the
screen at one time. More polygons mean that objects can be made up of smaller pieces, so that greater realism is
possible. For example, you could make a human face from one squarish polygon or thousands of them that
simulated eyes and a nose and teeth, etc. This is important for building game appeal. No one wants to look at a
square for a face.
The things that hold back game realism are processing speed and graphics rendering speed. On your computer it
would probably be the graphics rendering capacity that hold you back. That’s why the minimum requirements
specs on a game often refer to needing advanced graphics accelerator cards that make the rendering go faster.
Faster rendering allows more polygons and more realism.
Hard core gamers have been known to buy new computers specifically so they can play the latest AAA title.
Pushing the limits of the installed base of PCs is the classic push me/pull you of the gaming industry. Push too hard
and very few people will have the hardware to play the game. Don’t push hard enough and the title won’t keep up
visually with its competitors.
Sports games demonstrate more realism, but for pure beauty, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed is tough to beat.
XBOX and Playstation are constantly battling for leadership in graphics. Nintendo chose to take another road –
innovating new forms of game play.
Wii is their revolutionary system that uses controllers that allow the users to actually simulate the actions they
want to induce on screen. Pantomime batting, fishing, shooting, whatever. Wii graphics aren’t as extremely
intricate as those of the other two leading console platforms, but Wii is tearing up the marketplace because while
Microsoft and Sony pursued better and better rendering, Nintendo decided to pursue better play.
Game marketing itself has traditionally been more hype than bona fide marketing. It’s like selling a movie. You
generate pre-release buzz that hopefully comes to a crescendo with people standing in line for your title. Of
course, people don’t stand in line for many titles. There are well over a thousand games produced every year.
Perhaps 25 are megahits. Usually fewer.
Since about 1999, however, game companies have put greater emphasis on brand franchises like Madden Football
and Halo. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, if you have a mega seller, you want to connect with that
entire audience again. Second, many people who buy core gamers aren’t super hard core. Maybe they buy 204 a
year, and aren’t reading the game blogs five times a day. If there are a million super hard core gamers, there are tens of millions of in-betweens who buy games they have faith in. The cost of a game can be $50 or more, so these
“in betweens” want an assurance that they are spending their money on great titles. One way to send that signal is
to slap a megahit name on it.
Anyway. There is now more long term marketing being done, particularly on mega franchises. But it will probably
always be a hype driven category.
The costs to develop an excellent, graphically intense game can be colossal. Ten years ago $500K-$1MM could
make a decent title. Now it can be $10MM or more. The most expensive ever, according to most-expensive.com,
was Shenmue, which was completed after 7 years of development at a cost of over $20MM. This was a game with
a real, changing, weather system, according to the site. When you read statistics like that, it becomes clearer why
the industry is gravitating more to tried and true franchises and sequels. Shenmue, BTW, was pretty much a flop.
Partly because the lead platform was the now defunct Sega Dreamcast. Proof that dev money doesn’t always lead
to success. Though I expect there is a positive correlation to some extent between the two.
Games typically get a trailer, a sexy box, a mini site, some print ads and digital ads, and maybe a couple weeks of
male skewing TV. It’s a good hype artist that can turn that little into a phenom. There are a few true marketing
wizards in gaming – people that can turn the usually modest budgets of a particular title into hundreds of
thousands of UGC posting board posts, coupled with press and blogger frenzy.
Another major challenge of game marketing is the retail trade. It is controlled by a few national retailers, who have
a thousand new titles to choose form. Slotting, in store ads, retailer promos and a bunch of other things are
essential to keep the giants. Some of the giants, BTW, are:
- Best Buy
- Circuit City
- Costco
- EB Games
- Office Depot
- Sam’s Club
- Staples
- Target
- Wal*Mart
When you look at that list, you can see that these are some of the most powerful and data savvy retailers out
there. It’s a rare title that doesn’t have to go on sales calls with hat in one hand and wad of Benjamins in the other.
Of course, online sales are increasing, which may change the retailer dynamic over time. Additionally, better
broadband connections will eventually make it possible to download games without a retail purchase. One
suspects that there are a lot of senior execs at gaming companies dreaming of that day.
And as a hype driven business, you buy your way onto the shelf, and then you better deliver sales pronto. Because
if you don’t, you’ll be out of the planogram in a few weeks. This is cut throat stuff.
Another trend is that more and more games are being adapted for online play without gargantuan downloads. This
is also changing the landscape for gaming companies and retailers
ENTER GAME-DELIVERED MARKETING
Naturally, the idea of creating new revenue streams through advertising is very appealing to the gaming industry. If
you’re plunking down $10 Mil on a new brand, it’s reassuring to have several ways to make money on it. Marketers outside of the gaming industry have already shown great interest in in-game marketing. It started as a
way to reach those elusive 18-34 year old men that drastically reduced their TV consumption over the past several
years. But now the role of in-game marketing is broadening as CPG and other categories use casual and all family
games as a way to create deep brand experiences. This section will discuss some of the leading options for game delivered
marketing.
CONSOLE AND PC VIDEO GAME ADVERTISING
Most major video game companies now offer opportunities for marketers to insert ads and product placement in
their titles. On PC the ads are clickable, on Console, not. Gamers, by the way, are fine with in-game ads if:
- The marketing contributes to greater realism. For example, if a game takes place in New York City, having a
Starbucks on every corner makes the simulation more realistic.
- The marketing increases the development budget for the game, making it better.
- The marketing effectively reduces the retail price of a game.
Game developer Gearbox Software’s CEO Randy Pitchford has a great opinion piece on this topic at
Gamasutra.com.41 I’ve seen several data sources on this subject that corroborate these suppositions.
Here are some of the ways for a brand to be in games:
Billboards and Posters: One of the earliest forms of advertising in games, posters and billboards allow advertisers
to insert static ads within the environment of a game. As players walk, run, or drive through the environment, they
pass these messages just as one passes billboards in real life.
|
