Marketing SE V

Atrocities · #1 February 7th, 2004, 04:09 PM

I was just reading through a few older reviews of Space Empires IV and noticed that many of those reviewing the game noted that previous Version of Space Empires were a little known secret because of poor marketing and publicity.

Now we all know that Shrapnel has done a great job marketing SE IV, as has word of mouth and PG Gamers favorable review of both SEIV and SEIV Gold. However, I for one feel that a lot more could have been done in the way of marketing and hope that with the success of SE IV, both Shrapnel and MM will seriously and aggressively market SE V.

What struck me as very aggervating was when I was in the EB Game store at the mall the other day and some guys were talking about how much they wanted a true 4 x game. They talked about how bad MOO3 was and how the genra has just fallen flat. I listened for a bit while reading up on some of the game magazines when I felt the time was right, I asked one of them if they had tried SEIV.

"SE IV? What the hell is SE IV?"

So I told him. I could see he thought I was insane, but I told him to run up to the library and see for himself. (They have computers there).

The guy behind the counter, when asked if he could get them a copy of SEIV, replied no, that game is a dos game and most PC's won't even run it.

This floored me and prompted me to point out that he was misinformed. The point being, if a guy who sells games doesn't even KNOW about a game that many people wish they could play, but don't even know that the very game they are wishing for has been out for nearly four years now, then what hope is there for Space Empires V.

Granted, these guys probably live in a cave, and the store clerk looked more like a Mortal Combat PS2 player than a real PC gamer.

I am no marketing guy, I know nothing about the industry or even profess to understand on line marketing or business plans, but I do know one thing, if people don't know about your game, they won't buy it.

Hell 90% of the people at the MOO3 forums didn't even know SE IV exsisted until after MOO3 was released and they came to the forum to ***** about how bad the game was. I did a lot of posting there promoting, with profession courtesy to MOO3 of course, about the wonders of Space Empires IV.

Taking into account my complete lack of skill in marketing, would it be a plausable concept to send out flyers to all the stores that sell PC games telling them that you have a product, that they can buy at a discount in bulk from shrapnel, that people are interested in buying? Do all the sales have to be On Line sales?

Again, I know nothing about marketing and I am not critizing shrapnel at all. I just love the game and want other to discover it.

capnq · #2 February 7th, 2004, 09:38 PM

Quote:

would it be a plausable concept to send out flyers to all the stores that sell PC games telling them that you have a product

Shrapnel has repeatedly said they can't find a retailer that offers fair terms.

Atrocities · #3 February 7th, 2004, 09:40 PM

That is true, and it is a really sad thing to be sure.

Iansidious · #4 February 7th, 2004, 10:36 PM

Quote:

What struck me as very aggervating was when I was in the EB Game store at the mall the other day and some guys were talking about how much they wanted a true 4 x game. They talked about how bad MOO3 was and how the genra has just fallen flat. I listened for a bit while reading up on some of the game magazines when I felt the time was right, I asked one of them if they had tried SEIV.

"SE IV? What the hell is SE IV?"[/QB]

I did the same thing in my local EB store. My dad and I just finished a trip to the pool hall and as always we stop in the EB store just to look around. I got into a converstion with some other gamers about a great and very old Star Wars game. After that I mention to the man working there if he has EVER played or heard of SE4. You can guess the answer on that one! NO. I explaned the game a little and told him the web site to malfador. He said that sounds cool and is going to look at. I also told him about their new game coming out soon(Starfury). Word of mouth has really made this game sell in my opinion. A friend told me about it and I love it. I have some else interested in the game also(Josh and I are always talking about SE4 so many of the people we know have heard about.Thus they say to them selves "lets see what these nuts are talking" and request the game). I do wish malfador the best with Se5 because of great games like SE4. They deserve to be as big as Nintendo or Sony in the world of games. That is how much I enjoy MM games

Shrapnel · #5 February 9th, 2004, 06:55 AM

I was looking into buying Imperium Galactica Alliances when I heard about Space Empires IV. NO ONE in any electronic game store I was in ever heard of it. It's hard to find out about the game unless you stumble across it reading game reviews.

Alas, maybe I'll actually have the doe-re-me to purchase it soon.

Does any other Canadian retailers carry the title? (perhaps at a slightly lower cost? I hate to sound cheap, but the money tree I'm growing isn't growing as fast as I would like

I've downloaded the Demo; I'm gonna try the game out and see if I can figure it out.

Kamog · #6 February 9th, 2004, 07:21 AM

You could probably save a few dollars by buying the game from Chips & Bits (USA) or Military Hobbies (Canada), and using regular mail to ship it.
http://www.chipsbits.com/
http://www.militaryhobbies.com/

David E. Gervais · #7 February 9th, 2004, 01:06 PM

Here's an idea, we all know that SE:V is in the works and that SE:IV Gold can still hold it's own against many of the 'retail' 4x games out there.

..What if,.. Shrapnel made more serious efforts to find a retail outlet for SE:IV Gold. And when they do, (In spite of a lower intake of $$$) place an ad for SE:V in all the retail Versions and see what happens.

I see two things happining,..

1) The retail market (customers) would be made aware of the wonderful Space Empires franchise. (the number of sales might surprise them and they might find that selling more for less $ in the case of SE would be better than selling less for more $)

2) SE:V would have an excellent marketing gimmick, what better way to promote a new game than to let a new audience discover SE through an already excellent game.

I also think that finding and making 'bulk' sales of SE:IV Gold to retail outlets would be a great idea to test the retail waters. You could also start small and ask the existing fan-base to help. (Ask them to go to their local indipendant retailer and ask if they would be interested in obtaining say 10 copies of SE:IV Gold at a reduced price to make it available in their store. There is a good selling point to this method, the game would be a kind of 'exclusive' title for the small store and that in turn might help them to promote it. "Hey check out this 4x game, It is only available Online, but I made a deal to bring it to my customers." Even if the store pays 20$ and sells it for the same price as it is Online. The fact that the customer does not have to pay shipping and handling will be like an instant rebate. Heck, you could even give the fans some incentive to help get se4Gold into the small indipendant stores. (Sell 10 copies of se4:Gold and get $20 off SE:V and free shipping.)

Just a thought, basically I agree with Atrocities,.. more marketing needs to be done for SE:V. There is so much untapped potential out there that it's a shame the SE franchise is not more known.

nuf said, Cheers!

[ February 09, 2004, 11:07: Message edited by: David E. Gervais ]

geoschmo · #8 February 9th, 2004, 01:26 PM

You might be able to, with a serious amount of bush beating, to get Se4/se5 into some small independant computer stores. The problem is that these stores represent such a miniscule amount of the market out there, you are basically no better off as far as exposure then you are sticking to Online sales only. And the resources expended could have gone towards someting that would have more of a return.

The only way you are going to get the kind of exposure we would all like for the series is to get it placed on teh shelves of the major computer stores and department stores. But that is imposible. You can't walk into your local Walmart, Target, or Compusa and have the manager buy a few copies and stick on the shelf. Retail doesn't work that way anymore, if it ever did. It's all about shelfspace. And the major distributors work directly with the national and regional chains in that regard. You can't just get a few copies into one store.

Roanon · #9 February 9th, 2004, 06:57 PM

Yes, that is the problem - marketing doesn't work any more. Its all about big business to big business, more like mafia than free retail.
The only way to promote SE is by telling everyone and advertising it on every board where disappointed buyers of yet another bad strategy game lurk, like on the MOO3 Boards. Marketing would be easier though, if MM could do a downloadable Version. Or at least for us poor Europeans, have a european distributor who charges less than game plus single postage costs from US plus profit margin.

EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro · #10 February 9th, 2004, 08:16 PM

Atrocities could be the N.W. area Rep. for Shrapnel Games! Seriously though. I work part time at the Photo/Electronics dept. for Fred Meyer (think Walmart but not as evil). I'm always recommending Space Empires IV. Honest to a fault I also talked people out of MOO3. Yeah maybe I might not make sales quotas but at least no one will be mad at me for a bad recommendation.
I think they could at least advertise a little bit more. Shrapnel games does tend to cater to turn based war gamers, not the twitchy RTS that are so prevalent (that a word?) in society now.
Would a little ad in a magazine or gamespot hurt?