Marketing SE V

Roanon · #1 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 · #2 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?

Azselendor · #3 February 10th, 2004, 04:59 AM

Why not simply go to malls and parking lots and pass out fliers or an Avon style marketing.

Captain Kwok · #4 February 10th, 2004, 05:08 AM

To be honest, I kind of like Space Empires as our little secret. I'd hate to see a bunch of low-attention span gamers come in and make all sorts of mischief. Of course, I also want to see some success for MM and Shrapnel - so perhaps a healthy compromise where we all buy the game twice?

PvK · #5 February 10th, 2004, 06:39 AM

I don't think "getting a game onto retail shelves" is going to help much. Games can exist on store shelves and still be ignored by the moronic masses and their clueless gift-shopping relatives. Most games on retail shelves lose money for the publisher and developer, because the retail stores squeeze almost all of the sales money for themselves. And, even many pretty hard-core gamers would wait to get a deal from retail bargain bins and sales, rather than buying the game directly from Shrapnel. Total rewards from such a shift might even go down. Er, I could ramble on with various conjecture, but I've a headache and other things to do. The magazine coverage (reviews) is probably the most effective channel. Some magazine and/or web banner ads after the reviews go out might also help, though print mag ads are so expensive that I'd doubt worthwhile sales returns for a non-eye-candy-feast game. Fans subtley hitting semi-relevant forums and newsGroups periodically (such as forums for lamer but better-advertized conquest games) with plugs and links would probably help a lot, it seems to me.

Ergh, headache.

PvK

Paul1980au · #6 February 10th, 2004, 06:48 AM

The internet is becoming a much more viaable and profitable outlet for games makers ie shrapnel and MM deal - that said good promotion on the web will ensure profitability - the games in retail stores suck. Just as long as they make reasonable profits then they can keep the game coming along.

Randallw · #7 February 10th, 2004, 10:19 AM

I used to play a game many years ago called STARS!. I moved overseas for a while so i quit but the game makers, whose name i forget, were saying that STARS! supernova was going to be made. When i came back I checked their website but although they had made the game and there was a community they couldn't get it published because no distributor was interested and after 9/11 the market apparently went down the toilet. Then about a year and a half ago I was going through a catalogue I get from this games stockists and stuck in the middle of the computer games section was a small description of something called space empires3 and 4Gold. The advert said it came without a box and was only in shrinkwrap, and the price was well above a normal game. I was looking for a 4x game to play so I ordered it and apart from a small time after I got bored with single player and before I found pbw I havn't gone a day without playing it. Obviously the high price was because SE4Gold wasn't released commerically, by which i mean it wasn't in 20 boxes on the shelves of EBgames. It goes to show though that the best games aren't just those sold by the major stores and you have to be lucky to come across them.

I have a terrible memory. On second thoughts its MOO3 i quit playing when i got bored with the single player game.....after 3 games.

[ February 10, 2004, 08:30: Message edited by: Randallw ]