A possible video game crash ?

[gamevet]

And that worked so well for every other game Sega tried that strategy with. Oh wait, it didn't. Television advertising is still a big seller. That's the kind of advertising you need to get parents and younger kids who don't troll the internet to know about your game. That's what makes the common people realize your brand still exists and you still make good games.

Yeah, I guess if you're watching the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon, that would make sense. I don't recall seeing many videogames advertised on television at all, with few exceptions like World of Warcraft and Modern Warfare. Marketing your goods on television is such a small niche compared to what it was 15 years ago. You'd be amazed at just how effective viral marketing has become with services like Twitter leading the way.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Viral Marketing is ALL Sega of America has done for games beyond Sonic. And look where it got them. It got them nothing. The only games that sold well were the Sonic Games, and surprise surprise, those are the games they gave full advertising campaigns for. These games that failed in the US sold exceptionally well in Japan. And is it any wonder that in Japan Sega always gives their games full advertising campaigns? Viral Marketing is a good compliment to traditional marketing, but it should never be a full on replacement for a full marketing campaign.

I know many people who loved Bayonetta when they tried it on my 360, but they had never heard of it prior to that. The reason, they don't spend their lives on youtube and gaming forums. They would have heard of it with simple print and TV ads though. Bayonetta sold well, but with proper advertising it could have sold even better.

I still see plenty of ads for Video games these days on channels like Spike TV, USA, FX, Fox, CBS, Sci Fi, Comedy Central, AMC, etc. Now they are mostly for FPSs and Sports games, but they are still ads. And surprise surprise, those titles sell like hotcakes.

[gamevet]

You admitted that Bayoneta sold well, and guess what, there was not 1 single television ad for it. The only ads I saw for the game were in Game Informer.

The first time I had heard of World of Warcraft wasn't through some ad, I was from forum members gushing over the game. I still didn't buy it, but word spread quickly about the MMO and it grew. The television ads you see today for the game weren't there until years after its release.

If Phantasy Star Universe was seen as a great gaming experience, it wouldn't need television advertising to make it a success. The print ads sure didn't do it, so why would television make much of a difference?

[NeoZeedeater]

I saw Bayonetta ads on TV.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

You admitted that Bayoneta sold well, and guess what, there was not 1 single television ad for it. The only ads I saw for the game were in Game Informer.

The first time I had heard of World of Warcraft wasn't through some ad, I was from forum members gushing over the game. I still didn't buy it, but word spread quickly about the MMO and it grew. The television ads you see today for the game weren't there until years after its release.

If Phantasy Star Universe was seen as a great gaming experience, it wouldn't need television advertising to make it a success. The print ads sure didn't do it, so why would television make much of a difference?

Ads would have helped the Phantasy Star Portable games which got excellent reviews as well. Bayonetta's success is the exception to the rule. And it could have probably done better with real advertising. The Phantasy Star Portable games were in the top selling charts in Japan when they came out, in the US they were dead on arrival. Is it a coincidence that in Japan the games got full advertising campaigns where as in the US the most they did was give away some promo item codes on PSO-World? A fan site that would attract no new customers since the people on that site already knew about the games? You can't expect people to know about your games when you don't tell them what games you are selling.

And Bayonetta's notoriety probably has more to do with the people at Platinum games and their reputation for the Devil May Cry series. Devil May Cry has a huge rabid fanbase, so that probably helped Bayonetta's sales quite a bit.

And what about Sega's other games that they didn't advertise? What about Valkyria Chronicles and it's sequels? Excellent games that didn't sell nearly as well as they could have due to lack of advertising. Sega had plenty of opportunities this past decade to have games that could have been top sellers. Excellent titles, many of which were well received. They didn't sell outside of Japan though because there was ZERO advertising for them. Sega's US Branch failed big time with advertising and this huge lay off is proof of that.

I saw Bayonetta ads on TV.

What channel and what region? I didn't see a single one in the Eastern US.

[gamevet]

I saw Bayonetta ads on TV.

I never saw a TV ad, but maybe that was because I didn't watch Spike much since I didn't have it in HD back then.

[NeoZeedeater]

What channel and what region? I didn't see a single one in the Eastern US.

I'm in the Vancouver BC area. My cable service has channels from all over North America. I don't remember where I saw the ads. They might have been on AMC while watching Breaking Bad or on Peachtree TV (Atlanta) during Family Guy but those are just guesses.

[gamevet]

Ads would have helped the Phantasy Star Portable games which got excellent reviews as well. Bayonetta's success is the exception to the rule. And it could have probably done better with real advertising. The Phantasy Star Portable games were in the top selling charts in Japan when they came out, in the US they were dead on arrival. Is it a coincidence that in Japan the games got full advertising campaigns where as in the US the most they did was give away some promo item codes on PSO-World? A fan site that would attract no new customers since the people on that site already knew about the games? You can't expect people to know about your games when you don't tell them what games you are selling.

PSP software sales for North America have been irrelivent for almost 2 years now. The PSP is still a top selling system in Japan, even outselling the Vita this year.


http://www.the-magicbox.com/1203/game120329a.shtml

http://www.vgchartz.com/

And Bayonetta's notoriety probably has more to do with the people at Platinum games and their reputation for the Devil May Cry series. Devil May Cry has a huge rabid fanbase, so that probably helped Bayonetta's sales quite a bit.

Hideki Kamiya and the gang from Clover Studios only worked on the first Devil May Cry game. Devil May Cry 3 was the only other title in the series that was worth playing.

Bayonetta found success because the gaming community raved about it. I don't believe advertising would have had as much of an impact on sales, as word of mouth did.

And what about Sega's other games that they didn't advertise? What about Valkyria Chronicles and it's sequels? Excellent games that didn't sell nearly as well as they could have due to lack of advertising. Sega had plenty of opportunities this past decade to have games that could have been top sellers. Excellent titles, many of which were well received. They didn't sell outside of Japan though because there was ZERO advertising for them. Sega's US Branch failed big time with advertising and this huge lay off is proof of that.

Atlus hasn't been adverting their games on television, yet they sell well. Demon's Souls and Dark Souls have had pretty good sales numbers, despite very little advertising outside of gaming magazines and internet ads. Bulletstorm had a huge television ad campaign, was published by EA, yet the game bombed.

http://www.brashgames.co.uk/2011/03/...modern-tastes/

How exactly do you advertise Valkyria Chronicles on television and make it look exciting, especially when you have a game like Bulletstorm that looks like a kick-ass game, yet fails miserably? These studios spend a lot of money on development, so they have very little extra room in their budgets to advertise like they did back in the 80's and 90's. It's getting to the point where a studio has to make money on just about every title, or they're gone.