PatrickWeekes
Sentinel
- Joined
- December 6, 2006
- Messages
- 261
I'd call that a good argument for the sky falling, so to speak. So we're not serious gamers -- console players are serious gamers. That's the view of the folks making these games?
Myself, I'm ready to concede that consoles are cutting edge. But I would ask which edge. There must be another edge around here somewhere. Because some of the folks here and at other places like this are pretty serious gamers.
Let's hope the market for PC games is viewed differently in the near future.
Actually, by the standard I'm using, you guys aren't serious -- you're hardcore.
A serious gamer is swayed by the game getting a primetime commercial, by new advances in graphics, and by the game winning awards like Game of the Year.
A hardcore gamer is actually hitting the forums and finding the games in his or her genre that nobody else knew about. A hardcore gamer is reading about the rules system before the game is even out. A hardcore gamer is complaining about things that the non-hardcore gamers never even notice.
Serious gamers are large in number, but fickle. If your company released a hot title last year, they may or may not connect it to the hot title you're releasing this year.
Hardcore gamers are fewer in number, but they will remember your prior triumphs and missteps. And based on past sales evidence, they are almost always willing to give a trusted developer another chance -- if they have the ability to play a game, they'll get it, even if they have issues with something.
Mass Effect was marketed as serious-to-hardcore. We wanted the people who play games of the year, and we wanted to get console-RPG fans as well.
Dragon Age will also be serious-to-hardcore -- remind the RPG fans that it's not all action-RPG third-person-shooter stuff at BioWare, but also make a flashy-enough game to pull in the people who only buy a few big games per year.
Sonic will be casual-to-serious -- a friendly and easy-opt-in game for younger gamers, although hopefully with enough depth that older gamers who don't mind playing a game written for tweens will enjoy the system.
I'm not in marketing, so I'm probably explaining this poorly.
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2006
- Messages
- 261