Update 1 [8/14/07]: Fixed a few errors and made some sentences a little nicer.
So I walked into my local Piggly Wiggly to get some soda and, as I’m searching, my eye catches the Chief plastered over a twelve pack of Mountain Dew. And, as any curious gamer would do I picked it up, ogled it, and bought it. It tastes fine and all, but I’m left wondering if, maybe, this is going a little overboard with game promotion?
Now, as a long time gamer I have always felt that games have been a bit on the under marketed side. In the early nineties there were print ads and a few television commercials but there really wasn’t much marketing to push consumers to buy games. That happens still today, in traditional advertising channels (television, print, etc); gaming isn’t represented as much as I think it could be. Thankfully the internet’s growth allowed for the extreme marketing of anything. Word of mouth is almost terrifyingly easier today than it ever was before. Even niche titles like Odin Sphere or Okami can gain more sales through internet ‘word of mouth’. The internet has definitely aided many publishers and developers looking to increase the units they sell to consumers.
Big budget titles have always been different though. Mario, Zelda, Madden, The Sims, Pokemon, Sonic, Halo etc have been the exception to what I believe is a traditional gaming marketing campaign. Marketing for these games is everywhere, and thus the sales for these games are high. These games are developed under enormous development budgets, and are backed further by massive marketing budgets. Mario, Sonic, and Pokemon have all been in Happy Meals, television commercials, print ads, internet ads, and have even starred in their own shows. These types of franchises plastered everywhere. This, I feel, is a bit of a problem.
Most popular series are pretty deserving of the popularity they have achieved. They’re good games from companies who are famous for making great games. They should be popular. So what’s the problem? It’s the fact that after the first few successes these franchises are already well known, but the marketing gets more extravagant for future series iterations. I can see tv commercials, and print ads. But going as far as Microsoft has with Halo 3? a special Halo 3 Mountain Dew Flavor, pesturant promotions, car dealer promotions, and a whole laundry list of other tie ins for a game that already has enough pre-orders to break video game sales records? I don’t see the need, it’s over kill. If Microsoft’s high ups really wanted to make more money, they’d spread out their marketing budget over several games. There are plenty of 360 titles that could use more backing. BioShock for example. Gamers following the development of BioShock know it’s going to be one spectacular FPS. It’s one of those little know but revolutionary games that hardly get the recognition they deserve. BioShock isn’t being published by Microsoft, but that doesn’t mean they can’t aid the company who is. they should be interested in doing so, as it’s currently a Microsoft exclusive (meaning it’ll only be on 360 and windows capable platforms). It’s a game that’s going to be completely overshadowed by Halo 3, and that’s a little disappointing. There are countless other games on Microsoft’s platforms that could use the attention as well, even some their publishing. Will Mass Effect or Too Human be marketed like Halo 3 will be? I seriously doubt it.
And it’s not just Microsoft that does this, I could easily rattle off a Nintendo or Sony published game that was under-marketed in favor of a big budget title. And it doesn’t end with games either; movie studios, television companies, and most media companies typically over market already popular pieces. So many excellent things have fallen on “deaf ears” in order for something that’s already a huge hit to further succeed. The Fox Network has been doing this for years. They have aired some of the greatest television shows, but rarely have any of them been promoted well enough to make it for more than two or three seasons. Fox, in the age of reality tv, has promoted nothing but that kind of show. Arrested Development getting the shit-can after three seasons was a result of that. It was a sad day, in my eyes, when that show was canceled to make room for something like Dancing with the Stars. Things that are popular simply don’t need that much marketing. there are other things that those budgets could, and should go to. And I think it’s time the high up corporate folks running the show realize this.
