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What sells a game?
Graphics?
Game play?
Sounds?
Last ability?
Copyrights/Licenses?
What about a break from the Norm?
Peoples Opinions?
Marketing?
Well its not one of these but all of these that are combined to sell games but which one makes the difference?
Graphics.
Itís statistically proven that most games are sold on a you see it you buy it basis, most of us buy magazines or see reviews of a game before we go out and buy it but some people just go to a shop and buy any old game that they think looks good so thatís why Visuals need to look their best to get the customers attention, games need that WOW factor to impress potential buyers with jaw dropping scenery and mouth watering pixels. Motion capture in games is always a beauty to look at and makes the games feel all the more ërealisticí. The Graphics are also a big part of a game seeing as you wouldnít want to play a games that looks dated now would you, thatís what retro gaming on your old consoles is for.
Game Play.
The big one every games has to have this to keep the player interested and to make the game more compelling, people who read reviews and check ratings before purchasing a game will know roughly what the game plays like so game play is a big factor when selling a game, if the game isnít very playable, itís confusing, shabby, no addictiveness to compel you to keep playing then the game simply wont sell. If the games isnít a good idea in the first place or it poorly put together expect no public interest.
Sounds.
Music and sound effects can play a huge part in games, the Tony Hawk series had well known bands and tracks for you to skate and grind too which for many was a good bonus while playing the game. The music sets the scene for a particular point in a game say an adventure against a boss like creature and the music will be fast and loud to give the player the extra experience, a game with poor plinky plonky music can ruin the feeling of the game. Sound effects are also needed in games like realistic engine noises in racers and nice happy, happy bouncy and boingy sound effects in adventure games such as Banjo Kazzoie.
Lastabiltiy.
Pretty self explanatory if a games isnít going to last you chances are you wont buy it, itís no good shelling out 40 pound of your hard earned cash for a game that youíre not going to play for more than 5 minutes. All the above and below features go into how long the game would last you, games such as Mario Kart that have that ëcome back toí factor are the games that make it into our classics list.
Copyrights/Licenses.
A bit of a mixed bag this one, licenseís to use a name in a game seems to result in different reactions from the buyers, on one hand people donít mind licenseís and would only buy the game if it was good whereas some people would buy the game purely because it carries a certain name. A good example would be Superman 64, by nearly every magazine that reviewed it, extremely bad ratings were received and in most cases the lowest ever marks e.g. N64 Magazine. Although this games was deemed unplayable by many it still shifted thousands of copied worldwide which asks the question can licenseís sell a game and in this case yes they can. The FIFA series are arguably the best football games and they support a license but does the game need to be good to sell it? Goldeneye was seen by many as an excellent FPS and this was also the result in all magazines reviews but would the game have sold with just the name anyway?
A break from the norm.
We all like change donít we, we all like something that is a little bit different and every now and again a game come along that fits that bill perfectly, we can all buy a serious racing game but itís games like Diddy Kong Racing or Crash Bandicoot Racing that grab our attention. These games stick out from the rest and their crazy and wacky ideas have us throwing our money at them in record time just because they are different to anything else that we usually find on shop shelves. This goes for every genre of game there is from Adventure to RTS they sell, originality is definitely the key here.
Peoples Opinions.
Would you buy a game because your friend said it was good? Would you buy a game because a magazine or shop owner recommended it? A companies name alone say Nintendo may sell the game simply because of their good reputation. Well you should always try a games before you buy because a games might suit your friend but not be to your taste at all, be weary of ratings itís better to experience first hand.
Marketing.
This is probably the biggest factor in selling a game, everything from advertising campaigns to the time the game hits the shelves, it all has to be perfect to sell well. A snowboarding game may not be released until the winter season is upon us just for the fact that the game is more likely to sell then, also Christmas is a massive time for games to be hitting shelves faster than a right hook of Prince Naseem because the people who market games know the best times to sell games. A game may not also be released in a certain month because another popular title is being released then and they donít want the competition because it will slow sales of their game, itís all about figures and profit margins. Advertising will be huge in the next few months due to the next generation consoles being released in the UK soon so expect poster campaigns and a flurry of advertisements coming to a TV screen near you soon!
What do you think is the biggest factor for selling a game?
Is there anything Iíve missed?
What do you think?
Thanks for reading
Andy
Graphics?
Game play?
Sounds?
Last ability?
Copyrights/Licenses?
What about a break from the Norm?
Peoples Opinions?
Marketing?
Well its not one of these but all of these that are combined to sell games but which one makes the difference?
Graphics.
Itís statistically proven that most games are sold on a you see it you buy it basis, most of us buy magazines or see reviews of a game before we go out and buy it but some people just go to a shop and buy any old game that they think looks good so thatís why Visuals need to look their best to get the customers attention, games need that WOW factor to impress potential buyers with jaw dropping scenery and mouth watering pixels. Motion capture in games is always a beauty to look at and makes the games feel all the more ërealisticí. The Graphics are also a big part of a game seeing as you wouldnít want to play a games that looks dated now would you, thatís what retro gaming on your old consoles is for.
Game Play.
The big one every games has to have this to keep the player interested and to make the game more compelling, people who read reviews and check ratings before purchasing a game will know roughly what the game plays like so game play is a big factor when selling a game, if the game isnít very playable, itís confusing, shabby, no addictiveness to compel you to keep playing then the game simply wont sell. If the games isnít a good idea in the first place or it poorly put together expect no public interest.
Sounds.
Music and sound effects can play a huge part in games, the Tony Hawk series had well known bands and tracks for you to skate and grind too which for many was a good bonus while playing the game. The music sets the scene for a particular point in a game say an adventure against a boss like creature and the music will be fast and loud to give the player the extra experience, a game with poor plinky plonky music can ruin the feeling of the game. Sound effects are also needed in games like realistic engine noises in racers and nice happy, happy bouncy and boingy sound effects in adventure games such as Banjo Kazzoie.
Lastabiltiy.
Pretty self explanatory if a games isnít going to last you chances are you wont buy it, itís no good shelling out 40 pound of your hard earned cash for a game that youíre not going to play for more than 5 minutes. All the above and below features go into how long the game would last you, games such as Mario Kart that have that ëcome back toí factor are the games that make it into our classics list.
Copyrights/Licenses.
A bit of a mixed bag this one, licenseís to use a name in a game seems to result in different reactions from the buyers, on one hand people donít mind licenseís and would only buy the game if it was good whereas some people would buy the game purely because it carries a certain name. A good example would be Superman 64, by nearly every magazine that reviewed it, extremely bad ratings were received and in most cases the lowest ever marks e.g. N64 Magazine. Although this games was deemed unplayable by many it still shifted thousands of copied worldwide which asks the question can licenseís sell a game and in this case yes they can. The FIFA series are arguably the best football games and they support a license but does the game need to be good to sell it? Goldeneye was seen by many as an excellent FPS and this was also the result in all magazines reviews but would the game have sold with just the name anyway?
A break from the norm.
We all like change donít we, we all like something that is a little bit different and every now and again a game come along that fits that bill perfectly, we can all buy a serious racing game but itís games like Diddy Kong Racing or Crash Bandicoot Racing that grab our attention. These games stick out from the rest and their crazy and wacky ideas have us throwing our money at them in record time just because they are different to anything else that we usually find on shop shelves. This goes for every genre of game there is from Adventure to RTS they sell, originality is definitely the key here.
Peoples Opinions.
Would you buy a game because your friend said it was good? Would you buy a game because a magazine or shop owner recommended it? A companies name alone say Nintendo may sell the game simply because of their good reputation. Well you should always try a games before you buy because a games might suit your friend but not be to your taste at all, be weary of ratings itís better to experience first hand.
Marketing.
This is probably the biggest factor in selling a game, everything from advertising campaigns to the time the game hits the shelves, it all has to be perfect to sell well. A snowboarding game may not be released until the winter season is upon us just for the fact that the game is more likely to sell then, also Christmas is a massive time for games to be hitting shelves faster than a right hook of Prince Naseem because the people who market games know the best times to sell games. A game may not also be released in a certain month because another popular title is being released then and they donít want the competition because it will slow sales of their game, itís all about figures and profit margins. Advertising will be huge in the next few months due to the next generation consoles being released in the UK soon so expect poster campaigns and a flurry of advertisements coming to a TV screen near you soon!
What do you think is the biggest factor for selling a game?
Is there anything Iíve missed?
What do you think?
Thanks for reading
Andy
At the moment, in my opinion, games sell best if they have new and amusing ways to kill your mates.
I think the growing trend at the moment is that violence is taking over. I'm not saying its necessarily bad (although i dont see how it can be justified as good), it just goes to show what a sick state this world is in.
Ok, its a computer game, its harmless and its dam good fun and most people are not affected by it but theres always one person who, for whatever reason, thinks that it could be fun to re-create what they see. Little kids, who developers may not have intended to see the game, could get hold of it and are affected incredibly easily.
It seems to me that if a developer wants to sell a game, they need the good graphics so that the killing is more realistic. I suppose the prime example of this is Soldier of fortune. They actually marketted the game on the fact that the people you killed reacted realistically to where you killed them. They also boasted that you could see bullet holes in people's heads after a head shot. As it turned out, the game was a pile of poo but i bet that at least 75% of the people who bought that game, did so because of the realistic violence portrayed.
It is great fun when not taken seriously, but when you consider what the basic idea of the games are - kill as much as you can - it deserves a bit of thought. I am not saying the games are bad, just that these types of games sell easily and its rare to see another type of game be considered a great game. Consider the 'best games' so to speak. They include Deus Ex, Half-life, Quake(1-3), Unreal Tournement, Doom and GT3. Spot the odd one out.......
I think the growing trend at the moment is that violence is taking over. I'm not saying its necessarily bad (although i dont see how it can be justified as good), it just goes to show what a sick state this world is in.
Ok, its a computer game, its harmless and its dam good fun and most people are not affected by it but theres always one person who, for whatever reason, thinks that it could be fun to re-create what they see. Little kids, who developers may not have intended to see the game, could get hold of it and are affected incredibly easily.
It seems to me that if a developer wants to sell a game, they need the good graphics so that the killing is more realistic. I suppose the prime example of this is Soldier of fortune. They actually marketted the game on the fact that the people you killed reacted realistically to where you killed them. They also boasted that you could see bullet holes in people's heads after a head shot. As it turned out, the game was a pile of poo but i bet that at least 75% of the people who bought that game, did so because of the realistic violence portrayed.
It is great fun when not taken seriously, but when you consider what the basic idea of the games are - kill as much as you can - it deserves a bit of thought. I am not saying the games are bad, just that these types of games sell easily and its rare to see another type of game be considered a great game. Consider the 'best games' so to speak. They include Deus Ex, Half-life, Quake(1-3), Unreal Tournement, Doom and GT3. Spot the odd one out.......
Resvilfan wrote:
> REPUTATION
yes....reputation does play a part in what games people buy, sequels of games such as say Tomb Raider or Zelda (there are countless others) which have a reputation for being good, enjoyable games will sell on that basis, that there well known for being good titles.
> REPUTATION
yes....reputation does play a part in what games people buy, sequels of games such as say Tomb Raider or Zelda (there are countless others) which have a reputation for being good, enjoyable games will sell on that basis, that there well known for being good titles.
REPUTATION
good post andy.
Andy....
*wind blows over er-no's head*
*wind blows over er-no's head*
Sorry. Couldn't resist. :D
Nicely written actually.
Nicely written actually.
Game shops.
What sells a game?
Graphics?
Game play?
Sounds?
Last ability?
Copyrights/Licenses?
What about a break from the Norm?
Peoples Opinions?
Marketing?
Well its not one of these but all of these that are combined to sell games but which one makes the difference?
Graphics.
Itís statistically proven that most games are sold on a you see it you buy it basis, most of us buy magazines or see reviews of a game before we go out and buy it but some people just go to a shop and buy any old game that they think looks good so thatís why Visuals need to look their best to get the customers attention, games need that WOW factor to impress potential buyers with jaw dropping scenery and mouth watering pixels. Motion capture in games is always a beauty to look at and makes the games feel all the more ërealisticí. The Graphics are also a big part of a game seeing as you wouldnít want to play a games that looks dated now would you, thatís what retro gaming on your old consoles is for.
Game Play.
The big one every games has to have this to keep the player interested and to make the game more compelling, people who read reviews and check ratings before purchasing a game will know roughly what the game plays like so game play is a big factor when selling a game, if the game isnít very playable, itís confusing, shabby, no addictiveness to compel you to keep playing then the game simply wont sell. If the games isnít a good idea in the first place or it poorly put together expect no public interest.
Sounds.
Music and sound effects can play a huge part in games, the Tony Hawk series had well known bands and tracks for you to skate and grind too which for many was a good bonus while playing the game. The music sets the scene for a particular point in a game say an adventure against a boss like creature and the music will be fast and loud to give the player the extra experience, a game with poor plinky plonky music can ruin the feeling of the game. Sound effects are also needed in games like realistic engine noises in racers and nice happy, happy bouncy and boingy sound effects in adventure games such as Banjo Kazzoie.
Lastabiltiy.
Pretty self explanatory if a games isnít going to last you chances are you wont buy it, itís no good shelling out 40 pound of your hard earned cash for a game that youíre not going to play for more than 5 minutes. All the above and below features go into how long the game would last you, games such as Mario Kart that have that ëcome back toí factor are the games that make it into our classics list.
Copyrights/Licenses.
A bit of a mixed bag this one, licenseís to use a name in a game seems to result in different reactions from the buyers, on one hand people donít mind licenseís and would only buy the game if it was good whereas some people would buy the game purely because it carries a certain name. A good example would be Superman 64, by nearly every magazine that reviewed it, extremely bad ratings were received and in most cases the lowest ever marks e.g. N64 Magazine. Although this games was deemed unplayable by many it still shifted thousands of copied worldwide which asks the question can licenseís sell a game and in this case yes they can. The FIFA series are arguably the best football games and they support a license but does the game need to be good to sell it? Goldeneye was seen by many as an excellent FPS and this was also the result in all magazines reviews but would the game have sold with just the name anyway?
A break from the norm.
We all like change donít we, we all like something that is a little bit different and every now and again a game come along that fits that bill perfectly, we can all buy a serious racing game but itís games like Diddy Kong Racing or Crash Bandicoot Racing that grab our attention. These games stick out from the rest and their crazy and wacky ideas have us throwing our money at them in record time just because they are different to anything else that we usually find on shop shelves. This goes for every genre of game there is from Adventure to RTS they sell, originality is definitely the key here.
Peoples Opinions.
Would you buy a game because your friend said it was good? Would you buy a game because a magazine or shop owner recommended it? A companies name alone say Nintendo may sell the game simply because of their good reputation. Well you should always try a games before you buy because a games might suit your friend but not be to your taste at all, be weary of ratings itís better to experience first hand.
Marketing.
This is probably the biggest factor in selling a game, everything from advertising campaigns to the time the game hits the shelves, it all has to be perfect to sell well. A snowboarding game may not be released until the winter season is upon us just for the fact that the game is more likely to sell then, also Christmas is a massive time for games to be hitting shelves faster than a right hook of Prince Naseem because the people who market games know the best times to sell games. A game may not also be released in a certain month because another popular title is being released then and they donít want the competition because it will slow sales of their game, itís all about figures and profit margins. Advertising will be huge in the next few months due to the next generation consoles being released in the UK soon so expect poster campaigns and a flurry of advertisements coming to a TV screen near you soon!
What do you think is the biggest factor for selling a game?
Is there anything Iíve missed?
What do you think?
Thanks for reading
Andy
Graphics?
Game play?
Sounds?
Last ability?
Copyrights/Licenses?
What about a break from the Norm?
Peoples Opinions?
Marketing?
Well its not one of these but all of these that are combined to sell games but which one makes the difference?
Graphics.
Itís statistically proven that most games are sold on a you see it you buy it basis, most of us buy magazines or see reviews of a game before we go out and buy it but some people just go to a shop and buy any old game that they think looks good so thatís why Visuals need to look their best to get the customers attention, games need that WOW factor to impress potential buyers with jaw dropping scenery and mouth watering pixels. Motion capture in games is always a beauty to look at and makes the games feel all the more ërealisticí. The Graphics are also a big part of a game seeing as you wouldnít want to play a games that looks dated now would you, thatís what retro gaming on your old consoles is for.
Game Play.
The big one every games has to have this to keep the player interested and to make the game more compelling, people who read reviews and check ratings before purchasing a game will know roughly what the game plays like so game play is a big factor when selling a game, if the game isnít very playable, itís confusing, shabby, no addictiveness to compel you to keep playing then the game simply wont sell. If the games isnít a good idea in the first place or it poorly put together expect no public interest.
Sounds.
Music and sound effects can play a huge part in games, the Tony Hawk series had well known bands and tracks for you to skate and grind too which for many was a good bonus while playing the game. The music sets the scene for a particular point in a game say an adventure against a boss like creature and the music will be fast and loud to give the player the extra experience, a game with poor plinky plonky music can ruin the feeling of the game. Sound effects are also needed in games like realistic engine noises in racers and nice happy, happy bouncy and boingy sound effects in adventure games such as Banjo Kazzoie.
Lastabiltiy.
Pretty self explanatory if a games isnít going to last you chances are you wont buy it, itís no good shelling out 40 pound of your hard earned cash for a game that youíre not going to play for more than 5 minutes. All the above and below features go into how long the game would last you, games such as Mario Kart that have that ëcome back toí factor are the games that make it into our classics list.
Copyrights/Licenses.
A bit of a mixed bag this one, licenseís to use a name in a game seems to result in different reactions from the buyers, on one hand people donít mind licenseís and would only buy the game if it was good whereas some people would buy the game purely because it carries a certain name. A good example would be Superman 64, by nearly every magazine that reviewed it, extremely bad ratings were received and in most cases the lowest ever marks e.g. N64 Magazine. Although this games was deemed unplayable by many it still shifted thousands of copied worldwide which asks the question can licenseís sell a game and in this case yes they can. The FIFA series are arguably the best football games and they support a license but does the game need to be good to sell it? Goldeneye was seen by many as an excellent FPS and this was also the result in all magazines reviews but would the game have sold with just the name anyway?
A break from the norm.
We all like change donít we, we all like something that is a little bit different and every now and again a game come along that fits that bill perfectly, we can all buy a serious racing game but itís games like Diddy Kong Racing or Crash Bandicoot Racing that grab our attention. These games stick out from the rest and their crazy and wacky ideas have us throwing our money at them in record time just because they are different to anything else that we usually find on shop shelves. This goes for every genre of game there is from Adventure to RTS they sell, originality is definitely the key here.
Peoples Opinions.
Would you buy a game because your friend said it was good? Would you buy a game because a magazine or shop owner recommended it? A companies name alone say Nintendo may sell the game simply because of their good reputation. Well you should always try a games before you buy because a games might suit your friend but not be to your taste at all, be weary of ratings itís better to experience first hand.
Marketing.
This is probably the biggest factor in selling a game, everything from advertising campaigns to the time the game hits the shelves, it all has to be perfect to sell well. A snowboarding game may not be released until the winter season is upon us just for the fact that the game is more likely to sell then, also Christmas is a massive time for games to be hitting shelves faster than a right hook of Prince Naseem because the people who market games know the best times to sell games. A game may not also be released in a certain month because another popular title is being released then and they donít want the competition because it will slow sales of their game, itís all about figures and profit margins. Advertising will be huge in the next few months due to the next generation consoles being released in the UK soon so expect poster campaigns and a flurry of advertisements coming to a TV screen near you soon!
What do you think is the biggest factor for selling a game?
Is there anything Iíve missed?
What do you think?
Thanks for reading
Andy