Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Red Faction Guerilla is going to be Infamous!
Gamasutra has an interesting story about Volition the makers of Red Faction Guerilla. The story is great, it basically says that the developers are counting on good word of mouth for their game to REALLY sell it. This isn't exactly the case as I've seen quite a few commercials on select networks for the game including Spike, G4, ESPN, and the CW. A similar campaign is being worked for the PS3 exclusive Infamous. While the developers of Infamous, Sucker Punch; Most famous for the Sly Cooper series have said that they will have a FULL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN behind the game. The commercials for Infamous are airing sporadically mostly on Spike and G4. There certainly have been a few internet campaigns for the game on IGN, for instance. But this certainly doesn't seem to be a BIG PUSH as the developer was promised or is promising. The game has gotten excellent review scores across the board and currently they have a Metacritic score of 85 from 100 reviews. This tepid approach to marketing is fine when your trying to move some third tier titles like the latest movie tie in game or perhaps the latest Petz title. But introducing a new major franchise or revamping an old franchise is a little more challenging proposition.
Red Faction Guerilla certainly is a well known title in the press as they have had multiple demos and both on the multiplayer and single player fronts the game certainly has changed a great deal since they first showed it. But the game has only gotten better and it is probably going to be one my must plays of this year. Infamous has not been shown too much and the demo is wonderful. The game itself is a contender for Game of the Year. But we haven't heard much about it at all. The lackluster campaigns for both will certainly result in lower sales. And franchises that start luke warm rarely explode over time unless they are so stunningly amazing that they surprise everyone that plays it. Neither game is Bioshock, so I'm not entirely sure this is going to happen.
Neither of these games really seem to have gotten the star treatment by their publishers. Games like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty 2, the Wii (video games and system), and Gears of War have all had STELLAR ad campaigns where the power of Public Relations has been brought to the fore. Rarely have games sold as much as these titles. This isn't because these games are better than all others. It's because these games were marketed better than practically any others. \Multi-tier advertising is needed to create such buzz and in effect sales. The major difference here is creativity. The Halo 3 ad campaign was one of the most unique in history. They began marketing the game as much as a year before the game was shipped and courted brand familiarity with everything from toys to specialty drinks. Certainly a publisher like THQ doesn't have the money to do such a complete campaign but Sony probably does. The lesser form of this campaign is similar to the one that Gears of War had. Beginning with a incredible catchy song in their stylized artsy trailer to their launch events that certainly got not only media attention but were taped on a Spike TV special.
All of these innovative strategies were certainly contributory to the positive buzz that these games received and introducing a new franchise like Infamous or a returning redesigned and updated franchise like Red Faction Guerilla could have used either the complete campaign or the lesser but still impacting campaign. When a developer or publisher says that they are relying on Positive Critical Acclaim to sell games. It's really hard to believe that they think that will work. After all, how many games come out with demos and good review scores and are largely ignored. If you want your game to break 800,000; you need to start marketing it as much as a year before the game comes out. Many times it can begin with an E3 announcement. There are certainly a lot of moving pieces here. But selling a lot of games these days often starts with investing in a good marketing plan.
The economy is certainly a factor in the scaled down advertising of 2009. The problem there is that the public is even harder to reach these days and requires a even more aggressive marketing initiative. Publishers are constantly complaining about launching new IPs and that it's much safer and more of a sure thing to stick with sequels or known brands. If your going to handle the marketing the way Sony has for Infamous then perhaps they are correct. This has been their horrible track record all along. From Uncharted Drake's Fortune to Resistance Fall of Man to Infamous. Sony as a publisher just doesn't seem interested in marketing anything aggressively except maybe their console. Even then, the cost of the console seems to demand a little more consistent campaign than we have seen from Sony.
Hopefully Red Faction Guerilla will indeed beat the odds and sell over a million copies in its first week. With two demos and the wide commercial coverage the game has more visibility than most. But to rely on these factors, as I've already stated is dangerous.
Infamous continues to sell based on the excellent reviews; however Sony isn't helping matters by hardly ever discussing the game. Infamous made a short showcase mention in the E3 2009 Sony Press Conference but outside of this venue Sony has largely ignored what is probably the second of the publishers games of the year(Uncharted Among Thieves is the other). Marketing is the most important of any games' sales strategy and this year for the reasons I've already stated or others unknown to the general public it seems that companies would rather rest on their laurels than sell as many copies as they possibly can.
God of War 3 Release Date?
OK, sorry did I miss this? I haven't rewound my recording of the show; maybe I was looking away or something. But here you go a release date for God of War III
Left 4 Dead 2 Perimeter Breach Gameplay!
So it seems kind of early for a sequel to Left 4 Dead, but hey I'm not complaining...
Dragon Age Origins E3 2009 Trailer: Red Dragon Battle!
This is the reason I pre-ordered the PC version today!
Uncharted 2 Among Thieves Multiplayer Beta has LAUNCHED!
So if you have a code from Qore, Infamous, Fileplanet, or a press code. Go over and activate that sucker and get playing! There certainly aren't a shortage of players, so don't worry about being alone in matchmaking.
As you can see I was playing a little. I'm rank 6, which isn't a big thing I've seen all the way to rank 8. Which is pretty amazing because the Beta has been live that long. So currently and I'm guessing for the balance of the beta. There will be only one mode open and that is Matchmaking. This allows you to play in ranked matches on two maps. One is the Village a run down Tibetan type area that has some good vertical structures to snipe from and the Plaza a more urban area similar to something you might see in China or Italy. They also have some vertical structures in the Plaza but nothing I've found too useful yet. In these two maps you get the choice of two modes. Regular Team Deathmatch or a mode called Plunder. Plunder consists of two teams and each is trying to grab a large piece of plunder and throw it into their base. You can only use a pistol while your carrying it and really only the points you receive as a team are those you earn by scoring a capture on the plunder.
You do level up as you earn medals or capture plunder or kill the enemy plunder carrier. Getting from level 1-6 took me around an hour and half. But I had some terrible games and some awesome games. Everything depends on your team and their ability. People who have played before are usually better than those who have not and sometimes you can be the highest ranked player on your team and everyone else is rank 1. As you level up you get access to more boosts which are enhancements to your characters ability like more ammo or better accuracy with rifles. But they don't seem to really change too much from 1-6 which might a little bit of an issue. Some people may feel that if they don't start when everyone else does they will get whaled on by the pros. I think that could be a concern although none of the boosts I've seen so far are really game changers. They are nice to have but don't seem necessary.
Everything works incredibly well and it's REALLY HARD to believe this is a Beta and not the final product. There don't seem to be ANY balance issues and the animations are pretty incredible. The shooting itself is excellent and the ability to use scopes on 2 out of the 5 regular rifles is really awesome. I can't wait to see more maps and if there are more possible character skins for both heroes and villains(each team is put either into heroes or villains and you get to pick a skin for each).
I didn't take any pictures of gameplay as it probably would have been blurry taking it off screen. So it looks EXACTLY like the single player so don't worry no graphical shortcuts were taken to make the multiplayer silky smooth. Naughty Dog has DONE IT AGAIN! Awesome BETA!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Brink, not much to report! But some stuff.
Essentially the story of Brink revolves around civil unrest of the people who live near the Ark. This certainly comes out in the trailer.
This game has some kind of multiplayer and co-op components. Considering this is Bethesda; I'm guessing this means there is more to this than a Shadowrun style run and gun with magic or something. Probably some heavy RPG elements mixed with Splash Damage's FPS components.
Keep an eye on Brinkthegame.com for more information.
Update:
"
When you think Bethesda, you think sprawling role-playing games, open worlds full of quests, and monsters, and orchestral scores. You do not think of fast-paced RPG shooters.
Yeah, RPG shooters. That blend elements of single player FPS games, multiplayer deathmatchers and more than a few roleplaying customs as well. If that sounds confusing to read, don't worry, it is. It's such a unique cocktail of styles and influences that, having seen the game demoed earlier today, I'm having a little trouble getting my head around it myself.
But if you think Team Fortress 2, Mirror's Edge and Fallout 3, you'll be getting there.
Basically, Brink - from developers Splash Damage - is an FPS. With a few changes to the normal routine. Like Mirror's Edge, there's an element of parkour to proceedings, with fast runs and climbs able to be strung together. Interestingly, the devs have added an "autopilot" function to movement: point the cursor at a point on the map, hold down a button and you'll perform the necessary moves (jumps, slides, etc) to get there. And if there's danger in the way - like a camera - the player will smartly vault over or slide under it.
Gameplay is largely an objective-based multiplayer shooter. You and your teammates start at one end of a map and have to fight your way to the other end, satisfying a number of objectives along the way like clearing barricades, repairing technology, etc."
"Only you can play this alone. Because you have AI teammates, and the game is objective-based, you can play the whole thing as a single player title, working your way through a series of missions set amidst the last outpost of human civilization following a global catastrophe.
But then, you can also play it with friends. Again, because of the nature of the level progression, real players can jump in and take the place of not only AI teammates, but AI opponents as well. And it doesn't change a thing, as the demo we saw seamlessly alternated between single player sequences and moments involving several human teammates.
And all the while you're doing this, there are RPG elements at play. At the start of the game, you're able to create a custom character, which you then level up with every enemy you kill and every objective you complete (trickier objectives earning you more XP). New XP is able to be cashed in for new outfits, as well as mid-game "class" changes."
"Like many online shooters (for example Team Fortress 2), players are able to select a "class" for their character. Soldier, engineer, heavy, etc. But you can cash in some XP to change class mid-game, should you want to switch things up, and doing so presents you with an all-new toolset, and all-new objectives tailored towards your new class.
Throw in the fact the game is already looking gorgeous, and it all sounds like an innovative take on a genre these guys already specializes in (Splash Damage having got famous off the amazing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory). Certainly one of the fresher titles I've seen at the show so far."Kotaku....(some spelling and grammar errors were corrected for republished copy)
Sounds amazing, can't wait to try it.
In case you couldn't find the Press Conferences!
I didn't watch them, but I'm guessing there aren't any commercials. Enjoy folks, G4 is certainly starting to shape up to being a GOOD videogame website.