The Wonderful 101

[Gwen]

I'm afriad it doesn't work like that. Us gaming nerds are inclined to look up stuff online and share it among our gamer friends, but the average consumer makes up a much bigger percentage of the market. We are the minority.

We need some REAL tv ads to spread the word around. I have some gamer friends who I sometimes play with. Even though they love video games and consider themselves gamers, they never watch E3, look at game trailers or read game news. Even though they are "hardcore gamers" they are casual about how they buy games. If they hear about it from something, or see it somewhere and it sounds cool, they'll buy it.

And given how people are, I think that applies to the majority of consumers. Ads count. Big time.

Exactly this, and it's the same with music.
You guys forget that we are the minority.

[alexmach1]

I'm afriad it doesn't work like that. Us gaming nerds are inclined to look up stuff online and share it among our gamer friends, but the average consumer makes up a much bigger percentage of the market. We are the minority.

We need some REAL tv ads to spread the word around. I have some gamer friends who I sometimes play with. Even though they love video games and consider themselves gamers, they never watch E3, look at game trailers or read game news. Even though they are "hardcore gamers" they are casual about how they buy games. If they hear about it from something, or see it somewhere and it sounds cool, they'll buy it.

And given how people are, I think that applies to the majority of consumers. Ads count. Big time.

so the logic goes that, if I or my friends see an ad for, say, Call of Duty, that means we'll share it/buy it(poor anecdote)? what about minecraft? no ads when it first appeared, yet spread like wildfire almost instantly from internet sharing. you even said yourself that your friends would show interest in things shown to them and yet you, with your knowledge of the game, didn't show it to them at all? even knowing that they take an active interest in gaming? isn't that a contradiction to your "we gaming nerds are inclined to look stuff up"?

another issue that pops up is that some people don't even watch TV, and ads might even be secluded to only a few channels. not only that, but pre-recording shows or simply recording them while away is becoming more popular as well as watching them on the internet, making it even more likely that ads will not be seen at all. why take that risk with such large amounts of money?

one last point is (this is lazy but proves my point) Mighty No. 9. how did it get so popular with over 2 million USD in support? not only through internet sharing, but the factor of recognition, a massive point that suppresses new IPs. we know who's making MN9, we generally know how it's going to play out, and we know we enjoyed that type of thing in the past. with W101, we only get what we see, and we can't tell if the game will deliver an enjoyable experience or not.

when the game's been out for a while and videos and reviews begin to surface, the game will either tank or succeed depending on those that did play it. from those who played it, we will recognize that the game gave them a good/bad experience, and we will use their experience to make our final decision. it's been that way for a while, and it's been that way (at least for me) for the WiiU and the Wii and just about any console/new IP that has been released to date.

[Gwen]

Alex, ads and in your face promotion go a long ways. Too often you'll see a game or band pass under the radar because it got jack shit for advertising and the label/company didn't expose it nearly as much as they should.
Tv/internet banners, advertising, commercials can make a huge difference, and a company like Nintendo should be pumping more money into advertising and promotion as they let a lot of their gems slip by underneath everybody's notice.

Just saying.

[Kriven]

Just wondering what Nintendo's relation to the title is other than it existing on their platform?

Not seeing why they would be responsible for advertising somebody else's game?

[Gwen]

Because they're the ones publishing and releasing it.

Kvelertak has Godcity Studios produce their albums, but it's up to Roadrunner, their label to promote it(Which they did a wonderful job of)
Same thing applies here.

Platinum only developed it, it's up to Nintendo to give it the promotion and advertising it needs, which it really hasn't.

[Yupingas]

I finished the story mode two days ago and man oh man it's the best single player experience out there on the Wii U so far.

[Koopaul]

Glad to hear. I'll hopefully be getting it soon.

[Koopaul]

Sorry to bump this but does anyone know how this game is selling in North America? I can't find any info on it anywhere!

[AuraLancer]

Dunno, I haven't bought it yet either.

[Koopaul]

It makes me wonder that even if the game had ads, it still wouldn't do well. Why? It doesn't have brand recognition. It's not Mario, or Pokemon, or Grand Theft Auto. People heard of those games. no one has heard of this game before. I think all in all that's why the gaming industry is lacking in originality. Because when someone tries to make something bold and original like this... no one is interested.

The only time original titles get attention is when they: A. Resemble other games. B. Are free and distributed over the internet.

[alexmach1]

It makes me wonder that even if the game had ads, it still wouldn't do well. Why? It doesn't have brand recognition. It's not Mario, or Pokemon, or Grand Theft Auto. People heard of those games. no one has heard of this game before. I think all in all that's why the gaming industry is lacking in originality. Because when someone tries to make something bold and original like this... no one is interested.

The only time original titles get attention is when they: A. Resemble other games. B. Are free and distributed over the internet.

one last point is (this is lazy but proves my point) Mighty No. 9. how did it get so popular with over 2 million USD in support? not only through internet sharing, but the factor of recognition, a massive point that suppresses new IPs. we know who's making MN9, we generally know how it's going to play out, and we know we enjoyed that type of thing in the past. with W101, we only get what we see, and we can't tell if the game will deliver an enjoyable experience or not.

hehe

[AuraLancer]

What I want to know is: Are there any combat segments within those horrible indoor sections that you need to move the gamepad around to see in?

That section in the demo was my only complaint about it, and there were only puzzles to solve in that one. I hate to imagine having to fight in there.

[Koopaul]

one last point is (this is lazy but proves my point) Mighty No. 9. how did it get so popular with over 2 million USD in support? not only through internet sharing, but the factor of recognition, a massive point that suppresses new IPs. we know who's making MN9, we generally know how it's going to play out, and we know we enjoyed that type of thing in the past. with W101, we only get what we see, and we can't tell if the game will deliver an enjoyable experience or not.

But that's only a small factor. Another big factor is that people don't know about it. If people don't even know about it then they can't even make those judgements I mentioned.

Yes, people are fickle and unwilling to try new things. But some are willing. And those people potential people don't even know the game exists.

I figure there are groups of potential customers that continue to split into subgroups. This is my theory:



-Now what's in BLACK describes the customers tastes in games. Do they want to play something fun and simple, or do they want to play something hard and challenging?

-What's in RED describes how dedicated they are to gaming. Is it a hobby they spend a lot of time on, or is it something they do for fun?

-What's in BLUE describes how much they know about what games are out there. Do they actively look at news sites with reviews and trailers, or do they just get find games by chance and word-of-mouth?

-What's in GREEN describes how willing they are to try new things. Do they just play games that they are familiar with, or are they willing to try something new?

Now Alex, what you described are just the people in the Green category. However ads are very important to a whole bunch of other categories. Like I mentioned before, I have some friends who are dedicated hardcore gamers, however they don't bother to go on gaming news sites or blogs to look up what kinds of games there are. They get their info from word-of-mouth or advertisements.

What I want to know is: Are there any combat segments within those horrible indoor sections that you need to move the gamepad around to see in?

That section in the demo was my only complaint about it, and there were only puzzles to solve in that one. I hate to imagine having to fight in there.

From what I know the game throws a ton of various different things to do with the gamepad here and there. They usually are all different things. Like I heard there is one point that you have to use the gamepad to balance something, and another time you use it to control a turret.

[StarSock64]

It probably would have helped if the game was released on a console that isn't so dead

Most of the stuff I heard about the game without actively looking for it or seeing it here was at E3, which really just gave me a vague sense of "it's sort of like action pikmin I guess?" Not many details were released at the time. I don't know how much it would have helped, but I do think lack of advertising hurt this game.

If I was an uninformed gamer with a wii u I'd probably be too busy having my fill of the actual pikmin 3 to bother noticing that the game isn't really the same as pikmin at all (as far as I can tell)

[Koopaul]

Yeah the game is not at all like Pikmin but a lot of people probably think its a weird version of it or something. Anyway they have lots of trailers now and an entire Nintendo Direct dedicated to explaining how the game works. But that's not good enough.

"101 heroes combining their bodies to form giant weapons and tools."

If they explained it like that, perhaps people would get it better. But they made it sound and look more complicated than it actually is.