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[More_Badass]

I'd venture to guess that Inside had a much smaller budget.

True, but the notion of not wanting to show much of your narrative-driven adventure, where experiencing its moments, sights, and puzzles is part of the appeal, is the same regardless.

 

[silva1991]

Neither did Inside, and that turned out well. One could argue that they'd like the game to speak for itself and don't want to reveal too much about the game

I really hope it will turn out well like Inside.

I feel if this game turned out bad it will be one of the most forgotten games this gen easily.

That being said I'm sure if it's at least ICO good it will be mentioned in GOTY threads more than Uncharted4(on GAF at least)

 

[onanie]

Uh, no. I gave an example of a successful marketing campaign that transcending the normal target user base. If you have to pull a strawman, dont participate

If you are going to pull false equivalences, don't participate?

 

[fvng]

If you are going to pull false equivalences, don't participate?

How is it a false equivalency?

They made 1.3b dollars in the fiscal year of 2015

this post made me happy until I realized GAF doesn't know how to read an income statement or read the links they provide.

1.3 billion dollars would be insane, they made roughly 55 million in 2015.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...its_up_despite_faltering_video_game_sales.php

 

[AntMurda]

The Last Guardian? Seriously bro?

 

[onanie]

How is it a false equivalency?

How was Windows a niche product that is trying to sell in an environment with multiple competing, more appealing genres that warrant more aggressive marketing?

 

[Mass_Pincup]

1.3 billion dollars would be insane, they made roughly 55 million in 2015.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...its_up_despite_faltering_video_game_sales.php

Maybe I can't read financial report but isn't it what is being shown here?

Edit: Even then, if it was such a guarantee that more marketing would bring in more money 55 million would be more than enough to cover it.

I also like how you provided an other link instead of showing how better at reading financial reports you are than me.

 

[fvng]

How was Windows a niche product that is trying to sell in an environment with multiple competing, more appealing genres that warrant more aggressive marketing?

I'm not saying Windows was a niche product. I used that ad campaign as a successful example of people buying something they barely knew it was for, literally people without computers buying it. All they knew was they had to have it. Similarly, FF7's campaign had people buying a niche series in a super niche genre through a very successful ad campaign. I'm not saying FF is as huge as Windows, that's a strawman.

Maybe I can't read financial report but isn't it what is being shown here?

Edit: Even then, if it was such a guarantee that more marketing would bring in more money 55 million would be more than enough to cover it.

I also like how you provided an other link instead of showing how better at reading financial reports you are than me.

The screenshot speaks for itself, and it was mostly to prove that it wasnt 1+ billion (seriously think about how absurd that is, we are talking Apple numbers).. and the link was to put it in laymen's

 

[More_Badass]

I'm not saying Windows was a niche product. I used that ad campaign as a successful example of people buying something they barely knew it was for, literally people without computers buying it. All they knew was they had to have it. Similarly, FF7's campaign had people buying a niche series in a super niche genre through a very successful ad campaign. I'm not saying FF is as huge as Windows, that's a strawman

If those ads are any indication, they sold people on that niche series by showcasing the action-packed cinematics rather than the turn-based combat and RPG gameplay that the niche series was about. That would be like only showing the action cutscenes from Heavy Rain to sell people on a QTE-heavy game mostly about walking around, interacting with things, and talking to people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru9zzFEdGWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9pF9BJQBLo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXHVb1wn8vo
So less about making people want a new kind of game they weren't interested in, but just hiding what the game was actually like and just showing cutscenes

 

[Mass_Pincup]

The screenshot speaks for itself, and it was mostly to prove that it wasnt 1+ billion (seriously think about how absurd that is, we are talking Apple numbers).. and the link was to put it in laymen's

Great I was wrong about that but 50 million is more then enough to market Yakuza as a big AAA title, why isn't Sega doing it?

 

[fvng]

If those ads are any indication, they sold people on that niche series by showcasing the action-packed cinematics rather than the turn-based combat and RPG gameplay that the niche series was about. That would be like only showing the action cutscenes from Heavy Rain to sell people on a QTE-heavy game mostly about walking around, interacting with things, and talking to people
So less about making people want a new kind of game they weren't interested in, but just hiding what the game was actually like and just showing cutscenes

Yes, so as deceitful as it was, it was successful. It's honestly not that different from modern game marketing campaigns (bioshock infinite).. it's more forgivable if it's a good game... but marketing's function is to persuade you to buy it, irrespective of how honest the campaign is... and I would not even have to frame TLG as an action game, honestly the graphics and concept are interesting enough that I think it would perk ears from both core gamers and quasi 'once in a while' type of gamers that only buy a few games a year.

Great I was wrong about that but 50 million is more then enough to market Yakuza as a big AAA title, why isn't Sega doing it?

Maybe they are allocating that money into future software development? didn't they just buy Atlus? The difference is Yakuza has more limited appeal than TLG, and everyone on this board is underestimating TLG's appeal becuz "its such a wacky weird concept"

 

[Mass_Pincup]

Maybe they are allocating that money into future software development? didn't they just buy Atlus? The difference is Yakuza has more limited appeal than TLG, and everyone on this board is underestimating TLG's appeal becuz "its such a wacky weird concept"

Alright I'm done, apply to SIE since you obviously have information and knowledge they don't have. It doesn't see like you'll budge from your point of view so any further discussion is pointless.

 

[petran79]

It's a big influential release among devs and the more enthusiast audience. I'd argue the current general audience probably only knows Ico or Shadow of the Colossus as some names they've seen on some best games list. It wouldnt immediately perk people's ears up the way you think it might

PS2 had a lot of good single player games, both east and west, a lot of which were forgotten unfortunately.

Which each Playstation iteration, userbase and preferences change.

 

[JayhawkerStL]

Because everything surrounding TLG is embarrassing. It became a joke, the only way to release it is quietly

This.

Why is there no like function? All I want to do is agree.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Maybe they are allocating that money into future software development? didn't they just buy Atlus? The difference is Yakuza has more limited appeal than TLG, and everyone on this board is underestimating TLG's appeal becuz "its such a wacky weird concept"

Open-world Japanese beat-em up, somehow more limited in appeal than artsy Japanese puzzle-platformer.

But we're the ones underestimating it's appeal. Couldn't possibly be you overestimating it.

Mkayyyyy.

 

[fvng]

Open-world Japanese beat-em up, somehow more limited in appeal than artsy Japanese puzzle-platformer.

But we're the ones underestimating it's appeal. Couldn't possibly be you overestimating it.

Mkayyyyy.

Shit argument bro. You're saying a Japanese game that is literally in Japanese with English Subtitles is going to have more western appeal than a game that is a fucking leap forward graphically, not immediately apparant of its Japanese roots, and its genre not being as immediately apparent either.

Not only is TLG more marketable than Yakuza, apparently you missed the fact that Yakuza was so fucking niche in the west that it took years of begging to get Yakuza 5 localized because prior entries underperformed. Mmmmmmmm kay..

 

[SmokedMeat]

I saw a trailer for Uncharted 4 in a movie theater. Not exactly low key treatment.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Shit argument bro.

Ohohohoh.

You saying someone else has a shit argument.

That's rich.

You're saying a Japanese game that is literally in Japanese with English Subtitles is going to have more western appeal than a game that is a fucking leap forward graphically, not immediately apparant of its Japanese roots, and its genre not being as immediately apparent either.

This is why you clearly are incapable of discussing The Last Guardian in a rational manner.

Not only is TLG more marketable than Yakuza, apparently you missed the fact that Yakuza was so fucking niche in the west that it took years of begging to get Yakuza 5 localized because prior entries underperformed. Mmmmmmmm kay..

You want to talk about a marketing issue, Yakuza is it.

The Last Guardian? Nah.

 

[wapplew]

What other games did MS give it a Halo treatment?

 

[jediyoshi]

You provided three third-party non-exclusive examples and one Microsoft example.

Seriously. How the hell wasn't this the first post? What a bizarre comparison.

 

[OccamsLightsaber]

It will seem like that when you release all your yearly exclusive within 2 months of each other.

 

[Dremark]

I don't think anyone really expects The Last Guardian to be an overwhelmingly successful game. It will probably sell well enough but I think the majority of it's sales will come from hardcore players who will know it's coming and word of mouth. I don't think a large advertising campaign will bump sales enough to justify the expense.

 

[Z O N E]

Honestly, I think they just want it out now.

It's been burning their cash for too long, they probably don't want to spend anymore on it and want it to be gone. As harsh as it sounds.

If they had any respect for that game it would have been released a long time ago with marketing done correctly but I feel like it was just worked on by a few in their free time and just released when done.

I'll still get it but I feel like they haven't respected the game at all and used it as one of those "hype" moments for E3.

 

[DirgeExtinction]

I'd put TLG in the same group as ReCore. Neither company is really marketing it.

 

[Samanosuke Akechi]

How do you even market a game like that? Most footage is just exploring, puzzle solving, and interacting with a big bird thing. That doesn't exactly scream "omg I need it now!!!" In a season with madden, cod, gears of war, battlefield, and others.

I'll still be getting it though simply because I loved the previous games

 

[OuterLimits]

Sony would love to spend more advertising their own game, but unfortunately they had more important things to spend their marketing budget on. Like No Man's Sky.

 

[RedAssedApe]

Until Dawn was the one I think they could have capitalized on. Would have been ripe for a Halloween push after the great word of mouth. Sometimes you just can't convince the big wigs to give you the advertising budget.

 

[Ascenion]

What other games did MS give it a Halo treatment?

That's what I'm saying. What other games did anyone give the Halo treatment? CoD? WoW? GTA? I think those maybe and even then. Uncharted 4 is I think Sony's biggest ever and it still isn't near Halo 3. MS got Moutain Dew to create a new line of Soda for Halo 3 that lived on into different games. They make live action trailers for Halo, they built an real monument I think to film stuff for the Believe stuff. They have books, films, merchandise in brick and mortar retail stores that aren't only GameStop. They have toy lines, I think at one point a Con, fan web series and so on. What franchise does Sony even have that warrants putting that kind of money into it? Hell Halo is so big it markets itself for free almost. Halo is lightning in a bottle and I'd wager up there with some Nintendo IP in brand recognition. Actually yeah that's the difference it's a brand basically. It's not fair to compare TLG to Halo, it's not even fair to compare Uncharted to Halo.

Serious question does Sony have anything on that level in Europe maybe? Anything as big as Mario, Halo, Minecraft etc? I know for a fact in the US they don't.

 

[T-0800]

Serious question does Sony have anything on that level in Europe maybe? Anything as big as Mario, Halo, Minecraft etc? I know for a fact in the US they don't.

Gran Turismo.

 

[Gavin Darklighter]

I would say The Last Guardian is a very niche game and doesn't warrant the marketing campaign that something like Uncharted or Gran Turismo would justify. I don't recall ICO or Shadow of the Colossus getting heavy advertising aside from magazine ads either.

Microsoft does tend to spend more money (arguably overspend) on game launches though.

 

[Samanosuke Akechi]

Gran Turismo.

God of war is a big seller also, selling multi million units. God of war 3 was the highest seller selling over 5 million units, despite being on a console with a far smaller user base.

 

[fvng]

I guess someone at Sony saw this thread because I'm seeing more public advertising than everyone in this thread was confident would never happen. "It's a niche game! Get used to it!!"

Glad to see Sony looking at TLG as the major mainstream release it should be.

took this last one in nyc yesterday

 

[Fisty]

Until Dawn was the one I think they could have capitalized on. Would have been ripe for a Halloween push after the great word of mouth. Sometimes you just can't convince the big wigs to give you the advertising budget.

I'm hoping it will be included in next week's Halloween sale at $20, along with an announcement of an upcoming PS4Pro patch. I'm willing to bet those two things would be enough to put the game on a lot of people's radar. Along with Rush Of Blood's good reception I think it could reach a lot more people than it originally did

 

[FairXchange]

Waste of resources, no need to make game launches a spectacle. The notion that it could possibly drive game sales is not very convincing.

To add, I'm not talking about general marketing, but rather blowout launch parties and extravagant billboards in expensive areas.

 

[SwipeLeftHoney]

It's not just advertising. MS really goes out of their way to provide promotional events for upcoming launches. Especially where I live. It's been like that for awhile now.

 

[fvng]

To add, I'm not talking about general marketing, but rather blowout launch parties and extravagant billboards in expensive areas.

What's your evidence of this?

It's not just advertising. MS really goes out of their way to provide promotional events for upcoming launches. Especially where I live. It's been like that for awhile now.

yeah for sure. they really do a good job making you feel like you're missing out on something that you're not part of

 

[HStallion]

I guess someone at Sony saw this thread because I'm seeing more public advertising than everyone in this thread was confident would never happen. "It's a niche game! Get used to it!!"

Glad to see Sony looking at TLG as the major mainstream release it should be.

took this last one in nyc yesterday

It still feels weird seeing actual billboards for The Last Guardian.

 

[off duty ninja]

I'm hoping it will be included in next week's Halloween sale at $20, along with an announcement of an upcoming PS4Pro patch. I'm willing to bet those two things would be enough to put the game on a lot of people's radar. Along with Rush Of Blood's good reception I think it could reach a lot more people than it originally did

Until Dawn is already at $20 MSRP and is set at that price on the PS store as well. Drop it to $10 for the sale and I will bite!


Since Sony is obviously reading this thread. ;P

 

[formasymphonic]

I do believe that there are times when you need to get the word out there as much as you can about a product, but I've also felt that there is a line where that marketing money is wasted.

AAA budgets have ballooned in size for various reasons as it is, and tbh I think we would be served by having the ratio of it spent on actual development : marketing related costs move more towards the former than the latter.

Eg in Halo 5's case, imagine if MS spent less money on trying to pitch us Chief vs Locke, and more on say, a level or some more cutscenes or earlier material to show Blue Team reuniting etc / wtf happened to the Didact (i know what happened, I'm just using it as an example)

 

[fvng]

Going to have to disagree on some, and regardless Microsoft first party exclusives aren't all that plentiful or exclusive to dedicated hardware anymore, and thus less exciting.

Also, The Last Guardian is niche, that's why it's not being heavily advertised.

A niche puzzle game made by a small team in Japan should be given a Halo-sized marketing budget.

Alright.

You're letting your own personal desires and hopes cloud any reasonable judgment of business, marketing, the appeal of franchises and certain games, and whatnot if you honestly believe that

.

OP downplays Persona 5, a game from a successful franchise, that's been growing sales exponentially since 3 as a comparison to The Last Guardian, the game loosely based in a series of only 2 games, that's been in development for almost 10 years.

Are you the KevinCow of marketing threads now?

You have a talent to pick the worst examples and ignore everything of why people explain to you that no, TLG is not a big deal. It's not set up as one. It might have been 10 years ago. But now it's part of a plethora of small scale/indie games and it's treated as such. Sony is not spending any less on marketing it's big guns than any other publisher including microsoft, it's just that Sony decided TLG is not a big game.

Sony has known all along that TLG is going to be a cult game, they just want it to be "very successful, for a cult game." I can agree that they probably should have started the marketing campaign by now, and I expect there to be a good one soon. But the idea that it would anywhere near the same scale as FFVII or any other high profile AAA game is laughable. Talk about throwing millions of dollars down a toilet.

This is why you clearly are incapable of discussing The Last Guardian in a rational manner.

You want to talk about a marketing issue, Yakuza is it.

The Last Guardian? Nah.

Open-world Japanese beat-em up, somehow more limited in appeal than artsy Japanese puzzle-platformer.

But we're the ones underestimating it's appeal. Couldn't possibly be you overestimating it.

Mkayyyyy.

Because the game has very little mainstream appeal?...honestly it's only had "years of anticipation" from a very small niche of gamers

annnnd more photos. I can't think of any other thread in recent memory where armchair industry analysts here got it so wrong. I can't go a day in nyc without seeing a last guardian ad.

 

[inpHilltr8r]

They're up in LA too. Nearly had an accident on the 10 when I saw it.

 

[Shin-Ra]

The Last Guardian really stands out as something different, it's exciting to see it proudly displayed to the wider public.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I can't think of any other thread in recent memory where armchair industry analysts here got it so wrong.

lol

 

[kpaadet]

annnnd more photos. I can't think of any other thread in recent memory where armchair industry analysts here got it so wrong. I can't go a day in nyc without seeing a last guardian ad.

And if the game bombas who is allowed to be the smug asshole?

 

[fvng]

lol

i'm not wrong

And if the game bombas who is allowed to be the smug asshole?

please use powers of deduction to figure this out

 

[OrbitalBeard]

i'm not wrong

Oh, of course not.

 

[AsylumBlue]

annnnd more photos. I can't think of any other thread in recent memory where armchair industry analysts here got it so wrong. I can't go a day in nyc without seeing a last guardian ad.

New Yorkers can relate because Trico looks like your average sized NYC rat.

 

[Terribleness]

I saw a big screen on 42nd street (NYC) displaying the TLG ad. I thought the ad itself looked horrible.. At first I thought it was a Giant Rat until I went around the corner and saw the title. I'm sure there are a bunch of people who will see a giant pest and think we gamers are crazy for calling a rodent "THE last guardian"

 

[HStallion]

And if the game bombas who is allowed to be the smug asshole?

The fans because we can say they just didn't get the game and should go back to their dudebro shootbang sequelfests

 

[fvng]

Oh, of course not.

Now you've got it

New Yorkers can relate because Trico looks like your average sized NYC rat.

yeah but pizza rat is our mascot, so it's welcomed