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[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Well those Lost Planet commercials are certainly everywhere. I haven't seen a single videogame commercial aired this often since the original Kingdom Hearts.

 

[JMichael]

I believe it, doesn't Killzone 2 have a projectd $50 million budget including advertising?

 

[black_13]

If Lost planet cost $20 million,i wonder how much DMC4 marketing would cost.

With DMC4 not being a new franchise I really doubt Capcom would spend even half that amount marketing it.

 

[Willy Wanka]

The Lost Planet adverts seem to have done the trick over here in the UK.

 

[JMichael]

The Lost Planet adverts seem to have done the trick over here in the UK.

Got a link to a commercial? It has been #1 since it launched.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

watch capcom spend a fraction of that lost planet marketing budget on DMC4 and call it a flop if it does not sell.

I hope that happens just to piss you off.

 

[Willy Wanka]

Got a link to a commercial? It has been #1 since it launched.

It's a shorter cut of this theatrical trailer.

http://www.xboxyde.com/stream_3420_en.html

Obviously all CG but the advert has a note at the bottom saying "graphics representative of game" or words to that effect.

 

[JMichael]

I hope that happens just to piss you off.

:lol

 

[MomoPufflet]

I think they've always taken it seriously, it's just a major risk any time you have to promote a game, or any product or service for that matter.

I just don't know where the money went. Hate be all "anecdotal" on everyone, but the only time I've seen a Lost Planet commercial was on late on Adult Swim, while Tivo-ing along. I've been told it was on NFL playoffs, but again, I never noticed it. Online & print advertising should not be too much, as any heavy hitter can grind away at ad rates.

In addition, I don't think the ads themselves are memorable at all. The played-out "epic struggle" CG ad could be any game on any system, and I tune it out accordingly when it comes on. On the other hand when the Gears of War "Mad World" ads were in full effect, I stopped what I was doing to watch them. And I should mention that at the time I was completely out of the gaming scene and knew little to nothing of the game, nor had any sense of the buzz surrounding it. The ad was just good.

When you're running a videogame ad in movie theaters and spending tens of millions of dollars on the whole campaign, the ads better be damn good. I know that applies to pretty much any ad campaign, but it goes doubly so for videogames in my opinion.

 

[mckmas8808]

Yeah right. Marketing the game cost as much as a big budget PS3/360 game cost to make? :lol

 

[svenuce]

nm

 

[Pachinko]

Hey, going by that EA ps3 thread on the main page it seems the wholesale cost of a game to a retailer is 45 dollars, so at 60 bucks 15 is going to the retailer itself.

Out of that other 45 though, well consider it revenue instead of profit and that's roughly a half million dollars for every 110,000 copies sold. So for a 20 million dollar game to break even based on revenue you'd need to sell 450,000 copies at full price. So keep that in mind given the current state of next gen development costs. I think the last I heard a game costs about 10 million to create for 360 or ps3 and that's likely a lowballed estimate, so given this revenue estimation any given game needs to sell 225,000 copies just to break even on it's development costs. So basically if capcom did in fact spend a total of 40 million dollars creating and marketing lost planet and it resulted in 1 million sales worldwide they've only really generated about half a million dollars in actual profit of the venture. On the other hand, it's created a brand so when lost planet 2 inevitably makes it's way out they could probally spend half as much money building and marketing it and sell close the same number and make far more profit.

Keeping this same 45 dollar rule intact, look at gears of war. It's sold what 2.5 million or something ridiculous? 113 million dollars in revenue for a product and marketing that I'd estimate is around 50 million. That's a nice return , doubled your investment , compared to capcom where you simply made 2 cents on a dollar.

 

[JMichael]

There's simply no way that figure is correct. Forbes needs to do more fact checking.

Worldwide launch.



remember Capcomm spent 6 million on marketing dead rising in the US alone.

 

[Ynos Yrros]

Forbes is one of the most if not the most reliable business related magazine.

I think Capcom should put more money into scripting and developing. Lost Planet is mighty fun, but it would be great if it had more enemy designs and more bosses and longer script.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Hey, going by that EA ps3 thread on the main page it seems the wholesale cost of a game to a retailer is 45 dollars, so at 60 bucks 15 is going to the retailer itself.

Out of that other 45 though, well consider it revenue instead of profit and that's roughly a half million dollars for every 110,000 copies sold. So for a 20 million dollar game to break even based on revenue you'd need to sell 450,000 copies at full price. So keep that in mind given the current state of next gen development costs. I think the last I heard a game costs about 10 million to create for 360 or ps3 and that's likely a lowballed estimate, so given this revenue estimation any given game needs to sell 225,000 copies just to break even on it's development costs. So basically if capcom did in fact spend a total of 40 million dollars creating and marketing lost planet and it resulted in 1 million sales worldwide they've only really generated about half a million dollars in actual profit of the venture. On the other hand, it's created a brand so when lost planet 2 inevitably makes it's way out they could probally spend half as much money building and marketing it and sell close the same number and make far more profit.

Keeping this same 45 dollar rule intact, look at gears of war. It's sold what 2.5 million or something ridiculous? 113 million dollars in revenue for a product and marketing that I'd estimate is around 50 million. That's a nice return , doubled your investment , compared to capcom where you simply made 2 cents on a dollar.

Not only that, but you're looking at catalogue sales for the rest of the generation for each title for each platform. That's a lot of moolah.

 

[pooteeweet]

Hey, going by that EA ps3 thread on the main page it seems the wholesale cost of a game to a retailer is 45 dollars, so at 60 bucks 15 is going to the retailer itself.

Out of that other 45 though, well consider it revenue instead of profit and that's roughly a half million dollars for every 110,000 copies sold. So for a 20 million dollar game to break even based on revenue you'd need to sell 450,000 copies at full price. So keep that in mind given the current state of next gen development costs. I think the last I heard a game costs about 10 million to create for 360 or ps3 and that's likely a lowballed estimate, so given this revenue estimation any given game needs to sell 225,000 copies just to break even on it's development costs. So basically if capcom did in fact spend a total of 40 million dollars creating and marketing lost planet and it resulted in 1 million sales worldwide they've only really generated about half a million dollars in actual profit of the venture. On the other hand, it's created a brand so when lost planet 2 inevitably makes it's way out they could probally spend half as much money building and marketing it and sell close the same number and make far more profit.

Keeping this same 45 dollar rule intact, look at gears of war. It's sold what 2.5 million or something ridiculous? 113 million dollars in revenue for a product and marketing that I'd estimate is around 50 million. That's a nice return , doubled your investment , compared to capcom where you simply made 2 cents on a dollar.

If I were running Capcom I would advise them not to stop selling the game after they hit 1 million copies. I need to get into the business. What fools these companies be.

 

[Jonnyram]

20 million my ass, they need to sell an aditional 1 mln units to just cover the marketing costs.....this number isn't right.

Wow, they only get $2 from every copy sold!? That sucks.

 

[AAK]

And how much marketing did Capcom invest for Okami?

 

[LJ11]

And how much marketing did Capcom invest for Okami?

:lol ....

 

[Ynos Yrros]

Wow, they only get $2 from every copy sold!? That sucks.

1 mln x 2$ is 2 mln $ I believe.

 

[goldenpp72]

capcom makes a LOT more then 2 dollars per copy sold. a 60 dollar title (and a 70 dollar one for the LE) probably only nets 15-20 bucks to microsoft/retailer, add in packaging, storage and other junk and its probably down to at LEAST 20 bucks per copy to capcom, probably more. Though im not sure where you got the 2 dollars from in general.

 

[LJ11]

I'm pretty sure Jonnyram was being sarcastic.

 

[Ynos Yrros]

I'm pretty sure Jonnyram was being sarcastic.

I think he just forgot to put "0" in there.

 

[PantherLotus]

Anybody have the cajones to accuse J0ystiq of taking money for stories? They ran what I actually thought was a pretty funny photoshop contest to redo the cover. I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying. Right? Maybe it was "teh viral?"

Anyway, here is my vomit-inducing entry that I'm fairly certain wasn't even considered:

 

[goldenpp72]

I was kind of hoping he was, but you never know.

 

[Karma Kramer]

^ I don't get it... maybe i am retarded or something...

 

[mckmas8808]

So you guys actually think Capcom spent $20M to advertise this game? :lol

 

[Pokeylongo]

I don't think the CG commercials do the game justice, so hopefully it works for them. Makes the game look boring. I much prefer the trailers based on in-game graphics. They were amazing.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

I don't think the CG commercials do the game justice, so hopefully it works for them. Makes the game look boring. I much prefer the trailers based on in-game graphics. They were amazing.

I think it was the TGS vid that really sold me on the game. Most of it was ingame cutscenes and gameplay while a small part at the end showcased the multiplayer. Course it was also a couple minutes long and thus unsuitable for commercials but hell..it was sweet.

Haven't bought the game yet though...waiting on some price drops.

Sorry Capcom

 

[ThatCrazyGuy]

It takes 3 or 4 times the cost to market a brand new IP. Maybe they spent this much, maybe they didn't. Who knows. It's hot though

 

[Zenith]

Worth every penny.

 

[u_neek]

I've even seen a lot of commercials on Danish tv and that usually doesn't happen unless we're talking AAA titles or Über mainstream games like FIFA or Singstar.

 

[mckmas8808]

Worth every penny.

Is it worth $40 million dollars?

 

[Tieno]

Is it worth $40 million dollars?

If it makes money, yes....if the sequels make money too....double yes...
If not then no...

Spoiler

I'm so smart

I did not have the impression of a 20mil marketting campagin though. If you told me Gears or Halo 2 had that, then that would be easier to believe.

 

[WasabiKing]

Uh, considering I work in online marketing (and I do some adver gaming, gaming advertizing, etc), theres no way an online campaign alone would cost $20mil. That's crap unless loading two demos costs tons of money (they may be including the cost of making the demos) and they are factoring in print ads and they mean globally.

I don't think demos would be coming out of the same profit center. (Correct me if I'm wrong, games marketing people!)

I worked in online advertising as well. I was the marketing lackey that helped create and place orders for ad space, which is the reason why we tested out the ad software when we re-launched in June 2004. There's a good reason why the big three (which I consider to be IGN, CNet's GameSpot, and 1Up) don't put up their ad prices anymore, and that's because they probably never sell them at the cost posted, and that they don't want their competitors to know their rates. Even if Capcom roadblocked (only their ad appears on the site, 24/7) every site, they couldn't even spend 6 digits.

Good to hear your insight, John. BTW, GhaleonEB, thanks for the clarification about the anticipated spending budget.

 

[Nerevar]

I think it's fairly obvious from the quote they're factoring in the cost of "making" the two demos, and who knows how much overlap there was between the cost of development and the cost of making the demos. I'd imagine the total budget Capcom spent on the game was under $40 million though, despite them seeming to imply that's what they did. I mean, has any Capcom representative come out and said "we spent $40 million total on Lost Planet? If not then it's all just smoke and mirrors.

 

[John Harker]

I don't think demos would be coming out of the same profit center. (Correct me if I'm wrong, games marketing people!)

I worked in online advertising as well. I was the marketing lackey that helped create and place orders for ad space, which is the reason why we tested out the ad software when we re-launched in June 2004. There's a good reason why the big three (which I consider to be IGN, CNet's GameSpot, and 1Up) don't put up their ad prices anymore, and that's because they probably never sell them at the cost posted, and that they don't want their competitors to know their rates. Even if Capcom roadblocked (only their ad appears on the site, 24/7) every site, they couldn't even spend 6 digits.

Good to hear your insight, John. BTW, GhaleonEB, thanks for the clarification about the anticipated spending budget.

I imagine they could justify the demo development costs as part of the marketing budget if they sold it as a brand initivative, but as per usual practice, both BUs would likely be managed by different divisions - and everyone knows how hard it is to get different business units to share a budget. Unless they wrote it off as a line item on the marketing plan as a development cost for a campaign, they probably just included the cost as part of the gaming budget. I just can't imagine where the $20mil number came from, if they said their main focus was online.

You're right about the ad prices - there is a lot of rate negotiationg going on there so it be too hard to list ad prices. Unless they did a few takeovers of major portals, which I haven't seen, display ad costs wouldn't be that high, and I don't even think their doing a search campaign.


Edit:
I did some queries... unless they already hit their daily caps (doubtful), it seems they are NOT doing a search campaign in Google, Yahoo, or MSN. This I still don't understand... how can you claim to be doing a grassroots internet campaign and not do Search?? Especially if you're going to set up blogs and communities.... Are there any other marketing people that work in gaming here? Can you please tell me why the gaming industry is so slow to move into this field? I dun get it.

 

[gutter_trash]

Capcom should quit their western penetration marketting casual gamer strategy and just get back at what they do best.

make a freakin' Street Fighter IV and stop with this open arms western aucience strategy, It's turning me away from Capcom

 

[John Harker]

:lol

It takes 3 or 4 times the cost to market a brand new IP. Maybe they spent this much, maybe they didn't. Who knows. It's hot though

I think its usually 10-20% of the cost, not 3 to 4X more than the cost