Category Archives: Marketing / PR

I almost missed a great letter to the editor that appeared in Gamasutra two weeks ago. The writer takes Kristen McDonnell to task for perpetuating the stereotype that “typically, women in general like puzzle, card, and word games. Some quotes from the rebuttal:

News flash: a lot of women enjoy the hell out of Stephen King, Joss Whedon, Saturday Night Live and MXC (which, due to its puzzle-related content, should be removed immediately from Spike TV and be re-broadcast fulltime on WE and Oxygen). And: Men don’t all flock instantly to the same games or get the same experience out of a game, so why should women? Finally: Please, please, please call off your quest to develop the single game genre to lure in some marketing department’s perceived ideal, a perpetual girl-woman that has never matured beyond a morbid, society-pressured fascination with pink nailpolish, Barbie, and shoes.

I couldn’t agree more. As Alice (of Wonderland) once pointed out, games have been marketed almost exclusively towards men for 25 years. You think that might have some long-term consequences?

I don’t buy the notion that women can’t become avid consumers of AAA titles. Women just need to be enticed into console games in general. At least one study has found that once women get into AAA games via any given genre, they become likely to branch out into other genres, including competitive genres.

I’m not suggesting that marketing is solely to blame for the state of things. There is, for example, the issue of female character hyper-sexualization in many games. Some argue that male game characters are equally extreme in their comeliness, so why should it matter? I think there’s one key distinction. Try the following thought experiment. Imagine a game in which all the female characters are very attractive, but not in a hyper-fictional manner. Now imagine the male characters — equally attractive, but with one notable “feature” — a huge bulge in their pants. The very thought makes me laugh, but I suspect that many men would be slightly repelled by such a game. Who knows how many women fail to become hardcore gamers because, consciously or subconsciously, they dislike staring at giant tits for hours on end? (BTW, I recognize that there are exceptions. Lara Croft was appreciated by many women, despite her “endowment”. But Lara Croft also represented strength and independence.)

Anyway, I’m not unique in calling for a concerted, long-term effort by console makers, publishers, and developers to market more towards women. But I think the call is worth repeating. This isn’t a charity case or a politically-correct social cause. We’re talking about billions of dollars in potential industry revenue being squandered. The Tycoon in me just can’t stand that.  😉

PS. Before someone tries to play gotcha: yes, I know that women do indeed represent the majority of puzzle game players. This doesn’t change the fact that they could be enticed to play other games…

Via Joystiq, (almost) everything you ever wanted to know about UK video game consumer demographics. Not too many surprises in there, but two things did catch my attention: 1) There are nearly as many female gamers as there are male gamers in every single age segment. They often play different games, but in general the gender gap has nearly vanished. 2) A nearly equal number of men and women play MMOGs.

Given that RPGs have always been more popular with women than, say, FPS or sports games, I suppose it isn’t such a huge shock that many women are playing MMOGs, since most of the currently-popular MMOGs fall into the RPG genre. Furthermore, studies have shown that women tend to prefer collaborative games, and most MMOGs certainly qualify as collaborative. I often dismiss the MMORPG market as being overcrowded, but this makes me rethink that assertion. A little.

PS. Oh, and if you didn’t already read it on every other game-centric blog ever written: the ESA just announced that 35% of US parents play video games.

Tomorrow, I intend to write something timely and professional. But today, I want to treat you to this fantastic old NES advertisement. Go on. Click it. You know you want to.

In the past, I’ve questioned the video game industry’s reluctance to embrace older consumers (casual games notwithstanding). But seeing this old TV ad forces me to admit that we’ve come a loooooooong way. On a tangent: the wikipedia entry for the NES is very nice.

Yet more proof that the sports video game market isn’t so predictable. Midway’s Blitz: The League, made without an NFL license, and featuring exaggerated aggression, sex appeal, and a story penned by a former screenwriter for ESPN’s “Playmakers”, has sold about 350K units, and Midway predicts that sales will hit 1M.

This represents just a fraction of the over three million Madden 2006 units sold as of October alone. Nevertheless, it has been accomplished without a license and without EA’s marketing budget, in a year defined by disappointing industry sales (in general).

What I find interesting about Blitz is the number of reviewers who have extolled it for “bringing creativity back into the genre.” An article in Slate goes so far as to argue that “EA Sports has been taking choices away from Madden players for years.” This is presumably due (in large part) to strict content controls dictated by the NFL itself. Personally, I’m just thrilled to see an unlicensed property succeeding in a competitive market. It can be done!

No metacritic score for Blitz yet, but here are some reviews: Gamespot | IGN

If you can’t imagine hesitating to purchase a $60 game, here’s a useful glimpse into a different world.

There’s no shortage of opinions on the subject of higher-priced games. Here’s a great summary. The “$60’s OK” camp says: “The $60 price point will highlight to every gamer that Xbox360 games are much more sophisticated and different” (VP marketing, SEGA). The “$60’s crazy” camp says: “The first million’ish early adaptors will begrudgingly pay the price, but it will be a challenge to convince the larger audience to start paying more for games. Which will be fine for the rental business, but bad for publishers and developers.” (President, Oddworld Inhabitants). Good for rental *and* pre-owned sales, for that matter.

Of course, the entire question of a single, fixed price is pretty archaic. Why not charge less, then give consumers the option to purchase more content if they wish? And, at least when the installed console base gets bigger, why not use a lower price to expand the market (and steal some market share along the way, like Take-Two almost did at the expense of the Madden franchise. EA ultimately shelled out a ton of money to lock-in the NFL license, but at least Take-Two forced the transfer of some profit from a competitor to a neutral party.)

It’s worth noting Microsoft’s decision to sell 360 first-party titles for $50, not $60. This is a company that understands pricing strategy, and whether they’re looking to sell more games or more consoles, the ultimate message is the same (since game sales drive 360 revenues — not console sales.)