The Stupid Season
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
I'm suprised everyone is so worked up because games are being pushed back. Istn't that a good thing? Because now I don't have to rush through a game to get to the next, I can enjoy what I have now.
Its like opening a candy bar, taking a bite, then moving onto another, then repeating 12 times.
Its like opening a candy bar, taking a bite, then moving onto another, then repeating 12 times.
A nice analysis, but this is by no means a gaming phenomenon, it's just how this shit goes down in America.
Oddly enough, I was under a different impression thank to an article I read in Computer Gaming World many years ago. The gist of it was that gamers have a tendancy to buy good games when they come out, no matter the time of year. I have to admit, I never took the Deer Hunter crowd into consideration, nor a publishers desire to put the glitzy box with the shallow content out at X-Mas in an effort to garnish extra sales.
Good article Shamus... I do want to ask, any idea if Console games are affected more than PC's by the X-mas bonanza?
Good article Shamus... I do want to ask, any idea if Console games are affected more than PC's by the X-mas bonanza?
half of all games get sold during December?, is that counting online purchases as well?, is it only statics from a certain country or is it world wide?.
and could you possibly refer me to the source of that information, i am very skeptic that such a big part of the gaming community are 10-16 year olds who can only get a game that one time a year when their parents buy them one.
and could you possibly refer me to the source of that information, i am very skeptic that such a big part of the gaming community are 10-16 year olds who can only get a game that one time a year when their parents buy them one.
This is why I am glad that I am a bit behind on the gaming curve. I rarely buy the newest titles because pre-release and early reviews tend to be as you said "thin." I also tend to save some good money when following this. (Although there have been exceptions to this, I was a moron and bought the Legendary edition of Halo 3) When everyone is trying to find the hot new Christmas release, I am buying the better games from the 2nd and 3rd quarter that just dropped in price, and in the early to mid part of the next year I buy the previous hot holiday titles for a discount. I am also all about quality, I don't play 50 new games a year, more like 10 - 15 so it works for me.
Wow. Good question.Avernus said:
I'm tempted to say PC, because that's where I see most of the Deer Hunter titles, along with those "game packs" (100 crappy games in 1!) and the other shovelware. The PC bargain bin is a little "bigger". But I'm not sure. A case could be made that the shovelware Wii games are just as numerous. I've never tried to compare.
As long as all these pushed backed games dont all come out at once, a nice and steady release for all of them will allow me to buy the ones i would like to buy, been a long time since i bought a ps3 game, been holding out for MAG, batman and OF2, it would be nice is some new games were released a while before december
Clarification: 50% of retail business happens in December. I'm extrapolating games from that, which is just a guess. And, no - I'm not taking DLC into account.swaki said:
Plus, I'm sure that if they sold some games, like say Modern Warfare 2 and ODST at a different time of year, they would still sell faster than chocolate at a fat camp.
And besides, games with recognizable brand names like Call of Duty will sell no matter what. If brand name is as important as you say, and if its marketed correctly, then it will sell many copies no matter what. Hell, I haven't seen much marketing for Modern Warfare 2 and God of War 3 yet those games will have sales well into the millions, because of their brand names.
And besides, games with recognizable brand names like Call of Duty will sell no matter what. If brand name is as important as you say, and if its marketed correctly, then it will sell many copies no matter what. Hell, I haven't seen much marketing for Modern Warfare 2 and God of War 3 yet those games will have sales well into the millions, because of their brand names.
online purchases aren't just the rest of the game which the developers holds for ransom, personally i haven't bought a game in a store for the last 3 years i prefer either downloading it from steam, xbla etc. or buy it via different websites depending on whom offers me the best price, and i only know one guy who does buy games at stores and thats because of the employee discount, when it comes to games i really believe that the majority of them gets sold via the world wide web.Shamus Young said:
The problem is that all these delayed games are gonna clutter up Q1 2010. So instead of having a crowded Christmass, we'll have a crowded Valentine's day.Irridium said:
All them girlfriends are gonna have to come second, I guess.
Yeah, but then they'll just end up buying Wii Sports Resort by mistake.Irridium said:
And then they'll be lying on my floor in seductive poses, puring like kittens. Or feeding me grapes and waving gaint fans.
I can't play games like that.
Great point there. Seriously, if I see one more holiday season where no game developer seems to care, it's going to be scary. Wait... I just got it. Maybe, just maybe, developers should put out good titles during Christmas and good titles during the year. Problem Solved.
This now has me curious as to whether or not anyone has ever made a serious effort at separating the release date from the major marketing push. So, quietly release a game when nothing much else is coming out for the dedicated gamers who will already know about it, and then wait until shopping season to pour money into reaching the uninformed masses.
Shamus Young said:
Sorry, seemed far too appropriate.
I really enjoyed this article, but then I love any article that combines marketing and video games. I find it odd that there's only one major gaming season. I'd imagine summer games would do at least slightly well for the same reason the term "summer blockbuster" exists.
You do realize that you do not need to buy games immediately when they come out right? Nothing saying that you can't take your time and enjoy one game before moving to another, except fad stupidity.Irridium said:
On topic, it is pretty nasty. I hate the Christmas season anymore. People are generally idiots by nature, but it becomes most apparent when there's snow and commercialized pressures involved. We, as informed gamers, can do little to stem the flow of poor consumer choices when it comes to our beloved media.