NPD Nov. You know you want it!

[iceberg187]

So one line in a 'blogsite' marketing website counts as hyping these days? Man, has Hype been devalued!

I think forum goers use the term 'hype' as readily and appropriately as developers use bloom

You can say that it is a blog, but it is funded by Sony. So, that is why I'm not going to discredit it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I said it's a marketing website. And for a marketing website, they mention Killzone 2 with half a line. Hyping its making a huge fuss about your title above and beyond what it is, in the strictest sense. Releasing press releases rich with 'this game redefines gaming, including AI smarter than a human being and graphics that surpass the best Hollywood can produce for the biggest budget movies, all in real-time!' is hyping! Saying 'this game transcends the ordinary life experience, where you'll feel the adrenalin rush of really being there!' is hype. Even a full on multi-million dollar advertising campaign of internet movies and TV ads can be considered hyping if you want to accept a lose definition of the word. I don't see how a company hardly talking about their product can be considered hype though. They've made (as that Threespeech entry shows) far more noise about LBP revolutionising gaming, and hyped up HOME's appeal, way, way more than anything they've done about KZ2. KZ2 is being heralded as the Second Coming of FPSes by folk other than Sony, particularly people pedestalling it as a rival to H3, as though PS3 needs a H3 (multi-million selling FPS) to compete. Well, that may be true, but it's not Sony saying they'll get that in KZ2.

 

[Nesh]

How can Sony be hyping this game to be something big when it's only shown it twice? Seems to me, like the original Killzone, its everyone else doing the hyping. Have Sony themselves (not Guerilla) even mentioned the game without it just being graphical showcasing? Perhaps the problem here is Sony aren't doing much hyping at all? They're not stomping around telling us how such-and-such a game is a life changing, world's greatest ever entertainment experience. They're just sticking to ordinary adverts and that's it.

We arent saying different things

 

[DUALDISASTER]

Here we go again..Did you guys honestly think UNCHARTED was going to sell as much as established games? Uncharted just doesn't have that mass appeal. There's no MP, it's short, and it's a platformer, which don't usually perform well. AC was a hyped game from the begining and has that "sandbox" feel to it. I also has a better name, hehe, which count more than you think! That's for people who were going to bring that game up. These recently released games for the PS3 seems to be fillers until the Big guns come out. Socom should rip the charts along with GOW and KZ2. Those are the games i would buy a PS3 for! Uncharted...not so much.

 

[Skrying]

You act like Uncharted is the only one. That's four big names that have done poorly that I can think of off the top of my head. Lair, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank, and now Uncharted. If I owned a PS3 I know I'd have bought R&C and Uncharted.

 

[iceberg187]

Here we go again..Did you guys honestly think UNCHARTED was going to sell as much as established games? Uncharted just doesn't have that mass appeal. There's no MP, it's short, and it's a platformer, which don't usually perform well. AC was a hyped game from the begining and has that "sandbox" feel to it. I also has a better name, hehe, which count more than you think! That's for people who were going to bring that game up. These recently released games for the PS3 seems to be fillers until the Big guns come out. Socom should rip the charts along with GOW and KZ2. Those are the games i would buy a PS3 for! Uncharted...not so much.

Uncharted is easily the best game on the PS3. You can't say games like that don't sell with Bioshock sold, Dead Rising sold, Saint's Row sold. Sony didn't position it right.

 

[Asher]

Uncharted is easily the best game on the PS3. You can't say games like that don't sell with Bioshock sold, Dead Rising sold, Saint's Row sold. Sony didn't position it right.

I think a lot of people overestimate the appeal for Uncharted. I bought all of Bioshock, Dead Rising, and Saint's Row but I don't have any interest in Uncharted, even after playing the demo. It's clearly an issue of personal tastes, but Sony's been ending up on the wrong side of what a lot of people want this year. Maybe it's just bad luck.

 

[scooby_dooby]

As long as MS sets up the value proposition this way, Premium will garner the lions share of sales, just as they want it. In fact, it seems consumers tend to default to the most expensive sku. Elite would possibly be the top sku I think, except retailers have found it very supply limited this Christmas.

Only if the consumer need for online access and large storage space grows considerably larger than it is now.

The arcade is targeted at mainly at people who don't go online, and will likely never go online. To these people, it makes a good package with a free 256mb mem card, and it's $70 cheaper than the premium, the customer can afford an extra game on the day of purchase.

Even now, only 60% of 360 users are online, among early adopter 360 users, this tells me that the 'demand' for online connectivity is vastly over rated by people on forums. In reality, 1 in 2 people have no real need or desire to connect their game machine to the internet. So I believe Acrade can be a good seller, if bundled properly.

The Wireless controller, and included mem card have officially un-gimped the package, included component cables would really be the last key component, but it's still a strong value without.

 

[Nesh]

I think a lot of people overestimate the appeal for Uncharted. I bought all of Bioshock, Dead Rising, and Saint's Row but I don't have any interest in Uncharted, even after playing the demo. It's clearly an issue of personal tastes, but Sony's been ending up on the wrong side of what a lot of people want this year. Maybe it's just bad luck.

Someone can say the same for Bioshock. I have Bioshock yet Uncharted appeals more to me.

It depends on your taste. The fact that there are many people who played and loved it with very very few saying the opposite shows that the appeal is there.

The problem is Sony didnt do much to position it's game line up in the market. People may see the box of the game at stores. Yet it wont make any click because they dont know much about the game. Ok it's a man in a jungle. So what?

The game wasnt getting its deserved press before. It all happened at once.

 

[DUALDISASTER]

You act like Uncharted is the only one. That's four big names that have done poorly that I can think of off the top of my head. Lair, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank, and now Uncharted. If I owned a PS3 I know I'd have bought R&C and Uncharted.

It was said around here that platfomers don't sell well anymore, well not counting mario. But i don't see how RCF was such a shock. Who in hell would buy a $500 console for R/C? Compared to ps2 numbers, it wasn't a must have then either. And you know why HS and LAIR didn't perform well. Let not talk nonsense. Nowaday's american's want games that relate to their current state: war. That's why shooters sell so much there and explains COD4 numbers. But seriously, media plays a good role in sales and uncharted wasn't a show stopper. It was well made and all but more of the same. If i were the public, i would be reluctant to buy the game too. And the demo didn't help things, it almost made me pass up the deal. The game had to be taken as a whole. I will say this, Uncharted is not ps3's best games, save that for warhawk, which was tarnished for lack of SP.

 

[DUALDISASTER]

Someone can say the same for Bioshock. I have Bioshock yet Uncharted appeals more to me.

It depends on your taste. The fact that there are many people who played and loved it with very very few saying the opposite shows that the appeal is there.

The problem is Sony didnt do much to position it's game line up in the market. People may see the box of the game at stores. Yet it wont make any click because they dont know much about the game. Ok it's a man in a jungle. So what?

The game wasnt getting its deserved press before. It all happened at once.

Who are these people, you guys? Y'all like it because of it's technology.

 

[scooby_dooby]

The problem is Sony didnt do much to position it's game line up in the market. People may see the box of the game at stores. Yet it wont make any click because they dont know much about the game. Ok it's a man in a jungle. So what?

The game wasnt getting its deserved press before. It all happened at once.

These excuses are getting pretty tiring.

Uncharted just didn't resonate with consumers, period.

The marketing was strong, the tv campaign was strong, the exposure from Sony was very high, it had everything any other blockbuster game had going for it.

It may be time to re-evaluate how your tastes are matching actual consumers, or rather how they arent.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Sounds like wild speculation to me. Seeing as how much everyone knows how much the US likes shooters, Sony will be gagging to get it out. Also, Resistance 2 will be knocking on the door in Q4, and that is established.

Killzone is a safe bet at being a million seller for sure, a much bigger question in my mind is whether it even comes out in 2008.

 

[Nesh]

These excuses are getting pretty tiring.

Uncharted just didn't resonate with consumers, period.

The marketing was strong, the tv campaign was strong, the exposure from Sony was very high, it had everything any other blockbuster game had going for it.

It may be time to re-evaluate how your tastes are matching actual consumers, or rather how they arent.

Ofcourse it didnt resonate. How can it when it wasnt getting the right press coverage?

Everything you described happened mostly just when the game was released or near its realese. And thats marketing with a shorter duration.

 

[wco81]

I guess gaming has changed. Ten years ago, platformers were big and every console tried to get a mascot to counter Mario.

Shooters then were for the geekiest gamers.

Now the situation has turned around and all you see are shooters whereas there used to be several platformer franchises.

It'll be interesting to see how the Indy game does. Also how the technology (physics-driven animation) does in comparison to Uncharted.

Also how the next Tomb Raider does in comparison to Uncharted.

 

[Tap In]

.Nowaday's american's want games that relate to their current state: war. That's why shooters sell so much there and explains COD4 numbers.

that is one of the most ridiculous, misguided leaps of logic I have ever read.

 

[DUALDISASTER]

that is one of the most ridiculous, misguided leaps of logic I have ever read.

i was joking. did you read the rest?

 

[NRP]

Agreed. It strikes me as a little lazy to fall back on the typical stereotypical *American* as an excuse for why someone's platform/game of choice is not living up to its hype.

It might just be that shooters are more fun to play. I know that's the case with my friends and I. We all get online after work to blow off some steam and have a few laughs at each other's expense. It really has nothing to do with having a *warmonger* mentality.

 

[DUALDISASTER]

I guess gaming has changed. Ten years ago, platformers were big and every console tried to get a mascot to counter Mario.

Shooters then were for the geekiest gamers.

Now the situation has turned around and all you see are shooters whereas there used to be several platformer franchises.

It'll be interesting to see how the Indy game does. Also how the technology (physics-driven animation) does in comparison to Uncharted.

Also how the next Tomb Raider does in comparison to Uncharted.

Lara had her chance, Tr1 was one of the best games i have ever play and since the creators split, the series crumbled. Shame really. But i do believe there is still a chance in the genre. Uncharted failed IMO because it was a one path game. Even jak2 was a sandbox platformer.

 

[Nesh]

that is one of the most ridiculous, misguided leaps of logic I have ever read.

We can find out if there is indeed some truth to this if we compare respective sales from each region.

Some shooters are supposed to do well in many territories. GoW, Halo3, Bioshock, and maybe COD can be such examples. I wonder though about games such as Ghost Recon.

Many Europeans begin to find it laughable how many shooters present the US as the protagonists/good guys fighting errorists. I cant recall the word terrorist being used as much in games years ago.

I also wonder if there is any differentce in the way Europeans and Americans perceive these realistic shooters.

Both may be buying them in the same quantrities but feel different about their games