14 replies to this topic

[Zinix]

 

 

a]list daily: You want this to be the foundation of a big franchise, then?

Tony Key: Absolutely. That's what all our games are about; we won't even start if we don't think we can build a franchise out of it. There's no more fire and forget - it's too expensive.

We feel like we're in a really good place with Watch_Dogs, but until we're the biggest game of the year we're not going to be satisfied.

Last year we cleaned up at E3 because we were pretty much the only next-gen game around. Watch_Dogs for us is really a franchise because we're tapping into something people really care about, never more than when the NSA PRISM scandal broke.

[a]list daily: Your CEO Yves Guillemot told me that Ubisoft will be increasing its marketing spend this year. What's driving that?

Tony Key: By increasing our marketing, our goal is actually to lower our risk. We spend so much time, energy and money creating these experiences like Watch_Dogs and Assassin's Creed, you need to match that now on the marketing side. You're making a huge bet on the development side, you've got to be all in. It became very clear to us about two years ago that this is a blockbuster world we live in now.

That means we have to be able to match the resources our production teams are putting in on the marketing side. You saw that with Assassin's Creed III; that was our largest marketing campaign ever as a company. What's interesting now is it doesn't feel so big any more. This year we're looking at Assassin's Creed IV, and Watch_Dogs, and saying'That's what it takes nowadays, that's what we're going to keep doing.'

 

 

http://www.gamesindu...ockbuster-world

 

 

I rather get new IPs from them instead getting sequel to established franchises unless its Rayman or Assassin Creed. 

[YoshiGamer9]

They shouldn't make another Assassin's creed or Rayman until like 2015 or 2016...

[Tsuchinoko]

Well that is pretty weird. Looks like they don't want to make games that can't be milked with a sequel every year.

[IvyT]

Well that is pretty weird. Looks like they don't want to make games that can't be milked with a sequel every year.

 

That's exactly what I think the industry is becoming: a bunch of greedy companies who won't mind shipping out pointless sequels to their games every year or so, and that greediness is one of the reasons why third-party support is so weak on the Wii U. They don't want to just profit, they want to profit BIG.

[GAMER1984]

That's exactly what I think the industry is becoming: a bunch of greedy companies who won't mind shipping out pointless sequels to their games every year or so, and that greediness is one of the reasons why third-party support is so weak on the Wii U. They don't want to just profit, they want to profit BIG.

 

 

exactly and i really hope the rumor is true that EA is upping their next gen gaming prices to 80. thats going to be awesome for gamers right? ha! like i said their is no game i want from EA. i think Crysis 3 would have been a nice Wii U launch game and hey screwd us big time... not that im a big crysis game it just would have been nice to see Cryengine 3 running on Wii U hardware. when Wii U sales pick up and 3rd parties start coming around its going to be funny.

[Hunter]

They should give assassins creed a break for a while and concentrate on something new.

Or make another Prince of Persia.

[Socalmuscle]

Nintendo needs to listen to these guys about marketing. We do live in a blockbuster world and never has that been more apparant than with the damage done by not marketing wii u, no matter how heavily invested in the hardware and software are.

Gone are the days of " if you build it, they will come."

Now you have to build it. Then advertise like mad.

[Aiddon]

Nintendo needs to listen to these guys about marketing. We do live in a blockbuster world and never has that been more apparant than with the damage done by not marketing wii u, no matter how heavily invested in the hardware and software are.

Gone are the days of " if you build it, they will come."

Now you have to build it. Then advertise like mad.

 

And Nintendo goes AGAINST that typical blockbuster mindset because it's not who they are. Ubisoft (and by extension a LOT of other publishers) try to do this blockbuster mindset with EVERY game they release and that's not a good business strategy. This is like if in Hollywood EVERY film needed at least a $100 million budget (including the Oscar bait titles). Nintendo realized before everyone else that that mindset wasn't a good one. They release a variety of games of all shapes, sizes, and niches. So far their biggest hits this year have been a strategy RPG and a life simulation game. Not exactly something the other companies would think of as potential hot sellers. Furthermore, there's no point doing marketing right now, because it's the summer. There's nothing going on and there's little point competing against movies for ad space. They'll pump up their marketing when it's time.

[wombateer]

Zombi U2, featuring Bono then.

[MorbidGod]

http://www.gamesindu...ockbuster-world


I rather get new IPs from them instead getting sequel to established franchises unless its Rayman or Assassin Creed.

They are making new IP's. Watch Dogs, Tom Clancy The Division, and The Crew are new IP's from Ubisoft. They are saying instead of making games that aren't designed to be franchises, they want to make games that can have future titles (like Watch Dogs).

They should give assassins creed a break for a while and concentrate on something new.

Or make another Prince of Persia.

I second that.

That's exactly what I think the industry is becoming: a bunch of greedy companies who won't mind shipping out pointless sequels to their games every year or so, and that greediness is one of the reasons why third-party support is so weak on the Wii U. They don't want to just profit, they want to profit BIG.

What's bad about making games that are meant to be franchises?

[Socalmuscle]

And Nintendo goes AGAINST that typical blockbuster mindset because it's not who they are. Ubisoft (and by extension a LOT of other publishers) try to do this blockbuster mindset with EVERY game they release and that's not a good business strategy. This is like if in Hollywood EVERY film needed at least a $100 million budget (including the Oscar bait titles). Nintendo realized before everyone else that that mindset wasn't a good one. They release a variety of games of all shapes, sizes, and niches. So far their biggest hits this year have been a strategy RPG and a life simulation game. Not exactly something the other companies would think of as potential hot sellers. Furthermore, there's no point doing marketing right now, because it's the summer. There's nothing going on and there's little point competing against movies for ad space. They'll pump up their marketing when it's time.

Nintendo = franchises. Blockbusters.

If it doesn't make money, it stops being made.

Mario 64, the Rare N64 games, Metroid Prime, etc. all had high production values for a Nintendo game. They really went for it.

Then with the Wii they got lazy.

They got away with it because the world was ready for a casual market. That was a fun pit stop that has been taken over by mobile devices.

It's a blockbuster world. That's why people were clamoring for a Mario Galaxy scope of a game and disappointed in the excellent 3D World announcement.

Nintendo is most definitely "blockbuster."

But when they venture away from that, that's when they get bit.

People want great games that are fun to play, have great graphics, interesting stories (single player), and protagonists they care about. Franchises provide that.

But Nintendo needs to market!

It's obvious they've put the development time a nd production values in. The upcoming wii u titles look insane. But all that will be for peanuts if they don't market.

They stated their mission was the recapture the core audience. If they don't market, then they only sell to their dwindling fans, who are being won over by the prospective marketing of Sony.

Market the games to everyone. On tv. On the r audio. In print, YouTube commercials, etc. put banners up at GameStop. At the malls, etc. don't post stupid chart/spreadsheet/explanations...

Ubi soft gets it.

A few years ago, no one was talking about them. Now, with great Rayman commercials, lots of Watch Dogs marketing, etc., everyone is talking Ubi.

That's because they are marketing.

You have to have a good product. Thy do. So does Nintendo. But you have to market it. Sell it. Saturate people's brains with it.

Especially when they release so few games each year.

Edited by Socalmuscle, 16 July 2013 - 07:05 PM.

[Alex Atkin UK]

While I definitely do not want all developers to think like that, I do agree that in some cases there is a good reason for it.  I can think of a few games where the lack of planning for their sequels leaded to less impressive games.

 

Take Crackdown on Xbox 360.  The developer clearly had a franchise in mind, but Microsoft we can only assume did not.  That meant when the time came to make Crackdown 2 the decision was too late and the original developer didn't get to do it.  The game ended up so very different to what anyone who played the first was expecting, because the story didn't follow the plot twist at the end of the first game at all.

 

Bioshock 2 suffered a similar problem, that while it did build on the vision from the first game it just wasn't as interesting which again I can only assume was bad planning.

 

Now perhaps my complaints here are more about a franchise getting farmed off to different developers than the first game in the series, but I do wonder if that is indeed partly down to not planning for a sequel early on.

 

If The Crew and Watch Dogs turn out as good as they look, I certainly won't be complaining.  They are the only two next-gen games I am really anxiously waiting for.  So the idea of them having to be good enough to warrant sequels is very appealing.  At the very least it means any new franchise they DO come up with, the first game has to be superb.

Edited by Alex Atkin UK, 16 July 2013 - 07:56 PM.

[Aiddon]

Nintendo = franchises. Blockbusters.

If it doesn't make money, it stops being made.

Mario 64, the Rare N64 games, Metroid Prime, etc. all had high production values for a Nintendo game. They really went for it.

Then with the Wii they got lazy.

They got away with it because the world was ready for a casual market. That was a fun pit stop that has been taken over by mobile devices.

It's a blockbuster world. That's why people were clamoring for a Mario Galaxy scope of a game and disappointed in the excellent 3D World announcement.

Nintendo is most definitely "blockbuster."

But when they venture away from that, that's when they get bit.

People want great games that are fun to play, have great graphics, interesting stories (single player), and protagonists they care about. Franchises provide that.

But Nintendo needs to market!

It's obvious they've put the development time a nd production values in. The upcoming wii u titles look insane. But all that will be for peanuts if they don't market.

They stated their mission was the recapture the core audience. If they don't market, then they only sell to their dwindling fans, who are being won over by the prospective marketing of Sony.

Market the games to everyone. On tv. On the r audio. In print, YouTube commercials, etc. put banners up at GameStop. At the malls, etc. don't post stupid chart/spreadsheet/explanations...

Ubi soft gets it.

A few years ago, no one was talking about them. Now, with great Rayman commercials, lots of Watch Dogs marketing, etc., everyone is talking Ubi.

That's because they are marketing.

You have to have a good product. Thy do. So does Nintendo. But you have to market it. Sell it. Saturate people's brains with it.

Especially when they release so few games each year.

 

-leans forward-

 

They don't care. It's not how they do things, it's NEVER been how they do things because it's just not their style. They choose their actions carefully and doing a bunch of stupid, loud, same-as-everyone-else, wannabe-Hollywood marketing is not something they're interested in doing and there's a good reason for that. They'll advertise when the time is right. That is all.

[Socalmuscle]

-leans forward-

They don't care. It's not how they do things, it's NEVER been how they do things because it's just not their style. They choose their actions carefully and doing a bunch of stupid, loud, same-as-everyone-else, wannabe-Hollywood marketing is not something they're interested in doing and there's a good reason for that. They'll advertise when the time is right. That is all.

Oh noes! You leaned forward!

Some people think that adds intimidation or effect. In reality, it just leaves you off balance.

And you forget where Nintendo has come from.

It is definitely who they are and where they came from.

Even the wii and its games were marketed well.

Marketing is not automatically stupid, loud, or Hollywood style. It is a representation of a product or service in a manner that generates purchase intent.

You definitely misunderstand if you think those wanting to see Nintendo step up their marketing are wanting ac3 style commercials. At the very least they should do what they did with the wii, the des, the n64 and their Ganesh you couldn't go anywhere without seeing those consoles and the fun they represent being in your face.

If you want to argue the point, you can go ahead and be wrong, that's your prerogative. However, even the hyper conservative Iwata has recently publicly noted that they've failed on the marketing front and it has hurt them greatly.

The time to advertise is with their games. But they can advertise the system as well. Showcase mini verse, tv, apps, games etc. as a wii u marketing plan. Similar to how they did with the nes.

Now they have some blockbusters coming. And I'll be willing to put a prediction out there:
Heavy marketing this fall and winter. And even more with smash and kart in spring '14.

That's because we live in a blockbuster world. Blockbuster games need blockbuster marketing. They deserve it. And Nintendo has indicated that they see that.

You see, if you invest in a aaa game, you HAVE to sell them. Otherwise you don't profit enough to fund the next one.

Yes marketing costs money. But it's a necessary expense. And when done right, it brings an exponential amount of money compared to what was expensed.

Edited by Socalmuscle, 16 July 2013 - 09:09 PM.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Looking forward to Watch_Dogs VI