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With this holiday's game lineup...


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Halo 3: ODST. Modern Warfare 2. Assassin's Creed 2. Borderlands. These are only a FEW of the games on my radar and yet the only game I have preordered is Alpha Protocol. With the exception of Halo, I firmly believe each and every one of those games is a DAY ONE purchase for me. I'm not even including things like Brutal Legend and Beatles Rock Band. So against a lineup of established and well-hyped games, how will Alpha Protocol fare?

 

I think some MASSIVE marketing needs to start right now for this game to compete. We dont want AP to flop, only to be found in March as a GREAT GAME. We want AP to be top 3 or 4 and have people drooling over it.

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Hard to say. It could be a surprising hit like Shadow Complex, or a slow build up of fanbase like Planescape Torment. Doubtful it will be anything like the Halo or Call of Duty Series popularity though which is designed for the mainstream.

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Well, mostly, I think the visuals are a hard sell. The above blockbusters you mention all have pretty impressive graphics, which tends to move copies and smooth over any criticisms (shallow) people have. That said, I agree in that marketing on Sega's part wouldn't hurt. That said, there's no way they'll invest anything like the ad budget for MW2, AC2, or ODST.

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Well, mostly, I think the visuals are a hard sell. The above blockbusters you mention all have pretty impressive graphics, which tends to move copies and smooth over any criticisms (shallow) people have. That said, I agree in that marketing on Sega's part wouldn't hurt. That said, there's no way they'll invest anything like the ad budget for MW2, AC2, or ODST.

I dont expect the budget for Halo or MW2...thats just crazy talk. But really, a commercial or two on ESPN and other networks NOT G4 would go a long way. They need something to take some of the spotlight from MW2 and AC2 if they want any sales this christmas.

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Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about the marketing stuff?

 

I want the game to be good so that I can enjoy it. I suppose that I'd also like it to be a success so that Obsids can keep making games that are similarly attuned to my tastes, but I'd much rather get a good game that failed commercially than I would a boring game that was a commercial hit.

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A year ago, I though this game would sell great. Now I am less hopeful.

 

My fear is that it will be like System Shock, a great game that eventually becomes a classic that every recollects fondly, but very few actually played when it was released.

 

 

SOmetimes the most interesting games seem to slip through the cracks. Probabably because they are somewhat harder to categorize and somewhat different to play.

 

AP just doesn't seem to be getting the play of some of the competeting titles. WHich is a shame because right now it looks like the best game of the year.

 

Of course, can't say for sure until the year is actually over and all games have been released.

 

 

edit: Although with good reviews and word of mouth, I'm sure the game can sell a lot of copies over time. I just don't know if it can blow out 2 million in the first couple weeks. It would be interesting to know exactly what level of expectation Sega has for the game. How many copies does AP need to sell how fast to be qualified as a "success"?

Edited by Slowtrain
Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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Halo 3: ODST. Modern Warfare 2. Assassin's Creed 2. Borderlands. These are only a FEW of the games on my radar and yet the only game I have preordered is Alpha Protocol. With the exception of Halo, I firmly believe each and every one of those games is a DAY ONE purchase for me. I'm not even including things like Brutal Legend and Beatles Rock Band. So against a lineup of established and well-hyped games, how will Alpha Protocol fare?

 

I think some MASSIVE marketing needs to start right now for this game to compete. We dont want AP to flop, only to be found in March as a GREAT GAME. We want AP to be top 3 or 4 and have people drooling over it.

 

That's some very tough competition indeed, and then there's DA:O which has already sold out alot of Xbox and PC CE editions. The main reason why AP won't sell as mush as these other titles is because of the graphics and gameplay. However, I think it'll get some glowing reviews due to the writing, characters, etc. It might even pull in a few "RPG of the year" awards, depending. I don't think there's too much to worry about though, even if it sells the least out of all these titles, I think it'll still do well enough. But top 3 or 4 and people drooling over it? Not likely.

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They couldn't have chosen a worse time to bring this out (well, maybe Q1 2010). Alpha Protocol could do so much better if they had released it in the desert of games that was July-August. Releasing it alongside Halo, Assassin's Creed and MW2 is pretty much sending it out to die.

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i agree, it should have come out a month ago when NOTHING was coming out. holiday season is for the folks with the MEGA advertising budgets.

 

then again, a game with REALLY good reviews generally sells enough within a year or so.

 

don't bring up psychonauts and ****, because that game is not over 90% on metacritic, and it never had the HYPE of really good reviews, just "good" ones.

 

how many games in the past 5 years scored over 90% on metacritic and failed miserably? none.

 

(feel free to prove me wrong if you can, I will gladly change my stance in the face of evidence!)


Killing is kind of like playin' a basketball game. I am there. and the other player is there. and it's just the two of us. and I put the other player's body in my van. and I am the winner. - Nice Pete.

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Vary few publishers seem to take advantage of the exclusive media coverage the games get when they come out in a practically gameless month. No one would even mention Red Faction: Guerrilla in the fall, but everyone talked about it for a whole month because it was the only major-ish release in June.

 

That's how you get people interested and rack up lots of sales, especially for a somewhat niche non-franchise game.

Edited by Purkake
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Well, I don't think either Sega or Obs WANTED AP to slip as it has. So while unfortunate for AP perhaps, there really isn't much point in being to hard about it. There originally was not the intention to release AP in late October 2009. Just the way its all turned out.

 

Considering what happened to Alien crpg, it may be lucky that we are seeing the game at all. If it had been further back in development, maybe we wouldn't.

Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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Whatever the reason, it's just sad to see AP sent out to die.

 

Let's not go overboard. :lol:

 

That's a tad harsh and pessimistic, no?

Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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It would be helpful to know ahead of time what numbers Sega is putting on AP as being successful numbers.

 

It could be that, especially given AP's troubled development, Sega has low expectations and just wants the thing done and released and whatever money it generates will be a bonus.

 

SO if it sold 500,000 copies in the first month, maybe Sega would view it as a huge surprise hit.

 

 

Some of the value of these numbers is all relative to expectation.

Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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Vary few publishers seem to take advantage of the exclusive media coverage the games get when they come out in a practically gameless month. No one would even mention Red Faction: Guerrilla in the fall, but everyone talked about it for a whole month because it was the only major-ish release in June.

 

That's how you get people interested and rack up lots of sales, especially for a somewhat niche non-franchise game.

 

 

Did it actually work though? As in, are Red Faction's sales higher? I don't really remember it being a hot topic of discussion.

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It's sold over a million units, pleasing THQ, the publisher and beating (at least some) analysts' expectations of ~500k-650k.

 

Even if that wasn't the case, RF:G had pretty much the best possible conditions to sell as much as it was going to. If it hadn't sold, you'd have to look at faults with the game itself or the marketing.

Edited by Purkake
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Obs should delay it until June/July 2010.

"Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade - make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager. Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons. Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons. I'm going to to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"

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... oh crap, I wasn't serious. Sorry, Obs, I don't really care if your game sells in the millions, I just want to play it/enjoy it. :)

"Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade - make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager. Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons. Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons. I'm going to to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"

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