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Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Monday, October 1, 2018
From Boy to (Mega) Man
In today’s world, superheroes are having an amazing renaissance. The universes created by both Marvel and DC are immersive, captivating, and have a hold on childhood idol’s and consumers’ wallets. While not as strong as they are now, these larger-than-life heroes were still popular in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. Looking at my own childhood though, there was only one hero that stood above all: a little blue robot named Mega Man. Now this is not the first time I’ve sung the praises of the Blue Bomber, but for this post, and with Mega Man 11 launching today, I’d like to focus on what makes the character so compelling, what makes the fanbase so rabid for new material, and ultimately, why he has never been as successful as his ‘80’s rivals.
First, let’s quickly summarize the Mega Man series (feel free to check my older post here). Mega Man is determined to save the world by blasting his way through 8 Robot Masters and then taking on the penultimate boss (the evil Dr. Wily). He absorbs the power of his fallen foes as well. That is the quickest way I can summarize the series. While there are more story elements, Mega Man has never been known for its gripping narrative. Mega Man boils down to creative run and gun action, catchy soundtracks, and the challenge from taking on the Robot Masters.
Let’s start with the compelling challenge of taking on these Robot Masters. One of the greatest and most innovative aspects of the series is that the player can choose which boss and stage to take on immediately. The player can bounce from level to level to try his or her best to make it to the end of the stage and vanquish the boss. It puts the game into a pseudo-choose your own adventure theme, and where the development truly shines is that the stages are all relatively equal in both challenge and length. Traditionally, there will be one boss that is weak to Mega Man’s native weapon, the mega buster, but the journey to get to the end of stage is perilous at first. After countless deaths to start, muscle memory takes hold and the player can recognize the traps and tricks ahead. The same goes for the bosses, who have patterns to identify and overcome. A typical Mega Man game takes around 3 – 5 hours on a first play through, but after some practice can take just an hour. Still, the choose your own adventure feel and the unrelenting early challenge is what makes Mega Man stand out, along with the fusing of personality driven bosses.
Still, these themes are not new anymore, so what keeps players coming back? Simply put, the player can project themselves as the titular character. For a fair amount of his time, Mega Man has largely been mute. There may be some quips in text form here and there, but it’s simple to see that Mega Man’s duty, first and foremost, is to save the world. With a slightly quieter protagonist we as players are left to see a part of ourselves in the titular hero. Having an open and customizable narrative essentially gives us our own story: Should we use boss weapons? Should we only use the buster? Which level do we start with? End with? The choice is ours, and can make each play through different than the last.
Furthermore, the challenge in the character’s journey influences who we are as players. As I’ve mentioned, Mega Man is hard. You as a player will almost certainly die or receive damage several times before snatching victory. However, with air tight control, whenever a mistake occurs, it’s because of the player, not because of the game. It teaches the player how to be better and how to take failure and turn it into success. Inevitably though, you will likely find success, and when you do that success will feel so rewarding. There are times where the game feels like an incredible challenge that you cannot surpass, but once you do, it feels amazing and becomes so much easier on your next run. It teaches resiliency in players.
That same difficulty that is one of the best attributes is also one of its greatest faults. Challenge is a compelling reason to keep coming back to a game or series, it’s also a reason to stay away from a game or series. The Mario and Sonic franchises are both simple to understand and play. They also come with downright easy introductory stages, while Mega Man is much more unforgiving, with 8 stages largely meant to mirror each other in terms of difficulty. There is no ramp up like in the franchises previously mentioned, you’re thrown right into the fire with the Blue Bomber, and I can understand why it would turn people away.
Personally, with the rise of difficult games again, I’m very intrigued to see the impact of Mega Man 11. It could hold a new torch for the franchise or it could fade away into the tundra. Early returns have been positive though, as reviews have been strong and the game’s demo has surpassed one million downloads. It will be interesting to see if the character can make a true comeback and if this game will become a building block for the franchise. Capcom is pulling out all the stops: a physical edition of the game, upgraded graphics, voice acting, and an additional in-game soundtrack. It may have been 8 years, but Capcom is making sure players know the Blue Bomber is back.
I’ve opined multiple times how much the series has meant to me, but I cannot overstate the excitement I feel for this new game. It honestly feels like Christmas morning to me. While that may be immature, nerdy, or what have you, I don’t mind. Everyone has a hobby or passion that excites them, and this is my favorite franchise in gaming. Ever since the original announcement I have been excited for this game. Truth be told, I thought that the Blue Bomber would never come back after Mega Man 10. While the game was good, having the father of Mega Man leave Capcom and the company cancel multiple games shortly afterward had me very concerned. After 8 years I had come to accept that it had come to an end, and with it, a part of my own childhood. But I have never been more excited to be wrong. The series is a part of who I am, and always will be.
So now we’re left to see how the world truly reacts to the return of Mega Man. Twitter and the internet can get excited at the thought of a character returning, but we will only know how successful this comeback attempt has been when we see the sales figures for the game. But Mega Man is resilient, with every hit or death he takes there is always another opportunity to get back up and to try again. It may have taken a while, but it appears Mega Man may be here to stay and keep fighting for everlasting peace again.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Nostalgia: Marketing’s Secret Weapon
(He’s back!
Credit: Data Discs)
Last week marks the release of Sonic Mania, the latest outing for Sonic the Hedgehog. It has
garnered both critical and consumer acclaim, but already seems to be a smash
hit for the franchise. What makes it stand out from previous games? Simple: Sonic Mania looks, sounds, and more
importantly, feels like a game fresh
out of the ‘90’s. It appears like a long-lost cartridge from the Genesis days.
As of this writing, Sonic Mania sits
on MetaCritic with an 86 critical
score based on 46 reviews and a 9.2
user score based on 202 ratings[1].
Clearly, there is something resonating with consumers. That something is nostalgia. Surprisingly enough, this phenomenon is not
solely linked to gaming as the Food & Beverage industry along with Consumer
Electronics share this passion for the past. Whether it’s Crystal Pepsi, the
original KFC colonel, and old vinyl record players, nostalgia based strategies
have begun to make a name for themselves in the world today.
Where did the
interest in profitable nostalgia come from? Why is it successful?
(Note the date at the bottom, 2008.
Credit: TechnoBuffalo)
When trying to understand why nostalgia has made an impact
in multiple industries, we first need to decipher where it came from. While
throwback and limited-edition products are not new and instead make for a minor
spike in sales, fully committed, new nostalgia themed products have been what
has created an impression on consumers. In gaming, one of the earliest editions
of a wholly nostalgia themed product was the release of Mega Man 9. Mega Man 9,
released in 2008, was a brand-new iteration in the long running franchise with
one major twist: it was made as if it were intended for the original Nintendo
Entertainment System[2].
The game was a smash hit and a bold move for the industry that was only looking
forward, not to its past. Since then, multiple developers have sought to
recreate the nostalgia magic Mega Man 9 captured
but with mixed results. Sonic Mania
appears to be the culmination of this new interest in nostalgia, and it appears
to be here to stay for the long term.
Nostalgia is not simply relegated to gaming though. The Food
& Beverage industry has taken advantage as well. If you’ve taken notice of
any KFC advertisements in the last few years, you’ve probably seen several
different actors in the Colonel’s attire. This has been extremely successful
for KFC as brand engagement has been increasing year over year. The multiple
impersonators help convey a story worth watching, along with sticking in
consumers’ minds to think which actor might come next[3].
Recently though, KFC has taken a step back with forcing new Colonels and
instead has been using image based positioning to show the latest Colonel
superimposed in the commercials of the original Colonel. Having a commercial
with the original Colonel, along with a grainy style shot, helps evoke memories
of youth, likely when the older generation enjoyed KFC more regularly. It tells
a story, something that sticks well with customers of all ages. Furthermore,
given KFC has gone through its fair share of scandals in recent memory, by
turning the clock back to the original Colonel the restaurant can remind
consumers it’s a brand that can be trusted. Overall, the blend of nostalgia inducing
memories and overall good feelings can help drive sales. Couple these
advertisements with the impersonators, and KFC has cooked up a recipe for both
building brand equity and sales’ success.
(Moving forward
by looking back. Credit: Amazon)
Looking towards consumer electronics, we see a huge trend of
consumers shifting towards vinyl again. 10 years ago, interest in vinyl was
minimal at best. Since then, it has grown 52% year over year as of 2016, when a
total of 12 million vinyl records purchased in the open market[4].
With media shifting towards digital options, the market has created a need for
physical entertainment and has found its home in vinyl. Consumers still enjoy
having physical records and a player. A record player becomes something of a
furniture piece, and having a record collection is something trendy that has
not diminished over time unlike its CD counterparts. While streaming or having
a digital library may be great as well, we’re all one laptop drop from
potentially losing everything, or worse, going through the motions of
recapturing our collection from backup drives, the cloud, or *gasp*, customer
service centers. Having a record player and vinyl brings forth a dual purpose:
style and physical content. Vinyl has a specific feel to it, you know what a vinyl
record looks like, and most important, everyone knows that signature vinyl
sound when a record player kicks into hear. Although total sales are still at a
miniscule number at 12 million, big companies are taking notice of this shift.
In fact, Sony recently announced that it would begin pressing vinyl for the
first time in 30 years[5].
If nostalgia can make such an impact with a behemoth like Sony, clearly it has
the power to make noise in any industry.
Is Nostalgia a
perfect Marketing Strategy?
Nostalgia is not flawless. Let’s go back to my favorite
franchise Mega Man. After the success of Mega
Man 9, the developer Capcom quickly pounced on producing Mega Man 10. Now I thought that it was a
solid, if unspectacular, entry in the franchise; however, I’m a longtime fan
and would have given anything for more content. The remaining populous found it
to be average at best, and it reviewed well, it showed faults of nostalgia.
Even worse, it felt like a cash in, as if Capcom knew it had something good and
needed to take advantage. Here we see the biggest caveat when it comes to
producing old styled content. While a nostalgia trip may be exciting, it can
get old fast, especially if it does not hold up to the standards of the past.
That’s why when I bought a record player, and it sounded terrible, I immediately
regretted my purchase and haven’t considered getting a new one until I have
enough disposable income to truly invest in a high-end set.
Nostalgia and the
Future
Despite its flaws, nostalgia based marketing and production
does not look to be slowing down anytime soon. The strategies of evoking
childhood memories in products are simply too strong to ignore, as they
consistently drive both sales and brand engagement. Furthermore, longtime brand
equity merged with nostalgia themed marketing is usually targeted at a
demographic that has grown up with the product, only now this specific
demographic likely has more disposable income than before. Having said that,
nostalgia will not work for every company, especially those that are either
young or do not have a glorious past. While Nintendo and Disney can rely on the
brand equity their characters have built over time, a company like Apple has no
one clamoring for a follow up to the Apple II, nor does Facebook have fanbases urging
the company to return to its original layout. Regardless, nostalgia strategies
appear to be here to stay and we can only hope as consumers that companies will
make the best decisions with the content they produce.
[1] http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/sonic-mania?ref=hp
[2] It
also happens to be my favorite game of all time
[3] https://www.qsrmagazine.com/competition/kfcs-comeback-story-takes-flight
[4] https://www.consumerreports.org/audio-video/return-of-turntables/
[5] http://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2106906/sony-resume-pressing-vinyl-japan-after-30-year-hiatus
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
To Be Determined: A Critical Look at Personalization & Gaming
For decades, the Video Game industry
has been working towards creating fully customizable experiences, allowing users
to have as much control as possible in the media. Customization ranges from
creating a character all the way to the player’s in-game experiences. Initially
this sort of customization prompted players to simply choose their characters, but
now it allows for customization of every intricate detail, from large items
such as names to even the minutest items like how far a chin should protract.
Players can also customize their aesthetics with options to have user music
replace in game tunes. While these customizations have always been a delighter
in terms of benefit, the real depth of customization comes from the game
experience itself.
(Even in the upcoming Sonic Forces you can make your own
speedy quadruped. Credit: YouTube)
Since open world games like Grand
Theft Auto 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have risen
to the forefront of the industry, players have been able to customize their
games in how they experience the content. While games may still have a set of
boundaries, this relatively new phenomenon of allowing users to decide what,
when, where, and how to approach objectives brings forth unparalleled
customization. Best of all, it looks like these opportunities will only
continue to grow and develop over time, bringing fully individualized
experiences nearly impossible to replicate. While this is all well and good,
customization is not the purpose of this post. Rather, it’s personalization, something
lacking in the industry.
When I look to define
personalization, I look towards the combination of individual preference and
systematic probability. It’s rendered best in the music industry, where leading
companies can personalize a listening experience by creating playlists that
focus both on the user’s saved tracks and system predicted songs that the user
might enjoy given his or her tastes. As another example, when a user orders
through an online pizza service, at checkout the system typically offers either
a side or beverage that was previously purchased, simply to remind the user
that he/she may have previously enjoyed it and might want to order it again.
This strategy works in helping repeat purchases and revenue growth, and yet, in
a multibillion-dollar industry in Video Games, it barely exists.
While there are the occasional
advertisements on the console home screens or random pop ups of new content
either in game or as part of the console platform, it never feels truly focused
on the player. An example is that when viewing games online there is almost
always a section titled “Games Like This” or something that highlights
potential products to the player; however, these notices barely carry any
weight. They are typically put out of focus on the screen and do not seem
overly intriguing, and here is where the greatest opportunities lie.
(The screen prior to starting up Bloodborne is barren, a missed
opportunity. Credit: PSN)
Think for a second about the systems
of yesteryear. Sure, a game cartridge might house additional saves where data
would be stored to justify stating there was an understanding of time spent
with the game, but never really was there any attention paid towards
understanding the consumer (not to mention that data never was relayed back to
the parent company). Historically speaking, game companies realize their brand’s
impact through sales figures, followers, review scores, and other external
metrics, but what if they thought about their brand and its following
internally? If FromSoftware knew that I had beaten Bloodborne four times,
either the company or Sony should have reached out to me in some capacity to
state something simple like “Hey! We see you’ve sunk a lot of time into this
game. Why not try our other ones that are similar in content?” or “Hey! If you
enjoy this game, you need to try out the DLC. It’s even better!”. Instead,
despite my immense satisfaction with Bloodborne, I waited months before
picking up another FromSoftware game. Now, I’ll freely admit I’m a longtime
gamer and thus had an interest in the other FromSoftware games after finishing Bloodborne,
but what if I didn’t have that interest? I would have missed out on what has
become one of my favorite franchises ever in the Souls’ series.
As another example, EA Sports
typically comes out with a new iteration of their Football, Basketball, and
Hockey franchises annually, and these are all viable opportunities to generate
income. If they recorded data that I love playing as the Celtics in basketball
games, well maybe they could offer up an opportunity to purchase a throwback
jersey in game. Maybe in an action game, if the system were able to determine
that I enjoyed playing as one character specifically, it could target me for
the DLC associated with that character. These unique instances rarely happen,
and, in my opinion, they should.
Perhaps I’m optimistic, but I think
there is a huge amount of money lying on the table for these companies to
capture. They just need to fully understand the data they have acquired from
their impassioned fan bases. In fact, I think it’s only a matter of time until
they do. The danger with the gaming community at times is that there can be an
over-saturation of misguided attempts, and the only thing that’s worse than an
error prone advertisement is one that fails to make any impact. In the
ultra-competitive world of gaming where companies are fighting for players,
dollars and everything in between, one misstep could spell doom for a campaign;
however, as long-standing companies become more mobile friendly, there could be
an alternative avenue for personalization to make the impact it needs to become
a mainstay in the industry.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Let's Make a Franchise - Part 2
When we last left off the tides of change were approaching.
Sony had established itself in the industry, Nintendo was battling with quality
over quantity, and Sega was lost. Heading into the 6th generation
things were not getting easier, as Microsoft revealed its entrant into the
console wars with the Xbox, a brand new machine that looked to take another
piece out of the competition. Likely due to the Sony success, Microsoft
believed that its own computing advantages would lead to further success for
itself in a new product line. Sega, reeling after the Sega Saturn disaster,
needed to make a statement, and the Sega Dreamcast aimed to do just that. The
question would be whether it would be enough to salvage its hardware line (Sad
spoiler alert: it wasn’t). Let’s take a look at how the software itself panned
out, and what differences it made for the future of building a franchise. Also,
if you are looking to see the data parameters I used, check back on my first
post here.
Overall Metrics:
78 games were released (12 for Nintendo, 19 for
Sega, 20 for Microsoft, and 27 for Sony)
50 out of 78 games received sequels (64%)
25 out of 50 (50%) of games from the generation
started a franchise and received a sequel
18 out of 25 (72%) received multiple sequels
Interestingly enough, the Sega Dreamcast started
the largest amount of franchises (6), followed by Microsoft (5), Sony (4), and
Nintendo (3).
Average review was listed at 75
Average sales figure was just under 820,000
(when available)
(Fresh franchises were all over
this generation. Credit: Mobygames)
Insight 1 – Welcome
to the Premier Generation for Starting a Franchise
If you couldn’t tell from the overall metrics this
generation was absolutely outstanding for franchise development. Pending a game
made it to the one sequel stage (a relatively light 50% of all new franchises),
there was a 72% chance that franchise would continue to develop more games,
becoming a true established franchise. What we see above are two excellent
examples – Halo: Combat Evolved, the killer
app Microsoft needed to make a statement in the industry and Timesplitters, a time travel based first
person shooter that was met with critical success and decent sales. The Halo
franchise remains one of Microsoft’s premier franchises and essentially brought
Developer Bungie to prominence. The Timesplitters’ series did not fare as well,
but was one of the premier shooters of the generation, it just never seemed to
be the blockbuster it was capable of in the eyes of the publishers. Regardless,
this generation did extremely well with bringing forth new franchises for
gamers to get involved with, many of which continue to today.
Insight 2 – Sports
and Racing are the New Genre Winners
As you may recall, Platformers and Fighting games were huge
winners in the 5th generation. Unfortunately, the mid ‘90’s were the
height of their fandom, and have since been fighting their way back for nearly
20 years to optimal relevance. While there may be intense fighting game
tournaments like Evo, these genres simply do not command the dedication they
once did, likely because they were so innovative back then, and now more
commonplace in comparison. In fact, in this generation there were only 2 brand
new Fighting franchise and 2 new Platformer franchises, but on the bright side
all 4 received sequels. However, they clearly became an afterthought, as in
comparison, the Sports and Racing genres generated 43 titles, over half of the
entire library of games released at launch. Of the 48 games, 24 were brand new
properties, with 13 of 24 receiving a sequel, and 11 of 13 receiving multiple
sequels. The numbers alone show how powerful Sports and Racing were for the
generation. The question then becomes what changed from the 5th
generation, and it likely dates back to my argument then. With this generation,
developers had learned how to make successful Sports’ games in 3D, and could
now bet big on new franchises. Furthermore, the 6th generation was
the last generation in which a few couple of interesting cultural dynamics
occurred. First, this was the last true generation of the “Bit wars”, where
users would argue over graphic capabilities tying to the preference of a
console. While the 7th generation would have some argument, this was
the last one where the huge difference played a huge factor, as changes have
been relatively incremental[1].
Second, this was the last generation where certain sporting
licenses were available. I wrote
about how the NFL 2K and NFL Blitz series made noise against the Madden
franchise, but this all changed as in 2005 when EA got exclusive rights to the
NFL license. This essentially eliminated competition, but back from 1999-2001
it was all wide open, giving the other franchises opportunities to take a shot.
I have played some NFL 2K recently as
well and have to say, it’s quite a bummer EA pulled that move. While a
brilliant strategic move, I prefer having options. Even when EA later got the
rights to the Blitz franchise, they really took the fun out of it, and made it
much more of a simulation and less of arcade action. Oh well, still need to
give them credit where credit’s due.
(A Nintendo slam dunk. Credit: Wikipedia)
Insight 3 – Once
again, Well Reviewed Games Get Sequels
This is a pretty self-explanatory nugget. Basically, the top
15 reviewed properties all received sequels, with scores topping out at 97 at 1
and 77 at 15. Afterwards things were more mixed, including games 16 – 18 all
not receiving a direct follow up. Regardless, it just shows that this
generation still relied on reviews, even if sales weren’t there. For interest’s
sake, here is the breakdown of new properties for each platform by average
review score:
Nintendo – 78
Sega – 75
Xbox – 74
Sony – 70
All pretty similar as you can see. Nintendo had the fewest
new titles at 5, but all of them received sequels, which while it may seem like
good news was not enough as quantity of games was far more important to this
generation than quality.
Insight 4 – Sales
Become the Key Driver for Sequels
Of top 26 best-selling games only 1 did not receive a sequel
(regardless of new or existing IP). Sales topped out at 5,000,000 units at
number 1 and 730,000 units at number 26. The one IP that did not receive a
sequel was a spinoff to an existing franchise as well, so clearly companies
focused on getting the nice return on investment to greenlight a sequel. What’s
more compelling is that of the 25 sequels, 19 received an additional sequel(s)
thereafter, 11 of which were brand new franchises. I find this insight to be
crucial as to me it proves that there is both a better opportunity to make large
sales for new franchises with the console launch and thus, to create a
longstanding franchise. Genres were largely varied as well, and reviews came in
at 68 or above, showing that a franchise can be born out of a console launch;
moreover, being a new franchise during a console launch may also lead to
additional sales, largely due to the lack of availability as well.
Insight 5 – First
Person Shooters Appear and Begin to Make a Claim
As you may have noticed in the last iteration, First Person
Shooters were unusually absent. The truth is that much like in the Sports
genre, the FPS needed time to get an understanding of how they would work on
consoles compared to PC counterparts. There were some excellent FPS games in
the fifth generation (Goldeneye is a
classic and Perfect Dark was an
exciting new IP at the time of release) but once again, this specific genre
would have been a risky bet at launch, mainly because analog control had not
been fully understood. The 6th generation was a totally different
story, and thus we saw games like Timesplitters
right from the start. Microsoft and Bungie, knowing the PC genre better, was
able to capitalize on the new trend with Halo,
which really paved the way for the genre to become the monolith it is today.
This trend has naturally continued over time, as we’ll once again see in the
next chapter of this study.
(Unfortunately,
he just wasn’t enough this time…Credit: Sonic Wikia)
Insight 6 – Sega’s
Power Move Not Enough. Microsoft Stakes a Claim and Endures
As mentioned in the overall metrics, Sega launched the
highest number of new franchises (6 out of 19, just under 33%). If this was
evident earlier I’ll repeat it: Sega was on the ropes after the Saturn, and
needed to shake things up. With the Dreamcast it brought forth 128 bit graphics
while Sony was dabbling in 32 bits and Nintendo was stuck in cartridge based 64
bits[2].
Sega also provided the opportunity to connect via the internet, and had fun additions
like mini games on the visual Memory Unit (VMU, the memory cart) along with
others[3].
Sega was very ahead of its time in 1999, but clearly had brought forth a system
that was unlike anything the company or consumers had seen before. With it came
6 brand new franchises at launch to help entice consumers. Unfortunately, it
did not work out. Maybe it’s because Sonic was no longer the killer app he once
was in 1991, maybe it’s because the franchises had too much of an arcade feel
in an era where arcades were dying, or maybe Sega had finally used up its
goodwill. Personally though, I have one overarching theory. Consoles are not
cheap, and consumers knew the PlayStation 2 was only a little over a year away.
While waiting a year for the PS2 seems fair, if not overwhelming argument, Sony
had one killer app Sega just couldn’t compete with: the DVD Player. In the late
‘90’s DVDs had begun to supplant the VHS systems of yesteryear. The only
problem though was that DVD players were pretty expensive. However, when Sony
announced the PlayStation 2 would also be a DVD player along with a gaming
console, it instantly became one of the cheapest DVD players on the market, and
a huge value in comparison to the competition. So instead of Sega recapturing
its former fans, Sony was able to entice them to wait as they looked to change
their movie collections. Finally, Sony was able to build up goodwill with its
original PlayStation, something Sega had lost. Sony had landed in the gaming
industry with a boom, and supported its console extensively to ensure it would
be around for the long haul, and clearly consumers took notice. Sega did
everything right, but unfortunately it appeared too little, too late.
Microsoft on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise to the
industry. Coming in at the end of the launches alongside Nintendo’s GameCube,
to see Microsoft might have appeared odd at first. The PC behemoth had never
seemed to want to be in the console wars. The PC gaming community was strong,
but crossing over seemed a bit unorthodox. However, given Microsoft had seen
games run well on its PCs likely gave it incentive to take a shot at the
console market. Much like Sega, Microsoft needed to make a splash in order to
get stay power for the long term. This came in the form of Halo: Combat Evolved, and while it’s not fair to say it was all due
to one game, Halo was able to be the highest selling launch game of the
generation. That includes both new and established franchises. Bungie and
Microsoft essentially produced the must have title not only for the Xbox, but
also for the entire generation. Furthermore, all properties launched without
previous iterations on the Xbox received a sequel (6 for 6), and of the
sequels, only 1 missed not getting an additional follow up. Combine this with
solid 3rd party support and the Xbox was put in the best position
possible. Simply put, Microsoft came to play, and it certainly paid off. Now if
Halo was not around things might’ve been different, but that’s a world we’ll
never know.
Conclusion:
After reviewing this generation in depth, I’d deem it the
“swing for the fences generation”. Sega put everything it could out there and
failed, Microsoft did the same and succeeded. Nintendo relied heavily on its
first parties to generate success but did not have the quantity its competitors
boasted, and Sony said it didn’t care about reviews as long as there were more
games for its console. What does that leave us with? An exit out of hardware
for Sega, a relegation to market niche for Nintendo, a firm entry as market challenger
for Microsoft, and pretty much complete domination from Sony. What I’ve
neglected to bring up this entire time since my goal is to focus on the games
is that Sony created the greatest selling console of all time, which in its
lifetime went on to sell over 155 million units. Compare that to 24 million
from Microsoft, roughly 22 from Nintendo, and a meager 9 million from Sega, and
you see who the real winner of the generation was. Naturally, that might skew
some of the Sony franchise numbers in its favor, but still, these franchises
weren’t created at the end of the lifecycle, it happened during the reign, and
so the insights still apply. Furthermore, this generation proved conventional
norms wrong, as what seemed like an entrenched and developed industry was up
ended by Microsoft, who not only finished off a longtime player in Sega, but
put Nintendo in the precarious position of 3rd place, something it
had never experienced. Not to spoil anything, but Microsoft and Sony would soon
learn that though Nintendo was down, it was certainly not out.
[1] I
say relatively because you could make an argument against the Wii’s poor
graphics, but that’s for another time
[2] I
mention cartridges because shifting to disc based games was a difficult process
for Nintendo, essentially shifting the company’s strategy
[3] I
could go on, but if you’re interested just Google the Dreamcast later
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Downloadable Content: Worth it or Worthless?
Call it an expansion pack, call it a micro transaction, call
it whatever you want, but in the end downloadable content (DLC) is here to stay. DLC refers to additional content for a game
that can be used to enhance or extend the experience, and can consist of new
levels, new aesthetics, new playable characters, new areas/bosses, and a number
of other opportunities. DLC typically comes with a price tag of some sort as
well, and while some of the opportunities may be relatively inexpensive, others
can leave you wondering if you got screwed out of a large chunk of the game
(what up Asura’s Wrath). Furthermore,
these opportunities are marketed relatively poorly at the time of release, as
they are released well after the original game hits store shelves. Instead,
game companies focus on incentivizing the purchase of the upcoming DLC when
purchasing the main game, giving consumers to purchase both the game and the
add on content at a discount, typically in the form a “season pass”.
Regardless, this post aims to look at some notable examples of whether DLC was
worth the price of admission for fans or a slap in the face.
(All post release.
Credit: Smashbros.com)
Worth It – Super Smash Brothers Wii U/3DS new
characters
Fighting games may not seem like the perfect place for
additional content. Moving hard earned cash for clothing changes seems trivial,
and while arenas are nice, they’re not exactly a game changer. What Nintendo
did with its latest iteration of the Smash Bros. franchise though was
brilliant. In the course of a year and a half, Nintendo periodically released
new characters to its popular fighter. The game itself was first released back
in October 2014, and continued releases with a total 7 new characters up until
March 2016. Furthermore, each new character was a major announcement for
Nintendo, and included 3 new third party characters in Ryu from the Street
Fighter series, Bayonetta from the Bayonetta series, and most shockingly, Cloud
from the Final Fantasy series. The
company also released three old favorites in Mewtwo. Roy and Lucas, along with
Corrin, who would be starring in his/her own game later that year, essentially
providing players with marketing for an upcoming game[1].
The best part is that the majority of these characters all had distinct
move sets, giving players more tactics to learn and utilize. Some of characters
are actually considered the best in the game. While the characters were not
cheap individually, each wave of content typically came bundled with new stages
and costumes at a lower than per each item price, making the subsequent
purchases not too hard to swallow. When it comes to creating worthwhile
additional content, Nintendo threw a knockout punch with this one.
(I mean…really?
Credit: Knowyourmeme.com)
Worthless – Extra
costumes, armor, etc. in almost every game (Exception: die hard
fans)
Listen, I’m not trying to rain on the parade of costumes. I
think they’re pretty cool if you’re a fan of a game or series. But let’s be serious – they add basically
no value to a game outside of aesthetics or if they have some benefit it’s
minimal. Take the horse armor upgrade from Skyrim, the early armor from Nioh
as boring defense examples, and a lot of the other options add minimal value.
For a company to charge for such services seems unfair and unnecessary, and
would be way more welcome if they added them as a late game bonus or for
meeting certain requirements. It does not look like this trend has any plans to
change in the near future for better or worse. I have to give credit to a game
like Tekken 7, which forces players
to continue to play the game to accumulate virtual money to purchase these aesthetics
as opposed to using real world money.
(Superb informational advertisement. Credit: Youtube)
Worth It – Sonic & Knuckles, the OG DLC
When Sonic &
Knuckles was conceptualized, it was actually meant to be a part of the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 cartridge.
Unfortunately due to both time and memory constraints, the full game would not
make it in time for the original February release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. As a result, Sega thought up an idea of
splitting the game, letting 3 finish
at a natural point, and then allowing Sonic
& Knuckles to consider the story. What this means is that when users
purchased Sonic & Knuckles the cartridge
itself had “lock-on technology”, meaning it had an adapter where players could
input a Sonic 3 cartridge and play Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles in one full play through. It also made
Knuckles a playable character in Sonic 3, and Tails a playable character in Sonic & Knuckles. Furthermore,
players could now play as Knuckles in Sonic 2, along with the special stage
mini game in the original Sonic. Overall,
in a world without Downloadable Content (i.e. 1994), Sega came up with a
revolutionary method to fully utilize its most successful franchise.
(Ugh. Credit: GamersGlobal)
Worthless –
Gratuitous nudity in The Saboteur
Electronic Arts (EA) does not have the best track record
when it comes to DLC. To confess, I’ve never played this game myself, but from
what I’ve read it’s middling at best, and insulting at worst. To my original
point, when I researched information for this post, a simple Google search of “Worst
DLC” will lead you to quite a few EA published titles (including this one).
Essentially, for five dollars, players could enter a casino/strip club with
virtual nipples and basic card games. Five dollars where you can essentially
find things of the sort for free on the internet via another simple Google
search is just insulting. What’s really harrowing in my opinion though, is that
EA preyed on the negative stereotypes of gamers, the isolated individuals
incapable of making any social contact and thus needed to debase women to churn
a quick buck. Gamers are smarter than
you think EA, get over yourself. Unsurprisingly the developer, Pandemic
Studios, is defunct as of 2009. Good riddance.
(Prepare
to die. Credit: DarkSouls3.Wiki)
Worth It – Dark Souls and Bloodborne provide some of the best boss fights via DLC
Listen, I promise you the next post won’t have a shout out
to either Dark Souls or Bloodborne. Since my hot take
(Right here) I’ve simply gone back to them over and over again, playing through
the game and the DLC. Let’s start with Dark
Souls 3 – Two separate DLC packages that are pricy but consist of some of
the best boss fights in the game/series. While the Ashes of Ariandel package
was admittedly a little light, the Sister Friede battle was breathtaking, and
again, brought back moments of tense, unadulterated pleasure, where you have so
few opportunities to get your strikes in, but once you do and you win, it’s
totally worth it. That boss fight alone was worth the investment. In the other
DLC add on, The Ringed City, we are treated again to some of the best fights in
the entire game (and potentially, the entire series). The final boss, Slave
Knight Gael, is so intense, hard, infuriating, invigorating, adrenaline
pumping, and gut wrenching that it simply has to be played and mastered for it
to be fully understood. It really pains me when people say games are a waste of
time, largely because I do consider gaming to be its own unique art form, but
also because I find the comments baseless. I’d love for those people to take an
hour to try to beat Slave Knight Gael and let me know if they do or do not feel
anything, I’d wager it would change a lot of opinions.
(Be afraid.
Credit: Fextralife.com)
On the Bloodborne side
of things similar feelings are represented. There are a healthy dose of new
bosses with unique move sets, and some of them I consider the best in the game.
Lady Maria is an intense battle where you feel like you are truly going at it
with one of the more polished villains, plus she has the coolest weapon. My
favorite once again lies with the final boss though in the Orphan of Kos. When
I got to the Orphan I had essentially played through Bloodborne twice, although I was on my first run of the DLC. I had
gotten pretty good at understanding the game and knowing how to attack enemies
and bosses. I defeated the aforementioned Lady Maria on my second try, and
happened to feel pretty confident entering the coastal battlefield with the Orphan.
What I found though was that I was not expecting the speed and ferocity of the
creature, and simply got wrecked over and over. Finally, through perseverance I
uncovered strategies to win, and surely enough with enough strikes was able to
best him. When I finally did, I let out a loud “YES” in my household. I never
do things like that really, so when a
game can make you feel something so primal, something good is going on.
As an aside I have a fun story regarding the battles with
the Orphan of Kos. You see, I moved home to my parents’ house after finishing
grad school before relocating again to begin my career and it was a great
experience. I got to bond with my parents – seeing them regularly and helping
out with errands and the like, while also finding some quality time for rest
and relaxation after a busy two years. I was also able to catch up on a
significant amount of games I wanted to play, hence beating Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne again.
Unfortunately during one of my losses with the Orphan of Kos my mother made the
mistake of opening the door and gently calling down to me in the basement[2].
Sadly getting whooped left me in a bit of a tizzy, leaving my only natural
reaction to roar back with “MOM! NOT NOW”, after which I heard the door close
softly. I then put my head in my hands, as in all my years of gaming and at
nearly thirty years old had I felt more like a child. Oh well, we can all laugh
about it now, I suppose that’s what counts.
(Fair value?
Credit: Youtube)
Worthless – Asura’s Wrath makes you pay to finish
the real game
So this is a tough one for me. On the one hand, Asura’s Wrath was an absolute gem of a
sleeper hit and deserved better from Capcom. On the other, it did not sell
well, so when a sequel that had begun development was promptly cancelled fans
were left at a loss. Now, Capcom should’ve given the additional content to the
players for free (in my opinion of course), but of course, they charged money
for the opportunity to continue the story. For Capcom to cancel the sequel and
then force its players to pay to see what the additional chapters were in the
game for a price seems cold, and really shows how out of tough Capcom is with
the modern gamer. I went ahead and bought the additional chapters and they were
excellent, and I’m sure more content would have come in the future had the game
not been cancelled. Ultimately though, having Capcom sell content that was
reserved for a cancelled project at a price point seems more like a con. I get the company does not want development
to go to waste, but considering the game did not sell well Capcom could have at
least done a solid for those who shelled out cash for the original product
instead of trying to exploit them. Furthermore, there were other special
chapters with Street Fighter
characters battling Asura, which were fun and all, but man, can we get a break
with the Street Fighter cameos already?
If there is one thing Capcom has no idea on how to do, it’s when to know enough
is enough.
(As a longtime MM fan…totally worth
it. Credit: Destructoid)
Others worth mentioning: the famed Mega Man Killers come in
additional levels to Mega Man 10 (Worth it if you are a fan), The Witcher 3 provides players with an
extraordinary amount of new gameplay (Definitely Worth it), amiibo support (it varies across the board, but I’d say
it largely correlates to the Worthless side,
mainly in that Nintendo likes to block certain unlockable content unless you
purchase the toys, which objectively teeters on the unfair side of things)
Overall, we’re at an interesting point in gaming. DLC is no
longer being thought of as a cool extra, but instead is being planned prior to launch
to get additional dollars for the full game experience. In some sense it’s fine,
but in others it’s unfair to those who expect value out of $60. Being told you’ll
need to pay $25 extra to “get everything” is over the top, and while there are
few details on the data available, I strongly believe that unfortunately this
model is here to stay unless things become too outrageous (see the recent issue
for Metroid Samus Returns) that the
community finally says no more[3].
Unfortunately with quite enthusiastic fanbases I’m not sure we’ll ever see that
happen.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Let's Make a Franchise - Part 1
What does it take to create a successful franchise?
This is a question developers and publishers have been
asking themselves for decades. Some have figured out specific secrets regarding
strategies to give their products a greater chance (bundled in games are almost
guaranteed to be successful if the console sells well), but for most companies,
much like the movie industry, nobody knows anything. What’s the gaming version
of Paranormal Activity or Get Out? I might say Dark Souls, the series I just wrote
about last entry that on paper seems to make no sense but in practice became a
huge success. Limiting the accessibility and taking things backward surely
would be a tough pitch to publishers, but over 13 million copies sold later
developer From Software is laughing its way to the bank (not to mention, exclusivity
deals which lead to Bloodborne being
only on the PS4).
Regardless, I sought to find a way to get a better
understanding of how franchises are born, specifically what might give a new
property the best opportunity to become a successful franchise. My hypothesis
was that launching a new property in congruence with a console launch was the
best recipe for long term success. I was influenced not only by classics like
Mario and Sonic (Sonic not originally being bundled in with the Genesis, but
after doing so became a colossal success), but by more recent entries like the
game Knack, which was considered an
average platform but was recently greenlit for a sequel last year, largely
because it sold well given the PS4’s limited launch titles. In order to father
data for analysis, I look specifically at three generations of consoles: the
Sega Saturn/Sony PlayStation/Nintendo 64 generation, the Sega Dreamcast/Sony
PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube/Microsoft generation, and the Sony PlayStation
3/Nintendo Wii/Microsoft Xbox 360 generation. This post will focus specifically
on the earliest group of consoles, and will move forward in time over the next
few posts.
The data parameters I gathered were the following:
From here my mentor, Professor Jenny Escalas, and I were able to gather some
extremely interesting insights that just may provide help to anyone looking to
launch a new game in the future without previous experience. Without further
ado, here are some of the insights we found in regards to the 5th
generation of console launch games.
Overall Metrics:
1.
18 games available across the 3 consoles (10 for
Sony, 6 for Sega, 2 for Nintendo)
2.
14 out of 18 games received sequels
3.
10 out of 18 games received multiple sequels
4.
Average review was 71
5.
Average sales figure was 1.4 million units
(I’m sure you know
this gentleman. Credit: Wikipedia.com)
Insight 1 –
Platformers and Fighting Games Ruled the Era
In what should not be a surprise for the mid ‘90’s timeline,
platformers and fighting games were the genre that had the greatest chance of
success. All 3 platformers released across the consoles received a sequel, and
2 out of 3 of the fighting games did as well. Even more impressive, 4 out of
the 6 games did not have a previous iteration, the two that did were Super Mario 64 and Street Fighter: The Movie (although this game fared poorly and was
the one game that did receive a “true” sequel; however, the franchise Street
Fighter exists to this day, but no movie specific follow ups). Even more
impressive is of the 6 games, 4 continued with multiple sequels. Among the 6
games was Rayman, a name that is
familiar with most gamers and can effectively be considered one of the early
mascots for Sony (Rayman himself would be supplanted by Crash Bandicoot in the
future, but Ubisoft struck at the right time and took full advantage of the
system). Coming off the 16-bit era where platformers and fighting games were at
their peak though, it was not much of a surprise to see these genres create
effective long term success.
(A very cool new
franchise, Panzer Dragoon. Credit:
HardcoreGaming101)
Insight 2 – Review
Scores Play a Direct Role in Creating a Sequel
In this generation critical reception had leverage over
consumer reception. That’s not to say that commercial sales did not play a role
in creating a sequel, but they did not have as great a direct factor. All 11
games that had an average review of 75 or higher received sequels, even though
2 titles were lacking in sales (Clockwork
Knight – 90,000, Panzer Dragoon –
110,000). Panzer Dragoon was actually
the second highest rated game of the generation behind Super Mario 64, so it’s fair to assume that Sega believed the
critical success would lead to future sales even if it was not obvious in the
first game. Still, making a better than average game for this generation
essentially guaranteed a sequel, and to a degree, a franchise, as 9 of the 11
games received multiple sequels, truly a nice feat for the generation.
(It all started
with this radical box art. Credit: Wikipedia.com)
Insight 3 – Single
Player Games Had a Perfect Record in Sequels
Honestly, see subject line. Single player games did
exceptionally well in this generation. Even poorly reviewed games like Total Eclipse: Turbo and Kileak: The DNA Imperative which had
aggregate review scores of 57 and 48 respectively managed to get a sequel.
While this trend would not continue going forward, it is fair to infer that
this generation was the final great one for Single Player games before
multiplayer options became more commonplace.
Insight 4 – A Bad Era
for Sports’ Games
Unlike the forthcoming generations, the Sports genre
suffered terribly with its outings[1].
Of the five games released only two received sequels, and one had been a
pre-existing franchise. Granted, both successes continued into multiple
sequels, which meant there was some success, but indications are that this
timeframe was one that was not kind to sports initially. This is likely due to
the large shift from 2D to 3D graphics, forcing developers to take their time
before launching a new franchise or an update to one. The shift in graphics was
extremely detrimental for several genres and franchises (this generation could
also be considered the last great Platformer generation). Once developers got
used to the new graphical interfaces, Sports’ games would find themselves in
the thick of every future console launch.
(It’s so…90’s.
Credit: GameOldies.com)
Insight 5 – The
Golden Child of Console Launch Titles is Ridge
Racer
Coming into the 5th generation Sony had the most
to prove. Yes, it was appealing to many individuals given the lower price tag
(Sony’s product was at least $100 less than any competitor product) but it had
no franchises or previous intellectual property to rely on for software sales.
Thus, it needed to try to throw as many potential franchises at the system as
possible, leading to games like Rayman
from Ubisoft and Ridge Racer from
Namco (later Bandai Namco). I’ve already discussed the success Ubisoft had with
Rayman in Insight 1, but Ridge Racer took the console launch game
to a new level. What I mean is that for every forthcoming generation, Namco
launched a Ridge Racer game alongside
it for Sony. Ridge Racer 5 was in the
PlayStation 2 lineup and Ridge Racer 6
was part of the PlayStation 3 lineup. Even the PlayStation Portable had a Ridge
Racer title at launch. Why did Namco employ this strategy? It’s simple: the
games reviewed better than average and sold well for their time period until Ridge Racer 6. The original Ridge Racer had an aggregate review
score of 81 and sold just under 800,000 units, which should definitely be
considered a success for a brand new IP. Ridge
Racer 5 had an aggregate score of 80 along with 1,240,000 units sold, once
again showing the series was both high quality and easy to market. Things went
astray in the 7th generation as Ridge
Racer 6 had a lower aggregate score of 74 and managed only 200,000 in
sales, but at this point, Namco had reaped the reward of a successful franchise
all through betting big on the success of Sony consoles.
Conclusion:
Without spoiling the upcoming posts, what we see here in the
fifth generation is a bit of an outlier. These trends did not continue into the
future for the most part, but instead showcase the end of an era. The shift
from 2D to 3D was a difficult one, and with the games released we see a
majority sticking to the old norms (Platformers, Fighting) instead of the more
commonly found games today at launch (First Person Shooters, Sports). Regardless,
there definitely stand out hits at the time, such as Super Mario 64, alongside new franchises like Rayman and Ridge Racer.
These two specific games were definitely highlights, especially the birth of
Rayman. As we’ll see going forward, Ubisoft has been extremely shrewd in its
strategy to bet big on console launches, which has kept them not only creating
new franchises but also raking in sales compared to its competition.
Next time things will get a little more interesting as this brand
new company called Microsoft decides to enter the fray with its original Xbox
while Sega makes a last stand with its Dreamcast. Thanks for reading!
Notes:
Special thanks to Gamerankings.com,
VGChartz.com, and SegaRetro.org for providing a substantial amount of the data
points needed to conduct this research
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