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Forums - Sales Discussion - what can make a new game successful?

Gears of War was a prime example this game out of the gate excellent!! it sold extremely well...nintendogs, resistance all of those titles were new and they sold well....what can make a new game a successful?? is it ads, marketing, spreading the word of the new game?? what is it that made these games so special??



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This depends totally on the type of game.

Gears of War sold well, because it is a BEAUTIFUL FPS. (FPS graphics matter most). The 360 is a very FPS veering console.

Resistance sold well... becuase it was basically the only game worth buying. However it was a great graphics showcase, and fun game, with GREAT online play.

Word of mouth, and how fun the first 1 hour of gameplay is. Graphics matters too. 



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If it wasnt for MGS4, the PS3 is unnecessary

have blizzard make the game :)

guaranteed success.

 

seriously though

 

to be a successful game you  need a few variable things.

 

good gameplay

good graphics

good word of mouth (just look at Wii sales- that is almost100% word of mouth advertising)

 

another way to have a successful game is who the Dev is.

 if Blizzard develops the game, instant million+ seller guaranteed

Epic is getting a great reputation as well. 

bioware  has a good reputation as well

rockstar 

 



 Alot of sequels sell well purely based on the other games in the series, even if it is rubbish it will still get decent sales from people who loved the other ones :D

But im guessing you mean new games that people havent seen before.

Think the main thing that catches peoples attention is graphics which will mean it will get alot of attention and probably good launch sales.

In the long term though good gameplay spreads through word of mouth/internet etc... which will make it be a success 



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well it cant just be about graphics cause the nintendo wii and the nintendo ds is selling well and their graphics dont have nothin on xbox 360 or the ps3 games.......but i can see your point about new games being sold...by word of mouth and stuff....is there any more solutions that makes a new game successful?? im just saying this cause something that i like...might not sell....but something that someone else likes will sell...thats what confusing me.....



diverging from the software side.

 

the wii is selling by word of mouth.

 

e3 lines were LONG...

people were interested, then the demo stations came out and people played...

 then release = sell out

 person getting wii invites friends over ... turns on wii.. most everyone has a BLAST playing..now they want a wii...

 

that is word of mouth advertising.

 

world of warcraft in beta was getting huge huge word of mouth advertising from the people in beta (closed beta-even during late alpha(i was in the alpha-and after the first hrs of playing(when i started playing you could be human only and the maximum level was set at 10) i posted that wow was going to be a monster when it released-and pretty much stopped playing my other mmo to play and test wow) when the beta testers on the closed beta forums were BEGGING the devs to release the game at the state it was in at the time due to the gameplay..you know you are in for a ride like no other. 



The major thing is convincing the publisher(s) that the game is gonna be beautiful, incorporate new, great, elements of play, and have something to garner major sales, and have enough proof in market test groups to prove that it can do well.

 Gears of War took 2 important historical FPS traits (Graphics, innovative gameplay) and upped the ante by about 2x (cover system, graphics, decent storyline), convinced MS that it will be the flagship title of Christmas 06 (it was), and got good marketing out there. Because of this, this new IP will end up with around 5m units sold by the time it's over with.

Heck, looking at Blue Dragon in Japan, it did very well for putting it on such a bad system. Again, due to implementation of gameplay and enough hype.



Back from the dead, I'm afraid.

so let me get this straight..ads, spreading the word, and graphics....can make a new game popular and sell well??



Differentiation plays a big part in it, too.  It just so happens that much of the time a new IP will differentiate itself mostly on its graphics, ala Gears, but DS/Wii games differentiate themselves with new controls and new types of games.