At the moment in Europe Burnout Paradise ads are all over the tv stations with the PS3 logo at the start and end of the advert.

It has the effect that a consumer that hasn't yet bought a HD console, looks at the ad, and says to themselves "wow, the PS3 has some nice looking games".

Essentially, it makes you associate the game with the advertised console.

I think with a game like GTAIV though, it will be harder for Microsoft to make consumers associate GTAIV with the 360, as most consumers know that it's also going to be on the PS3. GTA is a franchise that's typically always been associated with Playstation. However, if Microsoft does manage to convince people otherwise, they may be able to rope in a large amount of new customers.

To attract people who aren't GTA fans yet, but may be interested in such a game. Maybe highlight exclusive content to be released in the future, maybe try to pursuade PS2 owners to get a 360 instead of a PS3 (for example with a cheaper bundle), etc. But normally for new franchises good marketing and raving reviews is more critical.

And like I said this is the 360's by far most important game for this year, Halo Wars may do nicely but the game will mostly sell to Halo fans who would probably already own the console and its a RTS. By mass marketing GTA IV for the 360, the 360 will be highlighted as a healthy system with good games. Also Microsoft made a big deal about GTA IV, although GTA III didn't do amazingly well on the original XBox, they don't want to loose face if GTA IV pushes far more PS3s and copies of GTA IV. I applaud this mass marketing, it will be good for Rockstar, which has been struggling in the past.

I'm sure the PS3 version will be just as good as the 360 version because Rockstar like Infinity Ward focuses on quality.

As for the advertising there are a lot of possibilities... 360 GTA IV, Halo 3 Bundle? I am sure that if it is a Microsoft commercial it will sound like it will be exclusive to Microsoft. Don't expect any Sony logos. And the commercials were probably part of the $50 million agreement. I would also expect some preview of the DLC to further sway potential buyers.

As for sales... I think GTA IV will meet Halo 3 in sales (The install base will be about 5.5 million more then when Halo 3 was released). If you look at the numbers, Microsoft paid $50 million for DLC. Assuming DLC is about $20 a shot, they are looking for DLC sales of about 2,500,000 to break even...

This is the main reason, I believe. Many of those "PS2 owners" are GTA fans, so I do think it's worthwhile to try to convince them to purchase the 360 version (and thus, the 360 system) instead of the PS3.

wait for IGN to test the PS3 version before we judge. IGN said they will be testing it soon. Lets wait and see.

As for ad campaigns, lets see if Rockstar doesn't advertise it themselves like usual.

This game is very important to Microsoft for several reasons. It's one of their best chances of gaining even more converts from the PS2 and it's a game that has a lot of appeal in Europe, a market in which they would like to see the same success that they're having in North America.

If the Halo 3 level of advertising it to be believed and if it's coupled with a price cut it could help Microsoft to cement it's position in second place for several years if not this entire console generation.

Rockstar (I think it was an MTV interview) have themselves indicated both versions are essentially idential.  They also (for the first time I believe) indicated the PS3 did contribute to the delay - not sure whether that was down to actual issues or simply getting properly up to speed with developing for the platform as the interview didn't really make that clear.

A friend of mine didn't even know the last GTA's were released on the Xbox. These commercials may just boost their sales. I was watching the GTA trailors and my friend says "Why are you looking at that? You have Xbox 360 not Playstation!"

I know that's anecdotal but it surprised me someone would feel that way and made me wonder how many others see it that way.

MTV interview :


http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1580161/20080123/index.jhtml

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jan 24 2008 8:01 AM EST

'Grand Theft Auto IV' Developer Talks Delay, Violence And Whether There Will Be Another 'Hot Coffee'Views 1,316

In exclusive chat, Rockstar Games' Jeronimo Barrera says game is about the immigrant experience and PS3 is partly to blame for delay.
By Stephen Totilo

Del.icio.us Digg Newsvine Send to Friend Print You Tell Us

NEW YORK — "Grand Theft Auto IV" will be the biggest entertainment experience of the year and make its players feel like immigrants newly arrived in America, according to a developer working on the game.

After showcasing a nearly complete version of "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the Xbox 360 to MTV News for an hour and a half earlier this week, Rockstar Games Vice President of Product Development Jeronimo Barrera talked about how delays have shaped "GTA IV," how the game handles sex and violence this time around, and more.

"I don't see anything being bigger in 2008 in any entertainment," Barrera said as he sat on a black couch in Rockstar's demo room, proudly sporting a white T-shirt with a large "IV" printed on the front. "We think it's that big, and we just have to get the word out."

What Barrera and the development team that handles the game in New York and in Scotland-based Rockstar North are promising is the king of open-world games. Rockstar Games popularized the go-anywhere, do-anything open-world genre with "Grand Theft Auto III" in 2001. This new game is intended to be the next leap. "We don't want anybody else to raise the bar for a genre that we created and that everybody else ripped off," Barrera said. "So we definitely want to shock not just the players, but the industry. I'm not talking about shock value. I'm talking about just how big it is and just how many crazy, bananas things you can do in the game."

"GTA IV" was initially going to make its splash in 2007, when it was scheduled for an October release. Now it's projected for release in the next few months. "We're definitely releasing it by ... the end of the second quarter," Barrera said, referring to the February-to-April time frame that "GTA" publisher Take-Two Interactive denotes as its second financial quarter.

And the delay, Barrera said, makes the game stronger. "We wanted the time, and I think we made the right choice. It was very difficult to make the choice because everybody wanted it. But we thought, you know, what with that extra bit of time, it's just going to be that much better and there will be more systems out."

"GTA" games haven't missed their announced release dates before. When the delay was announced in August, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors that "the reason it is being delayed is almost strictly technological problems — not problems, but challenges." Barrera offered a little more detail to MTV News this week: "It's really no surprise to anybody that the PS3 was definitely a contributing factor to that. Now, we're neck and neck. That's not an issue anymore. But back then that was something we were taking into account. That's not to say there's anything wrong with the PS3 version. It's awesome. They're both identical."

(PlayStation 3 owners may feel that Barrera's comments get them out of the woods, but some Xbox 360 owners have had a tech concern of their own. In a follow-up to MTV News' interview with Barrera, a Rockstar rep alleviated the concern, stating that the Xbox 360 version of the game, as occasionally had been rumored, will not require a hard drive.)

The portions of the game that Barrera and a controller-wielding Rockstar spokesperson demonstrated for MTV News earlier this week looked and appeared to play like earlier "GTA" games but with significantly refined controls and graphics. Nevertheless, Barrera said that much hasn't been shown and that the creators' goal is to hit players with "surprise after surprise."

This is a different kind of "GTA," he said. "This is the story of an immigrant, and we feel that this world is so real and has so many details that you are the immigrant. The player is the immigrant. So you're kind of coasting along with [protagonist] Niko [Belic] in sort of a way that hasn't been done before in our games. The pacing is different. We're not giving any of that away yet, but it definitely sets up the story and the mood ... in terms of the choreography and the flow of this game, I think there's something really special there that we haven't quite done with other games that I think are going to surprise a lot of people."

But for gamers who only want to cause havoc, the game will offer that and the standard amount of weapon-unlock cheat codes.

What about sex? For better or worse, the biggest surprise to many people about the most recent console installment in the series, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," was the unfinished interactive sex scenes left deep within the code of the game discs and accessible to hackers. That's not coming back for the new game. "Are we going to have a 'Hot Coffee' situation?" Barrera asked aloud. "Absolutely not." But the game will have romance. Unlike Rockstar's recent schoolyard game, "Bully," the main male character won't be able to get involved with other guys, but straight relationships will continue. "Yeah, you can go on dates," Barrera said. "Obviously it's a mature title and there's human relations. That's a natural thing."

Violence in the game may feel a little different this time. "The way that we're telling it takes a different tone," Barrera said. "Niko's background is that he comes from a war-torn country. And he's brought over with the American dream. But it ends up being almost as violent as a war-torn country. There's a bit of message going on in there." The game will be as violent or nonviolent as the player wishes to make it, he said, though there was no indication in the demo that the game could be played without killing anyone. What Barrera did indicate, though, is that the game's developers have heard the players who complained that recent "GTA" games didn't allow the same freedom to problem-solve in different ways that the earlier installments in the series did. "The missions you saw today were pretty straightforward action missions, but there are some missions that have half-a-dozen ways to beat it."

Barrera wouldn't talk about the game's multiplayer modes, its music or the planned downloadable bonus content for the Xbox 360 version. Much of the game just isn't being shown. He did shoot down the prospect of a free trial version of the game: "We usually don't do demo." And while not offering an estimated length to the game, he said, "I find this game — because of the detail and trying to explore every single bit — that this is a much richer experience than anything we've done in the past." He said the new game has been designed with at least one eye on the message boards and other fan reaction. Rockstar is aiming to please and to keep its fans busy. "People are going to play this game for a long, long time," Barrera said.

Wow. Just wow.

Rockstar came out and basically admitted that the main cause for delay was the Playstation 3 version. In fact, they did it today. The supposed "Xbox 360 disc size" problem was nothing more than a rumor.

I suggest you go ahead and find the actual quotes from Rockstar last year. Then you might not be quite so ready to call someone else clueless when it's obvious you haven't been reading much GTA-related news in the past two days.