| endimion said: i'm not arguing the fact that on VGgame word of mouth will change anything.... but word of mouth and buzz marketing can the main and only reason some product are working.... especialy if the word of mouth is started by opinion leaders.... it has been proven true in the past and it will in the future... and for more products than peole can imagine.... it's just cool to have the same thing than the coolest guy at school or at the office or anywhere else especially if some trustworthy people told you it's kick ass.... if well done the buzz would take like fire in the grand canyon in the middle of summer.... with not much more advertising needed.... |
Quite right. The point, though, is that stuff that are meant to sell well will sell well, and that we can't argue against the reality.
For example, there were a lot of negative buzz about Wii on some of the biggest game forums before the release. But the system has sold well because it's got what it takes and N did what they should. Take Mario Party 8 - some intense bashing among core gamers. Again, it's still selling because it's got its audience/marketing/gamestructure. Take Bioshock, an excellent game. I played the demo. Some anti-Xbox sites gave a low rating and haters keep bashing. But they won't change a thing. It will sell well and will give us a good time.
Word of mouth works well in the long run only when there are things in reality that support it. You can't convince people who had fun with Wii Sports that it wasn't fun or can't stop them spreading their experience simply by your logic. The same is true for the excellent PS3 hardware and the great game library of Xbox360. We can't reverse the reality simply by our logic.
You're quite right in saying word of mouth is not irrelevant. In fact, spreading buzz is what we can do to correct biases created by misguided flamewar and fanboyism. But then again in a broader scheme, it works only when the reality underpins it.
When we see some people attack a good game/console for no good reason, we get upset. But we don't have to be overly defensive and to start a war against trolls who are insecure about their decisions. It doesn't really matter because if it's really fun, people will find it fun anyway.
Don't worry too much about fiercely defending the console you love against some hate-mongering trolls, because the reality will prevail. Instead of joining another flamewar, we can stay positive, can talk about how fun it is, and can have informative discussions. Of course, we can't force other people to stop fighting. But we can stop doing it ourselves.
No, it's not going to stop 'Til you wise up
No, it's not going to stop So just ... give up
- Aimee Mann
