Why are they paying to advertise the trailer?

[ShadowXOR]

On GameFAQs, IGN, etc. they're paying for ads like games usually do right before release. This game is 6+ months out, how is spending the money beneficial?

Particularly if it won't be shown at E3?

[MechBFP]

On GameFAQs, IGN, etc. they're paying for ads like games usually do right before release. This game is 6+ months out, how is spending the money beneficial?

Particularly if it won't be shown at E3?

Is this a rhetorical question, or are you seriously asking?

[ShadowXOR]

Is this a rhetorical question, or are you seriously asking?

I really don't see the point and I don't recall any other games doing this.

[Irate Iguana]

Particularly if it won't be shown at E3?

They are going to show it at E3. It is the biggest game EM has and a pretty important game for Squeenix.

[ShadowXOR]

They are going to show it at E3. It is the biggest game EM has and a pretty important game for Squeenix.

Supposedly it's only being shown behind closed doors to certain people, but that seems pointless since all major publications have already done-so pre-E3.

[rokstrombo]

Yes, I'm a little curious if there will be anything additional to the 20-30 minute demo already shown to some gaming journalists. I suppose the commentator may let a few extra little facts slip during the presentation.

[K.Karisma]

On GameFAQs, IGN, etc. they're paying for ads like games usually do right before release. This game is 6+ months out, how is spending the money beneficial?

Particularly if it won't be shown at E3?

Advertising = Increased awareness, regardless how long it is til release

[Corpus]

Increasing awareness never really happens until it's closer too release it is weird. I said this to my friend when the Ad campaign started. They've got a lot of time to fill until release.

[K.Karisma]

Increasing awareness never really happens until it's closer too release. I said this to my friend when the Ad campaign started. They've got a lot of time to fill until release.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by it never really happens until it's closer to release. The goal of any advertising is basically to increase awareness

[Corpus]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by it never really happens until it's closer to release. The goal of any advertising is basically to increase awareness

They've got until spring next year. Their revealing stuff now that would usually be saved for later this year. It seems a waste of money to continuously advertise the game right up to release from such an early point. I'm thinking they've got something up their sleeve.

[Pinky_Powers]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by it never really happens until it's closer to release. The goal of any advertising is basically to increase awareness

Indeed. I don't think he understands what "awareness" is.

[Corpus]

Indeed. I don't think he understands what "awareness" is.

Dead Rising 2 has 'raised awareness' since last year in small snippets, barley anything just teaser info and trailers. DR2 comes out in august/september but you didn't see Capcom dishing info out at GDC last year. Eidos said it themselves that that trailer marks the start of the "marketing campaign". A full blown CGI and tons of information to come along with gameplay at E3 is a little heavy just for awareness. Their only option would be to let it cool off until the end of this year. My point is, their going to have to pull off some big advertising early next year to keep people interested and to remember it.

[jtr7]

At this time, this game represents two historical gaming landmarks, with Square-Enix making a serious attempt to break into the Western market on a bigger scale than it has achieved before, and with EM, an ambitious new studio, unleashing their first title. Obviously, there are a lot of other important milestones here, but anything they can do to increase the number of people on the planet who know this game is coming, and increase anticipation and desire to purchase it, is very important, especially with the extra millions that have been spent and will be spent on the extra year EM was granted to further develop the game. They need to recoup the cost of making and marketing and packaging the game, and then make as big of a profit as they can, so the earlier they can spread the word about the game, the better, especially if each release of media before the game effectively excites and makes the market hungry for more.

[Corpus]

It's gonna cost a lot to continue advertising at a decent level right up until release. Though I'm thinking they'll release info more bluntly and mainstream closer to release I.E. Xbox live and PSN feature videos, magazine covers and more web ads. The fans will remember but people new to the series might forget it if other titles start their heavy advertising around that time (mass effect 3, portal 2)

[Pinky_Powers]

It's gonna cost a lot to continue advertising at a decent level right up until release.

They won't have to keep up this pace. After E3 they'll probably quiet things down significantly until much closer to release, then pick it all back up again. This will have a very powerful affect on the market in general. All those people who aren't here everyday will remember all the good news and interest they had in Human Revolution as though the campaign never ended. And they can carry that high white note until Launch.

[Ashpolt]

To answer your question, ShadowXOR, and these other questions from another thread:


That's retarded. Most outlets have already seen it in pre-E3. What's the point of building hype with a huge trailer and billboards outside then not showing anything?

Then why are they advertising it like mad if none of the people they're advertising to are going to be able to see it?

They're doing it because a hell of a lot of people cannot tell the difference between "great pre-rendered trailer" and "great game" - just look at these forums for proof of that. They've created an undoubtedly fantastic trailer, and they know that marketing the hell out of that will be enough to sell it to a lot of people, regardless of the quality of the game itself.

As for why they're doing it so early - it's not that early, not really. The release date is "early 2011" so we're less than a year away. A lot of the games that were at E3 last year still aren't out yet. EM obviously have an astronomical marketing budget for DXHR - probably 2-3 times the budget of the game itself (and no, that's not an exaggeration) - so I reckon we'll see a fairly steady trickle of info between now and release.

And as for not showing the game itself to the public at E3? It could be that it's not ready to show anything yet (less than a year pre-release? :S) or it could be that they know there will be a sizeable negative reaction when they do finally let the public see the game, and want to hold off on that as long as possible. Make your own decision which one is more likely.

[Fluffis]

DX-games are built on mystery and intrigue. It seems the ploy is working, since we're here talking about the very fact. They know that DX-gamers can work themselves into a complete frenzy over a nice conspiracy. They are handling this perfectly.