On Marketing Brink

(3Suns) #1

I haven’t played the Enemy Territory games, and even if I had, the console version of ET:QW wasn’t developed by Splash Damage, so SD can’t leverage any past products for goodwill purchases with me. I, and a bunch of the guys I game with, will buy Brink solely based on its own merits. If there are others like me, and I think there are millions, the marketing of Brink is going to be absolutely crucial to its success.

Though marketing is not my area of expertise, I would like to offer some thoughts on the matter.

SD/Bethesda needs to show off the narrative. Suck the potential customers into their universe. I doubt there was anyone who watched the unveiling videos of Gears of War and wasn’t absolutely taken in. The world seemed incredibly complex and full. I think it completely captivated people’s imaginations and they not only wanted to know more about the settings and the characters, but they wanted to become the characters, and spend time in their world.

The videos and information released thus far for Brink, on the other hand, focus on gameplay elements, specifically SMART and the objective and class-based gameplay. While the graphics are beautiful and the gameplay looks great, so far, the Brink universe consists of an Airport and shipping containers, and we are told the rest of civilization is sunk beneath the sea.

Please forgive my bluntness, but “crates” are the very oldest entities for 3D games, and were usually employed because the designer didn’t have the time or inspiration to create anything else for the gamer to maneuver around or look at.

http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/39.html

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for the videos released thus far, nor am I asking for more reveals. I am just genuinely concerned that Splash Damage and Bethesda realize that what they have given us thus far is tech demos. What they are selling is 100% gameplay, and since the gameplay is revealed in an environment of crates, it isn’t as compelling as perhaps it could be.

I think that the importance of narrative for primarily MP games has really increased since the first arena games were released.

Just my two cents.

(NoFace) #2

I have to agree with you.
The first thing that really pulled me into this game was the whole concept of it. Where it was set, why it was set there, what happened to bring the people and setting to where it was. Only after that did I begin to read about the gameplay mechanics (which sounds great) but it was really the back story that brought this game to my attention and then it was the gameplay that ‘sealed the deal’.
I do hope that with this game if people choose to, they can really go into alot of detail with the story of it all as this is not allways presented to the payer. It adds to the over all immersion if there is a solid and full backstory the add to the ingame world you see, which is some thing I think TF2 dose prety well will the online comics and the hidden links VALVe releases and I hope Brink has the same feel to it.

(spazski) #3

The game is slated to come out near the end of this year, give them a chance. I don’t think Crate City was a cop-out, it didn’t seen like they pulled it out of their asses and it makes sense given the story that’s been talked about. Furthermore, I think a map filled with climbable materials and crates was a perfect environment to show off the SMART system in real situations, not like the SMART demo vid.

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more marketing for Brink in the future, and most likely a flood of press closer to the release date. Many video game sites have it pegged as one of the most anticipated games of 2010, so with that comes an increase in hype.

(tokamak) #4

It’s not crate city but container city.

(Exedore) #5

It has a lot to do with stages of production… the gameplay and look are the foundations of the game, so they’re the things that are the best to present at this stage. It’s a pretty safe bet to guess that the materials released will be more diversified in the coming months.

One of our goals from the outset with Brink was to give each area of the Ark a very unique look and feel… and you’ll be able to see this yourself in the near future, rather than just having to take my word for it.

Please forgive my bluntness, but “crates” are the very oldest entities for 3D games, and were usually employed because the designer didn’t have the time or inspiration to create anything else for the gamer to maneuver around or look at.

Bluntness forgiven! Crates are ubiquitous in games because they are the lowest polygon object that is gameplay effective, not just because of lack of inspiration. There are many other reasons as well, and are largely technical in nature. I’ve read that Old Man Murray article many times, it actually predates my getting into the games industry!

We’re well aware of the irony though, we jokingly thought about setting Container City entirely within a container! :tongue:

(Senethro) #6

Best new topic in weeks I think.

(ducks) #7

There’s still time! :stroggbanana:

(brbrbr) #8

thats should be cool mini-mod, like Valve Portal :wink:
and btw how about [full-blown]minigames inside Brink ?
chess ? poker ? tetris finally ? :stuck_out_tongue:

(DarkangelUK) #9

Brink Fighter Turbo! Spin round to 2.5D and energy bars appear at the top… with the Makron shouting “ROUND 1, FIGHT!”

(Nail) #10

Gee, I have the feeling that Bethesda knows how to market games

(tokamak) #11

[QUOTE=brbrbr;211108]thats should be cool mini-mod, like Valve Portal :wink:
and btw how about [full-blown]minigames inside Brink ?
chess ? poker ? tetris finally ? :P[/QUOTE]

Container tetris lol.

(Callum) #12

If Bethesda can market this like Fallout 3 I think this could have the same impact as Fallout :slight_smile:

(brbrbr) #13

i hope so.
and eventually SD contribution to ZM business/art/PoV/WoW can help then advance somewhat. and vice versa.

(Apples) #14

yeah the story seems already well made and catchy, spread the stuff out it’ll help, and do freaking commercial on tv/interwebz, newbz love these and will buy the game if the trailer looks fancy :smiley:

Peace

(3Suns) #15

That made me laugh out loud. (Also, glad to know that there are other’s out there who know of that classic Old Man Murray article. :smiley: )

Container Tetris is pretty funny, too.

Ok, I feel better. I am just trying to sell this game to my friends and they are like “generic” and “meh” and I am like, wtf?! Can’t you see the potential here?!

I look forward watching SD slowly lift Brink’s skirt. I think her legs go all the way up.

(Callum) #16

[QUOTE=Apples;211138]yeah the story seems already well made and catchy, spread the stuff out it’ll help, and do freaking commercial on tv/interwebz, newbz love these and will buy the game if the trailer looks fancy :smiley:

Peace[/QUOTE]

Put out ads on TV showing a gun and nuke and most would be satisfied :smiley:

(WhiteAden) #17

very true… and I hope they will make ‘make it happen’ for BRINK :stroggtapir:

(3Suns) #18

Really? Do they?

I news-ed the GamesRadar preview yesterday over at Evil Avatar. As if to prove my hypothesis that

  1. MP needs narrative, or at least the appearance of narrative, and
  2. People think SD developed the craptastic 360 port of ET:QW

Evil himself replied:
“Seems like another multiplayer only title from a team whose multiplayer only titles all suck ass. Pass. Next.”

I replied, of course, but I am beginning to feel like Jerry McGuire pimping Rod Tidwell. LOL

I think there may be some misunderstandings about the public perception of this game.

Aside from y’all in here, I am getting nothing but “Meh” from everyone else. Brink isn’t gonna be “meh”, but after the tech demos, I think a lot of people aren’t even interested in giving it a second look unless the narrative-less MP, and the we-developed-ET:QW-360 myths are dispelled.

(Nail) #19

he’s an XBox player who reads Joss Ware romance novels, not someone I’d listen to

(brbrbr) #20

[QUOTE=3Suns;211305]Really? Do they?

I news-ed the GamesRadar preview yesterday over at Evil Avatar.[/QUOTE]
its seems thats reviewver being hurt in heart[and attempt to hide it] which is ironically[in that context] called “butthurt” nowdays.
point is there are alot of “BF-nazis”, “CS-Nazis” and others franchises-grown-communities-Zealots.
so thats not point at all.
unless Brink become 1st SD game, which is taught players same things, as other games does - hate other world “just because”[they different].