Where's The Brink Hype Machine?

(DarkangelUK) #1

It’s hard to talk about this without sounding like I’m a) whining b) dissing on SD/Bethesda c) obnoxious for the sake of it, but believe me when I say it’s more out of concern than any of the above.

I was here during the ET:QW development period, and everything that happened then is looking starkly too familiar now. A lot of my friends are gamers, a couple PC but mainly console… some casual and some hardcore tons of game types, if I asked them tomorrow “have you heard of Brink?” before I told them about it, the answer is “uh… Brink?”. Now if said 5 months ago “have you heard of CoD:MW2?”, i’d see looks on a mans face i’d never hope to see that I can only compare to lifting heavy weights in the gym, or something only their girlfriends/wives should see. MW2, there’s no getting away from it, it’s everywhere, multitude of trailers, interviews, gameplay footage and more. The hype has grown so much that (for console at least) pre-orders have broken all previous records in the UK, EVERYONE is getting it… work mates have booked the release day off so they can spend the whole day playing it! The power of hype and marketing.

Now to Brink and my concerns. It seems ET:QW had very little marketing or hype pushed behind it, i had the same reaction back then with ET:QW as im having now with Brink, no one has heard of it, there’s no excitement surrounding it en mass. The screenshots do look awesome, the interviews do make it sound exciting and all round it generally looks great… so why hasn’t anyone heard of it? To look at the devil that is MW2, teaser was shown in March, a couple of SP gameplay trailer released after that then MP gameplay footage officially released 4 months later in July. It’s been 6 months since the teaser for Brink has been released and we’re still at a point where we’re not even allowed to see footage of public demos, let alone actual footage released for the masses.

The hype machine needs turned up and cranked into top gear, the far too familiar style of playing it cool and relying on word of mouth, or the multitude of website/magazine interviews with the same questions asked and answered over and over just isn’t working. I want people to be asking ME if i’m buying Brink cos it looks awesome. I want my friends list to contain RL friends cos they want the game, not the usual forum and IRC lot (sorry guys, please still add me :(), and i don’t want it to be full of offline people who just don’t play it after a few months. Quick… before everyone loses interest and is sucked in by CoD7 that’ll probably be released around the same time as Brink…

(-SSF-Sage) #2

Yeah I have same concerns. I never ever saw an ad or heard the name ET:QW outside the communities! Except of a few articles that not a lot of folk read anyway. And those articles were shown to me after some guys from the communities found it. It is pretty much same thing with brink.

And do note that ET:QW was a sort of sequel to W:ET, so I heard a some times that a “new ET” is coming. Now it is just a “new game”, yeah, but huh which one of the hundreds of new games? // No, this is not a make-it-like-rtcw/et-request, this is just a point that tells us there’s a big thing missing from the power of word of mouth.

I can imagine how much bigger success ET:QW would have been if ppl knew about it. I really hope that ppl WILL know about Brink.

Hehe send one SD employee every day to walk outside and share flyers. :smiley: :stroggtapir::stroggbanana:

(SockDog) #3

From my understanding SD/Beth have hit every major and minor gaming show since E3. With huge stands and lots of media coverage including very positive previews. CoD6:MW2 is coming out next week, is a huge established brand is probably back and has an unbelievably huge marketing budget.

I think the worst thing SD could do is over sell themselves early. I believe ETQW did this and the year delay pretty much wiped the board clean. I think Bethesda has shown a very real commitment to pushing this game, it’s hitting the blogs and getting good press. When the time comes (as a Bethesda property) they will have a vested interest in marketing it aggressively, unlike Activision did with ETQW.

I’d also say any marketing money spent prior to the holiday season is probably wasted money. It would just get totally drowned out with everyone else. If anything I’d say xmas/new years would be the earliest to start bringing in gamers but once they start they have to keep building up that pressure and release on time.

(Nail) #4

I’d have to agree with SockDog, separate it from all the cookie cutter game releases and push it for what it is, a new way of FPS gaming

(Rahdo) #5

Yeah, I can’t speak for Bethesda, but I think Sockdog nails it. As frustrating as it can be for us that Beth hasn’t released video yet, I can certainly understand the notion that doing anything before CoD comes out would be instantly forgotten in the sea of “whatever new info about CoD came out this week”. Hopefully once it’s out of the way, Beth can start really cranking the machine.

I do take solace in the fact that Fallout3 was a major event game, so they should be able to do the same for us… they’re just waiting till the time is right, I guess. They’re like the Cylons: they have a plan :slight_smile:

(MoP) #6

Yeah, I’m pretty sure the main difference is that MW2 is coming out next week :slight_smile:

(darthmob) #7

Sorry, but what is this MW2 you are talking about? :smiley:

(Shiv) #8

What?.. mj is dead?

santa isnt real?!

what about the easter bunny :o

+1 vote for waiting until after the cod train has left the station, its going to be a massive massive add campaign, i mean that AND l4d2 (omg so much fun)… good luck squeezing in there.

(Brandmon) #9

Yeah, SockDog said it all really. If they marketed now, the marketing would be over shadowed by MW2’s. Also MW2 is nearer to release which is why they are pushing this much while BRINK is still in Pre-Alpha and there is not much content to show off. It would be wise to let the CoD:MW2 hype pass, then market the crap out of BRINK.

(GlobalWar) #10

Sockdog knows what he is talking about…Quake Wars was overhyped and delayed and when it was finally released totally pushed away by the release of CoD4.

Let Bethasda do their marketing strategy. I trust them way more then Activision :slight_smile:

(Dormamu) #11

… this is the silence before the storm ???

(tokamak) #12

We don’t want a SD game being drowned in COD madness… again

(DarkangelUK) #13

It was the delay that hurt ETQW the most, not the hype… and it’s the hype I’m discussing. With regards to marketing money, does it cost much to capture some gameplay footage or create a slightly more revealing teaser trailer? Hell I know some people that would do it for free coughShaolinProductionscough. There’s biding your time, and there’s being too quiet, i’m not saying go spend a few million on an ad campaign, but keeping too quiet will hurt just as much. Booths, blogs and magazines are so so, but there’s only so many rehashed interviews people will be bothered to read, I know i’m at that stage now. Hoping the flood of CoD will subside rather than fighting to get to the surface is a risky move, CoD kept the flow of footage release going and the anticipation was kept alive… as i said, 6months since the teaser and nothing, CoD had several vids 4 months after their teaser and look at the hype…

(tokamak) #14

What you really want is the hype to peak at the moment of release, something COD is pulling of pretty well (Posters in stores telling us at what time the stores will open on the release date etc.)

Do you really think Brink can sustain a hype for this long?

(SockDog) #15

[ul]
[li]New trailer for Xmas with some teaser in-game footage.
[/li][li]Regular monthly video diaries from SD. I’m sure they’d be pretty bonkers. (Don’t forget I want a developer’s diary in my collectors edition, not just concept art book!)
[/li][li]Then sprinkle with more clips and reveals.
[/li][li]launch ad campaign and open beta
[/li][li]launch game
[/li][li]rule world
[/li][/ul]

If they’re releasing May-June 2010 that’s a pretty packed schedule. Even CoD has really only peaked in the last month. With perhaps just some “leaks” occuring to keep the interest bobbing.

Again AFAIK Brink is a Bethesda property. They have a vested interest in pushing this hard not only to sell units but also continue to build on the Bethesda/Zenimax reputation.

(Nail) #16

I vote no for open beta, yes for demo on or soon after release

(Mustang) #17

I hope to contribute at the beta stage
Whether it is open or not

(Brandmon) #18

[QUOTE=Mustang;200958]I hope to contribute at the beta stage
Whether it is open or not[/QUOTE]

We all do.

(mortis) #19

/me whistles nonchalantly

this kind of whistling helps pass the time… :wink:

(zXSwordXz) #20

The better not follow in ID Software foot step and create something like the last Wolfenstein. ID Software was on the same track, no gameplay, no hype, no mp information until the last minute when it was leak. The funny thing was ID software came out and said that the leak version was not the final version when it was the final version. I understand activision my have to be blame but come on, you’re the developing company, it is your IP. SD, for the sake of Brink, I do hope this game turn out to be one kick ass game. I’m not buying COD:MW2 until this game comes out. If Brink suck, I’m joining the COD noob tube banwagon because there will be no hope for the old school gamer like myself.