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mattrified
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« on: March 16, 2015, 06:15:08 PM »

So I've always wondered, how do you deal with "tough" marketing questions?

Obviously, "tough" is subjective, but tough for me includes things like:

"What makes your game stand out from other games in the genre?" or "Why should I play your game?" -- the latter almost leaning towards a bad question cause it's so broad and might as well just ask, "Why should you play any game?" 

Overall, I get these questions, or sometimes when attempting to write a press release they come up, and they make me think, "Why am I even making this game?"

And just because I'm passionate and excited about the idea just isn't really enough and any other answer I come up with feels like bologna.

So I was just curious, from a marketing perspective, how do you answer questions like these truthfully but without sounding too modest or fake?

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Moth
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« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2015, 11:08:55 PM »

You make a game because it is your self expression. That's it. That's why anyone makes art.

"Why should I play your game" isn't as cynical and apathetic as "why should anyone play any game", though. Games all have their own special qualities. Describe your game in one sentence with all of the important aspects included. It doesn't need to sound like it's the most innovative thing in the world, it just needs to sound entertaining.

You can find a way to be honest without being modest. I looked at the games on your site and I was surprised by how cool they looked; it shouldn't be very hard to just come up with a good way to summarize these games in a snappy and intriguing way.

"Battle High 2 is a heart-felt love letter to classic 2D fighters." "Go back in time to the golden age of CPS2 fighters with Battle High 2!" (the latter is more for audiences who have more than a layman's knowledge of fighting games, like if you were doing an interview with a fighter-centric site.) Your summary doubles as the reason why people would play it. You just need to modify it a little bit:

"Why should I play your game?" "It's a passionate tribute to arcade machines of the 90's. Any classic fighter fan will want to give Battle High 2 a shot."

And that's just from what I can infer from the video- you know even more of the things that makes your game interesting than I do, so you have the tools to come up with even more exciting summaries. Smiley
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« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2015, 10:09:30 AM »

Well, for your first question, you're the only one who can answer this no? What makes your game stand out from the similar games? You must have something different, something with your own twist on it. It can be a feature that already exists but is mixed with another existing feature, creating a new and innovative combo.

I'll give you an example with our game, Light Fall. At first we didn't have our main game mechanic, the Shadow Core. Looking at our game, some people would obviously point out the art style similar to Limbo, they weren't wrong. We didn't even have in-game narration either. Now our bullet points are an amazing art style, intriguing storytelling and clever dialogues, innovative in-game mechanic with the Shadow Core. You just need to really look at your game, see what stands out, if there's nothing you might want to go back to the drawing board like we did.

Your second question is a bit harder, indeed, Why should people play your game? IMO this is a bad question because the reasons for playing a game can differ from user to user. Some like this type of game, others are curious, others will like the art, the soundtrack, etc. You can try to sell ''your dream''. I'll give you another example if I approached it this way with Light Fall: You should play Light Fall because our team of 3 guys are really trying to redefine the platforming experience, it is an amazing game with X, Y, Z features.

Don't stress too much about it, though. Just be yourself, have confidence in your game but also be realistic with your expectations!
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mattrified
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« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2015, 11:56:38 AM »

Thanks for the responses!

I agree when I wrote the original post I was having a little anxiety since I just got Battle High 2 approved for Xbox One (not for release but for dev).  Before when I released the game on Desura and OUYA I was more like "Oh, I just like fighting games, am passionate about the genre, and this is for fun," but on that platform, and the extra costs that come with developing for that platform, I just felt this overwhelming feeling of "Uh oh, now I have to take this part of it WAY more seriously" which I want to, and I think you've gave me some good advice.  It's just not a skill I've developed very well yet, so any advice, such as yours, is appreciated.

I think if I step back now, there isn't that much that is unique, but I definitely want to work on that and improve the game so I can try and find those unique features and elements. 

Anyway, thanks again and any more tips would be greatly appreciated.
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« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2015, 09:50:02 AM »

so matt did you figure out your answer? what's your game about? why should i play it?
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« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2015, 10:04:59 AM »

Interesting discussion. Many people somehow _have to_ have something unique about new games as far mechanics. I personally find it "fascinating". Do people really spend all their free time playing games that, like any addictive substance, it requires more to to get a thrill ?

I don't play games often (it might sound odd coming from indie game developer, but I only have so much free time per day), so if I get my hands on an FPS that is very similar to many FPS games released in the past, I am happy as long as it's consistent in visual presentation and have interesting story/characters behind it.

When I asked a publisher/distributor same question as OP, citing new story line, characters, etc., they said it wasn't good enough - I had to have a new gameplay mechanic in the game. I think having such bullet point just to have it, just to show "look, this game is different", is silly. But it's just me being one of the dinosaurs of the old era Smiley
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mattrified
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« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2015, 10:34:36 AM »

so matt did you figure out your answer? what's your game about? why should i play it?

(I had a picture of heavy breathing cat here but it was big and annoying...)

WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME NOW???  I NEED MORE TIME!

Jokes aside, not yet.  I've been working on my 2D fighter for awhile -- on and off during my free time -- and at first I was just excited to work on it, to get a fighting game working, and proud of it.  If I were to start a new game, I would try and do a better job thinking of these questions earlier.  I'm starting to work on new features and polish for Battle High 2 soon, and as I work on new features, I do want to keep the "Why should I play it?" and "What makes your game different" stuff in mind.  I have some ideas; I definitely want my fighting game to be more beginner friendly and try and introduce new players to the genre in a way that isn't throwing tons of mechanics at them, but I'm not quite there yet.

As for motosep's comments, I've never really encountered that.  In fact, I feel a lot of games that come out are similar and probably can't answer that question well but are so strong in other departments like their art or story, that they don't really need to.  I think fighting games are a good example; they are all VERY similar if you look at that from a broad standpoint of "two character fighting" but when you break down mechanics, that's where the differentiation comes from, but sometimes it's very hard to explain that differentiation without being boring or complicated.  I could easily write how my game is different than Street Fighter and Guilty Gear and Tekken but doing so in a concise and interesting way, from a marketing standpoint is where the difficulty lies for me.
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« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2015, 11:40:44 AM »

Make a demo! It will speak louder than words/videos/images Wink
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