[Sundays with Sagat is a video series where a man named Sagat talks to you about videogames. This is serious business.]
Last week, Sagat promised to get out of his depression and start being productive again. First though, it's shower time.
There is also talk of a few of the ways that game developers and publishers screw themselves over in the pursuit of a quick buck. This is a topic that Sagat likely could have talked about for hours, maybe even days. He doesn't get that far this week, but when this show gets a totally professional reboot in a few weeks, maybe we'll get lucky. Instead, we get a little talk about how 3rd party developers have trained Wii owners to never buy their games within the first six months of release (lest they miss out on the inevitable price drop), some stuff about Street Fighter upgrades, the 3DS, Kinect, PS Move, and "the Pixar rule".
That leaves a lot out, doesn't it? There's no mention of shovelware, half-assed ports, liscensed games, off-brand games, mario-milking and numerous other examples of unimaginative money grabs that have become well-known problems to gamers over the years.
Which type of trend chasing mistake gets on your nerves the most? Which did you think that Sagat should or shouldn't have mentioned? Any desire for a Felicia and Sagat reality show, kind of like that one about the midgets?
Jonathan Holmes is the most lovable Associate Editor on Destructoid. Catch him on videos, original editorials, and on back episodes of the Destructoid Show and MTV's Road Rules. Jonathan is a retro gamer's gamer.
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Felicia needs to work on her acting a bit. The meow gimmick is annoying as it is, but the way she delivers her lines in a complete disinterested monotone makes it worse.
You talk about ways you can fix their marketing techniques... but then how do we get visionaries? Everyone's trying to take the safe track because they're trying to make money and make more complex games.
if you guys keep posting comments about jon's old lady, you're going to give her a big head. that could ruin the whole situation for the guy. "does that mean we can get rid of the giant litter box in the living room now?" lol
I agree that Wii games tend to drop rather quickly in price, but that's not exclusive to that console. If CAG has taught me anything it's that MOST games are discounted after a similar amount of time. It's only top-tier content like Mario games and Call of Duty that stay around their MSRP for a loooooong time.
Personally, I don't buy ANYTHING for MSRP anymore UNLESS it comes out for like $20 OR has a great pre-order incentive (site/store credit or non-MSRP inflating swag). Why bother spending $50/$60 now when I can get it for $20 later?
the backlash from a low intro price and a late jack up would defeat an value gained from word of mouth.
They keep making street fighter games because they know they have a big following that will buy each version. So they can make up the money+ by having 1 person buy 10 versions instead of 10 people buying 1 version. Even with R+D costs.
I just don't see the "screwing them selves over" part of their marketing strategies.
i DO see how those strategies might not make for the best games but they are getting theres.
Basically yes, i don't get why so many people fall for the hype and run out to buy a game on day one, i mean your favorite series or one seldom time maybe but everything day one? madness or deep pockets. Also, this doesn't just happen on the Wii, X360/PS3 games also drop considerably after 6 months look at Bayonetta and Darksiders for example at 30$ currently on Amazon.
@GohanGVO:
"I agree that Wii games tend to drop rather quickly in price, but that's not exclusive to that console. If CAG has taught me anything it's that MOST games are discounted after a similar amount of time. It's only top-tier content like Mario games and Call of Duty that stay around their MSRP for a loooooong time.
Personally, I don't buy ANYTHING for MSRP anymore UNLESS it comes out for like $20 OR has a great pre-order incentive (site/store credit or non-MSRP inflating swag). Why bother spending $50/$60 now when I can get it for $20 later?"
Thanks everybody! As usually, I wasn't sure how this one would go over. I actually had a puppet show planned for this week, but that got vetoed.
Anyway, yeah, absolutely, 3rd party Wii games aren't the only games to get price drops. Like EdgyDude and many others said, it happens with games on all consoles.
The difference on the Wii is, that's where the Nintendo games are, and Nintendo doesn't drop their games in price. That always makes 3rd parties look worse by comparison. Because Nintendo wont do price drops, people don't wait to buy their games until later. Unlike with 3rd party games, people don't think that Nintendo 1st party games "should cost $30", because they haven't been trained to think of them as being worth $30.
Same goes for so called "AAA" games on other consoles. People are trained to think of them as being worth more than "B" grade games, and part of that comes from the fact that "B" grade games always get price drops. It's a self fulfilling prophecy.
Any time you launch a new IP (particularly on the Wii, where there aren't demos) I think it's safer to charge a low price for the first month of the games release, making it known that you wont drop the price again for a while, if ever. That's what they do with new DVDs and CDs. It gets get attention to your product, spread word of mouth, and get people to take a risk.
Sadly, I'm not so sure that game developers value their own products enough to take that risk. Unlike games, CDs and DVDs are considered "legitimate" entertainment by the mainstream, and therefore, they're thought to be worth something even years after they've seen release. Videogames are still seen as throw-away media to many, gamers and non-gamers alike.
There I go again, prattling on again. It's a wonder that the cat-people, and internet-people (meaning you), in my life can put with me at all.
Oh and @ DanlHaas- I want as much Seabreeze in my life as possible. It's in the first episode of Sundays with Sagat, and the first one with Birdie too.
While playing MGS4, I kept it on the in-game iPod pretty much the entire game. It makes every situation seem more interesting.
Johnathan Holmes... if that's your girlfriend you're a lucky guy... my girlfriend is hot and I probably couldn't get her into a Darkstalkers costume and say "meow meow meow meow meow meow"
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Contest:
3:00 PM on 08.11.2010
| 
Great video! I still love these.
Sidenote: Watching a woman floss and use the bathroom is usually the least attractive thing possible...yet this didn't bother me. It must be the tail.
Also, Felicia is very pretty.
Also, Felicia is very pretty.
... And the talk was kinda boring me to death.
I really like this series, and this episode is no exception.
Personally, I don't buy ANYTHING for MSRP anymore UNLESS it comes out for like $20 OR has a great pre-order incentive (site/store credit or non-MSRP inflating swag). Why bother spending $50/$60 now when I can get it for $20 later?
They keep making street fighter games because they know they have a big following that will buy each version. So they can make up the money+ by having 1 person buy 10 versions instead of 10 people buying 1 version. Even with R+D costs.
I just don't see the "screwing them selves over" part of their marketing strategies.
i DO see how those strategies might not make for the best games but they are getting theres.
I have a feeling the disinterested thing was done on purpose. That kind of humor isn't very subtle and I'm confused as to how you missed it o_o
Basically yes, i don't get why so many people fall for the hype and run out to buy a game on day one, i mean your favorite series or one seldom time maybe but everything day one? madness or deep pockets. Also, this doesn't just happen on the Wii, X360/PS3 games also drop considerably after 6 months look at Bayonetta and Darksiders for example at 30$ currently on Amazon.
@GohanGVO:
"I agree that Wii games tend to drop rather quickly in price, but that's not exclusive to that console. If CAG has taught me anything it's that MOST games are discounted after a similar amount of time. It's only top-tier content like Mario games and Call of Duty that stay around their MSRP for a loooooong time.
Personally, I don't buy ANYTHING for MSRP anymore UNLESS it comes out for like $20 OR has a great pre-order incentive (site/store credit or non-MSRP inflating swag). Why bother spending $50/$60 now when I can get it for $20 later?"
QFT.
Anyway, yeah, absolutely, 3rd party Wii games aren't the only games to get price drops. Like EdgyDude and many others said, it happens with games on all consoles.
The difference on the Wii is, that's where the Nintendo games are, and Nintendo doesn't drop their games in price. That always makes 3rd parties look worse by comparison. Because Nintendo wont do price drops, people don't wait to buy their games until later. Unlike with 3rd party games, people don't think that Nintendo 1st party games "should cost $30", because they haven't been trained to think of them as being worth $30.
Same goes for so called "AAA" games on other consoles. People are trained to think of them as being worth more than "B" grade games, and part of that comes from the fact that "B" grade games always get price drops. It's a self fulfilling prophecy.
Any time you launch a new IP (particularly on the Wii, where there aren't demos) I think it's safer to charge a low price for the first month of the games release, making it known that you wont drop the price again for a while, if ever. That's what they do with new DVDs and CDs. It gets get attention to your product, spread word of mouth, and get people to take a risk.
Sadly, I'm not so sure that game developers value their own products enough to take that risk. Unlike games, CDs and DVDs are considered "legitimate" entertainment by the mainstream, and therefore, they're thought to be worth something even years after they've seen release. Videogames are still seen as throw-away media to many, gamers and non-gamers alike.
There I go again, prattling on again. It's a wonder that the cat-people, and internet-people (meaning you), in my life can put with me at all.
While playing MGS4, I kept it on the in-game iPod pretty much the entire game. It makes every situation seem more interesting.
i was loling