Pro Opinion: Marketing of Sleeping Dogs

This found-article gives a glimpse into Square Enix's marketing, or lack there of, for their popular action-adventure game of Sleeping Dogs, as well as a suggestive opinion. I would be chuffed to mention that the article's author, Guy Blomberg, is a  respected videogame Public Relations Practitioner within Australia, and event organizer of the upcoming PAXAus in 2013.

This article is cited from YUGstar.com (the writer's personal blog/website), and is entitled "How do you market a sleeping dog?"

In three weeks, the game Sleeping Dogs will be released in Australia. I’ve had a few chances to get hands on preview time in the last few months, and I can honestly say I’m genuinely excited to play it when it’s finally released.

Prior to actually playing the game though, I had very little interest in it. Originally it was to be the third title in the True Crime series before being cancelled by Activision then acquired and rebranded by Square Enix soon after. The main sell points are the gameplay elements taken from other games – the fighting mechanic of Batman Arkham City, the driving of Need for Speed, the free running of Assassin’s Creed, and of course set in a GTA type open world. Even the plot, characters and themes are inspired by classic Hong Kong action movies.

In other words, nothing about this game is particularly original, and I’d not seen anything that made me all that interested.

Even the box art, while admittedly very cool from a design perspective, didn’t really give any sense of the game itself.

So my question is, with all due respect to Namco Bandai Australia, how would you market this game?

Internationally the developers (United Front Games) have been exceptionally active on Twitter and Facebook, with just over 4,000 followers and 60,000 fans respectively.

Look at the social networks of the other games it’s inspired by though. Need for Speed (8,700,000 Facebook likes), Batman Arkham City (1,088,000 Facebook likes), Assassin’s Creed (3,330,000 Facebook likes), Grand Theft Auto IV (3,882,000 Facebook likes). I understand some of these represent a game series, but still, 60,000 fans isn’t many in the grand scheme of things.

The announcement trailer is the most popular video on their Youtube page with almost one million views, and yet it shows none of the gameplay at all. More recent efforts seem to have been put into making sure special editions are up to scratch and specific for certain regions, including Australia.

The best move was to have the game playable at gaming conventions such as GDC, PAX East, London Comic Con and E3, allow people to actually play the game themselves, but even then you’re competing against a significant amount of other more established and recognisable titles.

I don’t actually have an answer here, it’s just something I was thinking about when previewing the game. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from others as to how you would go about marketing a game such as this.

Promotion: The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary

Congratulations Shigeru Miyamoto, your famous franchise has lasted 25 years! But the real ones that are cheering are Zelda gamers. At E3 2011 Nintendo promised a Zelda extravaganza in celebration of The Legend of Zelda’s 25th birthday, strategically starting with Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D in June, then a tour of The Legend of Zelda 25^th Anniversary Symphony Concert Orchestra in Fall, and as a grand finale, the year ends with the highly anticipated Skyward Sword at Christmas.

This is a large and clever promotion. Not only is Nintendo promoting ONE Zelda game, but the entire franchise on ALL the currently active consoles: from Links Awakening (unveiled on the 3DS eShop), to Ocarina of Time (Remastered on the 3DS), to Four Swords (downloadable on the DSi) to Skyward Sword (released latter 2011 on the Wii). The loyal consumers that ritually play the Zelda games will be treated to exclusive performance of music from the Legend of Zelda. As much as this is an once-in-a-lifetime experience, it is also a sure way for Nintendo to 1.Promote and excites the audience for the much-anticipated Skyward Sword, and 2. Make money. This event itself was promoted at E3 2011 with a powerful speech by Miyamoto about the importance of the music in the Zelda games, as well as a five minute performance by a full orchestra at the opening at Nintendo’s press conference.

Although these are the three main events, Miyamoto concluded his E3 announcements by claiming that more Zelda surprises are planned for 2011. If Mario’s 25^th Anniversary is anything to go by, we may be able to expect a special Legend of Zelda 25^th Anniversary mini-site, contests, plush toys (although unlikely), and console skins. As annoying as it is, the secrecy is alluring, as it keeps the audience stimulated and hopeful for something more.