Comments on: Eight news stories 4.12 http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/12/04/eight-news-stories-412/ A veteran's view on marketing games Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:01:38 +0000 hourly 1 By: Bruce http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/12/04/eight-news-stories-412/comment-page-1/#comment-3843 Bruce Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:17:31 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=1178#comment-3843 cliifski, that is not what I said and you know it. cliifski, that is not what I said and you know it.

]]> By: cliffski http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/12/04/eight-news-stories-412/comment-page-1/#comment-3842 cliffski Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:42:10 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=1178#comment-3842 Hold on - if every platform was as successful and profitable as the DS, the industry would be smaller? You're going to have to explain that one. Hold on – if every platform was as successful and profitable as the DS, the industry would be smaller?

You’re going to have to explain that one.

]]> By: Robin http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/12/04/eight-news-stories-412/comment-page-1/#comment-3841 Robin Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:20:30 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=1178#comment-3841 On some of those points: Jasper: This is good news for anyone buying a 360 this christmas, although they'll still need to buy a HDD, Live subscription, and (likely) a wifi adaptor to be able to use the machine as advertised. Just think how well the 360 could have done if they hadn't rushed a faulty design to market in the first place. They'd have saved the $1.1bn repair bill, and not had over 1m QA failed machines not even make it out of the factory, for starters. Black Friday: This is what happens when you slash the price of your machine to shift it. But consumers buy hardware for specific games, not brands. If you're factoring "brand loyalty" for a piece of hardware into your reasoning, Sega and Nintendo both provide great case studies of how transient market favour is. Wii profit: I also think the $6 estimate is very conservative. I'd be surprised if they hadn't been making a profit since early on. Maybe it's something to do with exchange rates. On some of those points:

Jasper: This is good news for anyone buying a 360 this christmas, although they’ll still need to buy a HDD, Live subscription, and (likely) a wifi adaptor to be able to use the machine as advertised. Just think how well the 360 could have done if they hadn’t rushed a faulty design to market in the first place. They’d have saved the $1.1bn repair bill, and not had over 1m QA failed machines not even make it out of the factory, for starters.

Black Friday: This is what happens when you slash the price of your machine to shift it. But consumers buy hardware for specific games, not brands. If you’re factoring “brand loyalty” for a piece of hardware into your reasoning, Sega and Nintendo both provide great case studies of how transient market favour is.

Wii profit: I also think the $6 estimate is very conservative. I’d be surprised if they hadn’t been making a profit since early on. Maybe it’s something to do with exchange rates.

]]> By: Bruce http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/12/04/eight-news-stories-412/comment-page-1/#comment-3839 Bruce Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:58:08 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=1178#comment-3839 Actually cliffski my point is proven completely. If all platforms were as highly pirated as the DS then the whole game publishing industry would be a lot smaller. Actually cliffski my point is proven completely. If all platforms were as highly pirated as the DS then the whole game publishing industry would be a lot smaller.

]]> By: cliffski http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/12/04/eight-news-stories-412/comment-page-1/#comment-3837 cliffski Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:39:07 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=1178#comment-3837 "It really looks like Nintendo don’t care about piracy on this machine. Presumably they make a big profit on the hardware and sell more machines when the games are free. And with such huge numbers sold there are enough honest people to still make publishing worthwhile." ...and a belated welcome to what the rest of us have known for at least five years! So are you now recanting all the times you've said on this blog that the DS (and others) aren't worth developing on because of piracy? Do you now accept that piracy grows the market in general, which then provides more opportunity for selling to honest consumers, as well as for generating money by selling hardware at a profit? That it's not a black-and-white case of "all pirates = evil scum who never buy games"? Nintendo could easily have made the DSi much harder to pirate for. Instead, they made a tiny token effort for the sake of appearances, knowing that piracy is one of the things that's made the DS so profitable. “It really looks like Nintendo don’t care about piracy on this machine. Presumably they make a big profit on the hardware and sell more machines when the games are free. And with such huge numbers sold there are enough honest people to still make publishing worthwhile.”

…and a belated welcome to what the rest of us have known for at least five years! So are you now recanting all the times you’ve said on this blog that the DS (and others) aren’t worth developing on because of piracy? Do you now accept that piracy grows the market in general, which then provides more opportunity for selling to honest consumers, as well as for generating money by selling hardware at a profit? That it’s not a black-and-white case of “all pirates = evil scum who never buy games”?

Nintendo could easily have made the DSi much harder to pirate for. Instead, they made a tiny token effort for the sake of appearances, knowing that piracy is one of the things that’s made the DS so profitable.

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