advertising

Posted By: mikaldinho

advertising - 04/03/10 12:40

how would you advertise a game you are about to release? I have been wondering about this all week long and I have tried google, but it came up with thousands of irrelevant results. anyone?

Posted By: Quad

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 12:51

put up a site, and release a free demo. Pay for ads on gamig sites.

Posted By: mikaldinho

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 13:08

ok, thanks quadraxas!

Posted By: JibbSmart

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 14:42

Also, try to make a viral video about your game and put it on Youtube.

Something funny.

Jibb

Posted By: mikaldinho

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 17:19

does it have to be funny? say, for example the game is a horror, you wouldn't put a humorous video online unless the game is something like shaun of the dead, which is a comedy and a horror. you would make it rather spooky, quite scary looking.

Posted By: darkinferno

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 17:49

make a montage of the best moments of the game, tie that with some great music and you should be ok

Posted By: mikaldinho

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 18:21

cool. so if i make a viral of all the best bits and put that on youtube, build a website with a downloadable demo, and advertise on gaming websites, then i have a "successful" combination?

sounds easy enough...

Posted By: Quad

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 18:29

yes,

BUT

first, you need a GOOD game for that. A BAD game wont sell even if you spend millions for advertising.

Posted By: darkinferno

Re: advertising - 04/03/10 18:58

lmao... quadraxas hit tha point correctly lolS

Posted By: JibbSmart

Re: advertising - 04/04/10 04:02

Originally Posted By: mikaldinho

Viral videos are usually funny, but they don't have to be. But they aren't trailers. I mean, a typical trailer makes you interested in a product, and that'll get people interested if done well, and they'll even share it.

But a viral video's specific purpose is to make people spread it. Funny stuff works. But if you feel that it really shouldn't be funny, do scary. Most trailers for horror movies/games, all they do is convince you that the product will be scary. But the trailers themselves aren't actually scary. People won't spread it unless it scares the living daylights out of them. Like those old videos of a peaceful road and then a picture of a zombie flashes onto the screen accompanied by a scream.

I hope that makes sense.

In summary: a typical trailer will tell you quite a bit about the product. They get spread around because people want to arouse interest in your product. A viral video will usually tell you nothing about the actual product. People will spread it around for the sake of the video itself, not the product.

Well... that's a ramble and a half.

Jibb

PS: Another difference: a trailer is a trailer as soon as you've finished making it. A viral video isn't a viral video until the video has been release and spread around by tonnes of people.

Posted By: Ichiro

Re: advertising - 04/07/10 03:18

how would you advertise a game you are about to release?

The best bang for our buck has been the humble press release (http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release):

1. Go through all your favorite websites and collect e-mail addresses and news submission forms. For example, Rock Paper Shotgun's audience was right for us, so we got in touch with their editor.

2. Write a succinct, grammatically correct, and interesting press release. Include links to the game's website and .zip files where press can download piles of screenshots and videos.

3. Send it out!

Here was our first press release for our latest title:

Quote:

January 30, 2009 - Watertown, MA - Dejobaan Games, LLC has announced its next game, "AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity," for Windows desktop PCs.

You dive off a skyscraper, relying on quick reflexes to negotiate the intricate tangle of girders that make up the City. You perform aerial stunts at terminal velocity before parachuting into the arms of your cheering fans. While other skydivers have it easy, you have to earn the adoration of the crowds by gliding within an eyelash of that glass super skyscraper at 70 miles per hour.

BASE Jumping (short for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth) has never been a sport for the masses -- it's too dangerous, and it's tough to get permission to jump off of the Burj Dubai. That all changes when Dejobaan Games brings its own wonderfully twisted take on the sport to the PC. How late can you deploy your chute before you end up a squishy bag of broken bones? How far can you trust your helmet's proximity meter before you splatter against a window like a bug on a highway? Do you believe the game's developers when they tell you that listening to your Enya CD will relax you and help you coast with more control... or should you just put on Limp Bizkit and throw caution to the wind?

As you descend, you toss the spectators a thumbs-up -- or flip them off -- to boost your score. By suspending reality just a little, this new game makes real-world BASE jumpers look like kids bouncing on a trampoline. This is AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!, and it's coming in 2009. Check out videos and images from the alpha test at www.dejobaan.com/aaaaa.

Availability and system requirements: AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity is planned for a Q3 2009 release, and will require Windows 2K/XP/Vista; a 1.5GHz processor; 1GB system memory; a 3D card with 128MB video memory; and Microsoft DirectX 9.0c.

Dejobaan Games, LLC is an independent developer of desktop and handheld games. Since our founding in 1999, we've published twelve titles, garnering enthusiastic reviews in print, on the Web, and on television. Visit us online at www.dejobaan.com.

# # #

Press info: Press kit with screenshots and video available at www.dejobaan.com/aaaaa.

Press contact: aaaaa.press@dejobaan.com

We tried to use language that the press could literally copy and paste into their articles. The result was unbelievably amazing -- and our game was still in prototype form. (That said, as others have posted, there are many ways to get the word out.)

Posted By: JibbSmart

Re: advertising - 04/07/10 14:41

With how many times you've told us, Ichiro, I'm surprised no one (including me) remembered to even mention press releases!

Every time I read that I kick myself and try and make myself remember it for the day I eventually find myself working on a game I actually expect to finish.

Jibb