08-19-2007, 12:12 AM
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#2
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All Star
OVR: 21
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 6,220
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Re: Sorry Marketing Strategy
I'd have to disagree somewhat with that. While I think the marketing campaign could've been better, the game was going to be a difficult sell. Many of us "hardcore" types seem to be quite affected when it comes to hype, something EA is good at. I can remember many people commenting on how EA was addressing the hardcore community with frequent updates and sizzle vids, and it got many people hyped. The previous two years of disappointing releases didn't seem to matter as much. Even more people seemed to bail or become more critical of APF's direction when the game wasn't what they wanted it to be. I'm reading quite a few people in the Madden forum saying that people should "get away from playing the CPU" for a better gameplay experience; an aspect of APF that got downplayed/ignored. Given the reception Madden/NCAA have gotten - especially w/the many issues that people seem to have - I kinda doubt any level of advertising would make much of a difference. There was a huge push to make sure early previews/reviews were overwhelmingly positive, pretty much nothing negative said/shown. I think if APF had Madden's gameplay issues, people would be roasting the Q&A team. I give EA's marketing team all the credit in the world. Hype sells.
VC didn't have something revolutionary to sell - it's not like they have "Bioshock" on their hands or something. They didn't have some football game that redefined console football gaming - something some seemed to expect. No licenses, probably not much backing from the publisher and they still delivered a very well-playing football game on their first time up to bat. A game that it's easily arguable plays better than either of EA's games; and those games have had the luxuries of having the licenses, more development time, and full publisher backing. It's something people hate to hear because they want to believe this is an even playing field - when common sense should tell you otherwise. I think VC deserves a ton of credit for what they accomplished.
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