2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

[Flyermania]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

I applaud the 2k marketing team, because they obviously know what they are doing. Those who think otherwise, well that's why they are not in marketing and that's my unbiased humble opinion.

I am in charge of marketing for the top rated manufacturing publications in North America, so I tend to know a little about marketing. And 2k's marketing is poor. Waiting until the very last minute to try and generate buzz about a game is a bad strategy to have, especially since their competitor has spent several months prior to this hyping their game to the casual and hardcore hockey fan.

Look at the sales totals for the two games over the past 5-6 years...2k's marketing is not good.

[kerosene31]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

I'm a long time 2k hockey supporter, but it is stuff like this which makes me pre-order that "other game".

The sad part is they don't realize or can't hit the niche not filled by EA's game. There are players unhappy with the offline play of NHL 09 and glitch goal fest online. There's 2k's market. Give us a sports game with good AI and no comeback logic and other CPU cheese.

Instead they focus on the Wii. That is fine, but they don't need to tell the world that they don't care about the PS3/360.

This die hard 2k'er has no urge to buy your game on 360 now.

[tyler289]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

EA is ahead of the curve. 2k is clearly trying to just catch up this year with some of their new features already in EA's installment.

2k is going for the fun audience, but EA already has them due to their name recognition, reputation, and, most importantly, EASHL, which 2k is now adding to their game, but, of course, much less in-depth. 2k hockey needs a lot of work if their direction is going to be for the "pick up and play" audience, which is already dominated by EA's game.

How many people do you know are like, "Dude, let's go play NHL2k9!"? Everyone I know who is a casual hockey fan loved NHL09 and is going to get NHL10. 2k's niche has always been the hardcore fan. Now they're abandoning that.

[savoie2006]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

EA is ahead of the curve. 2k is clearly trying to just catch up this year with some of their new features already in EA's installment.

2k is going for the fun audience, but EA already has them due to their name recognition, reputation, and, most importantly, EASHL, which 2k is now adding to their game, but, of course, much less in-depth. 2k hockey needs a lot of work if their direction is going to be for the "pick up and play" audience, which is already dominated by EA's game.

How many people do you know are like, "Dude, let's go play NHL2k9!"? Everyone I know who is a casual hockey fan loved NHL09 and is going to get NHL10. 2k's niche has always been the hardcore fan. Now they're abandoning that.

I wouldn't say they are abandoning the hardcore fan, but yes they have been leaning towards a more pick up and play game. Though I think that is mostly as far as controls are concerned. Of course they want to the game to be customizable enough for any type of fan.

That said, EA has been drifting towards the hardcore sim fans the last couple years, which I think is part of the reason 2K has lost its' fanbase. That and 2K's poor next gen showings so far. VC looks to have the game going in the right direction finally though. Now if they can improve the marketing aspect next year and from here out, they might have a fighting chance for 2K11. I think they will really have to up their marketing next year though or EA will still win out easily.

[tyler289]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

I wouldn't say they are abandoning the hardcore fan, but yes they have been leaning towards a more pick up and play game. Though I think that is mostly as far as controls are concerned. Of course they want to the game to be customizable enough for any type of fan.

That said, EA has been drifting towards the hardcore sim fans the last couple years, which I think is part of the reason 2K has lost its' fanbase. That and 2K's poor next gen showings so far. VC looks to have the game going in the right direction finally though. Now if they can improve the marketing aspect next year and from here out, they might have a fighting chance for 2K11. I think they will really have to up their marketing next year though or EA will still win out easily.

I'm not so sure it's that easy, though. EA is way ahead of 2k in terms of name recognition, sales, and, the last couple years, quality of game (fun factor, realism, everything). 2k has a lot of work to do, not only in the game, but in getting its name out there early and often. Why doesn't 2k have developers on forums like this one? Direct contact with Redshirt at EA has lead to things we want in games, which makes the consumer very happy. Why doesn't 2k do that? Why does 2k wait until the last minute to market their game? It's been years of the same from 2k and I doubt it will change.

2k used to be able to get sales because EA's games were less realistic and 2k's were generally cheaper and solid games overall. Now EA is a giant and 2k's quality has slipped in both the hockey and baseball departments. 2k needs to get its act together if it even wants to stay in the business. The improvement every year from EA's hockey game is huge. 2k is still stuck trying to get graphics to next-gen levels (Their cover boy looks Asian!).

[kerosene31]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

2k10's gameplay could definitely attract some EA players away. While NHL 09 gets praise, there is always a group of people who are legitimately unhappy with the way the game plays, especially offline. I'm one of these people. While I was impressed with the direction they took NHL 09, the cheesy comeback logic and overall CPU cheating bother me and others as well. Online many legit players got fed up with glitch goals and dropped out.

Certainly EAs game has a lead, but there is a market for something different.

The problem is that 2k doesn't tell anyone what is different (and better) about their game. We're going to have to wait for a few people to get an early copy to see what the game is like.

Nobody wants NHL 94. We already have that EA 3 on 3 game for that.

[Keirik]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

Exactly. I think 2k's marketing is fine, is there room for improvement? Sure, but it's not the doom and gloom others make it out to be IMHO.

to be honest, in this thread i was actually agreeing with you until this post. Now you're entering into the extreme fanboy territory.

Their marketing is far far far from fine. Heck, even this video was just a constant rehash of the 4 images and one video they've released while the game is a little over a month away.

[baa7]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

2k10's gameplay could definitely attract some EA players away.

After watching the recent 2K10 videos, that's the one and only reason I would consider it over NHL 10. I expect the gameplay will be better; it'll definitely be deeper given it's 2K/VC. As for the rest of the game, I'll be holding my nose at the commentary, goalie models, and goofy, jittery animations and cutscenes, ugh. Honestly, when do they finally plan to fix that stuff? Five years of this same tacky, amateurish game design and development is getting really old.

[kerosene31]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

Their marketing is far far far from fine.

Yep. I'm a longtime 2k fan, but I still have little idea what is going to be in 2k10. That's not very good marketing.

[Eddie1967]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

[quote=Keirik;2039997169]to be honest, in this thread i was actually agreeing with you until this post. Now you're entering into the extreme fanboy territory.

Their marketing is far far far from fine. Heck, even this video was just a constant rehash of the 4 images and one video they've released while the game is a little over a month away.[/quo

I guess I mean fine for me. I do think they put out the info in enough time before the game is released. Could they explain some things more in great detail? perhaps. Should they put it out 6 months in advance, how about a year. Maybe they should do an HBO special on what 2k hockey has to offer. I don't get the complaints, maybe they could give a bit more detail but look at what's out right now and the game doesn't come until the middle of September. So that leaves about 4 more weeks. What exactly do you want? And I'm asking that as a serious question. I said before that EA has been the king of marketing forever but they also put out the most mediocre sports games ever made (with the exception of madden which I find to be the best football game I have ever played) IMHO.

[kerosene31]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

What exactly do you want? And I'm asking that as a serious question. I said before that EA has been the king of marketing forever but they also put out the most mediocre sports games ever made (with the exception of madden which I find to be the best football game I have ever played) IMHO.

I want:

-Gameplay footage with the game set on "sim" settings on a higher difficulty with a human vs cpu player (not human vs human like we've seen).
-A demo with access to sliders and difficulty levels (not locked on rookie and arcade settings).

I need to know if this is a good hockey sim with good AI. I don't think that is asking too much.

[Keirik]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

[QUOTE=Eddie1967;2039999681]

to be honest, in this thread i was actually agreeing with you until this post. Now you're entering into the extreme fanboy territory.

Their marketing is far far far from fine. Heck, even this video was just a constant rehash of the 4 images and one video they've released while the game is a little over a month away.[/quo

I guess I mean fine for me. I do think they put out the info in enough time before the game is released. Could they explain some things more in great detail? perhaps. Should they put it out 6 months in advance, how about a year. Maybe they should do an HBO special on what 2k hockey has to offer. I don't get the complaints, maybe they could give a bit more detail but look at what's out right now and the game doesn't come until the middle of September. So that leaves about 4 more weeks. What exactly do you want? And I'm asking that as a serious question. I said before that EA has been the king of marketing forever but they also put out the most mediocre sports games ever made (with the exception of madden which I find to be the best football game I have ever played) IMHO.

Well, you asked for a serious response so I will give one. It's not about what I want, it's about selling a game to the public. There is no way to justify the first release of info occurring only a few weeks ago, ESPECIALLY when their competition is putting out tons of info months ahead of them. It's just not good business at all.

Why is it the first IMAGES for this game is coming in July when EA comes in May?
Why is it we still have limited videos when EA is coming out with dev team videos months before?
Why is it that i pretty much know every feature of EAs game this year except the BAP improvements, yet have to scour the internet for anything on 2k10??????

Are they actually trying to sell this game or not?

[CarryTheWeight]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

I think 2K is finally beginning to realize how important "insider blogs" are. Maybe it'll make people more excited about their NBA title but it's way too late in the game to be beginning this for NHL.

They need to promote this game MUCH differently. Not the "IS PARTY NOW" stuff. 2K should market on what sets their game apart from EA's and what they have improved in order to get people to buy the game. Authentic TV presentation. True arena atmosphere and detail. New multiplayer features. Improved (hopefully) gameplay that's truer (hopefully) to the sport. The Winter Classic. Quite honestly, I don't see how "NHL 2K10 is a party and everyone's invited" has anything to do with that.

If this series ends, I won't blame the quality of the game or of EA's for that matter, nor will I blame the NHL. I'll blame 2K's marketing team for not putting enough emphasis on what could sell more games.

[Eddie1967]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

I want:

-Gameplay footage with the game set on "sim" settings on a higher difficulty with a human vs cpu player (not human vs human like we've seen).
-A demo with access to sliders and difficulty levels (not locked on rookie and arcade settings).

I need to know if this is a good hockey sim with good AI. I don't think that is asking too much.

I don't think that is too much to ask only if the other game is doing that. Is 2k being held to a higher standard or is what you are asking standard for sports game demos. Again, a serious question.

[baa7]

Re: 2k VP of Marketing Interview...(Video)

I don't think that is too much to ask only if the other game is doing that. Is 2k being held to a higher standard or is what you are asking standard for sports game demos. Again, a serious question.

I was in Future Shop yesterday and played both the MLB 2K9 and The Show 09 demos. The 2K demo had no options and no sliders -- none. All you could do was change the controller side. First pitch, I swung and hit a homerun. Bah. Moved over to The Show demo and went into the options. Every option and slider that was in the retail version was available in the demo, and for both controllers. I was able to play my nephew a couple of innings with my settings on HOF and his on Rookie.

2K does this to themselves, Eddie. Nobody is holding them to a higher standard. On the contrary, the "2K standard" is now so low that most gamers are expecting very little from them. People are simply asking 2K to do exactly what it is other developers do: provide prospective consumers with timely, in-depth marketing material and a demo that isn't locked on Braindead difficulty setting, in order to allow gamers to actually guage how the game really plays, before they purchase.