Promoting The Gp2x Further...

[Yono]

I know that you guys are mostly targeting the European audience in this topic, but if you ever want to get into the American market, send a unit to the guys at MAKE Magazine. This magazine goes out to the hobbyist community, who actually take into account hackability in their purchases and enjoy being able to easily program their devices.

 

[Dimacus]

Dimacus:
Personally, you lost me at "The linux core enables this device."
The thing they need to stay away from is a laden message with tons of information. gp2x.co.uk[/a] has the right idea. Easy-to-understand symbols in a quick and interesting list. This is even Craigix's site, isn't it?

I re-read that sentince now and I agree, I didn't even follow it myself.
I just want to make clear that what I ment was that mainstream gamers (if those are a part of the people that we want to appeal to) we do not want to make a big deal out of the fact that it runs linux and that there are almost only free games or that you can develop games yourself.
That is atleast what I think, after talking to quiet some people at my old school when they asked about "that black thing".

I also want to make clear that the sentince I was thinking of was ment to be spoken in a video, not text.

 

[Kyalami]

Here's my idea. BTW, if somone already posted this idea, sorry, I kinda didn't read the entire five pages!

If you want the GP2X to be at the level of handhelds today (e.g. Nintendo DS, GBA/GBA SP, PSP), first you need to distibute the product to retail stores close to home! In other words, if you can get your GP2X in a nearby Best Buy, or Target, you'd be going to thge hardware store to buy a wheelbarrow since all the money you'd get wouldn't fit in your wallet!
Now, since no boxed games are being sold for the GP2X, what you could do is set up Download Stations at several Best Buy, Target, or other electronics/gaming stores! For example: a computer with the GP2X File Archive (or several comps) open on the main page, a card reader, or USB connector, and the customer's GP2X! So, let's say someone got a GP2X at that Best Buy store where those download centers were. They could buy the GP2X, open the box, do the whole screen thingamajiggy, and then mosey on down to the download centers! This way, they walk out with a game! Who knows, maybe they walk out with 50 roms (okay maybe not that much) and a SEGA Genesis emulator! This would beat the PSP and the DS by ten miles of gaming goodness!
The AD on top of the computer: never have to buy games for your handheld again! Get the GP2X, then get games from this Download Center! What are you waiting for!
Tell me that wouldn't be cool! Why have to spend an extra 20 or 30 when you can just spend the 200, then get tons of games from the archive, for the price of 0, zip, nada, zeroth!
Of course, besides this, you'd need to get the maintream magazines and companies to take interest in it, review it, promote it, sell it with the 2 commercial games whose release date is TBA, etc. But, if you don't get it into retail shops, especially here in North America, don't look forward to having big pockets like the guys at Nintendo and Sony do!

 

[Magnulus]

Have you any idea how much this scheme of yours would cost?
If you had actually read the entire five pages (oh, woe!) you'd have seen that we're mostly discussing REALISTIC opportunities for marketing that don't require a massive backing corporation.

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but unless Nintendo or Sony (or Microsoft) decide to release a GP2X-type handheld (Hah! The very idea!) you won't be seeing that kind of a situation.

Also: Best Buy != Monster Sales

 

[VGballer]

I think GPH needs to make the 2x more "user friendly" before it can truly sell to normal people and not just the emulation and computer knowledgable

But then again, the whole concept of the 2x is to download freeware and emulation

So maybe it would just be better to keep the advertising on the net.

If its sold at places like Best Buy, it would probably get a lot of bad press in its present state

 

[Gadget]

The key thing here is target market. I'd imagine its likely to be a combo of:

*) gadget fans

It's always nice to have fans

 

[paulobecker]

This is pretty obvious, and might already have been said before, but I think advertising the 2X in renowned roms and emulation sites could potentially attract more users to the platform.

 

[Kyalami]

Have you any idea how much this scheme of yours would cost?
If you had actually read the entire five pages (oh, woe!) you'd have seen that we're mostly discussing REALISTIC opportunities for marketing that don't require a massive backing corporation.

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but unless Nintendo or Sony (or Microsoft) decide to release a GP2X-type handheld (Hah! The very idea!) you won't be seeing that kind of a situation.

Also: Best Buy != Monster Sales

Okay, sorry. But still, I say that the only way you could get more sales and be at the level of the PSP and DS is to actually sell it in electronic retail stores that people go to. It's fine having it on the internet, but if you don't get it into a store, it won't really sell much. For example, I only heard about the GP2X because I was researching hadheld systems on Wikipedia! Cool, but like I said, if you don't get into an actual OFF-LINE store, you won't sell.
Then again, this could make the GP2X mainstream! I no want mainstream sytem! It would take away from the uniqueness of the GP2X.

EDIT: Idea has just popped into my head. Look, if PSX emulation, and maybe GBA emulation, is made to a playable (maybe not fullspeed) state, it would really wow people. I mean sure, the ability to play SNES, c64, GB/GBC is cool, but if you get some more high-definition games running, you could wow more people, therefore attracting more attention. Think about it: get the only handheld capable of playing al your GBA and PSX classics: the great GP2X by Gamepark Holdings! The best thing is: that it's for FREE! Get this hadheld today, at a special price of $150! Comes pre-loaded with sample movies, and two PSX video games (LLL and CCC), as well as the PSX emulator! Additional items include:

-2.0 USB Cable
-Card Reader
-Beginner's Manual
-CD packed with tons of games!

Get this now! GP2X IMAGE \
----|
/

 

[Magnulus]

Well, not so long before you posted your idea, I detailed the guerrilla marketing of Nintendo in 1985, which turned out to be very successful. I also proposed an idea as to how GPH could achieve something similar with a minimal expenditure. Maybe I reacted to your post in the way I did because you skipped reading the mere five pages of posts for whatever reasons you may have. I could understand it if it were a ten-page thread, but five pages really isn't that much.

A potential place to advertise: http://gamehippo.com/

Click this one to find the whole post:

Depends on whether...

 

[g4m3r]

Have you any idea how much this scheme of yours would cost?
If you had actually read the entire five pages (oh, woe!) you'd have seen that we're mostly discussing REALISTIC opportunities for marketing that don't require a massive backing corporation.

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but unless Nintendo or Sony (or Microsoft) decide to release a GP2X-type handheld (Hah! The very idea!) you won't be seeing that kind of a situation.

Also: Best Buy != Monster Sales

Okay, sorry. But still, I say that the only way you could get more sales and be at the level of the PSP and DS is to actually sell it in electronic retail stores that people go to. It's fine having it on the internet, but if you don't get it into a store, it won't really sell much. For example, I only heard about the GP2X because I was researching hadheld systems on Wikipedia! Cool, but like I said, if you don't get into an actual OFF-LINE store, you won't sell.
Then again, this could make the GP2X mainstream! I no want mainstream sytem! It would take away from the uniqueness of the GP2X.

What if the buyer has no computer or internet? Unlike the DS or PSP, you need a computer with iinternet for this handheld. Someone might see it on a shelf and think you could buy a physical copy of a game to put in it, but instead they end up with a $180 brick. For that reason, I think it is better to have it exclusively on the internet.

 

[techFreak]

I don't think the Computer Magazines have huge effect on GP2X promotion. We have a lot of computer magazines in Turkey. (Both International and National Editions.) Last month Stuff Turkish edition selected GP2X as 2nd Hottest Item to Buy. Also we have a lot of news and GP2X adverts taking place every month. What i saw was that Computer and Gaming Magazines have very limited audience (mostly already watching scene closely.) So computer and gaming people already knows a lot about GP2X. h34r:

Here's some of the media apperances of GP2X in Turkey.

http://www.gp2xtr.com/pMedia.asp

GP2X Promotion should target normal users who thinks about buying an IPOD or another MP3 player or a hand held gaming machine. If you can reach this audience than you can make GP2X more popular, more than a Geek Stuff. What we try at the moment is this. We should be trying to make the GP2X appear on TV (maybe in the palm of a famous person or a movie star.) For example You can try to make a sponsorship agreement with a music band. Not a famous one but only playing in a local club. This will make hundreds of people know about GP2X who is not buying computer mags or surfing these web sites.

What I try to explain, we should show the GP2X to the public not only a small segment of computer people. B)

 

[nemesis112]

Don't know if it's been mentioned before, but what we really need (no groaning here) is a mascot. Let's face it - the level of talent we've got on the scene at the moment is enormous. Getting them together to produce a single game based around one character would give the GP2X a central selling point. Doesn't matter if the game is free or commercial, it'll be a single game that adverts can point to and say - 'And this is what we can do'

 

[andyB911]

Here's some of the media apperances of GP2X in Turkey.

http://www.gp2xtr.com/pMedia.asp

Looks like you've done well on the press coverage front there! Certainly more than I've seen in the UK, but perhaps I've missed some. Out of curiosity did you use a PR agency or have you been busy on the phone / sending press releases and calling journalists yourself?

GP2X Promotion should target normal users who thinks about buying an IPOD or another MP3 player or a hand held gaming machine.... What I try to explain, we should show the GP2X to the public not only a small segment of computer people.

Agree to a degree. My personal opinion is that using a gp2x is more complicated than a gameboy or even a Windows PC and as such the target market is slightly different. Additionally the lack of games to 'buy' will put many off. Homebrew sounds geeky and emulation is still a legality 'issue'. So I still think that advertising on a variety of internet forum websites is a good idea, as members of an online community somewhat by definition have internet access and mildly 'techy'. But could be all types of hobbies/interests and not just IT or gaming.

Or save money and just get people to start discussions on the gp2x in all kinds of forums - although that has been tried by numerous companies and generally people can smell a rat.

The key thing here is target market. I'd imagine its likely to be a combo of:

*) gadget fans

It's always nice to have fans

LOL

 

[MadDog]

I think GPH needs to make the 2x more "user friendly" before it can truly sell to normal people and not just the emulation and computer knowledgable

But then again, the whole concept of the 2x is to download freeware and emulation

So maybe it would just be better to keep the advertising on the net.

If its sold at places like Best Buy, it would probably get a lot of bad press in its present state

Yer, I agree.

 

[Parkydr]

I think GPH needs to make the 2x more "user friendly" before it can truly sell to normal people and not just the emulation and computer knowledgable

But then again, the whole concept of the 2x is to download freeware and emulation

If you wanted to make the GP2X as user friendly as a GBA etc, you'd have to get a load of small cheap SD cards, preload them with one or 2 games, stick a label on, then sell them. This would be ok for homebrew but could be difficult for emulators (legally speaking).

I don't think normal people are that stupid, I have non-computer literate friends who can handle getting photos off their digital cameras, installing most games is no more complicated than this.

 

[techFreak]

Looks like you've done well on the press coverage front there! Certainly more than I've seen in the UK, but perhaps I've missed some. Out of curiosity did you use a PR agency or have you been busy on the phone / sending press releases and calling journalists yourself?

We both use PR agency and keep sending press releases too. Take a look at the latest press release on a Photoshop Magazine's web site:
http://www.photoshopmagazin.com/general/co...asp?contID=1179

We are doing good at the moment in advertisement side but this is not reflected to sales yet. There's no base for GP2X marketing since GP32 has never landed here before. We expect that GP2X will grab more attention in two months in Turkey.

Agree to a degree. My personal opinion is that using a gp2x is more complicated than a gameboy or even a Windows PC and as such the target market is slightly different. Additionally the lack of games to 'buy' will put many off. Homebrew sounds geeky and emulation is still a legality 'issue'. So I still think that advertising on a variety of internet forum websites is a good idea, as members of an online community somewhat by definition have internet access and mildly 'techy'. But could be all types of hobbies/interests and not just IT or gaming.

Yes I didn't mentioned that it is perfect for end users but it should became more stable and commercial games should be out soon. Then everything will be better. However currently using GP2X as a portable DivX Player is not that hard. So I think it is possible in the near future.

 

[TheMinder]

I really like the GP2X as a piece of kit, and although i don't really reply much on here i thought i would add a couple of things.

A few people have touched on this in this thread so far, but i think there are some users who have massively overblown ideas of potential sales/usership of the 2X. It's very much a niche thing as far as i can see and has a very limited appeal, it's certainly not something that would appeal to someone wanting basically a plug n play handheld gaming console. Add to that the build quality, and the complete reliance on a faceless community to provide support and software for the units and Joe Ordinary is never in a million years going to want one.

My first 2X suffered a bad fate and ended up with a smashed LCD screen and i never even received a reply to any emails regarding purchasing a new screen and so if anyone asked me about buying one what could i say in good faith to them ? All i could say is that if it's going OK then it's OK, if it breaks then you are fucked.

It's a really nice thing to work on, very simple, very accessible but it's got a very limited market to aim at, and the only solid support behind it is an online community.

On a completely unrelated note, i find it a bit odd that that the thread even exists. Why would the community at large who have no financial interest in things be even putting forward ideas so that those with commercial interests can shift more units ? I know the argument will get rolled out about more exposure equals more "commercial" developers and better games etc but if people want a handheld console with commercial games then i'm not sure the 2X is the correct product for them.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Wite_Noiz]

On a completely unrelated note, i find it a bit odd that that the thread even exists. Why would the community at large who have no financial interest in things be even putting forward ideas so that those with commercial interests can shift more units ? I know the argument will get rolled out about more exposure equals more "commercial" developers and better games etc but if people want a handheld console with commercial games then i'm not sure the 2X is the correct product for them.

It is interesting, but personally I've begun developing for the 2X and would like to see as many people trying out my feeble attempts as possible - it's an ego thing.
There's also the usual sense of wanting others to enjoy something you enjoy - why else do people recommend products and such?

 

[Magnulus]

For me, it's because a larger userbase will make the community around it grow, adding more developers of homebrew, more users of homebrew, and more fun overall. Also to be taken into account is that the GP2X needs all the help it can get when GPH seems to not have the funds to make much out of it in a marketing sense. It's in our best interests to make it as popular as possible. More units shifted means a higher chance of success for GPH, which means a higher chance of even better units and better accessories later on.

 

[nubie]

Don't know if it's been mentioned before, but what we really need (no groaning here) is a mascot. Let's face it - the level of talent we've got on the scene at the moment is enormous. Getting them together to produce a single game based around one character would give the GP2X a central selling point. Doesn't matter if the game is free or commercial, it'll be a single game that adverts can point to and say - 'And this is what we can do'

This guy makes a good point, and it could be high-quality 2D or 3D, either way a competition could be made to design a mascot game.