So How Do We Market This Thing?

[Yrx]

Or we can have friends in the game development business... >.>

 

[JakeK]

If the Pandora was advertised as a PSP & Nintendo DS killer it would get a lot of attention. Could be advertised as the most powerful gaming handheld on the market (right?).

PC Powerplay (Australian Gaming mag) has a hardware/gadget section that the Pandora could feature in. That would take just one email to get their interest. Just one idea.

 

[gruso]

There are certainly some pretty strong marketing angles on tap. I see what the guys are saying though. While I lean automatically towards "thinking big", a noisy marketing campaign does have the potential to backfire if the product can't keep the promises. Look at the Gizmondo... a laughing stock! I know Pandora is leagues ahead of that, but the public judges mercilessly.

What I've garnered from the thread is that for now, the best bet is to get the product into the hands of devs (and the first rabidly keen enthusiasts), who will set about proving its potential. Not too much noise yet.

I reckon the time for thinking big will come, though. It might never sell millions, but that doesn't mean you can't make millions aware of it, and maybe even want it. Every manufacturer wants demand to outweigh supply.

 

[Zarneth]

I think we should avoid marketing the first 3000 units because....

a.) I really doubt we'll need more than word of mouth (and the occasional linux/geek web news article which will likely happen regardless) to sell most if not all of them.
b.) Too much marketing will mean we might end up with non-geeky people buying them and complaining because they don't have the skills to do anything on it. As the initial software will likely have very rough edges, or be lacking altogether.
c.) I live in Australia and I want to make damn sure I can get hold of one before they sell out. :lol:

 

[Game_over]

Or we can have friends in the game development business... >.>

You mean like me h34r:

 

[gruso]

c.) I live in Australia and I want to make damn sure I can get hold of one before they sell out. :lol:
Oh, I hear ya!

 

[JakeK]

c.) I live in Australia and I want to make damn sure I can get hold of one before they sell out. :lol:
Oh, I hear ya!

Lucky bastards

Depends on what I am doing at the time (in the Army or bumming around) if I buy it when it comes out.

 

[Zarneth]

c.) I live in Australia and I want to make damn sure I can get hold of one before they sell out. :lol:
Oh, I hear ya!Lucky bastards Lucky? How so? Here in Australia we often don't get a lot of tech, games and stuff locally till it's been out for half a year in the rest of the world.

 

[JakeK]

Thought you knew I was Australian? I mentioned it in another thread where you posted.

What I meant was how lucky you will be to get a Pandora soon after it is released. I don't even have the money for it as I just finished high school and am awaiting confirmation on whether or not I am joining the Army. Until I know I won't have any money for the Pandora .

 

[mrsnature]

If the Pandora was advertised as a PSP & Nintendo DS killer it would get a lot of attention.

Yep, negative attention when people find out it's not.

 

[teggun]

If you say it's better than a PSP/DS for gaming people will look at the graphics and say "no it's not".

That is unless there are at least 20-30 homebrew/commercial games with PSP quality graphics released relatively shortly after the release date.

 

[Zarneth]

Thought you knew I was Australian? I mentioned it in another thread where you posted.
There's too much chaos on these boards for my brain to successfully remember things. I'm still not even entirely convinced we have an army here in Australia too. When someone says army I think USA.

We should conspire to flood the forum here with Australian geeks. Then when the Pandora starts making money, they can set up their HQ here. Should make it easier to survive when Microsoft declares World War 3 (against the EU most likely). :blink:
QUOTE
What I meant was how lucky you will be to get a Pandora soon after it is released. I don't even have the money for it as I just finished high school and am awaiting confirmation on whether or not I am joining the Army. Until I know I won't have any money for the Pandora .
I'm keeping room on my credit card especially for the Pandora.

 

[JakeK]

All 10 of us?

I'm keeping room on my credit card especially for the Pandora.

Is there any more room for me? XD

Should make it easier to survive when Microsoft declares World War 3 (against the EU most likely).

 

[el_pango]

Hi,

I've thought about this for a while, and I have some suggestions.

For starters, there needs to be some kind of download portal with demos of people's shareware or commercial games, with some kind of clickable link that takes the user to a buy page. In return for hosting and commercializing the game, Craig et al. would take a small portion of the sale price, say $2 for a $10 game.

This gives them extra cash, some of which could be diverted back into marketing, but it also gives people who have built the killer shareware app but have no time or resources to market it themselves extra marketing muscle.

The second thing that should happen is that, whenever possible, games on the unit should be able to connect to some sort of web-based high score list and also export a .png or .jpeg that shows the user's progress in the game, and maybe some character customization. The images could then be used as forum signatures, similar to how people's gamer cards or Xfire stats appear currently. This would pique potential buyers' interest and enhance the feeling of community.

Finally, (and it pains me to say this, but this is where the money is) it's going to need an online RPG at some point. It could be a community-developed one (a 3D remake of The Mana World leaps to mind) and need not be massively multiplayer (instanced is fine), but it does need to have flashy graphics that show off the system's prowess, and it needs to have some item collecting and dueling elements that keep people coming back and blabbing to their friends about their online achievements.

BTW, Craig, if you're reading this, please feel free to swipe any and/or all of these ideas. I like what you've done so far and would love for someone from outside the Big Three to win hard.

 

[Game_over]

Thought you knew I was Australian? I mentioned it in another thread where you posted.
There's too much chaos on these boards for my brain to successfully remember things. I'm still not even entirely convinced we have an army here in Australia too. When someone says army I think USA.

We should conspire to flood the forum here with Australian geeks. Then when the Pandora starts making money, they can set up their HQ here. Should make it easier to survive when Microsoft declares World War 3 (against the EU most likely). :blink:
QUOTE
What I meant was how lucky you will be to get a Pandora soon after it is released. I don't even have the money for it as I just finished high school and am awaiting confirmation on whether or not I am joining the Army. Until I know I won't have any money for the Pandora .
I'm keeping room on my credit card especially for the Pandora.

At GDC every year they have an Annual Aussie BBQ hosted by a bunch of the Game Companies and startups from there. We know you exist in the industry .

 

[Zarneth]

For starters, there needs to be some kind of download portal with demos of people's shareware or commercial games, with some kind of clickable link that takes the user to a buy page. In return for hosting and commercializing the game, Craig et al. would take a small portion of the sale price, say $2 for a $10 game.

This gives them extra cash, some of which could be diverted back into marketing, but it also gives people who have built the killer shareware app but have no time or resources to market it themselves extra marketing muscle.

The second thing that should happen is that, whenever possible, games on the unit should be able to connect to some sort of web-based high score list and also export a .png or .jpeg that shows the user's progress in the game, and maybe some character customization. The images could then be used as forum signatures, similar to how people's gamer cards or Xfire stats appear currently. This would pique potential buyers' interest and enhance the feeling of community.

Finally, (and it pains me to say this, but this is where the money is) it's going to need an online RPG at some point. It could be a community-developed one (a 3D remake of The Mana World leaps to mind) and need not be massively multiplayer (instanced is fine), but it does need to have flashy graphics that show off the system's prowess, and it needs to have some item collecting and dueling elements that keep people coming back and blabbing to their friends about their online achievements.
How many commercial games did the GP2X have? I only remember 3 that were anywhere near commercial grade. The thing is though that you DON'T want to market the Pandora before it's ready. A normal hand held has a lot of commercial software fully made before it's released. The Pandora will have almost nothing. At most it will have emulators and ports of linux software, none of which you can sell. Because it's up to the users to create the software, and that's going to take time.

 

[gruso]

I think el_pango's ideas are great, particularly the web portal for game purchase, with funds going back into the project.

All in good time, anyway.

 

[el_pango]

How many commercial games did the GP2X have? I only remember 3 that were anywhere near commercial grade. The thing is though that you DON'T want to market the Pandora before it's ready. A normal hand held has a lot of commercial software fully made before it's released. The Pandora will have almost nothing. At most it will have emulators and ports of linux software, none of which you can sell. Because it's up to the users to create the software, and that's going to take time.

I don't mean market it before it's ready (although a few tantalizing screenshots from something that looks amazing might, if stategically leaked, might be advantageous), and the games need not be truly commercial. I just that mean high-quality, fun stuff that is POLISHED may be good for sales after the initial run, and I'm suggesting an arrangement where both the coder can profit and Craig & Co. can finance further manufacturing or R&D. The beauty of having a commercialization portal is, over time, it may attract the attention of some larger publishers as well.

As far as not enough commercial-grade content, the indie developers can help with that simply by doing a little extra polishing after a game is done. Where possible, menus and windows should animate into place, not just pop there, select and cancel sounds should be added (reverb can sometimes make these seem more professional), and power-ups, bonuses, healing spells and the like should have some sparkles or alpha-blended effect as appropriate. In short, the player should feel like they're getting rewarded for doing well at the game, and the game needs to be inviting from the very first screen. Even if a game is simple, just adding a small amount of tasteful eye-candy can work wonders for how it is perceived.

A good amount of simple (in scope) yet polished (with good sound) games, when combined with the ability to export a .png that shows off the user's gaming prowess, will sell units.

 

[Zarneth]

How many commercial games did the GP2X have? I only remember 3 that were anywhere near commercial grade. The thing is though that you DON'T want to market the Pandora before it's ready. A normal hand held has a lot of commercial software fully made before it's released. The Pandora will have almost nothing. At most it will have emulators and ports of linux software, none of which you can sell. Because it's up to the users to create the software, and that's going to take time.

I don't mean market it before it's ready (although a few tantalizing screenshots from something that looks amazing might, if stategically leaked, might be advantageous), and the games need not be truly commercial. I just that mean high-quality, fun stuff that is POLISHED may be good for sales after the initial run, and I'm suggesting an arrangement where both the coder can profit and Craig & Co. can finance further manufacturing or R&D. The beauty of having a commercialization portal is, over time, it may attract the attention of some larger publishers as well.

As far as not enough commercial-grade content, the indie developers can help with that simply by doing a little extra polishing after a game is done. Where possible, menus and windows should animate into place, not just pop there, select and cancel sounds should be added (reverb can sometimes make these seem more professional), and power-ups, bonuses, healing spells and the like should have some sparkles or alpha-blended effect as appropriate. In short, the player should feel like they're getting rewarded for doing well at the game, and the game needs to be inviting from the very first screen. Even if a game is simple, just adding a small amount of tasteful eye-candy can work wonders for how it is perceived.

A good amount of simple (in scope) yet polished (with good sound) games, when combined with the ability to export a .png that shows off the user's gaming prowess, will sell units.
I guess I'm just a sceptic.

What I'd like to see happen is the return of shareware games. I'm talkin the likes of Apogee here (makers of some of the best Dos games). Where The shareware version was at least 1/3 of the game (or an entire game in a big series) and had had a good 5 hours gameplay, (sometimes 50) with little to no limits other than the number of levels.
I think they did make a little off the shareware versions too though. back when there was no Internet you'd still have to pay $5 for the shareware version on a disk, but you were then free to copy/pass that disk on. Now days with the Internet that isn't viable, but you've got a much larger audience on the other hand.

Frankly the quality and lack of innovation in many commercial games these days is shocking. And even then there's almost never anything new other than shinier graphics. I haven't bothered to try a game demo in years. They're just not worth it. 500mb to 2gb for half an hour of extremely limited gameplay? Better off just downloading a game illegally and buying it if you like it. That's assuming there's even a demo, particularly the case with console games where you're forced to half blindly purchase games with only the distorted or biased online reviews to go on.

I'd also like to see more cross-genera/type games. GTA proved this is possible by combining a car game, with an FPS, and a rather expansive free roaming gameplay area too. There's no reason other generas can't be crossed, but no big commercial company is willing to take a risk with something new, and small companies don't usually have the resources required to do something new.

 

[Nilsiboy]

el_pangos Ideas sound good, true... BUT:

All of these would require a server that is being paid for by someone, as well as someone to make them in the first place and maintain them. For example, Steve Jobs said that the new iPhone/iPod touch app store would probably not make Apple much money and that they'd be happy if they break even.
I don't think after going through designing and producing an entire handheld and doubtlessly spending a lot of money on it, the Pandora team probably won't be able or willing to pull off something like that.