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The UK games market is impelled by two extremely important factors –
word of mouth, and the British games press. Obviously there’s no
denying the importance of marketing but, with many releases
downfall still being a consistent lack of exposure, it’s much
cheaper to get the press to like you and titles you release than to
run a constant stream of publicity before, during and after
release.
It’s because of this that I’m puzzled by the current
state of developer relationships with British publications within
and on the edge of the games industry. Now, it does seem like m any
of the software publishers are getting there – being present with
working code at plenty of European Trade Shows (even if it’s
often the same code that was on display at the Electronic
Entertainment Expo (E3) earlier that year), offering review code
freely and generously and backing publications they see as viable
and of value to the industry. However it’s the hardware
manufacturers that seem to have lost the plot a little.
I don’t feel that insisting your products are in separate
markets in anyway convinces anyone else within the industry – and
with software publishers commonly being quoted comparing rival
systems there’s some obvious holes in the effort for the industry
to expand. When, months before even the first image of a console is
released, publications both private and commercial, print and
online, start announcing “PSP Vs. DS!” as their feature
headline, it’s clear your fighting a pointless war. With such an
emphasis on exclusive presentations and executives trying to “get
one over” on each other (an exercise which Mr. Miyamoto and Mr.
Kojima seem reluctant to take part in) it seems ridiculous that
they don’t start behaving like the celebrities they feel the
industry so desperately needs – and start reading their own
press.
When a consumer walks into a games specialist store, to me,
it seems clear that they want to buy a game. Surely then, with a
games specialist store no doubt carrying all three of the current
home generations, and will be carrying all three of the next-gen
systems also, the sale should go to the developer who produces the
titles closet to what the consumers wants – regardless of whether
or not the console is aimed towards different types of people, they
all come to the same place. Even with Nintendo’s new insistence
on the gamer who never previously thought of playing games (often
translated as “girls” – again, a fault with the press-line),
there’s now enough presence in every city and town in the country
for these people to go to the specialist – what would you do when
you buy your first mobile phone, washing machine or car stereo, or
a TV? Go where they can tell you a little about what you’re
buying. I think the plan has been undermined before it even began,
pink NintendoDS’s are all nice and well, but not when all the
sales staff are sitting on their backsides playing their sexy
little PSP.
The British games specialist press are a fickle bunch. It
seems that many publications are willing to have a new saviour of
our industry practically every month and while dramatising the
release of a product is of course a brilliant tactic with the
mainstream, I don’t think the constant reminder that Nintendo are
dropping like a brick and that approximately only four out of every
ten games made makes a profit is healthy. It’s a turbulent time
in our industry, with many of the publishers stuck-in-their-ways
ducking out to the newbies spinning a quick buck, how long is it
going to be before an article on the failure of a product is the
start of a developer’s demise?
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