Why do people buy games?
What motivates certain purchase over others, especially in the same genre?
Why buy one FPS, MMO or RTS game over another? Is it devotion? The fanboy issue where one franchise or developer is better than another?
What drives the consumer to spend hard earned cash on a $60 game?
My theory? It's mass hypnosis.
Developers want your money, whether they put out a good product or not. But how do they get players to part with cash?
First, they put a good bit of money in the commercials. Make the game look like it's going to visually rock their world. If players ask for actual game footage, well, just video a few scenes produced under controlled situations with very low lag on super computers. I mean how is a player to know differently, especially with disclaimers on the box that say "your online play may vary", meaning "we don't really know how this game will play once thousands of users log into our tiny servers, but that's not our fault that, you bought a beta, sucker."
They use post hypnotic suggestions like "stunning graphics" or "new control schemes". Maybe they say "WoW killer" and poof people are spending money and clearing shelf space.
Demos do nothing more than make us cluck like a chicken with delight. We can't possibly know what a game will be like from a 10 minute tease or a 20 level beta.
Developers have their hands in our pockets and we are so blind we can't see it. If we aren't hypnotized explain to me why 90% of the games released get a patch on the first week and we are happy about it?
"Man lag was bad till they patched it, but now I'm having a blast. I still can't access my bags or bank but I hear they are working on another patch, hope that fixes it", he says with great enthusiasm
If we bought a defective car would we be so happy about them giving us a new part 7 days after purchase? Would we return it if we found out it had 2 hamsters on a wheel instead of an engine?
I ask this, if it's not hypnosis what is it? Mass stupidity?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod
Can I choose c). all of the above?
ReplyDelete"They use post hypnotic suggestions like "stunning graphics" or "new control schemes". Maybe they say "WoW killer" and poof people are spending money and clearing shelf space."
ReplyDeleteBuzz words!!! They mean NOTHING!!!
"Make the game look like it's going to visually rock their world. If players ask for actual game footage, well, just video a few scenes produced under controlled situations with very low lag on super computers."
If you can't see the game's UI, it's probably bogus!