Ooh. 2 page ads

Never thought the day would come

Published on April 5, 2006 By Draginol In GalCiv Journals

We've signed on to do a series of 2 page game magazines in Computer Gaming World and Computer Games Magazine.

But the question is, do ads drive sales? How many people learn about games from game magazines? It's not an easy question to answer because as active as these forums and such are, they represent only the slightest fraction of the people who play games.

If I were to take a poll here on where people learned about Galactic Civilizations II, I bet places like Penny-Arcade, Gamespot, Usenet, from a friend (who heard it from some on-line source) would come up.

Which brings us back to game magazine advertising and what affect it has on real world sales. Two page spread ads in game mags aren't cheap as you can imagine. But let's say you're convinced that they're potentially worth the cost.

The next question is, what kind of ad should it be? If you're reading this and have access to a game magazine, go grab it. I'll wait...

(scratches)

(looks around)

(scratches)

(I could do this for awhile, I'll be right back)

(scratches)

Ah, good. So you found your CGW, CGM, PC Gamer, or other favorite magazine. Look at the ads. Do they catch your eye? I'm an engineer. I don't care about the beauty of an ad. I only care whether it causes the person to subsequently buy the game. What ads in the game magazines do you think are effective? Not which ones look neat. Which ones actually might have made you go out and buy the game?

Personally, my eyes are trained to avoid ads. If something looks like an ad, I go right by it. That means if I see artwork that isn't from a game, or a logo that I know isn't part of editorial, I instantly go by the ad.

For our 2 page spread of Galactic Civilizations II, we're doing something similar for our first crack at it. It will, in essence, look a lot like what Galactic Civilizations II does on a wide-screen monitor at super-high resolution. Only the bottom corners will explain the points of the game and where to get it. We figure, players either want this stuff or they don't. When it's done, we'll put up a screenshot of the ad.

Comments (Page 2)

HEEGZ

on Apr 05, 2006

First time I heard of GalCiv2 was the add in PC Gamer the month before release. Anyways, for some reason I decided to look up the website, found the forums, saw devs posting and bought the game shortly after.

My advice:

Push the AI. It is unique for each Civ. and critically acclaimed, etc.
Push customization options.
Push Ship Builder.
Screenshots. No art concept type stuff.

BlackSmokeDMax

on Apr 05, 2006

My advice:

Push the AI. It is unique for each Civ. and critically acclaimed, etc.
Push customization options.
Push Ship Builder.
Screenshots. No art concept type stuff.

Agreed, definitely no art concept. Stick with a couple of very nice screenshots with features and awards smaller.

Darth Evanesce

on Apr 05, 2006

I dont read the mags so I would be hard pressed to help.

But I will give it a shot anyway..........lol

I think your right, most people skip the ad's. But lets say I do see an ad I think looks good.

First thing I do is pop on the internet and read review sites and forums to see what the real deal is.

LordPixie

on Apr 05, 2006

Well, I actually have a gaming mag delivered, and I think you're on the right track: Gameplay screens work a LOT better than concept art/pizzaz. And while I'll readily admit I gloss over most advertisements, they are far from useless. I'll pay more attention to good ones. If I've heard of a game before, but don't know much about it, the ad will get two free seconds of my time. Furthermore, any advertisement contributes to gaining mindshare. If I've heard a friend mention a game, and/or seen a review, the advertisement is one more way to push your game into my head. It can be just enough to convince me that game is worth buying, or make me remember it when I'm perusing Best Buy.

As far as the actual content, you obviously have to flaunt your strengths. You know what they are, I won't waste space listing them. But I do recomend you leverage your positive reviews in this area. Any company can write a bullet list of features, and any decent consumer gives that sort of thing zero weight. But you have the envious ability to let reviewers do the talking for you. And not in some generic two word quote, either. You can use sentence long quotes declaring your ship building system as the best thing since sliced bread. This shows both what makes your game appealing, as well as the fact that people actually find it appealing. In a way that doesn't seem like marketing BS.

--LordPixie

HEEGZ

on Apr 05, 2006

Well after thinking on it some more, I've thought of a few other things:

It is probably too late now, but rereading your post reminded me of your previous comments about gaming distribution. The more outlets with your game, the more copies you sell. I'd think the same applies to marketing, the more outlets you advertise in the more customers you reach. I'd think that a 2-page add in 2 magazines would not bring in as many sales as a 1-page add in 3-4 magazines. Just a thought. Also, are you doing alot of banner adds on sites like Gamespot, IGN, Gamespy, etc? Try to get your demo out on CD, like in PC Gamer or something, not just Gamespot. Not sure how practical these suggestions are though.

One more thing for the 2-page add; Brand Recognition. Make sure the GalCiv2 title in the add closely matches the one on the box. More likely to have someone recognize your title as they walk through the aisle in Wal Mart or Best Buy. Wouldn't hurt to even put a small 3D reproduction of the actual retail box on the add since it will be large enough.

More free advertising from controversy doesn't hurt either although that is a 2-way street.

Nasarog

on Apr 05, 2006

I found this game based on an ad for Gal Civ I. about six months before the game came out.

Rabid_Monkey

on Apr 06, 2006

I'm in Beijing and I found out about the game by reading the gamespot review. I base my purchases solely on that site (due to lack of time), so I'd say advertising is important for people actively seeking for a good game to purchase, be it ads or reviews. Now that GC2 has collected a healthy number of reviews and awards, just be sure to include them all, for anyone who doesn't trust ads it would be hard to doubt when there are so many good reviews on the game coming from diffierent magazines/web sites.

By the way, now that GC2 is a best seller and all, I think you guys should hire some really professional designers. The game's art is not bad for a 4X game (known for bad graphics), but it pales comparing to other titles. For example the ad banner I saw on gamespot show a standard colonizer on a mostly empty black space and with a rather plain looking GC2 title art. I wouldn't be interested if I'm not a 4x fan. I think by this time around, most hardcore strategy gamers probably have bought or heard of the game, you now need to focus on casual gamers and people who have not experienced 4X games, so graphics would be important.

I suggest hiring a good renderer and render a high-poly space battle scene between the various aces, with a drmatic view (rather than a colony ship flying out of the box). The purpose of this picture is just to stop the readers' eyes on the page and get them to read what you have to say about the game.

skam240

on Apr 06, 2006

The best ad I ever saw was the 2-page ad for Total Annihilation. In the spread it was all in-game action. Like a 2 page mega screenshot of a huge battle with minimal fluff. The game sold itself and the ad let the game do the selling.

For our 2 page spread of Galactic Civilizations II, we're doing something similar for our first crack at it.

That's going to be a hell of alot harder with a turn based game than with an RTS. The action going on, on screen in an RTS of that nature is far flashier than what goes on in most turn based games, particularly in this one which features no tactical combat (note: that's not a gripe).

Good luck with that...

bakerstreet

on Apr 06, 2006

once bitten, twice shy. Probably 50 times bitten, actually. I consider maganize ads about as reliable as box art. You aren't going to see the game, warts and all, when they spend that much money marketing their product. The best you get is a postage sized square in one corner showing "actual gameplay"... and even then it often "varies".

My decision making is based on reviews, third party screenshots, and the support forusms of the developer themselves. Maybe, just maybe ads make me head in that direction to look into a game, but beyond that they have no impact whatsoever. Worse, if it ends up that the ads were misleading, I am far less apt to look into the franchise in future releases.

Roarck

on Apr 06, 2006

For me you only have a fraction of a sec to get me to look at the actual ad. It needs to jump out and say somehow this game is the type of game I like (or alternatly pretty scantly clad females seem to also grab my eye.) Once you have my eye I want to know what type of game it is quick . (Kind of like box info.)

Still I tend to buy from reviews and word of mouth.

Martimus

on Apr 06, 2006

An artsy good looking ad with be hardly looked at, a cluttered ad with a lot of information , that is professionally laid out and presented yet artfully done will be stopped at and read. Your goal is to get the occassional gamer to the website where you can let him see the reviews and your screenshots, or the compulsive gamer to remember you the next time he is near a rack full of sofware

Yeah, that sounds like me... That was the kind of ad that would snare me before I had kids and became consistantly broke.

Veranator

on Apr 06, 2006

I only look at ads if there's a picture of a pretty girl on it or it has actual in game screenshots. Maybe get Cari to do a bikini layout holding a collector's edition box

Star Dragon

on Apr 06, 2006

I'm assuming the screenshot you'll be showing is one of the combat. If I may be so bold, I'd suggest something to include along the left frame of the ad:

You see, humor was one of the biggest selling points for me in this game. It's quirky in a way, but there are some downright hilarious lines. Perhaps having some portraits for some of the different species giving their own unique commentary. For instance, draw a fine line to the ships for the civilization that is losing the battle you're showing and having it saying the "We understand how you may misinterpret our all-out assault on your starbases as a sign of aggression, but were really interested in peace ..." line, and perhaps the other species involved giving some other appropriate comment.

Just so long as its kept in the margins, it shouldn't detract from the beauty of the shots (there to catch the eyes of the reader) and could add a bit more of the flavor of the game for the interested reader (hence assigning it to the left frame, because it wouldn't be an image seen by someone just flipping through the ads - they'll primarily see what's on the right side).

Efthimios

on Apr 06, 2006

2 things. First, to clarify what I said earlier. Seeing an ad will NOT make me buy a game, what it will do is make me want to learn more about it if the game is unknown to me, or remind me that the game is on sale, there are so many games out there that sometimes you just forget about the title you wanted to buy when you see another title. Second, I am not in favour of humour to promote 4x strategy games (or most strategy games). Case in point Spaceward ho! Reviews and ads were promoting it as a space strategy game with a lot of humour, that ruined it for me and I never got the game. I don't want to play a 4X game to laugh, I can watch a comedy or play one of the old adventure games for that, I am interested in a 4X game because it will allow me to conquer, expand, and be in control of an empire/kingdom/whatever, not for the chuckles. Perhaps that is just me though. EDIT: How on earth do you create paragraphs? Enter key doesn't work.

unreal_ed

on Apr 06, 2006

I feel the same as you about ads. And I'm pretty sure everyone does. You should just show what the game is like and then see if they like it. Ads that show pictures of the game that look like scenes from a movie seem like the people behind the game are ashame of it and want to make it look like what it's not.

The ad should be one HUGE 2page screenshot of the game with maybe some legend (similar to the first GalCiv 2 ad) with this website's adress under the screen and the awards the game received as well (and maybe some quick quotes).

EDIT: Maybe you should also find a way to show the same honesty and devotion in your ad that you do with the community.

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