The "Tweenies" (pre-teen) group is regarded as the most profitable segment to market to, by far.
Example: My girlfriend's little sister has no less than 8 Pokemon games. Has every Mario title released since SNES. And is OBSESSED with Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing.
Why are kids more profitable? Because they have time, their parents have money, and they actually obsess about franchises.
Sure I love Halo and Halo 2.... but us oldies dont die if we dont get to play Pokemon every day. And we certainly dont get as excited as kids do when their cow in Harvest Moon named "Mike" turns out to be pregnant!
The best way to see this is when you are involved in the three way battle between Covenant, the Flood and the Humans (when you are the arbitor).
Each time you enter an area there is a battle going on between the humans/flood/covenant. Most games the action revolves around you triggering something. Halo 2 (and similar games) have the world and its players acting out their own story. You could stand in a corner and just watch the battle unfold. This is useful when you come up against a bunch of sentinels and flood... just let them battle it out, then waltz in a take out the winner.
The AI treats all enemy forces the same way, and as such you become just another player in the battle. It is also noticable when you die, in a lot of games the AI simply stops once you're dead, because you are the trigger for every action... in Halo 2 they just keep on fighting each other.
It means the world feels much more real, because all this is happening "around" you, and not "because" of you.
Play Halo 2 and understand how nice having a HD is:)
One load time at the start of the level, then play 30+ minutes without seeing another load screen. Play an entire act without a load screen... awesome stuff. Without the HD Halo 2 couldnt possibly cache the entire level into memory. Its amazing what it does for the pacing of the game. (makes me wonder why Fable didnt do a similar thing, being xbox only)
The essence of this is, buy Windows and get a free computer. Only, windows in this instance is in the guise of a games machine. Add this desire to get windows out there, with their drive behind XNA, and it's plain to see that MS see gaming as a luctritive way to get millions of users onto Windows.... and more importantly, at a young age!! Sub-20 year olds is an untapped market for the OS creator... hook em early!
It's a similar strategy used by breweries in australia. Lion Nathan bought 90% of pubs and hotels around universities, and stocked only their beer... the idea being to introduce new drinkers to their product as early as possible. They even were giving FREE beer if you were having a party. It costs in the short term, but they aim to have you a customer for life.
In the case of the new Bungie.net stats for Halo 2, it is fantastic to be able to SEE where uber-gamer10 gets his kills from, what weapons he uses and what others have killed him with.
I'm not personally interested in how many headshots i've had or how many times i captured the flag, but there are plenty of stats that can help you improve your game. It is also a good opportunity to see the tactics of the l33t gamers.
Its not physically banned. You are still physically able to connect to Xbox Live, you just cant play any games. It is a software ban... effectively a failed login attempt, not a banned device as such.
Re:I've never understood the obsession with Halo
on
Halo 2 Reviews
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· Score: 1
Man, this argument is so freaking old....who cares what you as a PC gamer think of console games. I will never play against you on Xbox Live, and I am glad.
I still play CS, Doom and UT occasionaly, but am now pretty much a "console-only gamer". On a friday night nothing beats kicking back on the couch with a beer and dealing out some pain on Halo (or any other Console game).
When you talk all i hear is "Console-only gamers blah blah blah".... the thing that makes games like Halo fun is the fact that the game is... well... FUN. It doesnt need uber-shading, or mega-lighting-deluxe with cheese, or HAL-strength AI. Who gives a flying squirrel nut!! As long as the game is fun!!
And i fail to see how i am a clueless numbskull for shelling out $50 ($90 here in Aus), when my total investment on console gaming for the last 3 years is less than what my friend just paid for a VIDEO CARD ONLY just so he could play Doom 3 and Half Life 2.
The fun to $$ ratio is my side.....and i have more
beer to show for it.
"Its basically ruined Lion Head studios." How do you figure that?
Fable has been one of the most successful games ever for Xbox. It netted lionhead a mint. Sure it didnt live up to expectations, but it was hardly a failure, and you could hardly suggest that it was rushed to market, OR that it was buggy.
The worst part is, it ISNT even parents that are complaining!
Manhunt was originally classified MA15+ but after a complaint by a Western Australian Minister, Michelle Roberts (the minister for Justice), was banned.
If parents were the ones complaining then that would be totally OK, because that means that they are actually parenting. At the moment Manhunt gets banned, but violence like that seen in Doom is A-OK. The fact is that parents dont know what their kids play to know that they should be complaining. Oh the irony.
Unfortunately this is the same logic as the whole get rid of Record Companies argument. Yes publishers are evil, whether they be Music, Games or Books. But ask any "independant" musician or developer how hard it is to get your product developed and out there WITHOUT a publisher. It takes far more money to produce a book/album/game and then publish it and then market it and then distribute than most independants have. Publishers are required in a lot of instances to pay for all this stuff.
Yeah, succesful musicians, authors or game devs can get by without a publisher by selling direct to their fans... but unless you have a ready made fan base, you need a publisher to generate an audience for you.
If MS included Anti-virus, serious Firewall software and whatever else you feel they should include to make it "secure", you'd be the first person up in arms claiming it to be another example of MS using their monopoly to push out competitors.
Everyone wants MS to remove things like CD-burning, Media Player, IE etc because it is anti-competitive and now you WANT THEM to build MORE APPS IN??
Also, motor companies do NOT make Airbags, ABS and skid control... they are usually made by third party companies (Bosch for example). So are you suggesting that Windows comes bundled with Norton Antivirus/Firewall, that you shouldnt get a choice, and that we should add another $50 to the cost? Sounds anti-competitive to me. Sounds like you're another/. er who trips over their own arguments in an effort to be the first to bash MS.
Whilst i think you are over-generalising, i agree in principle that a LOT of 18-35 year olds dont own a GBA, but do play consoles. That's not suggesting that there arent any (or that are loarge percentage of GBA owners aren't in this bracket), but it does say there are a lot of people who wouldnt buy a GBA because they "think" its a kids toy. This are mostly the same people who wouldnt buy a GC because they think it only has kids games.
So in theory you are right, in that a fair percentage of people who would not previously looked at portable gaming (regardless of age group) may be interested in either of these gadgets. I know i've never even considered buying a GBA, but the PSP and DS have me interested if only for the cool factor.
A lot of people underestimate just how big the handheld market is at the moment. You dont need a hell of a large percentage of current generation handheld players to buy a DS (or PSP) for it to become VERY succesful... not to mention the number of new users you may pick up on the way.
I think of games like Links 2004, or Dance Dance Revolution, or Project Gotham and i think I LOVE THIS GAME... i just want to get more out of it... It's great to be able to get extra "content" without having to wait 5 years for a sequel, or 2 years for an expansion pack. I love Rainbow Six and i want new maps!
And YES i will pay $5 if i think that i am getting more value out of my original game.... bridging the gap until the sequel comes out.
Yes it is illegal to sell, import, hire or own the game now that it has been refused classification.
For god sake, why cant they just introduce an R Rating! There are so many MA15+ games that SHOULD be R rated, but they arent bad enough to ban, so they just make them MA15+ instead... i mean how daft is that!
For those who've been following this. Steve Bracks, the Victorian Premier is talking about introducing R rated games legislation for Victoria. (it'll never happen) but at least someone is doing something.
Slashdot Mirror
The "Tweenies" (pre-teen) group is regarded as the most profitable segment to market to, by far.
Example:
My girlfriend's little sister has no less than 8 Pokemon games. Has every Mario title released since SNES. And is OBSESSED with Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing.
Why are kids more profitable? Because they have time, their parents have money, and they actually obsess about franchises.
Sure I love Halo and Halo 2.... but us oldies dont die if we dont get to play Pokemon every day. And we certainly dont get as excited as kids do when their cow in Harvest Moon named "Mike" turns out to be pregnant!
http://cube.ign.com/articles/568/568996p1.html
"Fanless?"
But surely someone likes them!?
Badoom tish!
The best way to see this is when you are involved in the three way battle between Covenant, the Flood and the Humans (when you are the arbitor).
Each time you enter an area there is a battle going on between the humans/flood/covenant. Most games the action revolves around you triggering something. Halo 2 (and similar games) have the world and its players acting out their own story. You could stand in a corner and just watch the battle unfold. This is useful when you come up against a bunch of sentinels and flood... just let them battle it out, then waltz in a take out the winner.
The AI treats all enemy forces the same way, and as such you become just another player in the battle. It is also noticable when you die, in a lot of games the AI simply stops once you're dead, because you are the trigger for every action... in Halo 2 they just keep on fighting each other.
It means the world feels much more real, because all this is happening "around" you, and not "because" of you.
Play Halo 2 and understand how nice having a HD is :)
One load time at the start of the level, then play 30+ minutes without seeing another load screen. Play an entire act without a load screen... awesome stuff. Without the HD Halo 2 couldnt possibly cache the entire level into memory. Its amazing what it does for the pacing of the game. (makes me wonder why Fable didnt do a similar thing, being xbox only)
People are looking at this the wrong way.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5419179.html
Steve Ballmer doesnt want an xbox in the homes of every Mac, Linux and PC user... he wants WINDOWS in every home, everywhere in the world!
The essence of this is, buy Windows and get a free computer. Only, windows in this instance is in the guise of a games machine. Add this desire to get windows out there, with their drive behind XNA, and it's plain to see that MS see gaming as a luctritive way to get millions of users onto Windows.... and more importantly, at a young age!! Sub-20 year olds is an untapped market for the OS creator... hook em early!
It's a similar strategy used by breweries in australia. Lion Nathan bought 90% of pubs and hotels around universities, and stocked only their beer... the idea being to introduce new drinkers to their product as early as possible. They even were giving FREE beer if you were having a party. It costs in the short term, but they aim to have you a customer for life.
In the case of the new Bungie.net stats for Halo 2, it is fantastic to be able to SEE where uber-gamer10 gets his kills from, what weapons he uses and what others have killed him with.
I'm not personally interested in how many headshots i've had or how many times i captured the flag, but there are plenty of stats that can help you improve your game. It is also a good opportunity to see the tactics of the l33t gamers.
Its not physically banned. You are still physically able to connect to Xbox Live, you just cant play any games. It is a software ban... effectively a failed login attempt, not a banned device as such.
Man, this argument is so freaking old....who cares what you as a PC gamer think of console games. I will never play against you on Xbox Live, and I am glad. I still play CS, Doom and UT occasionaly, but am now pretty much a "console-only gamer". On a friday night nothing beats kicking back on the couch with a beer and dealing out some pain on Halo (or any other Console game). When you talk all i hear is "Console-only gamers blah blah blah".... the thing that makes games like Halo fun is the fact that the game is ... well... FUN. It doesnt need uber-shading, or mega-lighting-deluxe with cheese, or HAL-strength AI. Who gives a flying squirrel nut!! As long as the game is fun!!
And i fail to see how i am a clueless numbskull for shelling out $50 ($90 here in Aus), when my total investment on console gaming for the last 3 years is less than what my friend just paid for a VIDEO CARD ONLY just so he could play Doom 3 and Half Life 2.
The fun to $$ ratio is my side.....and i have more
beer to show for it.
Oh yeah, thats right... everyone outside of North America is asian!
Yes thankyou, that is also all i wanted to see (and no not the iPod).
"Its basically ruined Lion Head studios."
How do you figure that?
Fable has been one of the most successful games ever for Xbox. It netted lionhead a mint. Sure it didnt live up to expectations, but it was hardly a failure, and you could hardly suggest that it was rushed to market, OR that it was buggy.
Average ADSL "broadband" plans here are 512/128k with between 10-20gig download a month.
The worst part is, it ISNT even parents that are complaining! Manhunt was originally classified MA15+ but after a complaint by a Western Australian Minister, Michelle Roberts (the minister for Justice), was banned. If parents were the ones complaining then that would be totally OK, because that means that they are actually parenting. At the moment Manhunt gets banned, but violence like that seen in Doom is A-OK. The fact is that parents dont know what their kids play to know that they should be complaining. Oh the irony.
Porn is illegal in all states of australia with the exception of the ACT (not suprisingly, where the politicians spend most of their time).
Unfortunately this is the same logic as the whole get rid of Record Companies argument. Yes publishers are evil, whether they be Music, Games or Books. But ask any "independant" musician or developer how hard it is to get your product developed and out there WITHOUT a publisher. It takes far more money to produce a book/album/game and then publish it and then market it and then distribute than most independants have. Publishers are required in a lot of instances to pay for all this stuff.
Yeah, succesful musicians, authors or game devs can get by without a publisher by selling direct to their fans... but unless you have a ready made fan base, you need a publisher to generate an audience for you.
If MS included Anti-virus, serious Firewall software and whatever else you feel they should include to make it "secure", you'd be the first person up in arms claiming it to be another example of MS using their monopoly to push out competitors.
/. er who trips over their own arguments in an effort to be the first to bash MS.
Everyone wants MS to remove things like CD-burning, Media Player, IE etc because it is anti-competitive and now you WANT THEM to build MORE APPS IN??
Also, motor companies do NOT make Airbags, ABS and skid control... they are usually made by third party companies (Bosch for example). So are you suggesting that Windows comes bundled with Norton Antivirus/Firewall, that you shouldnt get a choice, and that we should add another $50 to the cost? Sounds anti-competitive to me. Sounds like you're another
Whilst i think you are over-generalising, i agree in principle that a LOT of 18-35 year olds dont own a GBA, but do play consoles. That's not suggesting that there arent any (or that are loarge percentage of GBA owners aren't in this bracket), but it does say there are a lot of people who wouldnt buy a GBA because they "think" its a kids toy. This are mostly the same people who wouldnt buy a GC because they think it only has kids games.
So in theory you are right, in that a fair percentage of people who would not previously looked at portable gaming (regardless of age group) may be interested in either of these gadgets. I know i've never even considered buying a GBA, but the PSP and DS have me interested if only for the cool factor.
A lot of people underestimate just how big the handheld market is at the moment. You dont need a hell of a large percentage of current generation handheld players to buy a DS (or PSP) for it to become VERY succesful... not to mention the number of new users you may pick up on the way.
Ummm... but there IS demand for this.
I think of games like Links 2004, or Dance Dance Revolution, or Project Gotham and i think I LOVE THIS GAME... i just want to get more out of it... It's great to be able to get extra "content" without having to wait 5 years for a sequel, or 2 years for an expansion pack. I love Rainbow Six and i want new maps!
And YES i will pay $5 if i think that i am getting more value out of my original game.... bridging the gap until the sequel comes out.
Yes it is illegal to sell, import, hire or own the game now that it has been refused classification. For god sake, why cant they just introduce an R Rating! There are so many MA15+ games that SHOULD be R rated, but they arent bad enough to ban, so they just make them MA15+ instead... i mean how daft is that! For those who've been following this. Steve Bracks, the Victorian Premier is talking about introducing R rated games legislation for Victoria. (it'll never happen) but at least someone is doing something.
There is a little picture of a DS and a "something else". Making it clear that is promoting the DS. Nothing exciting :)
No... (2004 + (int(rnd)* 5)) + Longhorn + ?? = Profit!!
wwww.ilovebees.com
You'd be interested in Citizen Zero then. This game is going to redefine how MMORPG's are played :)