I'm Hardcore-Part two

September 24, 12:58 PMLA Video Game ExaminerKenneth Wesley

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12 am-6 am is probably the best part of the day, especially if the day started at 9 am the previous day. Watching the sun slowly rise, with the same bloodshot eyes that have been transfixed on the TV.  Your arms and legs and fingers have different sorts of cramps and sores. Insomnia’s a condition any hardcore gamer should be used to. It’s this sort of dedication and passion this is typical among the hardcore. And it doesn’t stop for just playing games. It also goes for buying games.

That passion (and impatience) isn’t lost on many publishers, which is why some games have been granted midnight releases.  Having attended many of them in my lifetime (including some consoles), those have been some of the best gathering of hardcore fans.  The clothes, the dialogue, the special contests at the stores-you’re in a different world with these people. A strange world based on the fact that all these games are preordered, which should make standing in line needless. But that electricity the air and anticipation is hard to ignore and it’s also big business. Many games have broken records (and in this expensive market, broken even) off the strength of midnight releases. Halo 3 earned a staggering $170 million on the first day alone. It’s that kind of record that can only bet set from hardcore gamers. They will support their games from day one. And even if the game is awesome, the hardcore will want more.

Sequels are probably the safest way to print money. Movies rely on them heavily and video games are no different. In fact, ask for a fan’s list of their favorite games and you’re guaranteed to find a sequel or two (Full disclosure: two are my favorite games ever:  Super Mario Galaxy and Resident Evil 4). Sequels are huge for gamers and publishers: Huge dollars and an even huger pressure: to make more dollars and deliver a better experience that gamers just bought. This kind of pressure can lead to some great games. Look no further than the Super Mario series, where even in the early editions, each game seemed to make giant leaps over its predecessor. But, Mario is one of the few, if not rare cases where a company isn’t forced into releasing a game in the series every year to make money. In fact, Nintendo franchises are some of the few that haven’t been ran into the ground and the hardcore fans still love.

Some franchises aren’t so lucky. Most companies strike gold and wisely decide to strike while the iron is hot: quickly releasing games in a yearly fashion. The problem with going that route is that it shortens the time it takes to improve a game and could allow developers to cost and become complacent, a claim leveled against the Madden franchise. Tony Hawk was one of the biggest franchises in the late ‘90s/early 2000s, winning praise for its incredible control scheme. The first one was considered great and then the next installment was considered groundbreaking for adding the manual trick system. Then, they started there was a Tony Hawk every year, each with a diminishing return, despite the additions (online play, extra vehicles, created characters). The last game, ‘Proving Ground’ landed with a thud and while Activision did announce another Tony Hawk game, it will be released in 2009 instead of 2008. But who’s to say that those same gamers will be there to support it when it’s released?

And that isn’t the only franchise that’s guilty or milking a cash cow. Capcom, one of the biggest companies that have had enduring success through every console generation, has probably milked more cows dry with one of their biggest franchises. Mega Man 9 was recently and while it is the first sequel to the main series in nearly 12 years, but it is far from being the ninth game in the Mega Man series. In fact, there have been over 30 games released since Mega Man, many of the questionable quality. How was this bad? When two great Mega Man were released on the PSP, Maverick Hunter and Powered Up (remakes of two classic Mega Man games), they went ignored at the register and forced Capcom to re-evaluate any future remakes. Just one case when a company tested the hardcore’s loyalty by sacrificing quality in order to make money. A hardcore gamer will usually ignore crap, even if it comes printed with a recognizable name. The hardcore cares too much about great graphics, great mechanics, and great quality all around.

Or do they? Great graphics, great controls, fresh gameplay, and innovative concepts: sounds like a recipe for a surefire hit, right? Well…not if your game is titled ‘Beyond Good & Evil’, one of the industry’s poster child for great games that get ignored too often. As great as this 2003 title is, how could it stand up at retail against titles like Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Need for Speed: Underground. While all three are great games, they’re also franchises that usually have great sales easily and command a lot of attention, which makes it easier to market. When asked about the sales for ‘Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath’, creator Lorne Lanning had this to say in an 2006 article in Electronic Gaming Monthly, ‘We’ll never know how well the title might have performed had it been given adequate marketing and advertising support.  Every publisher and retailer knows that having a great game is only half the battle.” In 2005, some of the top 10 selling games included titles such as Madden NFL 2006, Gran Turismo, Pokemon Emerald, and Lego Star Wars: the Video Games. Which games didn’t make the top 10? The critically acclaimed God of War and Resident Evil 4 (and that was across two platforms).  Even in the early days of Xbox, Microsoft heavily promoted their Sega exclusives, like Jet Set Radio Future and Panzer Dragoon Orta. Both went nearly ignored at retail.

Many new intellectual properties are often released with little to no marketing, while many franchises have multimillion marketing blitzes. Gears of War 2 will coincide with a reality show which contestants have a chance to play the new game early. In fact, many of the biggest selling titles have benefited from huge marketing pushes. Some games have even had extra features (artwork, behind the scenes, developer interviews) that added to the price of games. The Legendary edition of Halo 3 cost over $100. How many other games could you have picked up that are just as good. How many ads did anyone need to pick up a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Or Call of Duty 4? Or Star Wars: The Force Unleashed?

Yes it did as this current-gen has lead to a rise in cost of developing video games. Some games require an all out marketing blitz just so they can break at even at three million copies. So the next part will touch on the word that has sent the hardcore in a tizzy: casual.