EarthBound 2 Marketing
EarthBound, the game we all know and love, the game we all have beaten atleast a few times, the game we've all had atleast one or two dreams about, was a commerical failure. Nintendo hyped it like mad, anyone else remember the "This Game Stinks!" stuff? Not exactly the best slogan for a new franchise... It was very poorly recieved in the US, and if we ever see another Mother game here, is pretty questionable. If Nintendo actually ever considers releasing it here, they'll need to once again, hype it like mad. Get the new game in a gamer's head. Past all of those other overhyped games, like Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. And here's what I'd do...
Well, first I'd get a good slogan. Slogans are a big part of marketring. They get into your head, Nintendo would need something catchy, something that you think of whenever you think of EarthBound. Something that fits EarthBound. Like I said in the last paragraph, "This Game Stinks!" isn't exactly the best slogan out there, and I don't think basing the slogan on a pack-in was a very good idea. Sure, it got your attention that there were scratch n' sniff cards in there, but did anyone buy it for the cards? I don't really have any ideas for a good slogan, but, that's a big part of what Nintendo needs. Next, a good commercial. Once again, something that gets in your head. Something different. Most commericals, you kind of sit there, not really watching it. Nintendo needs a commerical that once even the background music starts, grabs your attention, and you start watching it. Maybe, it could have some of that crazy background music at first, with the New Age Retro Hippie battle music. In the center, a box, with the gameplay, and a narrator explaining the game. At the end, the narrator says the slogan, and a quick flash of the logo for the console it will be on.
Next, I'll talk about what I'd do about the game. I would be very secretive about it. Much like Itoi is doing now, only I wouldn't say anything about it. No hints, or anything. I'd dissapear from the face of the Earth for years, just working on the game. Then when the game is pretty much done, in debug stage, I would announce it, not at an expo like E3 or the TGS, but during a time where there is no video game news at all. So people can just take it all in, with no other news around, and all the attention is on the new EarthBound game. To get more sales, I would finish up the cancelled EarthBound 64, and include it, along with Mother 1 and 2, to ensure high sales. For the actual game itself, I would keep it an overhead, 2D RPG. This is where the Mother series has always been great, why change that? The game would pretty much be the same, with a new story, new places, and new quirky things to fit with today's pop culture.
I think that pretty much sums up what I would do. Marketing is a big part of a succesful game, and can make or break an awesome game, as we saw with EarthBound. I think Nintendo just needs to focus on marketing with this, keep the awesome formula that made us all of the SNES game, and it will do well. I mean, how can anyone not want an EarthBound game, if Nintendo can send the message about how awesome it is well?
EarthBound, the game we all know and love, the game we all have beaten atleast a few times, the game we've all had atleast one or two dreams about, was a commerical failure. Nintendo hyped it like mad, anyone else remember the "This Game Stinks!" stuff? Not exactly the best slogan for a new franchise... It was very poorly recieved in the US, and if we ever see another Mother game here, is pretty questionable. If Nintendo actually ever considers releasing it here, they'll need to once again, hype it like mad. Get the new game in a gamer's head. Past all of those other overhyped games, like Halo, and Grand Theft Auto. And here's what I'd do...
Well, first I'd get a good slogan. Slogans are a big part of marketring. They get into your head, Nintendo would need something catchy, something that you think of whenever you think of EarthBound. Something that fits EarthBound. Like I said in the last paragraph, "This Game Stinks!" isn't exactly the best slogan out there, and I don't think basing the slogan on a pack-in was a very good idea. Sure, it got your attention that there were scratch n' sniff cards in there, but did anyone buy it for the cards? I don't really have any ideas for a good slogan, but, that's a big part of what Nintendo needs. Next, a good commercial. Once again, something that gets in your head. Something different. Most commericals, you kind of sit there, not really watching it. Nintendo needs a commerical that once even the background music starts, grabs your attention, and you start watching it. Maybe, it could have some of that crazy background music at first, with the New Age Retro Hippie battle music. In the center, a box, with the gameplay, and a narrator explaining the game. At the end, the narrator says the slogan, and a quick flash of the logo for the console it will be on.
Next, I'll talk about what I'd do about the game. I would be very secretive about it. Much like Itoi is doing now, only I wouldn't say anything about it. No hints, or anything. I'd dissapear from the face of the Earth for years, just working on the game. Then when the game is pretty much done, in debug stage, I would announce it, not at an expo like E3 or the TGS, but during a time where there is no video game news at all. So people can just take it all in, with no other news around, and all the attention is on the new EarthBound game. To get more sales, I would finish up the cancelled EarthBound 64, and include it, along with Mother 1 and 2, to ensure high sales. For the actual game itself, I would keep it an overhead, 2D RPG. This is where the Mother series has always been great, why change that? The game would pretty much be the same, with a new story, new places, and new quirky things to fit with today's pop culture.
I think that pretty much sums up what I would do. Marketing is a big part of a succesful game, and can make or break an awesome game, as we saw with EarthBound. I think Nintendo just needs to focus on marketing with this, keep the awesome formula that made us all of the SNES game, and it will do well. I mean, how can anyone not want an EarthBound game, if Nintendo can send the message about how awesome it is well?
