190°

What's the Problem with PlayStation Marketing?

Push Square considers the advantages of disadvantages of PlayStation's current marketing strategy, and considers how the company's recruitment of advertising agency BBH New York could have a positive impact on the PS4.

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pushsquare.com
NastyLeftHook04094d ago

advertise more in the us.

like for example: 8.00am "have a playstation with those eggs!" commercial

11.ooam have a playstation with this pepsi"

and this goes on until 11.00pm.

Dwalls11714094d ago

The big wigs of sony over In asia are Extremely stubborn...its a cultural thing. They believe no matter what that the playstation name will sell itself, I guess you can say they are spoiled bucause of their past dominance...

But its give and take man ...you cant always be stubborn somtime you have to eat crow and admit when your slipping...they need to market more and build playststion back up

juandren4094d ago

Luckily Kaz's head is firmly NOT in his ass. He is doing wonders for Sony as a company and PlayStation as a brand

Killzoner994094d ago

"The big wigs of sony over In asia are Extremely stubborn...its a cultural thing."
What are you talking about you racist? That's a pretty stereotypical thing to say about the Japanese culture. I'm also pretty sure that crow is not eaten in Japan either. Sony's marketing is the best in the industry. Name a better video game commercial than the Kevin Butler campaign. I can't remember the last time I saw an ad by Nintendo or Microsoft. At least Sony has commercials.Good ones too.

rpd1234094d ago

@Killzoner99

That's not racist at all. There are cultural differences in every country, pointing them out isn't a bad thing. And eating crow is a saying in the US, it means that you admit you're wrong. Jesus, people are sensitive these days.

And no, Sony does not have the best marketing in the industry. It is widely considered the worst in the industry. And I find it hard to believe you never see a Microsoft or Nintendo ad, seeing as how they are on every commercial break. It's like you live under a rock.

Dwalls11714094d ago

Did this dude just call me racist??

You sir need to take a deep breath and relax, what I said is true I love sony , but its clear that they have a lot they need to change in the next console generation.

dafegamer4094d ago

@killzoner i must agree that marketing isnt sonys strength

aCasualGamer4094d ago

The problem is that there is too little of the awesome Kaz Hirai in the ads.

They should just have a 30 second clip of Kazification gifs montage and a picture of a PS4 at the end. Instant win!

Check neogaf if you don't know what i'm talking about.

Kazification ftw.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4094d ago
JoGam4094d ago (Edited 4094d ago )

What ever they do... They need to speak directly to the casual market. The gamers who dont read N4G or site like it. People who don't know what E3 is. Those are the people Sony need to reach. Those are the majority. They need to see exactly what Sony can offer in terms of games, hardware etc. Show features, Playstation plus alone will sell itself. Problem is no one knows it or heard of it.

rpd1234094d ago

Very true. Kids in my school who have had a PS3 longer than me don't even know what it is. That's kind of a problem, seeing as how they own the console.

fredrikpedersen4092d ago

I know what's right about PS marketing (see video!)

NYC_Gamer4094d ago

The KB commercials seem to have made the ads about him and not the product

smashcrashbash4094d ago (Edited 4094d ago )

That doesn't make any sense. That is like saying the Mayhem Guy in the insurance commercials made it more about him or Five Gum commercials are more about people in strange metal machines more the about gum. .Unless you are an idiot you would know what the commercial was about. If you think of it that way then Nintendo's 3DS commercials are more about people who sit in living rooms on couches then games and Kinect commercials are more about flailing around then about games.I mean the level of nonsense spoken on N4G is staggering.Does anyone even think about what they are writing anymore or is the whole point just to agree with whatever negative thing is being said as quickly as possible so people,can hand them agrees?

@ Megaton.You mean like the fact that Sony has whole Youtube channels and blogs dedicated to showcasing their games even if it is just simply a PSN game with trailers, developer blogs and gameplay videos? That kind of saturation? Can you show me where Microsoft advertises their XBLA games?

Pozzle4094d ago (Edited 4094d ago )

"That is like saying the Mayhem Guy in the insurance commercials made it more about him or Five Gum commercials are more about people in strange metal machines more the about gum."

I think the difference is that most people already know what car insurance is, so the companies need something catchy (like Mayhem) to grab people's attention and make them think that they need to swap insurance companies.
Same goes for gum. Most people already know what gum is...they just need a reason to buy YOUR gum.

But the mass audience aren't familiar with gaming. They don't really know why they should buy a PS3, or what games are on a PS3, or even what the PS3 is all about. The mass audience would likely look at a Kevin Butler ad and be confused or not fully understand what it's about.

And I think that's a big problem with Sony's marketing... Their advertising seems to primarily be aimed at people (like us on N4G) who are already pretty hardcore gamers, but their ads might seem random or confusing to the casual or non-gaming mass audience who need to be shown exactly WHY buying a PS3 and new games is a good idea for them.

NukaCola4094d ago

I get what you are saying. I think Sony over the last couple of years has really improved their advertising, but sometimes they get to weird for anyone to understand what the hell is going on.

I love Sony and only want the best. Can't wait for the 20th...that ad tease really got the internet on fire and yes the GOW Ashes Superbowl Ad hit me emotionally in the heart. But I think they have learned from the past.

Some of PS3's older commercials instantly reminded me of this:

Megaton4094d ago (Edited 4094d ago )

The fact that Microsoft outpaces them by tenfold, minimum. Gotta step your game up against a company that relies so heavily on ad saturation.

TongkatAli4094d ago

I would like a hot lady spokeswoman. I remember there was this black girl Sony hired to talk about the slim PS3. She looked super hot and serious.

SkullBlade1694094d ago

There is no marketing, that's the problem.

Or at least, I pretty much never see any PS marketing anywhere.

smashcrashbash4094d ago (Edited 4094d ago )

Don't answer them.Let them keep talking.Sense is not something gamers have at all. I am certain that when GOW Ascension comes out they will say 'Sony never advertised it and I will have to remind them of this

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Or like UC3 I have to keep reminding them of this

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Or like Resistance 3

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

People like to pretend it is the commercials fault and not they are just ignoring the games in favor of others.If Microsoft are so great at commercials how come most of their Kinect games including the ones for children sold like crap? How come they have games the advertised that got above average scores and still didn't sell well at all? According to gamers the advertising whiz Microsoft should NEVER have a game sell below two or three million.But as long as you don't keep ignoring the others over Halo and Gears they do have several. Can I ask where are the 5-10 million people that brought Alan Wake that was advertised so well? Or better yet where are the 5-10 million people that brought Splinter Cell Conviction because of television ads? These game made at least average scores? so where are the bank breaking sales? How about Kinect Sesame Street that released during Christmas and got ads? How come it sold so poorly even as a children's game that so many great reviews? Strange how people go silent every time I ask them that or hide behind Halo and Gears sales.

pixelsword4094d ago (Edited 4094d ago )

I agree: I do see a lot of Sony youtube videos and that's a good place to go if you are aware of gaming to the degree most PS3-aware gamers are; my only problem with that strategy is that not many people who have to be won over to the PlayStation go on to youtube to specifically watch PlayStation videos.

Even further down that line, if you hate the PlayStation, would you go online to watch what they're doing?

What if you don't think about consoles much at all, would you go online to watch console game video commercials, and if so, what would you watch that might interest you if you didn't know the name of the game that might interest you?

Lastly, what if you love gaming, but are not internet-savvy? Don't forget that older people also game, but not all of them are adept to searching things on the internet.

My dad loves tennis and Wii tennis is the best for him, but until I got Wii tennis for my older brother's family (he owns a Wii) he would never have had the chance to even know that the Wii existed because he doesn't get online; but to be fair, he also doesn't watch shows where game makers advertise as well.

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180°

Bethesda Needs to Reduce the Gaps Between New Fallout and Elder Scrolls Releases

Waiting a decade for new instalments in franchises as massive as Fallout and Elder Scrolls feels like a waste.

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gamingbolt.com
-Foxtrot11h ago

Microsoft have Obsidian but I feel it's Bethesda who just don't want to play ball as they've always said they want to do it themselves.

Once MS bought Zenimax in 2020 they should have put the Outer Worlds 2 on the back burner, allow Bethesda to finish off its own Space RPG with Starfield (despite totally different tone why have two in your first party portfolio with two developers who's gameplay is a tad similar) and got Obsidian for one of their projects to make a spiritual successor to New Vegas.

When the Elder Scrolls VI is finished Bethesda can then onto the main numbered Fallout 5 themselves.

The Outer Worlds 2 started development in 2019 so putting it on the back burner wouldn't have been the end of the world, they'd have always come back to it once Fallout was done and it would have been nicely spaced out from Starfields release once they had most likely stopped supporting it and all the expansions were released.

If they did this back in 2020 when they bought Zenimax and the game had a good, steady 4 - 5 years development, you might have seen it release in 2025.

We are literally going to be waiting until 2030 at the very earliest for Fallout 5 and all they seem bothered about is pushing Fallout 76.

RaidenBlack9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Its not just only Todd not playing ball.
Obsidian have made a name for themselves in delivering stellar RPGs, but most famous once have always been sequels/spin-offs to borrowed IPs like KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Stick of Truth etc.
Obsidian wants to invest more in their own original IPs like Outer Worlds or Pillars of Eternity with Avowed.
Similar to what Bluepoint & inXile wants to do or Kojima is doing (i.e not involving anymore in Konami's IPs).
So yea, even if New Vegas has the most votes from 3D Fallout fans, Obsidian just wants to do their own thing, like any aspiring dev studio and MS is likely currently respecting that.
But a future Fallout game from Obsidian will surely happen. Founder Feargus Urquhart has already stated an year ago that they're eager to make a new Fallout game with Bethesda, New Vegas 2 or otherwise. Urquhart was the director of the very first 1995's Fallout game after all.
And don't forget Brian Fargo and his studio inXile, as Brian Fargo was the director of Fallout's 1988 predecessor: Wasteland

KyRo6h ago(Edited 5h ago)

Obsidian should take over the FO IP. They're do far better with it than Bethesda who hasn't made a great game for almost 15 years

RaidenBlack3m ago(Edited 2m ago)

@KyRo
So, by 15 years, you mean Fallout 3 was the last great game Bethesda made?
You don't consider Skyrim a good game, which came out 13 years ago?
I'd consider Fallout 4 a pretty decent game as well. It's Story & RPG elements were a bit downgrade from New Vegas but the exploration and shooting on the other hand, were upgrades.
FO76 was disappointing and Starfield could've been better at launch I'll agree.

Duke195h ago(Edited 5h ago)

I disagree. Part of these games is the support for the mod community. If they move to releasing a "next game" every 2 or 3 years, the modding support plummets and the franchises turn into just another run of the mill RPG.

Make the games good enough to withstand the test of time, to keep people coming back to them and expanding on them with mod support.

--Onilink--3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

I dont think anyone is saying they need to come out every 2 years (not to mention almost no game is released that quickly anymore)

By the time Fallout 5 comes out, it will be more than 15 years since Fallout 4 came out (same with ES6 coming out 15 years after Skyrim). Even if you want to use F76 as the metric for the most recent release, that one came out in 2018. It will be a miracle if F5 comes out before 2030

The point is that for a studio that doesnt seem to operate with multiple teams doing several projects at once, that their projects normally take 4-5 years as a minimum, and that now they even added Starfield to the rotation, it becomes a 15+ years waiting period between releases for each series, which doesnt make sense. Imagine that Nintendo only released a mainline Mario or Zelda game every 15 years…

They either need to start developing more than 1 project at a time, let someone else take a crack at one of the IPs or significantly reduce their development times

Duke191h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Why should someone else take a crack at one of the IPs? Look at what happened to Final Fantasy as a recent example - there is pretty clear FF fatigue setting in because they are now pumping out titles in the franchise every few years. Pumping out more games faster doesn't always make a series better.

There are plenty of options to make new games, not just create more titles in the same universe at a faster pace.

mandf3h ago

Yeah I’m going to say it, who cares about the modding community when making a game? Half the time developers only tolerate modders because they fix there game for them.

Skuletor4h ago

Yeah, let's all advocate for smaller gaps between series' releases, then we'll probably get headlines about how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven. Let them cook.

SimpleSlave3h ago

"how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven" So every Bethesda game then? Got it.

Listen, I would agree if this was about From Software or something, but Bethesda?

🤣

C'mon now. What timeline are you from?

Skuletor1h ago

Think about it, they're already bug filled messes on their current schedule, can you imagine how much worse it would be if they rushed things?

Duke191h ago

I mean you aren't wrong. People are going to complain about anything

isarai3h ago

Hows about you focus on quality, just a thought 🤷‍♂️

Sciurus_vulgaris2h ago

Bethesda [or Microsoft] would have to reallocate internal and external studios towards fallout and elder scrolls titles. Bethesda has the issue of developing 2 big IPs that are large RPGs on rotation. If you want more Fallout and Elder Scrolls, development will have to be outsourced.

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