Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I think that Irish company does still have the rights to player’s names etc through the GPA so not sure how that might affect the game. [/quote:87b55ae598]
Pooka Games (now gone) had the original licence for the GAA title but as far as I heard, it never went anywhere past the prototype stage (for funding) and the licence reverted back to the GAA. It was my understanding that indeed Sony had bought the licence for the official GAA game, which was being developed by one of their Australian studios who had created some Aussie rules titles , but I was also under the assumption that the GPA title was more along the line of a Championship Manager kind of game.
Jamie
Right Ronan,
Now to answer your question. A radical marketing technique is adapting something that is already there and getting it to work better suited to your own particular needs.
You are going about community development in a great way, but remember that every bit of information the community provides is a piece of market research. Ask questions, get responses, have a flick through to see what people are talking about. Then keeping this information in mind, think up ways to give them other information.
Radical marketing techniques are new. You have the creative ability to think of something that is being used elsewhere that might suit your needs, or you can think of a new way that is a variation on something that already works. It may also simply be doing the fundamentals well. Get the basics done, do them well and then your radical technique will have a much better chance of succeeding.
Jamie
Hi Ronan,
I did my thesis on the marketing benefits of online communities to do exactly that, get all the leg work done for you. If you’re at the shindig, hunt me down for a chat.
If you are relying exclusively on the Internet to do your marketing communications, then you don’t really have to worry about a budget because you’re willing to put the work in for free yourself in relation to the various communications you are going to do.
What you need to do is identify the following:
a) Who your target consumers are
b) Where they go
c) What they wantOnce you have this in place, you can modify your approach to suit them specifically, which you seem to be on your way to doing. The next stage is developing links with the various different places on the web that have HIGH concentrations of these people. There are plenty of smaller websites which are fine to have, but you need to identify and sort out a way to get into the bigger websites for maximum exposure.
Once they see and follow a link, they are across to your website and they are yours. Now you need to find out what they want. There isn’t much point just making something and not asking people what they think about it after, but this is the real key to using internet communities.
They, when properly developed, provide you a wealth of information. The people going there are going because they have an interest in what you are doing, and are probably going to know plenty of other people with similar interests. One of the first things you might consider may sound simple, and you may have them already but they are really effective.
a) Mailing list, opt-in only, with a clear procedure in place for people to opt-out. Mailing lists should be frequent enough to maintain interest on an ongoing basis, but not overkill which will see the mails viewed in a spammy kind of way, not a good thing.
b) Refer-a-friend link, because if people see something they know someone else is interested in, all they need to do is click a link, enter in some details and send it off. Remember, do not store any information from these.
c) Forums. Put as many of these in as you feel is necessary, but have a forum specifically dedicated to people who want to contribute ideas to what you are doing.
d) Bookmark the page (so they don’t forget)Marketing is a very simple thing to understand when you get your head around it, and here’s the basics of how to go about building a marketing plan for whatever you are doing.
Company/Project aims & objectives
Marketing aims & objectivesWith these in place, you’ll know what you need to get out of the rest of the process.
Then, apply the above to the below:
a) identify who your target audience is, and where they are
b) formulate a message that is attractive to them to get them to visit your website
c) Put it places where people will actually see it and click the link
d) once on your website, you want to give them the information they want, an opportunity to interact with others who are interested in the company/project and an ability to have a say in how the product will develop.
e) Once they are talking, listen to them. Your community is there because they want to be there, and they may have plenty of ideas that you have not thought of which will differentiate what you are doing from from all the other products that are out there.The key to marketing on a budget is very simple. Just tell the people who you want to know, what they need to know, where they will see it. Wasting money on marketing arises when you pay for someone to see something that they are not interested in.
I hope this helps, any other questions, feel free to ask them on this thread or at the shindig.
Jamie
Hi Ronan,
Marketing on a severly restrained budget is exactly what I like doing >: )
There’s a thread on the business and legal thread if you have any specific ideas you would like answering, I’ll be adding basic’s to build the area up into a resource over the summer when I have time, but if there’s anything in particular I should be able to answer it.
Jamie
Hi Tony,
A clarification on what you highlighted re: locating in Ireland, that was more to do with where in Ireland they would physically locate in relation to tax breaks available as well as access to a graduate pool, although I do know that because Ireland is so small anyway that this might not be as big an issue.
Jamie
I’m not trying to win an award Tony, so don’t worry >: )
I’ve written these posts properly, I’m doing so because I think that they are areas that need to be addressed because I know people are murmering about a number of things under the water (along with a load of stuff about Sir Hoffalot which I’m not going to go into). I’ve done a thesis, so I know all about keeping something coherent and I did spend about two hours each at the two big posts.
I’ve just come through a 4 year degree programme in DIT that I have loved and it’s given me a really broad understanding of pretty much every business area out there and there are a lot of bad practices within this industry that Ireland can a) avoid and b) build on. We know what they are and we can do something to avoid them from the start. There is a serious lack of business skills with specific games experience in Ireland and abroad, and considering that this is a community, I thought I’d share what I know.
I got my job because of this community, and I got plenty of free pints while I’ve been in college (come on May 19th) so I feel an obligation to share what I know, because I believe this is an industry that Ireland can make a huge impact in.
If we just make good games, supported by good business practices, why shouldn’t a game that is Irish made, inspired by Irish people and something that is completely different sell as well as GTA or Halo 2.
It’s quality, not quantity lads, and games developers who just keep lashing out the same game over and over again with little consultation with the people who are actually going to play them in the end will fail. And go back to playing Counterstrike. Publishers will have to change the way they run things, and it will become acceptable to have a good game out, when it’s done ( (c) 3D Realms ).
Jamie
Hi guys,
It’s hard to see why game developers should be treated any differently from any other employees within the larger software industry. The revelations last year about EA [url:http://www.gamesindustry.biz/feature.php?aid=6013%5DGI.biz’s roundup of the matter aren’t a surprise at all, and it is true that game development is going through a massive transition at the moment. It is these practices that are making senior, experienced talent to leave the industry every year because it is an industry that is not one of the most employee friendly in the world. Part of the problem is that when (not if) these 48 hour working weeks are brought into law, it will be the game developers who have not adapted into advance, and the publishers that continue to expect game developers to work 80 hour weeks that will sooner or later be brought to court in Europe.
If it gets to this stage, there will be a ripple effect once the precedent is set and it is going to be a troublesome time for the industry. The attitudes will need a complete overhaul, and it’s not as if anyone has a problem doing a 48 hour week and having time outside of work to go to the pub, actually see the other half (I understand there are both good and bad parts to this ability) and generally have a ‘normal’ working life in the games industry.
I’m finished my degree now, which is primarily a management degree. Then workplace environment in the 21st century has changed so radically that there are a number of big changes that are going to be adopted if they are not already adopted already. Work is not seen by people as it was the same way fifteen years ago, when it was a case of getting a job or having to emigrate to the US, the UK or Australia in order to maintain a standard of life. It’s seen as part of the overall trend towards people living a modern life. This currently includes home working, flexitime, job sharing etc. This is going to continue and best practice within the industry is pointing the way forward to a fundamental shift in mindset in how employees within companies are seen to be viewed.
Simply put, the way things are going are all positive for the worker, because they will be doing a job within the protections that are afforded to them by law, which apply to every other company. This will lead to a considerable consolidation (as we have been seeing over the last few years) because of the technological costs involved in development for this generation of consoles.
Companies (new and old, so there’s plenty of room for more if you’re contemplating setting one up) who offer these better of standards of working and employee practices will simply attract the best talent from the ones who don’t. New publishers will emerge to take on EA simply by targeting the game player a different way, and this is especially notable considering how many really, genuinely good ideas are being ditched on a regular basis. Not every game that is made is good, but there are large markets out there for the games that aren’t the most cutting edge, brand new games.
I’m fed up of seeing the latest new FPS with one and a half new features and to be honest I have gone off the genre. I love Half Life 2, but it’s got a few new features but didn’t live up to what I expected it to be. I do admire Kapooki’s work on their circus title because there is a market out there for them to do really well with it once they can figure out where to target their marketing.
When the directive eventually becomes law, Ireland is perfectly positioned to compete in the post-transition games industry. And I think that our one key critical factor is that we haven’t had a games industry before. We are really in a position to establish ourselves on the game development map.
I’ve heard to many people at the shindigs thinking that the Irish game development industry is a charity case, people willing to work for next to nothing (peanuts, pittance, free) in order to get into this industry. The IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Invest NI have done a truly brilliant job in seeing that the Irish games industry is a huge growth area. For them, it creates exports and jobs, and for us it gives everyone who has wanted to get into games as a career a viable one. If you are a graduate with a good degree, or you don’t have a degree but have practical experience for a year or two, you are worth something to game developers. There is a tiny pool of qualified game developers working in this country. But it’s not as if that is a problem any more.
Studios that are going to be attracted to Ireland will know and understand exactly what the job market in Ireland will be like. They will be happy to bring on inexperienced graduates into game development positions because they will have the people there to help train the skills the graduates need on-the-job. They will locate in Ireland where they can get the cheapest cost-base. Colleges that offer good courses giving specialist knowledge on the skills that the industry need will have game developers locating nearby because it is close to a source of qualified work.
The next few years are going to see a lot of Irish game developers coming back, and they will bring their skills and experience with them. And for those starting out, once the skills are there, what is important is enthusiasm and creativity. This country is a completely untapped resource.
I know I may sound overly enthusiastic about all of this, but I’m looking at the bigger picture. In the last ten years, gaming has moved out of being mainly console and PC. There are a few, main publishers who are currently focused on gobbling up each other trying to snatch IP, skills and so on. There are a few main console manufacturers producing video games, but the PC/Mobile/Handheld/Web games industries will become very viable industries for a lot of people. This is simply a result of the fact that the gaming market has grown so much that there is now $30 billion or so to be made, and this is ONLY going to get bigger. Gaming is a part of mainstream culture now.
Ronny, all the EU regulations that are being brought in in relation to work are there because European culture at large is changing, and because there are so many different needs and requirements. A 48 hour week allows you to have an income that will meet your needs and give you a bit of leftover cash, but a 48 hour week will also give you the chance to get a good nights sleep, and be able to enjoy yourself in your spare time.
It’s going to be good, and I have no qualms whatsoever about saying this. And for those of you who are thinking of ideas for a game, stop looking at what’s already there and start looking for what isn’t there. You might be surprised how many people would love to play a cattle management game, and games are not the only opportunities out there for games technology to be applied.
Areas like engineering for example would probably love to incorporate the technology. Just think of it practically, they have big CAD drawings, they can import the information in and explore or walk around the structure to see if there are things that look good on paper but don’t look nice for someone who has to stare at it out their window every day.
Wrapping up, I’m sorry if I have offended anyone while you have read, I am not trying to say that it’s not common knowledge or anything, but sometimes things just need to be said and when people open their minds to the opportunities are out there they’ll see the opportunities. The supports are there. Government support, investment being attracted in, colleges setting up courses now to provide the skills that the industry needs in three years time. Plus a community (ie GD.ie and the pissups/aka shindigs) that are done every month. People know each other in this industry more than they do in any other country, and people are willing to share information with people who need it.
Now all we need to do is win the world cup >: )
Jamie
Hi guys,
My thoughts on this issue were a bit… detailed, so I’ve set up a different thread in the Business & Legal section
[url:http://www.gamedevelopers.ie/forums/viewtopic.php?p=13414#13414%5D Link
Jamie
Good work on the new site, it looks great. One or two minor problems I’ve been having, such as it keeps logging me out (ie cookie problem) and the profile problems that Tony mentioned, but it’s great work all the same. I think you guys should be drinking for free at the next shindig.
Jamie
Just a quick post, but the current setup of sequels and publishers controlling the entire distribution network will sooner or later be replaced by downloads, at least for pc titles in the short term. Consoles on the other hand are a different situation as these are content driven technologies, but Xbox Live is leading the way with downloadable content paid for via credit card.
On another note though, publishers also provide many roles to game development companies, primarily funding during development, marketing budgets and dealing with the press on developers behalfs in many regards, so think of it in terms that publishers will have their grapple loosened over the development process, not the “death knell for publishers” that the article states.
Jamie
