AotI: Not that i'm suprised...

[Zantra]

But, has anyone else noticed, that in every single ad in the sunday paper (at least in my area), there is no mention at all, about PSU:AOI coming out for either the PC, or the PS2.

Not in the Best Buy Ad, the Circuit City Ad, the Kmart Ad, The Target Ad, the Walmart Ad. Nothing.

Does anyone's local newspaper ads mention the game coming out on Tuesday, at all?

[Schubalts]

I don't remember ever seeing an ad about any MMO ever in the sales paper.

[Zantra]

On 2007-11-18 16:08, Schubalts wrote:
I don't remember ever seeing an ad about any MMO ever in the sales paper.



Tabula Rasa, World of Warcraft, Everquest, Lord of The Rings Online, Final Fantasy 11.

You've never seen any?

[Wallin]

I looked and I'm disappointed as well, not because of publicity reasons, but more because I really wanted some assurance my stores would be getting it at least on Wednesday before Thanksgiving rather than having to wait Friday (release dates are always screwed up on the east coast, or maybe it's just my area).

And I'm pretty sure World of Warcraft and EverQuest at least got ads when their expansions came out.

[Zantra]

On 2007-11-18 16:11, Wallin wrote:
I looked and I'm disappointed as well, not because of publicity reasons, but more because I really wanted some assurance my stores would be getting it at least on Wednesday before Thanksgiving rather than having to wait Friday (release dates are always screwed up on the east coast, or maybe it's just my area).

And I'm pretty sure World of Warcraft and EverQuest at least got ads when their expansions came out.



They did, as does Final Fantasy 11. And Tabula Rasa, is in today's Target Ad.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zantra on 2007-11-18 16:13 ]</font>

[ilovetypemoon]

On 2007-11-18 16:08, Schubalts wrote:
I don't remember ever seeing an ad about any MMO ever in the sales paper.



cough, burning crusade >>

[CelestialBlade]

Sega sucks at advertising, which is the entire reason we've got such a low population. World of Warcraft, Halo, Mass Effect, Half Life, Assassin's Creed....look at how much they're advertised and look at how popular they are. I'm amazed that Sega doesn't see how simple it is.

[Nyreal]

Comments like these are not needed.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Skuda on 2007-11-18 16:43 ]</font>

[Zantra]

Hmmmmmm...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zantra on 2007-11-18 16:53 ]</font>

[Saner]

well if it makes you feel better, there is no advertisements about the Xbox360 AOI download on Marketplace yet, and I think AOI will be available in 2 days. >.>

well I guess it's kinda like King of Fighters XI, no ads, but fans know when it got released.

also gotta consider how bad shape Sega has been since DC was cancelled and then Sammy or something had to buy/merge with them, and their Sonic games have not been having huge sales either, but ya most of it to blame is their ads and especially Peter Moore (I'm not surprised he fled to Xbox and now EA. )

effective advertising is always a huge investment and a risk, but apparently SOA is too paranoid about losing money they don't get back in sales.

but they still deserve credit cause otherwise we wouldn't have gotten stuff like PSU here in the states. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Shishi-O]

On 2007-11-18 16:45, Saner wrote:
well if it makes you feel better, there is no advertisements about the Xbox360 AOI download on Marketplace yet, and I think AOI will be available in 2 days. >.>

well I guess it's kinda like King of Fighters XI, no ads, but fans know when it got released.

also gotta consider how bad shape Sega has been since DC was cancelled and then Sammy or something had to buy/merge with them, and their Sonic games have not been having huge sales either, but ya most of it to blame is their ads and especially Peter Moore (I'm not surprised he fled to Xbox and now EA. )

effective advertising is always a huge investment and a risk, but apparently SOA is too paranoid about losing money they don't get back in sales.

but they still deserve credit cause otherwise we wouldn't have gotten stuff like PSU here in the states. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

sega of japan overpowered bernie stolar and moore who were more than ready to fight ps2, sega of japan gave up from internal pressure from developers who wanted to do multi platform games cuz they thought they would be in a better position.

nintendo...is exceptional, and steadfast in thier understanding and belief in themselves.

sega of japan reduced itself to it's current stature

[Zantra]

On 2007-11-18 16:45, Saner wrote:
well if it makes you feel better, there is no advertisements about the Xbox360 AOI download on Marketplace yet, and I think AOI will be available in 2 days. >.>

well I guess it's kinda like King of Fighters XI, no ads, but fans know when it got released.

also gotta consider how bad shape Sega has been since DC was cancelled and then Sammy or something had to buy/merge with them, and their Sonic games have not been having huge sales either, but ya most of it to blame is their ads and especially Peter Moore (I'm not surprised he fled to Xbox and now EA. )

effective advertising is always a huge investment and a risk, but apparently SOA is too paranoid about losing money they don't get back in sales.

but they still deserve credit cause otherwise we wouldn't have gotten stuff like PSU here in the states. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif



They just released 2 sonic games...

Sonic Rivals 2, and Sonic and Mario at the Olympics.

And, they are both advertised in this weekend's ads...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zantra on 2007-11-18 16:56 ]</font>

[Para]

AOI is too niche to be advertised like that.

[PALRAPPYS]

On 2007-11-18 16:55, Zantra wrote:

On 2007-11-18 16:45, Saner wrote:
well if it makes you feel better, there is no advertisements about the Xbox360 AOI download on Marketplace yet, and I think AOI will be available in 2 days. >.>

well I guess it's kinda like King of Fighters XI, no ads, but fans know when it got released.

also gotta consider how bad shape Sega has been since DC was cancelled and then Sammy or something had to buy/merge with them, and their Sonic games have not been having huge sales either, but ya most of it to blame is their ads and especially Peter Moore (I'm not surprised he fled to Xbox and now EA. )

effective advertising is always a huge investment and a risk, but apparently SOA is too paranoid about losing money they don't get back in sales.

but they still deserve credit cause otherwise we wouldn't have gotten stuff like PSU here in the states. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif



They just released 2 sonic games...

Sonic Rivals 2, and Sonic and Mario at the Olympics.

And, they are both advertised in this weekend's ads...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zantra on 2007-11-18 16:56 ]</font>


But Sega knows only 10,000 or so people play PC/PS2.

They figure that amount already knows about it.

[Shishi-O]

On 2007-11-18 17:07, Para wrote:
AOI is too niche to be advertised like that.

i disagree.

it was like crack on dc, it is not niche

with 8 million people on WOW, it's a fact mmorpg is fuckin huge. and PSU is a really good one.

they need to advertise this as a new game because it is.

they are not trying to get new members( the only thing that came out of the one up cup was me learning about 1up.com, it was completely onesided advertising and the site sux anyway, but they were definately not advertising aoti, or psu.

people think they know what people want, but i guarantee u, if this game w/ gameplay footage and, day in the life player commentary was being advertised during heroes season premier, we wouldn't have enough universes.

i meet older people on this game all the time, couples, all types of people.

this game is not niche, FPS may be popular but i doubt many of the less headshot inclined people that bought myst, riven, diablo, and all those more cereberal games have even heard of this one.

[Shishi-O]

On 2007-11-18 16:55, Zantra wrote:

On 2007-11-18 16:45, Saner wrote:
well if it makes you feel better, there is no advertisements about the Xbox360 AOI download on Marketplace yet, and I think AOI will be available in 2 days. >.>

well I guess it's kinda like King of Fighters XI, no ads, but fans know when it got released.

also gotta consider how bad shape Sega has been since DC was cancelled and then Sammy or something had to buy/merge with them, and their Sonic games have not been having huge sales either, but ya most of it to blame is their ads and especially Peter Moore (I'm not surprised he fled to Xbox and now EA. )

effective advertising is always a huge investment and a risk, but apparently SOA is too paranoid about losing money they don't get back in sales.

but they still deserve credit cause otherwise we wouldn't have gotten stuff like PSU here in the states. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif



They just released 2 sonic games...

Sonic Rivals 2, and Sonic and Mario at the Olympics.

And, they are both advertised in this weekend's ads...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Zantra on 2007-11-18 16:56 ]</font>
thank you, excellent example, i saw that prime time tv add!!!

maybe nintendo foot the bill for that one http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

[pikachief]

i was drawing a pic of laia lumia and kitty, and i was hal way done with laia and she was lookin pretty good and my sister came out of no where to give me popcorn but she put it all over the picture T_T im not a drawing person! i dont draw good pics http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif it hardly happens it took me like 15 min to draw http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif

oh and yea sega should advertize

[Jao]

i seen a couple of commercials of psu but not of aoi

[DesertGunner]

Like I said before. I believe PSU was made for FANS ONLY. I know Sega is lazy and about as smart as my cousin's retarded cockerspaniel, but if they really wanted to attract attention to their product, they would at LEAST advertise it in some way, shape, or form. They haven't, so that leads me to believe that Sega isn't interested in expanding the population of the game. What a shame.

[Sekani]

As far as mass-market appeal, PSU isn't even close to WoW's level. All the advertising in the world won't change that.

[DesertGunner]

Sega is soooo lucky that Huxley keeps getting delayed.

[KnightHunter]

News flash kids. PSU isn't nearly as big as you might think. In fact I wouldn't even compare the user base to World of Warcraft. Even if people HAVE heard of the game the question is would a marketing ad run really mean enough money being brought back in. This game just dosen't matter that much to anyone that isn't playing it already.

Truthfully would you call this game massively multiplayer? This is more of a 3D Diablo with in game lobbies instead of chat rooms. Heaven save me from every fan boy/girl that is going to come down on me for this but even PSO wasn't that big in the US. As for PSU, none of my friends have it nor have they ever heard of it. Its not that huge.

Personally I am glad that they arn't running ads. They should be putting the money to somthing better like getting the game fixed up or adding more original content.

I look back over this post and notice that it sounds slightly hostile but I just start to wonder why people get the inclination that this game is that amazing. Sure its fun, don't get me wrong, but in comparison to games in the MMO market its shallow and flawed.

In closing, you wonder why there arn't any advertisments for the expansion? There isn't a game to advertise. Sega wanted in on the MMORPG craze. They want, nay, need the money from the monthly revenue to augment their development of other games. What have they given us that wasn't in the game to start with back at its launch or from past parts of the franchise? New missions? Some Weapons? Now I have my self all mad and dissapointed. I do look forward to AotI but I can't say I'm truly stoked about it, and the rest of the world? Well they probably don't even know its here.

[Wallin]

Well now that I look at it, Bestbuy.com doesn't even know what Phantasy Star is, and Target.com is saying the game isn't coming out until the 22nd (Thanksgiving, ha ha)... I guess at least if it doesn't come out before Thanksgiving here I can work on my art more. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif


On 2007-11-18 18:44, KnightHunter wrote:
Sure its fun, don't get me wrong, but in comparison to games in the MMO market its shallow and flawed.

And yet you, and almost everyone on this forum, is still playing it and eagerly awaiting AoI. Sega definitely has some issues, but the game is not as flawed as you think.

The game can't be compared to other online games to begin with, the combat engine is way too different. If I wanted to go back to WoW and stand in front of a monster with 'combat on', go to the bathroom, get a snack, pop in a movie, and come back to find the monster is only half dead, then I would play WoW.

PSU is pretty much a 3D-version of Diablo, and that was a huge hit when it only had 4 different areas of randomly generated maps and 3 different characters total. If Sega had played their cards better, PSU could easily have been just as popular. A lack of advertising lost potential players, and a lack of content at the start scared off a bunch more. Sega obviously screwed up when the first two or three months was just killing De Ragan over and over.

If they had released the game the way it is now back then, or even with half, I have no doubt we would have thousands of players. Add in a better tech support, a single person dedicated to informing players of future additions and answering questions, and a more powerful GM team who actually deal with hacking in a timely manner, and the game would have 5* universes 24/7.

Maybe an exaggeration, but I honestly think that's how it is.

[Chaosgyro]

Knighthunter and Wallin both make valid points. Is the game like WoW? No, and therefore won't be as popular with the mainstream MMO crowd. Is it like Diablo? Closer, and therefore had the potential to tap into at least some of that gameplay's popularity.

However, the real meat of the argument of "PSU as MMO" is an argument over the PC platform. 99% of all MMOs are for the PC (and likely always will be for the PC) and other than the PS series I can't think of one even halfway-decent online rpg for consoles. (yes yes, that is set to change in the coming years by all accounts) In that sense, marketing PSU really COULD have helped on the console front as Sega is offering service for a market that has, by and large, yet to be filled by their competitors.

On the PC front, PSU is in a worse spot as it is actually a dead ringer for Guild Wars. Everyone chats and forms groups in the towns, then steps outside into an instanced world. After obligatory levelling is done - which is very quick in Guild Wars - people hunt for rare items...or compete in structured, sports-league style PVP. Aside from pvp, that should all sound pretty familiar. The upshot is that Guild Wars has no monthly fee, and that while (like PSU) certainl areas are the hotspots the total world size is simply incomparable to PSU. All in all, if I was in Sega's place I wouldn't try to compete with the PC market They'd just come off looking half finished.

[Mystil]

They obviously can't afford to use ads.

[DarthRuin]

Let's not sh*t ourselves. (edited before mod edit), Sega would lose money if they advertised the game. As said before, it's too much of a niche type game. The target audience pretty much already plays.

[Zorak000]

it is all about building hype. even the crappyest game can turn a profit if people can reconize what they are buying. jaws unleashed

as for a target audience, "pre-existing fans" is not a viable option, TA is supposted to be age, gender, and perhaps culture

but there are other problems. If I played WoW, I would probobly try to spread the word 'cause it is a well-made game. however, even though I thurowly (sp) enjoy PSU, its many flaws make me reluctant to get people I know to try to start, and now I am so far ahead in the game, I don't want to go back and babysit a newbie.

[UltimateCarl]

Basically, yes. SEGA already dropped the ball on advertising PSU the first time around, so very few people know about it, and those that do either hated it and will never come back, or latched on and won't let go. So, with AoI, they understand that the only people they should cater to are the latter. Honestly, if they DID run a huge ad campaign for AoI, do you think it would make any difference? They'd lose more money than they made from the very small number of new players. In the meantime, they can use that ad money to instead tweak and fix the game for the dedicated players, who ALREADY know about the game.

Also, the game comparisons... I agree with some, but PSU is really its own game. I'm not saying it's 100% unique, or completely new and different, but you must admit that it is a breath of fresh air in gaming. It's deeper and more nuanced than some single-player games (Dynasty Warriors, anyone?) but in the MMO scene, which is really cool. I actually find it genuinely fun to play.

Also, for all the WoW hate I tend to see on this board, has anyone ever actually played it? It is most definitely more than just letting your character auto-attack while you make yourself a sammich. I prefer PSU, but it's not like WoW is completely devoid of any thought...

[BanF]

SEGA advertised the original PSU in the places it made sense: gaming, j-pop, anime and manga mags. It doesn't make sense to advertise on a newspaper.

And though I haven't seen AotI being announced on Newtype or Shonen Jump, it was mentioned in OXM, and most likely a review will follow shortly after, as they also review content available over XBL.