I dislike commercials. I especially hate those obnoxious flashing banners and ads that pop up when you accidentally mouse over some innocently underlined word. That said, advertisements are invaluable in getting the word out about a new video game, especially one that doesn't have an established following. How many times has some random gamer on some random message board declared that whatever excellent title was overlooked because it wasn't advertised?
The soon to be overlooked title of the moment is Deadly Creatures, a Wii exclusive action game staring a nasty pair of creepy crawlies. The game is out now and the early word on the street is that it's a quality title, but low and behold, THQ will not be running any television commercials for it. Has the game thus been doomed to obscurity?
How important is a TV presence? Are internet or print ads enough? I'm inclined to say that, even though TV doesn't enjoy the media domination it once did, it's still the prime venue through which the consumer public is reached. Individual ad quality aside, TV commercials touch some of the widest possible audiences and thus insert the existence of a product into the largest number of brains. This can only be good when a publisher is trying to build an audience for a new game. Lack of commercial presence has hurt a lot of games that deserved a fan base to go along with their critical praise.
On the other hand, advertising on TV is an expensive prospect and a gamble to invest that money into an untested product. Of course, if the product is untested, it really needs ads to help hook an audience...and round and round we go with this age old marketing dilemma.
Will Deadly Creatures succeed in spite of limited commercial presence? It certainly has been done before, especially when enthusiastic fans decide to spread the praise through word of mouth. Still, I figure a game about a spider and a scorpion will be a tough sell.
Meet the Scorpion
Meet the Tarantula
Related Links:
Looking Ahead: 10 Wii Games that I'm Looking Forward To in 2009. part 1
The Year in Press Releases
Where's the In-game Advertising?