Half-Life2's promotion problem

[SoSorry]

Half-Life2's promotion problem.

It's called improper advertising. Gameplay trailers are nice but they don't appeal to the mass audience. Half-Life2 needs a proper movie trailer like Halo2 or Doom3 or even a 15 sec tv commerial. The Half-Life2 trailer on the http://www.half-life2.com is pretty bland, and even an amateur could make a much better trailer than that. I've shown each of the trailers to people I know who only play games casually and they all were more excited about Halo2 and Doom3 simply because they had better movie trailers.

With only 2 weeks to go I'd have to say Vivendi is not doing such a good job promoting Half-Life2

 

[huff]

true..

 

[RooM]

i think they think its not necessary

 

[brisck1]

we should have a community competition to put together the best Trailer!

 

[BladeTurbo]

Half-Life2's promotion problem.

It's called improper advertising. Gameplay trailers are nice but they don't appeal to the mass audience. Half-Life2 needs a proper movie trailer like Halo2 or Doom3 or even a 15 sec tv commerial. The Half-Life2 trailer on the http://www.half-life2.com is pretty bland, and even an amateur could make a much better trailer than that. I've shown each of the trailers to people I know who only play games casually and they all were more excited about Halo2 and Doom3 simply because they had better movie trailers.

With only 2 weeks to go I'd have to say Vivendi is not doing such a good job promoting Half-Life2

i agree, they should use the HL2 trailer as a TV commercial. i rarely see pc games as commercials on TV, always console only.

 

[swiss]

surely it doesnt really need promoting, Vivendi should be confident in Half Life 2 being the best selling PC game of all time, apart from the Sims maybe. Any1 who will buy the game, has heard of it already. I doubt there are any people out there that need persuading by advertising , in order to get them HL2.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

The Halo 2 trailer on TV actually did impress me quite a bit. Imagine the amount of players Valve may attract with a nice cinematic trailer on TV about HL2?

I can actually picture the whole thing in my mind... and it makes me drool.

 

[destrukt]

i don't know how many times i've heard people talking about the halo2 commercial, so it must've made a effect.

 

[frusion]

But everyone knows about HL2 it kind of sells itself...althouhg i would love to see a half-life 2 commercial

 

[we11er]

Word of mouth is all they need... although a better trailer would be good

 

[BladeTurbo]

surely it doesnt really need promoting, Vivendi should be confident in Half Life 2 being the best selling PC game of all time, apart from the Sims maybe. Any1 who will buy the game, has heard of it already. I doubt there are any people out there that need persuading by advertising , in order to get them HL2.

true, but it's nice to see a pc game televised every once in a while, not just these f***ing console only games like Halo 2.

 

[Epsi]

The Halo 2 trailer is fairly awesome.

"There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?"

Awesome.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

i don't know how many times i've heard people talking about the halo2 commercial, so it must've made a effect.

First time I saw it I was only half paying attention and I thought it was a new movie coming out. Then I realized it was Halo 2. I've seen it about 3 or 4 more times now, and it still impresses me.

I suggest watching it.

 

[[Dragoon]]

Halo 2's commercial made me want the game a lot more. Looks sweet.

 

[alehm]

First of all, no other other game has ever made my mouth drop open like the HL2 E3 videos... none.

Secondly,I bet you Halo 2 and Doom 3 showed some of the best parts of the game in the trailers, kind of like where a comedy that really isn't good will show you the funniest bits in the commerical so people will go see it... whereas Valve is wanting to keep as much of the story secret for the players. Albiet, Halo 2 looks pretty sweet. I can't wait for it to come out on PC. Doom 3.... saw the videos... got excited.. played the game and am already over it.

Thirdly, word of mouth and Mod tools are the best promotion for longevity of a game.. only time will tell who beats who out.

 

[BladeTurbo]

Halo 2's commercial made me want the game a lot more. Looks sweet.

IMO, the only thing good that came from Halo was the Red vs Blue series.


PS i am ready to be flamed

 

[Slainchild]

The only PC game trailer I ever saw on TV (in the UK) was for Call of Duty, and that went down pretty well iirc...

 

[huff]

the casual gamer needs a trailer to know about a game ... there not nerds like us and talk about it 24/7 on forums ... mabye from magazines but i dont think thats enough `-` sims has tons of commercials im always seeing them and no wonder its #1 selling pc game ?

 

[Wraithen]

Secondly,I bet you Halo 2 and Doom 3 showed some of the best parts of the game in the trailers, kind of like where a comedy that really isn't good will show you the funniest bits in the commerical so people will go see it.

Wow, why would they want to make something look good for an advertisment?

Besides, showing a few flashes of setpieces just made me want to play it more... it didn't spoil the plot and I'm sure there are still a lot more exciteing moments to fill up the hours not present in the 15 seconds of air time :cheers:

 

[Gergor]

All I know is that the trailers for Doom 3 ruined the game for me. In the trailer they showed most of the best parts of the game. Like when you are in the research facility and the demons are in tanks, the one moves all of a sudden. You are supposed to be scared, but I had already seen it in a trailer. They showed the Hellknight, so when it finally showed up at the end of the game, I wasn't impressed. Valve are keeping the best parts of HL2 secret, which proves they are interested in making a good game, rather than trying to squeeze as much money out of it as possible.

 

[SubKamran]

You'd be surprised how many people haven't heard of Half-Life 2... "Hey HL2 went gold!" "Huh? Halo 2?" "No, Half-Life 2." "Whatever."

 

[Ennui]

IMO, the only thing good that came from Halo was the Red vs Blue series.


PS i am ready to be flamed

AMEN BROTHER

sheesh

 

[Ghost Freeman]

Remember kids...the first Half-Life got no attention whatsoever.

 

[csmighty1]

yea, youd be suprised how many people dont know about Half LIfe 2.

Yea, i as well thought the Halo 2 commercial was another movie. Thought the nuke was pretty cool and then it was like Halo 2! I have to say.....i was impressed. Microsoft has a good adversiting strategy, made me want it even though i dont have an xbox.

if Half Life had a good commercial...it would be awsome

"Wake up and smell the ashes..."

 

[Quad]

Anyone ever think that vivendi is waiting till after the initial release date to start promoting the game on t.v? Vivendi knows there is already a huge fanbase waiting purchase the game right away, and they know a vast majority of us (fanboys) dont need a commercial to buy the game (I know I don't). I think Vivendi is waiting to start the commercials so they can plaster the adds with all the "game of the year" and "best game ever" titles.

 

[eiric]

I was a Sims 2 commersial on MVT i think, it sucked! Anyway, a HL2 trailer would be great.
Maybe the community can create trailers for Valve? Lets say 15, 30 and 60 second trailers?

 

[Neutrino]

HL2's trailers seem more like just recorded gameplay rather than a professional trailer. I thought the Doom 3 trailer was much better done.

 

[Narcolepsy]

You'd be surprised how many people haven't heard of Half-Life 2... "Hey HL2 went gold!" "Huh? Halo 2?" "No, Half-Life 2." "Whatever."

Exactly. People around here have this misconception that because we know about Half-Life 2, obviously everyone does. It just doesn't work like that. The masses do not subscribe to magazines or visit forums. That's what TV ads and store promotions are for. And frankly, the job isn't getting done - I went to EB Games and GTA and Halo 2 are covering the walls and floors with HL2 nowhere to be found.

 

[Anthraxxx]

Anyone ever think that vivendi is waiting till after the initial release date to start promoting the game on t.v? Vivendi knows there is already a huge fanbase waiting purchase the game right away, and they know a vast majority of us (fanboys) dont need a commercial to buy the game (I know I don't). I think Vivendi is waiting to start the commercials so they can plaster the adds with all the "game of the year" and "best game ever" titles.

Uhh... this is Vivendi that you are talking about, right? IMO, VU blows donkey balls.

 

[lans]

I find all trailers made by game developers rather amatuer. Look at hideo - know that's a man who knows how to make a damn fine trailer!

Even I who wasn't remotely intrested in MGS3, got hyped up.

 

[Knobby]

Think the big problem is that VU doesnt have the budget to promote the game, they are holding out hope that the game will give them back their marketing budget for the next year or so ...

 

[slider3005]

this just shows that they know they have a massive fan-base. Once it comes out all of the fans will buy it then anybody that has a computer will from word of mouth.

 

[Alig]

GTA:VC sold something like 13 million copies in total (3 million from double what HL1 sold) and yet SA is advertised to death on TV, in shops and on the internet so it does'nt matter how popular a game is, advertising is still a must if you expect to bring new people to the game.

 

[Quad]

Uhh... this is Vivendi that you are talking about, right? IMO, VU blows donkey balls.

I agree but a corporation can't be that stupid.....can they?...I hope not...

 

[ShaithEatery]

maybe they are expecting some loss of $$$ from steam sales. that could also explain the lack of a manuel in the retail versions...

 

[SoSorry]

GTA:VC sold something like 13 million copies in total (3 million from double what HL1 sold) and yet SA is advertised to death on TV, in shops and on the internet so it does'nt matter how popular a game is, advertising is still a must if you expect to bring new people to the game.

Not only that but Grand Theft Auto San Andreas has completely shattered the sales record in the UK. Also a trailer does not have to show the best parts of the game at all, in order to be effective. There are lots of action movies and even some game trailers that show almost no action at all and they work remarkably well when done right. The Half-Life2 trailer on http://www.half-Life2.com is almost embarassingly bad.

Vivendi did not fund Half-Life2 so they should have some money left over to promote the game properly. People are overestimating the popularity of Half-Life2. It almost looked like Doom3 going gold made a larger impact than Half-Life2 going gold, and that is not a good sign

 

[bxstreetlife]

you're right ...

 

[Rocketman9mm]

I'd like to see a hl2 tv spot. it certainly couldn't HURT sales...though you're not much of a pc gamer if you don't know about hl2 already.

 

[Esquire]

I dont think ive seen Halo2's trailer. I've seen some E3 thing of it (made the game look action packed), maybe that IS the trailer you're all talking about. But anyway..

I dont understand why you're so fussed about whether or not Hl2 gets a trailer, after all, you already know about it. Having other people know about it will only make it more difficult for you to get your hands on your copy of it (retail people). Also, i fail to see how Hl2 having a trailer will affect its gaming experience.

I'm getting the idea here that the only reason you want the game to have a trailer is for the game to become more popular. But why? You want it to be recognised as being great? If that is so, how does it benefit you? HL2 sells millions and gets voted greatest game of all time, and you get to say "i played the greatest game of all time"...

If it truly is the greatest game of all time for you, then you would be saying that anyway!!!

 

[Wraithen]

I'm sure there will be a Half Life 2 trailer, even if it's just a Play.com one. They do a load of those things for big titles.