HL2 advertising in Europe

[Ken5h1ro]

Hi to everybody,
I don't know if it's the same in the other european countries, but something really weird is happening here in Italy.
Last year, there was a big advertising campaign regarding the imminent release of "Tomb Raider:AOD".
In all the major computer and electronics shops and shopping malls, I found lots of billboards sporting giant pictures of Lara, pre-order booth and so on. Even shelves full of empty boxes of the game with the actual (read official) box cover, months before the release date!...

For HL2 nothing similar is really happening!

Everybody here knows the amount of expectations the gamers community had for TR:AOD (I could estimate a value between 0 and 1, in a 1-100 scale). :hmph:

For HL2 I expected some big commercials on the national TV channels, or large billboards throughout the cities, to say the least...
I still have to see those... yet. :frown:



What about the rest of Europe?

 

[C44]

maybe valve just sucks at advertising?

 

[oldi1knoby]

PC games RARELY advertise. If you have a PC, you have the internet. No need to advertise to someone who can research every single game in existence.

 

[dawdler]

The source leak is the best advertisment they could ever had hoped on. Not that its a good, but one might as well use it

 

[Ken5h1ro]

Originally posted by oldi1knoby
PC games RARELY advertise. If you have a PC, you have the internet. No need to advertise to someone who can research every single game in existence.

You are right.
But my point is: lookin' at what has been done for TR:AOD, I expected MUCH MORE for HL2...


...And not doing advertising, in different ways other that the Internet, they'll lose a lot of customers.

Just think about all the parents, looking for a present to give to their children for the incoming festivities, that just don't care about posting on Forum web sites...
They'll go to a shopping mall and grab the "best looking" game they could find (I'm thinking about my grandma, right now ).

 

[azz0r]

a) Its a PC game
b) It wont need advertising, millions of loyal fans will buy it
c) Tomb raider sucks, and needed advertising so people would ignore the reviews.

 

[Chris D]

Originally posted by azz0r
a) Its a PC game
b) It wont need advertising, millions of loyal fans will buy it
c) Tomb raider sucks, and needed advertising so people would ignore the reviews.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Originally posted by oldi1knoby
PC games RARELY advertise. If you have a PC, you have the internet. No need to advertise to someone who can research every single game in existence.

It's true that they rarely advertise PC games but i think HL2 could be an exception. Face it, if you have a computer, the internet and play games you'll know what HL2 is.

TV advertising could be used to crack into a completely different potential market segment. If advertised properly it could get a lot of people thinking "Woh, is that a film or something? It looks awesome!". Plus it would just be plain awesome to see a HL2 add on TV.

EDIT: I remember advertisements for Warcraft 3 being played at cinemas before movies. That would be another awesome idea.

 

[azz0r]

Anyway, why would they advertise this early? Its likely they'll advertise the Xbox version closer to release.

 

[Chris D]

It's not gonna happen. An advertising campagne costs millions. For a game that they're going to get millions of buyers for all ready, it's just not worth it, because at the end of the day, any extra buyers they get from the ads, simply won't cover the costs.

The only reason you saw TR:AOD as an ad is because it's out on the console platforms. And they need advertising.

 

[Ken5h1ro]

They're currently doing advertising about Moto GP 3, right before and during any Moto GP Gran Prix...

It's not that computer games are not advertised, it's only a point of finding the right moment and place to do it.

 

[Ken5h1ro]

Originally posted by azz0r
Anyway, why would they advertise this early? Its likely they'll advertise the Xbox version closer to release.

Quality of the game aside, TR:AOD advertising started exactly 6 months before the release date...

 

[azz0r]

Half Life 2 will just be advertised in Xbox magazines and you might see a few adverts in PC mags...but really, the average PC gamer already knows about HL2 and doesnt need an advert to remind them.

MotoGP 3 isnt even in the same league as HL2 anyway, thats why they're advertising it big style.

 

[_-_-SELAS-_-_]

Also they need to be sure about the release to spend millions on commercials otherwise it would all have been lost AOD was prolly gold already, or they just stoppped bugtesting early.

 

[Ken5h1ro]

Originally posted by _-_-SELAS-_-_
Also they need to be sure about the release to spend millions on commercials otherwise it would all have been lost AOD was prolly gold already, or they just stoppped bugtesting early.

I think the release of HL2 is sure.
The very existence of sites like this depends on that, for example.
The very existence of some gamers too, I think :E !


BTW: to return to the main topic, what about HL2 advertising in other european countries?!?

 

[PunitoR]

Originally posted by Ken5h1ro
Hi to everybody,
I don't know if it's the same in the other european countries, but something really weird is happening here in Italy.
Last year, there was a big advertising campaign regarding the imminent release of "Tomb Raider:AOD".
In all the major computer and electronics shops and shopping malls, I found lots of billboards sporting giant pictures of Lara, pre-order booth and so on. Even shelves full of empty boxes of the game with the actual (read official) box cover, months before the release date!...

For HL2 nothing similar is really happening!

Everybody here knows the amount of expectations the gamers community had for TR:AOD (I could estimate a value between 0 and 1, in a 1-100 scale). :hmph:

For HL2 I expected some big commercials on the national TV channels, or large billboards throughout the cities, to say the least...
I still have to see those... yet. :frown:



What about the rest of Europe?

they had to make a commercial thing about the new tomb raider game because:
1: they knew the game sucked.
2. the movie was out so they can use the momentum of that and generate more sales.

So nothing weird going on.

 

[Ruben]

There were some things that made Eidos advert the game so hard in Europe. They needed to get the game out fast. Eidos has been criticized, not for the adverts, but for releasing the game too soon and stressing its release. Eidos needed to have the game out fast to get it within their financial year, thus put short term profit interests ahead of long term.

Core (the developer) didn't have time to complete the game to its fullest. The game suffers from this. Where you can notice this the most is the animation and control of the character. There were a control system in the game that was trashed not too long before it was released, thus Core needed to construct a new one. A new one that was not finished when it hit the stores.

That simple. The shareholders of Eidos wanted to see some financial results, and fast. And within that financial year. Vivendi on the other hand need to get the game out fast as well to get it within its financial year, but they are not under pressure like Eidos was.

Both Core and Eidos are European companies, thus the mass adverts in Europe. But it depends where in Europe you live. In Scandinavia, where i live i didn't see any mass adverts in public. Only in major game magazines. In Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France it might be another deal since these are simply bigger markets.

Vivendi, as an international distributor but with its headquarter in Europe might want to advertise the game just as much, if not harder than Tomb Raider, but i don't know, since the adverts are already happening, but in different areas than public posting. There is a hype surrounding the games release, and everyone knows this. If you don't you probably live under a rock in regards to information on computer games. The goods practically sells itself. And Vivendi is not under pressure as Eidos was to get the game released withing its financial year. And besides. Vivendi has no control over Valve like Eidos had over Core.

Core was under pressure because they didn't finance the game themselves. Eidos was and thats a whole other ball game. Valve, with putting mostly its own finances into developing the game has the freedom to tell Vivendi that the game will be released when its done. Not sooner. And then, when Vivendi knows for a fact that it will be released. They advert for it. And besides. The Holiday adverts has not started yet. We are just finished with summertime in Europe and has just about stepped into Q4 2003.

Thats my 2 Euros on this

 

[Ken5h1ro]

Originally posted by Ruben
...There is a hype surrounding the games release, and everyone knows this. If you don't you probably live under a rock in regards to information on computer games. The goods practically sells itself.

Mmmh... yeah... I've heard something about a delayed game... I've seen a couple of screenshots too... :E

BTW: thanks for the extended explanation.

 

[h00dlum]

Viva Italia!

 

[commando]

i would LOVE to watch some adverts on tv on hl2! would be sweet as!

just like.

*start*
black screen. then "Half Life 2" appears in middle of screen.
then fast action clips and ends with G-man or strider.

finish with... "Coming Soon"