Jump to content
Awoo.

Would Sonic Sell Better if He Released His Games In The Summer?


Chaos Warp

Recommended Posts

We all know Sonic hasn't been selling as stellar as he used to lately. Among other problems (coughbad/nomarketingcough), I think one thing holding Sonic's sales back is that his games often release sometime in November, competing with all the other big holiday release guns that Sonic can't hope to compete with at this point. But what if he released in the gaming drought of the summer, when there's usually way less big AAA titles coming out, so therefore less competition? Combined with Sonic's slowly increasing good reputation, and this could mean a good amount more sales for SEGA.

 

What are your thoughts? Discuss!

  • Thumbs Up 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marketing is key.. and it looks like SEGA West are getting no better in that department, so I suppose timing might help them out.

 

Normally, the Christmas market is brilliant for almost any game! If you release a game to successful hype in the winter holiday you're probably gonna do ok, as long as you'e not going directly up against some much huger game. In that case.. maybe releasing a quality Sonic game with hype in a period of the year with few good releases (Summer) would be an effective method afterall.

Still, it's sort of hopeless either way unless SEGA figure out how to market.

  • Thumbs Up 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what your getting at is to make Sonic the video game equivalent of the summer blockblocker.

Honestly I don't think it would work much though since Sonic still has to pick himself up after being harshly criticized as others have mentioned. But since 06 was rushed out the door due to wanting to sell for Christmas its probably for the better we don't have a standard for releasing games.

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could have Sonic be the only title releasing in the entire month and it won't sell if no one knows it's releasing.

SEGA, although they are bad at marketing, do hype their games online with trailers. With less to compete with, the people who saw those trailers might be more likely to pick it up. 

 

Not defending SEGA's bad marketing, just saying. 

Edited by Chaos Warp
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could have Sonic be the only title releasing in the entire month and it won't sell if no one knows it's releasing.

Exactly. (though Warp is right too, people will be more likely to buy it if it gets launch trailers and stuff in a barren part of year)

 

So what your getting at is to make Sonic the video game equivalent of the summer blockblocker.

Honestly I don't think it would work much though since Sonic still has to pick himself up after being harshly criticized as others have mentioned. But since 06 was rushed out the door due to wanting to sell for Christmas its probably for the better we don't have a standard for releasing games.

This too. The less unrealistic deadlines SEGA give themselves when they're clearly still learning how to make games the better. Sonic's reputation won't recover if games are rushed, I think SEGA might finally be realising that.

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

SEGA, although they are bad at marketing, do hype their games online with trailers. With less to compete with, the people who saw those trailers might be more likely to pick it up. 

 

I think it's safe to say that a lot of sales for Sonic games are probably gifts, just like sales from Mario games are. The franchise image is one that lends itself well to that sort of thing. All the online trailers in the world aren't going to help Grandma Ethel if she goes looking for vidjya games for little Johnny and she doesn't know when the next blue animal game that he likes is coming out.

 

 

 

 

As far as a summer release, the problem with that is that the retail industry is just so dead during that part of the year that while there are less things to buy, people also are much less willing to spend; especially on media items since there is less reason for them to stay indoors.

Edited by Tornado
  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the marketing point is definitely the important bit.

 

Sega's clearly stepped up their merchandising efforts, which is a good start.

 

Now for the actual games to get better marketing. I don't watch much TV so can't really be a good judge, but it doesn't seem like Sonic gets anywhere near as many commercials as any of the other video games. I see plenty of FPS commercials, and very few Sonic ones.

 

Make a cartoon, make a movie (their newfound bond with Disney could be of use here), get Sonic put on Pepsi Cans for a month. Stuff like that all adds up.

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm pretty sure every person on the entire planet can come up with better marketing for ASRT than the stuff SEGA put out.

  • Ralph is in the game!
  • Namedrop some publications that gave it REALLY good reviews!
  • Show how cool the gameplay is!
  • Show the SEGA nostalgia! (yes there is a big demographic for that)

All that can be done in a <1 minute commercial. Instead they had Danica Patrick and Sonic killing AiAi and no one in the world who sees that advert without knowing the game before hand has any idea what the advert is for or why these two iconic figures of no relation are beating up a pac-man eyed monkey.

/SuperLink regurgitates old points for the sake of convenience.

Edited by SuperLink
  • Thumbs Up 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm actually surprised they didn't package a promo for All Stars with Wreck It Ralph, actually. Would have been genius.

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think to be fair good games =/= sales. I could name a trillian amazing games that don't sell.

It's true that quality isn't the only factor, but that doesn't mean it isn't a factor at all. And it's a factor that I think they still need to work on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quality isn't even a major factor for sales compared to marketing for franchises with high brand awareness. Certainly not in the way you're using the term, which is basically "I wish Sonic games were better" rather than the "they aren't good enough to attract proper sales" that would fit the idea. While people usually won't buy a shitty game in droves, there are plenty examples of people buying a competent game in droves so long as it is marketed properly.

Edited by Tornado
  • Thumbs Up 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd hardly consider quality a factor at all. Okami only sold 270,000 copies by 2007 when it was still new and only 600,000 copies by 2009. I even got a world record for worst selling game.

 

Sonic Heroes is a piece of shit, and it's one of the best selling Sonic games to date. 

Edited by Underaged Hot Anime Girl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think to be fair good games =/= sales. I could name a trillian amazing games that don't sell.
How many of those games though come from existing brands with a very high level of popularity? If Nintendo released a streak of bad Mario games, the name would still be well known and those games would still sell an adequate amount of copies.

You can't just take a series that used to be a household name and say that "good games don't always equal sales". This theory would only apply in a series that isn't nearly as widespread - take Ogre Battle 64 as an example. Amazing game, lackluster media coverage, and a name that wasn't well known.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That much is obvious, but everyone knows that it'll take more for Sonic games to sell before they get a good name for themselves again in the first place. Sonic games are already improving, but even if they become great again they won't sell without the marketers letting people know efficiently they're great again. SEGA need to understand their demographic, who they're selling to, and do what they can to make sure that demographic knows that this is a product they want.

 

Most people who think Sonic is terrible nowadays haven't even played his newer games at all, they probably hardly even acknowledge their existence. SEGA has like, no market presence whatsoever. In order to get a good reputation again, you have to actually let people know that your game is good. Force it down their throats if they have to.

Edited by SuperLink
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A games sales depends on so many different factors. I do think that game quality is a part of that.

 

I think Christmas season works best because Sonic has a different demographic than most of other games (Call of Duty, Forza, etc). I'm sure his games sell most to kids, so parents will be sure to spot the blue hedgehog and give him away as a present.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as a summer release, the problem with that is that the retail industry is just so dead during that part of the year that while there are less things to buy, people also are much less willing to spend; especially on media items since there is less reason for them to stay indoors.

 

This point makes me hesitate on a Summertime release being a good idea. But then again, there could be parents looking for video games to keep their children occupied during Summer vacation as not all parents do the summer camp, summer school and vacation thing. In the end I guess I am leaning towards Sonic games being released in the Summer not being a bad idea. I could see it working out as I see the lack of competition at that time being a good thing.

 

But releasing Sonic games around the holiday season seems like a more profitable time, as Sonic is a seller, especially for kids. The opportunity for Sonic games to be purchased as gifts for the holidays is huge. Despite the issues regarding the quality in Sonic games in recent years among other debatable issues, Sonic still sells, and Sega knows that. I think Sonic could sell well if Sega made it a point to put Sonic out there, no matter what time of the year it is, especially when there is heavy competition around him when his games are released.

 

In the end, as mentioned, it boils down to Sega marketing and advertising, or lack thereof. To be completely honest, if it wasn't for the Sonic Stadium, I would of never known about Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, as far as recent games are concerned. I'm sure I would of stumbled across them at either Toys 'R Us or Best Buy, but that's besides the point. I shouldn't have to "stumble" across something to know that it exists. That's the point of advertising and Sega seems to miss this point more times than none. Aside from Youtube, I've never seen commercials for any of these games. But aside from that, there are other efficient ways to advertise.

 

Back in the early 1990's, you saw Sonic all over the place. Not only did you see him on TV via commercials, but you saw him on cereal boxes, ads in magazines, Sonic was on a pasta can of all things. Sega could try having Sonic on a product that sells well. There are plenty of items to choose from. Or Sega can have displays to be set up in stores that sell the game. I have worked in retail for 13 years and I have seen how effective displays have been in regards to advertising and selling products. Something like this:

 

S%26KGameGrabDisplay.jpg                

 

Or a poster even:

 

$(KGrHqZ,!p!E9dPWvJ5-BPrgq-rLmw~~60_12.J

 

I see displays and posters for other various franchises, but never Sonic. Sega should just do something to get Sonic exposed and out there to the public. It could work wonders for them.

Edited by Sonikku_Kiah
  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think the time of year would make a huge difference, and if it did it wouldn't be a positive difference as Sonic games are the type of game that's really good to give as a Christmas gift to a child or someone who likes Sonic. The Sonic franchise is similar to Mario in this respect. As others have said above, what the franchise really needs in order to boost sales is advertising and marketing. Sonic is an iconic character; all SEGA needs to do is put him out there a bit more. As Superlink said, some of the recent advertising for ASRT has been absolute crap; the ads don't seem to have any focus or target demographic that they want to appeal to. If someone who has no idea what ASRT is saw that ad, they wouldn't know what it's about. And as Kiah said, in the 90s Sonic used to be everywhere, which definitely helped increase brand awareness. Sonic is an appealing character to kids, so how about letting them know he exists?

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm probably oversimplifying here, but it seems like SEGA took creative and marketing risks that led to financial ruin in the past, and now they're afraid to take risks that would clearly lead to profit in the long term. As others have said, Sonic has been getting ZILCH for marketing, and when it comes to be, it's usually bizarre and misrepresentative of the game. You wanna know what helped SA2:B sell so amazingly well? (It wasn't the SOAP shoes) The brilliant marketing!

In a world where advertising clogs our senses at pretty much every turn, it says something when I can remember a guy shouting through a bullhorn at a lethargic, adorably clueless hedgehog. We need more funny commercials like that one, and they need to air more frequently. In metropolitan areas, there ought to be metro and bus ads. People are pretty gullible to the media, and they usually don't think something is cool or worth their time unless the media tells them otherwise. Of course, sometimes people see through the hype; in spite of its extremely extensive marketing, the 1998 Godzilla was a box office bomb. But that's because it was BAD. Recently, Sonic games have been rather good, so it makes sense that advertising would work.

 

Seconding all this.

 

Marvel partners with Pepsi and such to market its products. And I'm guessing Pepsi isn't a highly competitive field to advertise, given that most of the time the cans are free from it.

 

Given the power of the American market, and Pepsi's place as primarily an American beverage, really Sega should consider hooking up with them. It would look good too - Pepsi is blue with red and white accents. As is Sonic. They are also intensely popular in one country while their main competitor enjoys preference elsewhere.

 

AHEM. Moving on and avoiding symbolic relationships:

 

Though really the same goes for any product that's mass consumed. Before one thinks Pepsi would primarily be adult, it's important to remember that tons of kids drink the stuff too. If nothing else, partner with stuff that's normally for kids such as juice. Remember that Sonic mac n cheese?

Edited by Ogilvie Maurice
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seconding all this.

 

Marvel partners with Pepsi and such to market its products. And I'm guessing Pepsi isn't a highly competitive field to advertise, given that most of the time the cans are free from it.

 

Given the power of the American market, and Pepsi's place as primarily an American beverage, really Sega should consider hooking up with them. It would look good too - Pepsi is blue with red and white accents. As is Sonic. They are also intensely popular in one country while their main competitor enjoys preference elsewhere.

 

AHEM. Moving on and avoiding symbolic relationships:

 

Though really the same goes for any product that's mass consumed. Before one thinks Pepsi would primarily be adult, it's important to remember that tons of kids drink the stuff too. If nothing else, partner with stuff that's normally for kids such as juice. Remember that Sonic mac n cheese?

Lol, all the Mountain Dew flavor spin-offs.

 

Now that's true sucessful 90's marketing right there.

 

 

And speaking of spin-offs, if SEGA were to release anymore Sonic spin-offs (like a sequel of some sort) summer would be a perfect time to release such a title and make a little profit.

Edited by Turbo19
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I don't really think the problem is the date of the marketing, because I think November releases are pretty smart because of the holiday season. It's definitely the way Sega markets the games, and also the games themselves. Maybe Sonic will sell better once his reputation is better. 

 

Also, if Sonic games came out in the summer, I would get fat from spending my nice summer days in my basement playing Sonic instead of outside in a nice pool somewhere. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, because Sonic isn't as popular as he used to be due to a having quite a few brutal blows to his  credibility  during the 7th Gen.  Releasing  a game in the Summer or Spring would mean they wouldn't be going up against the big time FPS and number of other games that release around that time, and give Sonic a chance to be recognized as a series that really is getting back on it's feet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sonic would sell better if his games were better. Also if he hadn't tanked most of his reputation.

No....just no...they're trying to sell these games to kids more than they are to us, and how would kids no if the games were good or not until they bought them? They also don't car about his "reputation", that is, if they even know about that which they probably don't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.