SEGA is half-assing promotion!

[blackherox]

How ironic then that now SEGA are heavily promoting the new M&S game in the UK, but not the US. =F

Well Mario and Sonic sold more here then it did there.

Why SEGA doesn't promote their main Sonic games as much as a spin off is beyond me though.

My guess, is that they can afford to advertise this game fully knowing full well they'll still et bucket fulls of cash from it. Even though this is a ''spinoff'' the very nature of this game, is tartgeted at a much wider audience and market then mainstream Sonic games to begin with. Combine that with the fact that it is on the Wii, has probaly had a much cheaper development cost and has Mario and Sonic (2 of the most recognized figures inside and outside of gaming) enables it to be much more of success, then the mainstream Sonic games, which are part of the platforming genre (an ever decreasing in popularity genre), cost a lot more to make then say this mini games/sports collection and are not always solely on the Wii (Unleashed and 06).

Theres a lot off other suff too, but I think those are the main points.

[JezMM]

How ironic then that now SEGA are heavily promoting the new M&S game in the UK, but not the US. =F

Why SEGA doesn't promote their main Sonic games as much as a spin off is beyond me though.

Simple really.

Platformer = $

Party Game = $$$

Platformer + Marketing = $$

Party Game + Marketing = $$$$$$

It's sad but true. They are but a company, and companies want to make money.

[Daisoku]

Maybe it's the fact that it was the first game to feature both Mario and Sonic in the same game, so it got loads of promotion?

Y'know, just a possibility?

[Detective Shadzter]

Here in the UK Sonic Unleashed got a short tv ad that popped up from time to time aswell as UK website banner ads, magazine ads and as mentioned by Envy, cool elevator door ads in various shopping centres like my local Merry Hill shopping centre. Sonic Chronicles mainly got full back cover ads on kids mags and comics, UK online banner ads aswell as merchandise like that pencil case with Pokemon World magazine and the pre-order tins. Mario & Sonic had plenty of advertising on TV, online and mag ads.

Other SEGA games -

Madworld got those fake gory limbs with a copy of the game next to each left in various areas of the UK/just England(I forget which aswell as some online and mag ads. House of the Dead: Overkill had some magazine and online ads. The Conduit I've only seen online ads for, nothing else. Valkyria Chronicles, nothing. Golden Axe: Beast Rider might had online ads, not sure. Virtua Tennis 2009 has had online ads, mag ads and maybe a TV ad I'm not sure.

SEGA have done a decent job of advertising in the UK but they could do more. I'm glad their going all out to advertise Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games though, even way before release with the cool cinema ad thats currently playing before Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in Odeon cinema's and the takeover of Trafalgar Square, London just after the games release.

[Dark Qiviut]

I didn't see any Sonic Unleashed commercials until after the game's release in late-November. After that, the promos were mostly on WWE programs. I saw VERY little of Black Knight promotion; I think I saw only ONE Black Knight commercial back in mid-March, and that was that.

The last time I saw a Sega product being advertised heavily was the recent promotions of "The Conduit."

[edge.]

I didn't see any Sonic Unleashed commercials until after the game's release in late-November. After that, the promos were mostly on WWE programs. I saw VERY little of Black Knight promotion; I think I saw only ONE Black Knight commercial back in mid-March, and that was that.

The last time I saw a Sega product being advertised heavily was the recent promotions of "The Conduit."

The only promo for SBK I saw was the Japanese video with "Knight of the Wind" playing in the background. That was on YouTube and in January. I never saw any SBK promo here in the US. SoE is so much more better than SoA.

[BlazingTales]

I think they are promoting the games decently. I see ads on several networks when a new game is being released, and my computer screen is FULL of Sonic ads on sites like GameFAQs and IGN when one is released. Not to mention the loads of internet giveaways, Sonic merchandising and Sonic clothing at stores. I also think Sonic gets around pretty well by word of mouth from retro fans. ("Hey big brother, what game should I get?" "Hmm... I don't know... Oh! A Sonic game, I used to love him when I was a kid!")

[Flyboy Fox]

There's a fair bit of online promotion. But I do think there should be more TV spots, posters, magazine ads etc. It's all very well for us geeks who spend our lives (or at least a decebt chunk of them) online... but not all gamers are also net-heads.

[Blazey Firekitty]

Well, from what I heard, they got the trailer for Mario and Sonic Winter Olympics into a movie theater/cinema. That's got to count for something, I suppose.

[Gabz Girl]

The only videogame advert I ever saw at the cinema was for Halo 2. And that was YEARS ago. So I'm quite pleased that the M&S sequel has made it to big screens. 'Cos you know, Halo is hyped up like hell. =P I always thought only the videogames with lots of hype would make it to cinema ads.

[Solid SOAP]

I saw Wind Waker trailer/commercial in a theater once, I forgot what movie though.

[AAUK]

Guys, you clearly have no idea what these sort of things cost. There are very tight budgets for promotion which need to cover all bases both print and online and other interactive media and throughout you need to get the most bang for your buck to coin a phrase.

SOE and SOA have different markets, different marketing teams and different marketing strategies so comparing them is kinda pointless.

Anything also needs to be developed and approved which costs more money and time and this might surprise you but TV COSTS A LOT.

"I didn't see an advert" - what is a trailer exactly if not an advert?

If you think every game should have M&S levels of spending on it will make it sell M&S levels, and that marketing the crap out of something always makes it sell gajillions then frankly you haven't got a sodding clue.

[Tamaki Kawazoe <3]

Well, for Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Chronicles they advertised the game like no tomorrow on the USA channel during Monday Night Raw wrestling. They showed the commercial like twice, sometimes three times every commercial break. Sonic Unleashed was also a sponsor for wrestling.

[Daisoku]

I went and saw Harry Potter at the cinema with my bezzie and I saw the advert for MSATOWG.

And I was like 'OMG METAL SONIC'S IN THE GAME!?'

and my bezzie was all 'OMG KNUCKLES, EGGMAN! KNUCKLES! '

Then the convo went something like this:

Me: Omg imagine Shadow doing figure skating. XD

her: And Knuckles! XDDDD

Me: omg tails cheated on the skis he spun his tails. Bad tails.

Her: yes naughty tails. XDDDD