Top 5 Gaming Incentives

2010-08-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

In the past 5 years I’ve noticed that video games no longer are good enough to buy alone. You need, an incentive. Whether you want the game bad enough already, a little somethin’-somethin’ will make a purchase THAT much sweeter.

5. I love GOOOOLD!

Why do we need golden stuff in our games? It doesn’t add any damage or make you a badass. It’s just gold, if anything you’ll stick out more. But, if makes you feel special having that golden object in the game. Show’s your dedication to the game! Shows that you want to be noticed when you kill someone! Shows that pre-ordering a game does pay off in some weird way. There’s just a nice feeling about cutting a guy in half with a chainsaw and having his blood and guts all over your lancer…that’s golden or fly at mach speeds with a golden jetpack. I guess it’s just more fun.

4. Redeem Codes

As if getting a game that you want isn’t enough, they sweeten the deal with redeem codes. The add-ons promise these “exclusive” maps, character costumes, or weapons. And by exclusive they mean free for about 1 month until they charge about 500 Microsoft points for what you got for free. That is the most rewarding part about these codes. Putting the amount of 5 dollars down on a game will give you some pretty fun stuff that other could be envious of you for having. Arkham Asylum gave some fun challenge maps, Lost Planet 2 promises two multiplayer maps, and Crackdown 2 will give 4 agency suits. Sounds good to me.

3.Swag

If you don’t know what swag is, it’s another word for free stuff. Gamers LOVE free stuff. If you’ve been to any sort of video game trade shows then you’d know that there’s a mad, mad rush for free shirts, small toys, posters and other miscellaneous objects like that. And just recently Capcom has offered an almost legendary opportunity for swag. Along with the release of Street Fighter IV, there also comes the Dojo Edition of the game. I don’t even play SF anymore. I’ve moved onto Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 but I might just get this. The Dojo Edition will include:

1 GB Flash Drive with Juri on it. Comes with character art, comics, and more.
Dudley Shirt
24 ounce aluminum water bottle
Headband
Duffle Bag

Welcome to swag central!

2. Collectibles

This is the clincher for me. Collectibles are one of the coolest things you can show off in your home. All the items are well polished and you know they’re not going to be cheaply made(for the most part) especially since you pay quite a bit extra for them. One of my most prized possessions would be the Legendary edition of Halo 3. Not for the, behind the scenes disc, but for the Master Chief helmet that it all came in. This came in a nice slick black box that slid open, and the helmet was covered in a mesh to prevent dust from getting onto that masterpiece. You couldn’t wear the helmet, but it looked badass, and it fit on your cat!

Arkham Asylum also had a pretty cool collectors edition. Early pictures of it showed a “Batarang” which was the coolest part. It used to be metal, but when it was released, it was plastic and kinda cheap. There was also a leather bound journal and some other things but the most important part was the batarang. Came in a big Batman emblem and was presented nicely, so it wasn’t bad at all. Just a bit underwhelming.

1. Betas

Don’t lie. You know you bought Crackdown for the Halo 3 beta and not Crackdown. To 90% of gamers, the Halo 3 beta came with Crackdown. I wanted Crackdown for Crackdown. And those who just got the game for the beta were surprised to find out that Crackdown was actually a really fun game. A Beta will sell a game for you just like mentioned above. And it’s happening again too with Halo: Reach beta being part of the Halo: ODST release. That was a big selling point for a lot of people. ODST was ok, but Halo: Reach is going to be fantastic! Attach a beta (for a blockbuster hit) to just about any game, and you’ll get instant sales. Crackdown was the best example so far. There will be more.

Top 5 Reasons Why We Don't buy Games

2010-08-17T17:07:00.001-07:00

Gamers don’t want to buy games? That sounds preposterous! It actually couldn’t be more true. Gamers will too often not buy a videogame for one reason alone. While that may seem small to most, it’s monumental to others. Some reasons are purely cosmetic, some are functionality based, and sometimes people just forget. Either way, we all have our reasons why we didn’t buy that certain game. No, it’s not all money based, but that is my first point.

5. Lack Of Funds

Remember pre-360 when games were $50? Special editions were $60. Those were the days. Now the Next-Gen, HD era is here and everything is more expensive as a result. But it’s only 10 extra bucks! Yes it is. It’s also a contributing factor to why we don’t buy games. Some of us just can’t afford it. I’m not blaming the recession for this either, because the second we found out game’s were an extra 10 dollars, everybody’s game library shrunk. You bought that one really popular game, and that was it for a good 4-6 months. Odds are, if you have friends that are playing games all day everyday, they don’t have jobs. Their only way of getting games are for their birthdays or holidays. Those only come once a year. There are some solutions to this epidemic though. Places like Gamestop who sell used games really help, even though it’s only a few bucks cheaper, it’s still appreciated.

4. Reviews

Why wouldn’t you listen to a credible journalist when he or she says the game is bad? Because it’s only their opinion. But their opinions will sway the majority of gamers so easily. John Doe and IGN said that the Snoop Dog game is horrible, so I’m not going to buy it. These journalist are more influential then Presidents. It’s completely understandable and makes complete sense though.

From a personal standpoint, It’s all about what you, the consumer, thinks. I’m sure you know about a game called “Bayonetta.” Nothing but great reviews all across the board. And sure enough, I see a lot of my friends playing that game after the first few reviews come out. I don’t like the game. Cool art style sure, but that doesn’t make a good game. I found myself just running around pressing “X” the entire time. Not really knowing what I was doing or supposed to be doing. Too much stuff going on at once and made the screen cluttered. I’d rather play another Action/Adventure game like “Dante’s Inferno.”

A lot of gamers wait for the reviews before purchasing a game, not as a guide or reference, but to make up their opinion for them.

3. No One Has It

I am a victim of this and I think most of us are. You really wanted to buy the game, but didn’t want to play by yourself. So you just let the game go. This happened recently too. Remember a game called “Section 8?” Futuristic, FPS, large multiplayer battles, jet packs, and dynamic spawning were all apart of this game. I really wanted it too. It came out and I asked who was going to get it, and no one was. Some hadn’t even heard of it. So I didn’t buy it. It’s unfortunate yes, but the draw to that game was the really cool multiplayer. Since no one was getting it, I didn’t.

2.Movie Based

What do Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Spider-Man 3, Fight Club, Terminator: Salvation, and Shrek the Third all have in common? They’re all awful movie based games. It’s no secret that games tied to movies are just a quick way to make some extra money off of a popular franchise name. It’s a lot easier to name 5 bad movie games then 5 good ones. Try and name 5 good ones now, and no you can’t say “Chronicles of Riddick” 5 times in a row.

1.No Multiplayer

Yes, there are games without multiplayer. I know your friends list is smothered with Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, and Gears of War 2 and that’s because multiplayer alone adds a big bump to sales. Take “Bioshock 2” for example. There’s added multiplayer and everyone was excited for it! I don’t know why, that game didn’t need multiplayer, but fans wanted multiplayer. People were disappointed that the first game didn’t have multiplayer which stopped some from buying it.

A great single player experience isn’t really enough anymore. Imagine Halo, Crackdown, or Call of Duty without multiplayer. They would not be blockbuster hits without it. Growing up, I didn’t want games without multiplayer because I had two other brothers who wanted to play. Unless the game has a big following like God of War or Oblivion, you will need something to get yourself noticed and it’s usually great graphics, cool pre-order content, or multiplayer.

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Top 5 Gaming Incentives

Top 5 Reasons Why We Don't buy Games