Kwil
06-04-2004, 02:15 PM
Heh, I can't help but agree with you, Dave, especially when I said some of the same things back here. (http://forum.skotos.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20960)
We can't hope to catch the casual game-player when what's being offered isn't really a game so much as a stage and props for people to tell their stories. All we can hope for is to catch the hardcore -- those who look at these games as a way to act out the stories they want.
Niche marketing, star power, all of those are good refinements on how exactly to catch that fairly jaded group of hardcore gamers.
As for conversion, I think that one good way to do it may well be embodied in the "Yo-ho-ho Puzzle Pirates". By having a bunch of actual games within the larger "game" context, we have a way to attract casual players that may hold them there long enough to perhaps start becoming hardcore. What needs to be done now is to expand that model beyond puzzle games. "Yo-ho-ho Sports Sailors", "Yo-ho-ho Strategy Ships", and "Yo-ho-ho Arcade Armadas" and the like.
Define the niche, pull the casual in, give them something that they can do well at while playing in a casual style, and hopefully convert them to hardcore long-term p(l)ayers.
We can't hope to catch the casual game-player when what's being offered isn't really a game so much as a stage and props for people to tell their stories. All we can hope for is to catch the hardcore -- those who look at these games as a way to act out the stories they want.
Niche marketing, star power, all of those are good refinements on how exactly to catch that fairly jaded group of hardcore gamers.
As for conversion, I think that one good way to do it may well be embodied in the "Yo-ho-ho Puzzle Pirates". By having a bunch of actual games within the larger "game" context, we have a way to attract casual players that may hold them there long enough to perhaps start becoming hardcore. What needs to be done now is to expand that model beyond puzzle games. "Yo-ho-ho Sports Sailors", "Yo-ho-ho Strategy Ships", and "Yo-ho-ho Arcade Armadas" and the like.
Define the niche, pull the casual in, give them something that they can do well at while playing in a casual style, and hopefully convert them to hardcore long-term p(l)ayers.