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PR公司称游戏质量的重要性甚于营销手段

发布时间:2013-02-16 08:28:56 Tags:,,,,

作者:Luis Levy

Novy是专门提供游戏PR服务的公司。我们的工作便是推广客户的游戏,帮助它们吸引媒体的注意——如此便能提高游戏的下载量和销量。这份工作非常有趣,对我来说也很有益,特别是当我们面对的是一些非常出色的游戏时。

不幸的是,通常情况下都不是如此。从最初在Game PR(2008年1月)以来,我敢说我们所负责的大多数游戏都缺少灵感或者只是匆忙赶制出来劣质品。似乎不是开发商们故意创造出这些糟糕的游戏,实际上,发行这样的游戏是缺少资源,缺少富有才能的开发者或者来自发行商的外部压力所造成的。所有人都希望自己的游戏能够取得巨大的成功,他们想要新的道具,积极的评价,赞美,大量的下载以及源源不断的应用内部收益。

Dead_Space_3(from gamasutra)

Dead_Space_3(from gamasutra)

1月份,有人在Reddit(游戏邦注:美国最大的网上社区)上问了我一个问题,“你认为一款游戏的传播最重要的元素是什么?”我的回答(也是我写这篇文章的灵感)是游戏质量和独特性对于新闻报道的真正影响。

奇思妙想

有两种层次的奇思妙想将在游戏发行时影响着开发者们:

“如果你创造了游戏,媒体自然会被你吸引过来。”——最早听到这句话是在电影《Field of Dreams》(1989)里,这意味着一款非常优秀的游戏总是能够吸引媒体的注意。我之所以将其称为奇思妙想是因为它并不是正确的。与普通游戏一样,出色的游戏也需要新闻宣传。当然了,它们在早期阶段便能促成玩家的口口相传,但这种推广还不够。为了取得广泛的关注,游戏就必须有媒体的支持。就像《我的世界》便在2009年于PAX掀起了巨大的热潮。我跟着进入了新闻发布室,并听到执行者向新闻记者们介绍者这款游戏,然后使用房间里的PAX笔记本呈献给它们看。很快地,许多有关这款游戏的捧扬文章便传遍了网络。它们告诉玩家《我的世界》是一款货真价实,千载难逢的游戏。如果没有媒体,《我的世界》便不可能掀起真正的热潮。

“我需要一家优秀的PR公司”——有些开发者将PR看得比一切都重要。早在2009年,我便遇到一个对自己的游戏充满信心的客户。他们选择了我所工作的PR公司,并一心期待着能够取得最好的成绩。但是因为他的游戏在一开始便不是很出色,所以媒体并未对此抱以兴趣,我们也无能为力。与PR公司合作并不能自动带来新闻。这也是我们为何从未给予客户百分百承诺的一大原因——我们只会尽力去帮助它们。

游戏是信息

这并不是说游戏能够定义新闻,或者新闻决定游戏。我们不能将媒体与它所传递的信息分离开来。Game PR便始终遵循着这一点,我花费了几个小时想出了适合游戏或工作室的信息,但是最终都需要游戏通过接收器呈现出来。主要有几种方法:

截图—-屏幕将告知新闻记者游戏类型,基本的游戏玩法(能够从静态框架中推断出来)和视觉优化等信息。

预告片—-预告片的作用更进一步。因为呈现出的是动态影像,所以它们能够提供更详细的游戏玩法,音乐,音效以及每款游戏所体现的氛围。

未剪切的游戏视频—-我很喜欢在YouTube上看《Let’s Plays》。即使不在家我也能“体验”游戏,这是在10年前不可能做到的。当然,你也并非真的在玩游戏,但是观看未剪切的游戏视频最接近游戏过程,即将放入磁盘并按压开始按键。如果游戏真的缺少音频/视频质量,那么这些不足在视频上便会显露无遗。

类型—-传统类型已经深深印刻在新闻记者的心中。如果面对的是即时策略游戏,第一人称游戏,回合制策略游戏或角色扮演游戏,他们便能第一时间察觉到。开发商们必须在预告片,新闻报道或网站上解释清楚任何不同寻常的内容。不出意料的,类型总是会对新闻产生影响。就像我们便很难去推广益智游戏和休闲游戏。而根据经验,第一人称射击游戏和其它行动类游戏(游戏邦注:如第三人称射击游戏和行动冒险游戏)都比较容易进行推广。

新闻稿—-新闻稿是用于传达游戏,并储存所有与发行有关的内容,包括主要功能以及资产(预告片,屏幕和logo等)的位置等。它们必须具有个性,风格,并且能够真正表现出游戏。然而,甚至是AAA级游戏也曾因为无聊的新闻稿而备受争议。虽然它们不会因此失去新闻宣传,但却会在媒体身上留下不好印象。如果说有什么是新闻记者乐于公开的内容,那糟糕的新闻稿便是其一。

影片攻略—-如果你能至始至终而玩游戏,你便能够感受到这一方法的重要作用。优秀的预告片总是能够诱使记者们去尝试游戏,但使用你的双手去引导他们游戏不可能取得好结果。有些发行商尝试着去“招待”评论者们,提供高级的食物与各种优质服务,但即使如此,如果你的游戏非常糟糕,最终也只能获得负面的评价。也许缺乏道德的作者们会屈服于这种迷惑,但其他人还是会安心地吃着高级鹅肝酱,并说出自己心中真正的感受。

游戏将影响着我们对上述所有元素的认知。但是最终游戏质量才是引导新闻记者关注或忽视游戏的真正动力。真正强大的游戏总是能够在人们心中留下深刻印象。如果游戏不能抓住新闻记者或评论者的心,他们便会直接忽视游戏。在PR界,这就等于不管声音多响亮都不做出回应。有些固执己见的PR会想尽办法不断地骚扰新闻记者,但是这么做的最终下场只会让记者们更加生气。

最重要的还是游戏质量

我们总是会尽力去推广游戏—-诚心为每个与Novy签订合约的客户服务。同时,我们也拒绝向新闻媒体提供虚假的游戏信息。当我们将游戏预告片放到YouTube上,并完成新闻稿的编写后,剩下的路就需要游戏自己往下走了。

每一款游戏都必须拥有最公平的机会。我们只会提出一点建议:请将你的游戏当成亲生孩子一样对待。所有的儿女都值得获得你所给予的最棒的内容。他们需要适当的质量保证,投资,谦逊,以及,爱。而我们能够谱写一款成功游戏篇章的唯一方法便是,努力创造出一款优秀的游戏。

游戏总是会为自己辩护。当它们做好准备时就放手吧,让它们凭借自己的能力在游戏世界中奋斗着。而当你发现媒体乐于接受你的游戏时,你将对PR公司报以感激。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

The Best PR in the World Won’t Save You if Your Game Sucks

by Luis Levy

At Novy we do PR for games. It’s our job to promote a client’s game so that the press is aware it exists – which hopefully will lead to downloads and/or sales. It’s a fun, rewarding gig, especially when we get to work with truly brilliant individuals.

That’s not always the case, unfortunately. Counting back from my start in Game PR (January 2008), I can safely say that some of the games I represented were uninspired, rushed, or simply misguided. It’s not like developers are trying to make a bad game on purpose; releasing such game is often the byproduct of a lack of resources, talented devs or even external pressure from publishers. However, everyone wants their game to be a huge success. They want news items, positive reviews, accolades, downloads, in-app revenue, the works.

Back in January, I was asked “What do you find works most effectively to spread the word about a game?” on Reddit. My answer inspired this blog post, which focuses on the true impact of a game’s quality and/or uniqueness on press coverage.

MAGICAL THINKING

There are two levels of magical thinking that may affect game developers when launching a game:

“If you build it, they will come” – I blame Kevin Costner for this one. Heard first in Field of Dreams (1989), it means that a superior game will ALWAYS attract coverage. I call it magical because it’s simply not true. Brilliant games need coverage just like average ones. Sure, they will generate word of mouth early on but that’s not enough. In order to become a hit, a game needs the press behind it. Minecraft, for example, was a huge hit at PAX in 2009. I remember working in the press room and hearing Enforcers first tell journalists all about it, then show it running on the few PAX laptops in the room. Soon enough, dozens of extremely positive write-ups flooded the Internet. They told gamers that Minecraft was the real deal, a once-in-a-lifetime game. Without the press, Minecraft would be a cult hit, but not a true hit.

“All I need is a good PR firm” – Some developers seem to think PR is enough to part the Red Sea. Back in 2009 or so, I had a client that was sure his game would be a major hit. They hired the PR firm I worked for at the time and expected nothing less than greatness. However, his game wasn’t that good in the first place. So the press didn’t show much interest… and we lost the account. Hiring a PR firm doesn’t automatically translate into coverage. That’s one of the reasons why we NEVER promise coverage at Novy – we promise to do our very best instead.

THE GAME IS THE MESSAGE

It shouldn’t be a big reveal that it’s THE GAME that defines the coverage, not the other way around. Marshall McLuhan nailed it back when television was the great disruptor: you can’t separate the medium from the message(s) it carries within. It’s the same for Game PR. I can spend a few hours coming up with the proper messages for the game and/or studio, but in the end the game itself will have its way with the receiver. That can happen in a number of ways:

Screenshots – Screens will inform the journalist of the genre, superficial gameplay (as much can be inferred from a static frame) and visual polish.

Trailer – Trailers go one step further. They are able to detail gameplay thanks to a moving image (think moving trains in the dawn of cinema), soundtrack, sound effects and, in general, the mood or vibe of each title. It’s a well-known fact that trailers can make or break a launch.

Uncut Gameplay Video – I love watching Let’s Plays on YouTube. They allow me to experience a game I might not be able to play at home in a way that was impossible a decade ago. Of course, you’re still not playing the game but uncut gameplay videos are the closest to actually putting the disc in and hitting the start button. If a game lacks audio/video quality, this format will make it patently obvious.

Genre – Traditional genres have been burned in journalists’ minds. They know at once if they’re dealing with an RTS, FPS, turn-based strategy game or RPG. Anything out of the ordinary needs to be carefully explained in the trailer, press release, website and pitch. The last thing you want is a “nebulous” perception of the genre – or worse, materials that lead journalists in the wrong direction. Unsurprisingly, genres often affect coverage. Puzzle games are harder to promote, for example. Casual games are nearly impossible to promote. Speaking from experience, FPS and other action sub-genres (like third-person shooters and action-adventure) are considerably easier.

Press release – I know, “press releases are dead and everything” except that they aren’t. Press releases are an expression of the game and serve as a repository of everything that matters about the launch, from key features to the location of the assets (trailer, screens and logos). They should have personality, style, and take chances just like the game itself in order to succeed. Nonetheless, even AAA games will often make the mistake of relying on boring, fluffy press releases. They might not lose coverage but will certainly lose brownie points with the press. And if there is one thing journalists love to roast publicly, it’s badly written press releases.

Playthrough – Once you play a game from beginning to end, you will KNOW how good it is. Hell, even the first hour is usually enough for console games. A good trailer can trick journalists into playing a game, but getting through it with your own two hands will tell the tale of the tape. Some publishers try to tip the scale by “hosting” reviewers, feeding them restaurant-grade food and placing a PR person “over the shoulder” but even then, if a game sucks, it will get a negative review. Ethically-challenged journos might succumb to such efforts, but everyone else will be equally merciless eating foie gras or playing the game at the office through a devkit.

The game will affect how all the elements above are perceived. The true quality will “seep in,” giving journalists a chance to decide to cover it or ignore it completely. A strong game will often make enough of an impression to warrant a deeper look. If a journalist or reviewer is not impressed, they will pass. In PR, a pass is also known as “hearing crickets” – not replying to the pitch in any meaningful way. Pushy PR people might try to force their way in, harassing journalists with multiple follow-up calls, but I’ve learned that doing so is a serious offense.** The last thing you want is a pissed off journalist.

TIME FOR SOME TOUGH LOVE

We’ll always do our very best to promote a game – every client will get that from us once they sign with Novy. At the same time, we refuse to lie about the game to the press. Once the trailer is on YouTube, the press release on the wire and pitches sent, the game needs to stand on its own two legs.

Every game deserves a fair shot. We only ask one thing: please see your game as a son or daughter. Like offspring, they deserve the very best you can give. They need proper quality assurance, investment, humility and, in the end, love. The only way we will make a game (any game, really) into a success story is if the game is the best it can possibly be in the first place.

Games speak for themselves. Set them loose in the world once they’re ready for it. You’ll find that the press will be much more receptive and, chances are, you’ll be much happier with your PR firm.

If you have any thoughts about this admittedly tricky topic, I’m listening :)

** I was once told that some in the press saw me as “pushy.” Hearing that shocked me to the core. Right there and then, I decided I would NEVER pester journalists if they ignored one of my pitches.(source:gamasutra)


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