Comments on: Have Any of Home’s Public Spaces Motivated You To Buy A Game?

By: Orion

Orion — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 02:09:56 +0000

In a word, “No.” Home hasnothing really to offer me in the way of influencing my game purchasing. Even with games that I have an enjoy playing, like LBP, I would not have purchased it based on what I saw on Home. However, talking with people on Home has had an impact on what games I have purchased.

By: cthulu93

cthulu93 — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:53:11 +0000

Lol I should have figured they would be on this.They always seem to be on the forefront of things that work well.Thanks for the info. Cubes and keep up the good work Outso.

By: Cubehouse

Cubehouse — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:09:10 +0000

Interestingly enough, Outso do exactly this in all their spaces. They have developed some phenomenal statistics gathering servers and use them all the time.

A good example of this is the Sodium One space, which has been redesigned twice now after listening to feedback and looking at the statistics tracking every player in the space to learn exactly what worked and what didn’t.

They have since released this system as a separate company too: http://www.playmetrix.com/

By: cthulu93

cthulu93 — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 14:43:21 +0000

Incidently,if Sony were to keep track of the traffic to each public space they could then use that info to have a better idea what to charge for advertising in that particular area.High traffic areas would command higher advertising prices,with the addition of a survey they could keep track of a whole lot of useful info for advertising purposes.I’m kinda surprised that this isn’t done already.I mean there is already a large group of ppl using Home,why not ask them directly what kinds of advertising works best?what kinds of products they would use and pay for?And many other questions.Turning Home into a giant focus group might be offensive to some but it would be totally voluntary,hopefully.

By: cthulu93

cthulu93 — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 11:02:54 +0000

Sorry on my blackberry: *ascertain

By: cthulu93

cthulu93 — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 10:55:49 +0000

But what if a space gives no items and has no games to play?I think Sony should be keeping track of the traffic each public space gets.If a space gets zero traffic,has no games or items,and is promoting a game from 3 years ago it’s reason for existence is no longer valid.So if it’s just taking up space that could be better utilized I’d say yank it.I would hope that it would be a long process to yank a space in order to acertain the traffic numbers but if there are spaces that aren’t being used for much and IF the number of public spaces is limited then why keep them around?Of course if the number of public spaces that can be created is unlimited then keep them.

By: keara22hi

keara22hi — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 02:32:59 +0000

Yes. That’s what I was hearing in the personal interviews, Travis. The trailers and the posters and the public spaces are not as important as word-of-mouth from friends you trust and from being able to play a demo of a game.

Home needs to have playable demos in here or a Hub that can connect you directly to a demo of a game. Maybe that is a feature that could be added to the Gamers’ Lounge area.

By: Travis-Travis

Travis-Travis — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:56:38 +0000

Never been motivated to buy a game based off of an advertisement in Home. I told some friends about the free battle points you could get in the Plaza when the KZ3 thing happened, but after a group of friends played the actual beta, we all decided it was cancer and nobody bought it. Buying a game because of exposure to marketing tactics on Home is the same thing as “judging a book by its cover.” The demos in the store do a better job of helping me make a decision.

By: keara22hi

keara22hi — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:46:36 +0000

These replies came in after I had put together the article, but they really deserve to be added. Also, I was delighted to see Glass Wall’s question and Aiken Drum’s response. It really made the work of doing that thread and then this article worthwhile.

GlassWalls wrote:

I have a question for you all. Since many of the game-related spaces in Home are not updated because they were made to celebrate a single title (not necessarily a game franchise consisting of many titles) and game titles are not really updated on a core level after release, would you prefer we retire (remove) some of these spaces after some time once the game is out for a while?

Aiken Drum wrote:

Of course not. Not only do I love some of those spaces, but they I guarantee they DO generate sales well after they seem to be pointless:

I bought several Disgaea titles as a result of the Disgaea space. Then I bought some related titles as a result of buying those. Then I bought some similar titles that were on sale next to the related titles. In all, I think the Disgaea space is the root cause of my buying maybe 8-10 games. I still go back there, too, to play the in-Home games and listen to the music.

The Siren space got me to try out the game. I didn’t like it, but at least it generated enough interest for me to check it out. As far as the space was concerned, it did its job. That the game couldn’t back up the hype was the game’s fault. And, again, even though I’ve won the minigames a hundred times, I still go back, because I get a kick out of the space and the dopey 70’s music that plays occasionally.

I happened on these spaces well after other people got bored with them, mind you. If they’d been closed, that would have been a ton of potential lost. Not to mention fun. They not only kept me looking at retail games, they kept me in Home, where I have spent stupid amounts of money on a thousand items that I can’t even see simultaneously.

So, no, don’t delete them when they’re past their prime. Just Say No to Carousel.

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:40:45 +0000

I my case no. Of course the types of games I play haven’t got any Home spaces so that is probably why that is the case. I can say that smart marketers would probably offer at least home avatar items (other than t-shirts) when you even download the demo of the game. Generosity begets generosity I think. I loved the fact that Rockstar had a contest for RDR avatar items and PS3 won so we got free outfits for our avatars, that was smart marketing. I also palyed the demo for infamous the other day to see if it is one of the games I would like to get free and when I came back to Home I had received free avatar items for my male avatar. Now if they gave those for females as well I would be really impressed, but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

By: keara22hi

keara22hi — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:40:04 +0000

I know that this kind of market research is sorely needed in Home. It goes far beyond the Polls; a poll measures ‘did they like it’. But open ended questions get the information on WHY did they like it -- or dislike it. If I was a developer thinking about putting some big money into a promotion in Home, this is the kind of information I would want, not pie charts, graphs, and tabulations.

That is why I believe that Sony has a golden opportunity with the HomeForum to use it as a large Focus group by posting these kinds of questions. And until they do, HSM staff writers will continue to gather information of this type and publish it for the benefit of all.

By: xx96791DEATHxx

xx96791DEATHxx — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:32:18 +0000

Well..I bought Resistance 2 because of the shooter game in the space. I bought the blaster space because of the mini game. I bought High Stakes Poker because EA shut down the poker rooms in order to stop me getting my 12th diamond bracelet. If they had a Hall Of Justice space I’m sure it would have accelerated my DCUO purchase.

By: Terra_Cide

Terra_Cide — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:46:11 +0000

Has a space motivated me to buy a game? Not yet, but I’m not ruling it out either. It certainly has opened my eyes to looking at games I may not have given a second glance at.

What I find some game spaces provide (for me personally) is an opportunity to interact with others who are either fans of the game specific to that space, or the franchise it’s attached to in general.

By: deuce_for2

deuce_for2 — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:52:47 +0000

Great stuff!!

By: cynella

cynella — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:32:57 +0000

I hate to admit it… I like the rewards and the games. If it has neither, I don’t waste the download. It has to be a good reward to, because I don’t chase t shirts any more, those days are over.

By: cthulu93

cthulu93 — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:31:48 +0000

The best advertising,besides word of mouth,is advertising that’s fun and doesn’t feel like a 3 a.m. infomercial.You really nailed it keara,get some music and games in there and your sure to get many eyeballs on your product.Even if ppl don’t buy that particular game if the public space is done well they will remember the developers fondly and possibly buy future games from them in different genres.If the sights on the killzone gun in Central Plaza weren’t inverted,or had an option to un-invert them,i would have pre-ordered it and i usually don’t buy FPS’.If a company is going to invest in a public space on Home they really should do it right,like you pointed out above,otherwise it’s just wasted cash.