NHL 2K10 Screenshots

[Eddie1967]

Quote: Originally Posted by Keirik

then why are you bringing up EA in the first place in the thread ?

I was comparing the one thing that keeps me from fully embracing EA which is their lack of presentation. I think it's a fair comparison. My point is just to mention how I feel about that, and that the sales numbers and 12 awards means nothing to me if the presentation isn't up to par.

[Eddie1967]

Quote: Originally Posted by Flyermania

2k just needs to improve their sales...period. You can have the prettiest areans and the best gameplay in the world, but without a solid customer base it really doesn't matter.

I agree. If that doesn't happen this year, then I'm not sure what else they can do. We haven't played the game yet but it looks as if they put a lot of time and effort into making many improvements in 2k10, so I would expect more people to give it a try this year.

[Scottdau]

I truly believe if you make a great game, people will come. Basically I am saying "If you build it they will come."

[Keirik]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottdau

I truly believe if you make a great game, people will come. Basically I am saying "If you build it they will come."

unfortunately, not if the company doesn't go out of their way to show people how good of a product they have.

[Scottdau]

Quote: Originally Posted by Keirik

unfortunately, not if the company doesn't go out of their way to show people how good of a product they have.

Word of mouth is the best publicly. Also the internet and youtube is another. If it is a great game then they will sell it!

[Eddie1967]

Quote: Originally Posted by Keirik

unfortunately, not if the company doesn't go out of their way to show people how good of a product they have.

But how much more can they do. What would you suggest, and I ask this in all seriousness. You honestly think a few months earlier is going to sell people? It won't because those people will not give 2k a chance either way. Between EA and 2K there are those who dislike the other game for some reason or another and won't give it a chance. That's what I see anyway. All they have to do is rent it and find out for themselves. I know money is tight for some but what does it take to rent a game to see if you like it.

[Ridgeberg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Eddie1967

But how much more can they do. What would you suggest, and I ask this in all seriousness. You honestly think a few months earlier is going to sell people? It won't because those people will not give 2k a chance either way. Between EA and 2K there are those who dislike the other game for some reason or another and won't give it a chance. That's what I see anyway. All they have to do is rent it and find out for themselves. I know money is tight for some but what does it take to give a game a chance through renting.

You may be right, but it couldn't hurt right? I think one of the reasons that EA Sports has seen a resurgence (at least among the "sim" faithful on this board) can partly be attributed to their recent move towards transparency and engaging the consumer. You could almost call it grassroots and I would imagine that more and more companies will begin to incorporate this type of business model. 2K would be wise to engage the community on a deeper level and make them "feel apart" of development, I think EA has done this and their biggest fans have developed a great loyalty to their products. When EA offers a "behind the scenes" view and encourages their producers to interact with the community, people might begin to question why the other company isn't. People might begin to mistrust the company and wonder what they are hiding. Especially, when the company (2K in this example) has had difficulty with maintenance of their games (rosters, patches, game modes that don't always work right or deliver what they promise).

So that was a long-winded way of saying that, yes, there is more that 2K could be doing and I would expect that it absolutely could help their sales.

[Eddie1967]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ridgeberg

You may be right, but it couldn't hurt right? I think one of the reasons that EA Sports has seen a resurgence (at least among the "sim" faithful on this board) can partly be attributed to their recent move towards transparency and engaging the consumer. You could almost call it grassroots and I would imagine that more and more companies will begin to incorporate this type of business model. 2K would be wise to engage the community on a deeper level and make them "feel apart" of development, I think EA has done this and their biggest fans have developed a great loyalty to their products. When EA offers a "behind the scenes" view and encourages their producers to interact with the community, people might begin to question why the other company isn't. People might begin to mistrust the company and wonder what they are hiding. Especially, when the company (2K in this example) has had difficulty with maintenance of their games (rosters, patches, game modes that don't always work right or deliver what they promise). So that was a long-winded way of saying that, yes, there is more that 2K could be doing and I would expect that it absolutely could help their sales.

Great post, and yes it can't hurt. I agree with the maintenance of their games, first and foremost they must address issues through patches. I'm the biggest 2k fan there is(didn't know that did you?) and it was a terrible idea not to patch the free agency issue in franchise mode last year.

[Flyermania]

2k used to be involved heavily with the gaming community. 2k also used to crank up the marketing machine a lot earlier with "Top Shelf Tuesdays", etc. For some reason they stopped doing these things, and also let the same game-crippling bugs stay in the series year after year. And to top it all off, they cut back on post release support like rosters, much-needed patches, etc. The graphics on next-gen looked a lot like last-gen, and instead of overhauling the game engine they tried a band-aid approach and tried to milk it 2-3 years past what it should have. Add this all together and the cutomer looked for the first life boat off the Titanic.

2k needs a solid game release. They already missed the marketing boat yet again for 2k10, but they need to concentrate on supporting the game post-release. Every game will have issues, so they need to address them when they arise. EA has grabbed the casual fans and the reviewers using the same formula that got 2k to the top.

Embrace the community, market the game early and effectively, finally fix the bugs, and give post-release support. I really feel this year could go a long way to determining if this series stays afloat or finally sinks. The sales numbers will tell the story.

[Flyermania]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottdau

Word of mouth is the best publicly. Also the internet and youtube is another. If it is a great game then they will sell it!

2k will never be able to top EA as far as word of mouth goes. Look at all of the examples of game store employees recommending one over the other. 2k needs to market the game a heckuva lot better...plain and simple.