Imperial Post

Shown: Me

Many of you are probably familiar with the idea of sensation transference, that people’s feelings toward a product is influenced in part by its packaging. Thank Louis Cheskin for the insight.

For me, video game boxes never had any pull since I always knew what I wanted before going to the store. Pre-Internet, I got all the information I needed from print, and now game previews are instantaneous and more text-heavy, further diminishing the attraction of the screenshot located on the back of the box. I’m not a marketing nerd so I’m assuming it’s gonna be the screenshots since the cover layout and the box itself are standard across a given console.

Nowadays you can buy and download games, taking the box right out of the picture. Is there such a thing as sensation transference for these games? Would the page or site they are sold on be considered their packaging? Like a box, the game’s page with its taglines, logos, and more importantly its screenshots, would be the point of contact. I think it’s reasonable to think people will make assessments and judgments about the game by it’s official site or by the page it plays in. “Hmm, that looks like their last RTS which was about as much fun as sitting on the toilet when you don’t even have to go.”

I think a good example of sensation transference within the computer and video game industry is the arcade cabinet. You have the side art and marquee (box art) and you have the game looping the title screen and gameplay (screenshots) with its sound effects going all Spinal Tap on your eardrums.

Something To Think About: Do you think games are like books, in that some people judge by its cover? In the presence of screenshots, I would imagine a game’s cover art would be like judging a book by it’s publishing house.
Something To Think About Even Harder: Do people really judge books by the publishing house?

Hey, I know you.

Back in August, I posted about Capcom’s promotional piece for their upcoming virtual console game, Mega Man 9. For those unfamiliar, Mega Man 9 is a game created with the limitations of the 1980’s Nintendo console in mind. 9 is a nod to old-school gameplay and its roots - Mega Man, as a series, has spawned across many consoles and generations.

The image above is another attraction piece, created with as much care as the tee print. The game itself is a download, which is why the package in that image is a limited edition. The retail version of this game comes on a CD, which is encased in an NES cartridge, which comes in an NES box. It started out as a press kit, but the demand from fans became so loud that Capcom decided to run a limited number for the public.

You should clap clap for Capcom, but not because they listened to Mega Man fans and offered to mass-produce what was supposed to be swag, since all this was one giant madeleine calculated from the word hell-yeah-let’s-go-make-this-game. They knew the audience, and they knew what had to be done to pull them in. When you not only make the eighth sequel to a series that started back in the late eighties but make it in the image of its predecessors, you aren’t banking on a new audience. If they did want a new generation of Mega Man players, putting “9” in the title probably wouldn’t be the way to go - Capcom has rebooted the series more than once.

And from a financial perspective, all this talk of nostalgia and knowing the audience means Capcom doesn’t have to spend nearly as much on development as they do with a game made for current consoles. Look at the screens for 9 - does that game look like it had a 150-200 person team, with a 10 million dollar budget?

Rock that art, Man

Pyoo Pyoo

Take a gander at that image - a promotional shirt for Capcom’s Mega Man 9 game. I know what you’re thinking: “Jesus the Christ that is all kinds of ugly.” But ask a gamer and he’ll tell you that’s the greatest piece of marketing ever. “Are you blind? Even Helen Keller would say that’s atrocity.” Let’s look past the Anne Sullivan-like miracles needed for that to be true and gather around, for I have a Once Upon a Time to tell….

Mega Man is a franchise that started on the NES way back in 1987. The latest installment is a retro offering that aims for a pixel perfect representation of the NES Mega Man games, upping the nostalgia factor by a hojillion percent. Instead of polygons and cutscenes that look like they have the budget of a teen comedy, it’s all 8-bit sprite glory. The developers even went as far as mimicking the limitations of the hardware; for example, the first game couldn’t handle more than 3 enemies on the screen, and so the new one doesn’t have 3+ baddies sharing the same on-screen real estate. The original Mega Man - and its first sequel - is recognized as one of the all-time greats. And it’s also recognized for having one of the worst box covers ever, not only cuz it looks wicked terrible but also because Mega Man doesn’t even carry a handgun in the game - nor does he look like a middle-aged Captain Constipated. Capcom knows this, and so when they announced number 9 and its strict adherence to the NES classic, the marketing department decided to create that shirt and laugh with us.

And that is the story of little boy blue and his mega awesome marketing digs.