darkSpyro

I frequent only a few websites, and one of them is kotaku.com. Today I discovered that the gaming / "nerd culture" site has posted an article about Skylanders and the shortage of figures. Reading some of the comments is a little discouraging about such a unique game, and makes me wonder why "hardcore" gamers have such a problem with the game (save the "already on disc" argument -- kind of agree with that one).

Here's the link: http://kotaku.com/5878728/wher...ncle-activision

What do you guys think about the gaming community as a whole, and how they are reacting to Skylanders? Do you think that Skylanders was more of a fluke whose wide-spread popularity is attributed to the shortage of figs, or do you think the success is going to last once supply meets demand?

Your thoughts?

Eh, to each their own really. I get the figures as my kids play with them outside of the console as well. They have actually started a TV series with them complete with "evil twins!" (legendary figures)

To all those "why can't everything be on the disc" people, I say look at all the World of Warcraft expansions and monthly subscriptions. You can't play the full game without paying too. Sure you pay the local currency 6-7 per figure, but you get a nice figure that you can use both on your game and online double bang for your buck IMO.

Personally I think Activision didn't forsee the game being so popular and only made just enough stock for the Christmas period. It's really not their fault it snowballed into the issue they have now. There's only so many toys that China can produce at once. I can see the shortage lasting another few weeks as it's the New Year over there now.

All these articles and stories do is get people talking about Activision, yes they are in the hot seat now, but when the toys are back in shops, players/children/parents are going to be singing their praises. Kudos to you Activision!

The fact the article claims there are 37 figures alone makes me disregard it. If the company was someone other than Activision I suspect the hate and vile would be far less. The so called *hardcore* gamers can go soak their heads. Its not a game designed for them. If they don't want to play it dont spend the money. The reason that Call of Duty and Modern Warfare games are the same tired shooter down every year is because the *hardcore* gamers continue to throw down cash. If you dont like the products a company is making don't spend the money on it. It all just boils down to its the internet and people complain about anything and everything because they can behind he shield of anonymity.

Once all the figures are out and the shelves have a semi-regular stock hanging on the walls of course things will die down. The make or break part will be with the release of a sequel and if we have the same insanity repeated all over again.

Okay guys, here's some things I'd like to say...

1. Activision is one of the biggest publishers of games around. Only company to match them (or beat them, I don't know who is considered #1) is EA Games. The large publishers who buy companies that people love usually get the blame for the changes people see (or imagine). That's just the way it is. From my experience, the biggest boys on the block are usually the ones that garner the most hatred.

2. "Hardcore" gamers does not equal CoD players. CoD has it's own major issues with $15 dollar map packs (like what, 3 maps?!) hackers, cheaters and overall a lousy online community. In no way do I consider a "hardcore" gamer to be a FPS junkie. Matter of fact, I think if that's the only games they play, I'd say they aren't a Hardcore gamer.

3. Like it or not, if the true hardcore gamers (for sake of argument, let's say those who spend $250+ on games per year not including DLC) will not support the game then the game might just become the fluke or fad that some are claiming it is. One thing that disturbs me is that I'm sure this is what some collectors actually want to happen to make their collection more obscure, and by default, cooler (at least in their eyes).

Agree? Disagree?

EDIT: After realizing how expensive games are nowadays, I think I should up the price point. Let's say, $500 per year. $250 per year rounds out at being 4 games per year, and that seems pretty low to me for a whole year.

^ I like you.

Quote: Reimu

^ I like you.

Er... um... thanks, Reimu. lol. I take it that you agree?

100%.

Actually, I believe you may be over-analyzing why the feedback exists and the demographic it is coming from. Simply put, Skylanders is not targeted at the hard-core market evident even by looking at its ESRB rating. This "hard-core" demographic in the industry generally focuses on the male audience in the Teen and post-Teen age group which is clearly evident in advertisements involving violence and sexuality.

This is also the group which posses the largest and easily swayed yearly spend as well as the most vocal on things they like and dislike ... like in blogs

However, they do not necessarily have the most "potential" spend on video games, that actually lies with the above-30 family income demographic. And THIS is the demographic that Skylanders is appealing to and has, obvious, captured a largest then normal spend from.

A parallel example with movies can be made as the core "movie-goer" aligns well with the same "hard-core" demographic and retains the largest percentage of movies and marketing. However, that does not prohibit nor "stop" gigantic successes from Pixar and Dreamworks ...

So don't frett that the "hard-core" isn't interested in Skylanders. They probably are not interested in The Muppets, Dolphins Tale, or Cars either :-) And just like their movie studio brethren, Activtision sees a pot of gold with the current Skylanders demographic and will, hopefully, continue to stay true and focused on them!

I agree that a hardcore gamer isnt someone who strictly plays fps shooters. I consider myself to be a hardcore gamer even though i dont do a massive amount of online play like most. But in order to be "hardcore" you need veriety. My game collection consists of a few fps shooters (love halo) but i also have zombie gams like left for dead and dead rising, the whole assassins creed collection, and the third person shooter gears of war series, i even have a need for speed game if i feel like racing. I so agree that cod has become more of a fad, its really not that great of a game series. I have black ops and mw3 ya. Y do i have them? One was a gift and the only games my friends play is cod. Thats basicall all they play. Its sad that i have to buy mw3 if i want to play any game against my friends. I would much preffer to sit down and play a round of halo or a match of gears with them. Cod is in my opinion poorly put together and unrealisic with its "perks" and for some reason my bullets never go where i am aiming

I used CoD as an example as its an Activision game that gets churned out every year with very little expansion of concept. The graphics are better and all but its the same boring mindless shooter over and over again. My intent isnt to say all Hardcore gamers are FPS junkies. Sadly however around my area and the people I work with if you attempt to expand beyond that realm of playstyle you'll be looked at like you have a third eye growing out of your head. Also as mentioned above what falls under hardcore market is generally the Teen + themed games which include things like CoD. Its the make demographic and the one most primed to shell out cash.

Personally I dont want the game to be a fluke. I want the game to succeed. I'll probably get lynched saying I'm not a huge Pokemon fan, BUT....I consider the reason for that as it got to bloated with creatures to fast for me. Skylanders has enough of the same theme for me to get my interest but smaller scaled in terms of characters to where after say two more sequels I'm not looking at 450+ creatures. I might have 60-70 Skylanders.

Quote: Buzzthebatgirl

To all those "why can't everything be on the disc" people, I say look at all the World of Warcraft expansions and monthly subscriptions. You can't play the full game without paying too. Sure you pay the local currency 6-7 per figure, but you get a nice figure that you can use both on your game and online double bang for your buck IMO.

Personally I think Activision didn't forsee the game being so popular and only made just enough stock for the Christmas period. It's really not their fault it snowballed into the issue they have now. There's only so many toys that China can produce at once. I can see the shortage lasting another few weeks as it's the New Year over there now.

All these articles and stories do is get people talking about Activision, yes they are in the hot seat now, but when the toys are back in shops, players/children/parents are going to be singing their praises. Kudos to you Activision!

WoW is kind of different. I am a WoW player. You actually get a ton of updates for the game at a regular pace covered under your monthly fee. Also, all of that maintenance and ongoing support doesn't come without a price tag.

I do kind of get the "dood it's on the disc!" argument. We had the same gripe about Beautiful Katamari DLC for the X360. They were charging for stuff that was already on disc. It was a very short game with a budget price that then required you to pay for the DLC if you wanted what amounted to the rest of your game. It was a total scam that brought the game up to a full price title by the time you were done. The difference with Skylanders that those people miss, is you are paying for the ability to pick up a figure and carry it to a friends house, or even cross-platform and play pvp. Also, who can resist the collectible nature of a cool toy?

The final aspect of all of this is that gaming isn't the unified hobby it once was. Back in the 80's and even early to mid 90's, you played every game that came out. Now, we all have our niche corners. Many of the Madden or Call of Duty fanatics only buy that game all year long, and play it until the next one comes out next year, and that's ok for them. The niche is now true for the likes jrpg gamers, more casual shooter fans, and so forth. So for those of us who enjoy Skylanders, this is our niche. Some of us even identify as "hardcore gamers". My current "active" pile includes everything from Bulletstorm to Child of Eden, The Gunstringer to Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Halo Anniversary. Should I not like Skylanders because someone deems it a bit gimmicky? Sometimes it's alright to let yourself get caught up in a gimmick if it's a really good one.

EDIT: One final thought: How many of these people who want to condemn the expense of Skylanders have themselves bought those useless special editions for some ridiculous price loaded with cheap junk? Those who live in glass houses..

Quote: Slivers

Actually, I believe you may be over-analyzing why the feedback exists and the demographic it is coming from. Simply put, Skylanders is not targeted at the hard-core market evident even by looking at its ESRB rating. This "hard-core" demographic in the industry generally focuses on the male audience in the Teen and post-Teen age group which is clearly evident in advertisements involving violence and sexuality.

This is also the group which posses the largest and easily swayed yearly spend as well as the most vocal on things they like and dislike ... like in blogs

I feel it is important to add that while many might think that the M rated titles are the most prevalent, the fact is that many developers tend to shy away from the M rating and snag the much more accessible T rating. Here's two things that is ironic about this: 1. Most of the triple-A titles tend to be rated M. and 2. As you have said, the target demographic for things like video game magazines, sites, etc. WAS set at 18-35. The target demographic could get the Mature rated games anyway. I actually can back that up, but it is 3:30 am and my magazines that I pulled these stats are in my car.

Quote: Slivers

However, they do not necessarily have the most "potential" spend on video games, that actually lies with the above-30 family income demographic. And THIS is the demographic that Skylanders is appealing to and has, obvious, captured a largest then normal spend from.

I would agree with that. I would like to warn Activision though about the casual gamer style Nintendo took with the Wii. It was a HUGE payoff, but many (including me for the most part) find themselves drowning in shovelware to find the great titles like Skyward Sword, Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, etc. For lack of a better way of putting it, it would seem that many are "wising up" that the casual gamer crowd CAN pay off, but it is quite a gamble if you make the game something the "hardcore" gamers will ignore. I'm not trying to downplay the casual gamers or things like mobile gaming, but I just don't get it (like the fascination with Facebook games, for example).

Quote: Slivers

A parallel example with movies can be made as the core "movie-goer" aligns well with the same "hard-core" demographic and retains the largest percentage of movies and marketing. However, that does not prohibit nor "stop" gigantic successes from Pixar and Dreamworks ...

So don't frett that the "hard-core" isn't interested in Skylanders. They probably are not interested in The Muppets, Dolphins Tale, or Cars either :-) And just like their movie studio brethren, Activtision sees a pot of gold with the current Skylanders demographic and will, hopefully, continue to stay true and focused on them!

I truly hope so, but Bobby Kotick is known for being a... can I say d**chebag here? Anyway, he might cut and run if he feels that Activision would lose money on a sequel. Let's face it, everyone tries to go "bigger and better" with a sequel, and many lose the atmosphere and feel that made the original so cool.

Sure on a site like kotaku there is bashing. There is still a good amount of "hardcore" gamers who love the game.

I would consider myself a hardcore gamer i own almost 200 gcn games, over 100 ps2 games, about 60 ps3 games and about 60 wii (would be more but i started trading in with the new systems). I buy collectors editions and preorder, I buy dlc updates and full games. I played wow for over 3 years (still collect the figures) from vanilla to wrath with a break inbetween, and have played tons of other mmos (too many to listed, even beta tested some) mostly free ones. My most recent games where love is over edition of catherine, shadows of the damned, rune factory tides of destiny, batman arkham city, saints 3rd, collectors edition skyrim, special edition loz skyward sword. Point is I play everything, and i play them to 100% Ive been busy LOL.
For skylanders it frustrates me because I cant 100% the game fully without one of each toon/fig. I have 100% main game and it is very shallow. The replay kinda bites aside from pvp, and challenges (wich I have ran every character except my 4 newest through all 23 challenges I have) the game is very short. You could easily speed run it in a few hours, just look at the time challenge for each stage the longest one I believe is only around 12 min. Not that im saying this game was intended for speed running, like re2's 3hour run. I also think we should have gotte a full 32 stages at least. Then theres the odd grind, if you play only story mode you can even out your $ and lvl decently if you dont use to many different landers per game. however you will lvl them super fast by running them through challenges and then be left with grinding $ for power ups. I think it should have been balanced better either higher lvl, harder to lvl, or more $.
Now lets look at the fact it is intended for kids. O.K. I understand that, and I play it with my 7 year old and and my 13 year old and they both like it(the 7 year old loves it). But she could never solo the game especially the end or some of the challenges, and she beat sonic adventure dx with very little help. So even though the game is really inavative, which is the main reason I bought it. I still wonder what way activision will take it. I also hope the supply issue is just a supply demand thing. I am pretty certian what happen was a business decision. They (acti) said hey this is a brand new idea, its aimed at kids, and it will cost over $400 to own everything. We will either make bucks or end up with a flop and tons of merch we cant give away. So they produced and released a taste, let everyone see what it was. Consumers went gaga so now they are playing catch up. Stores arn't making money with empty shelves and either is acti.