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How to Sell Video Games - Part 1
By J - 08.18.03
Before I begin this article, I would just like to make a disclaimer. I am a mere college student, I have no experience in the business world, I have no idea how to stock a store or manage a store or anything like that, nor would I ever claim to. But I do have years upon years of experience as a customer of video games, and I find myself browsing video game stores just about every day. I know what type of people work there, I know what kind of experience I am looking for when I go into a game store, and I think I have a pretty good idea of what people want when they go into a store, video game related or not. I've also seen tons and tons of print, internet, and tv advertisements for video games, and I know what appeals to me and what does not. This article is, therefore, a critique of the marketing aspect of the video game world from someone in the key target audience for video games: males aged 16-25.
I would like to start by talking about the new chain of video game stores, called Game Crazy. The store is basically just another Funcoland/Gamestop/EB - you can buy new games for all three current platforms (sorry, no PC games), as well as used games for systems like the PS1, NES, Genesis, etc. These stores are found exclusively attached to Hollywood Videos. They have decent prices, and a decent selection of video games. They usually have 4 or 5 stands playing full versions of new titles for you to try out too. Sounds like a pretty good store, right? It would be. It could be. It should be. Unfortunately, the assault you receive by the people who work there is not unlike being trapped naked outside in an open field during a hail storm. If you find that you and your friends are the only people in the store when you walk in, the salespeople will continue to talk to you with their mild knowledge of shitty games until you leave. These are not interesting people, nor do they have any information you would care about. On one occasion, one of the clerks there was astounded that neither myself nor my friend owned the "awesome" Enter the Matrix. On another occasion, while shopping for NES games, the most annoying or all employees (refered to each time we go in there as "that guy") if we had played "Exciteabike." Every time you go in there you will be asked what systems you have, and you will certainly be asked if you need assistance once for every three minutes you are in there. Teenagers and twentysomethings shopping for video games know what they want. Even if all they want are blockbuster games like Vice City and Madden 2004, they go to video game stores because they already have concrete knowledge of what they want. The key to a good video game store is to have salespeople who are available for questions, but let customers browse, pick up, and try games that they say. If you have a ton of games, people will come and buy them. My evidence is in the next store I will talk about.
Starland (with three locations in the DC metro area) is the greatest video game store that has ever been. With a small, competent staff that not only lets you browse at your convience, but also has a large knowledge of all things video games doth domestic and imported, this store (at least the two that I have been to) basically amount to a gamers wet dream enclosed within a few square feet. What other store just hooks up the full import version of Soul Calibur 2 in a modded gamecube and just lets whoever wanders into the store play as much as they want? What other store sells import Saturn games and has a ridiculous collection of Atari games? Where else can you buy Neo-Geos, Atari Jaguars, Panasonic 3DOs, and Sega Master Systems? They keep their games cheap, their selection extremely varied, and stock niche games that more mainstream stores wouldn't carry too heavily (like DDR). This store caters to it's customers, has good prices, and employs people with a genuine interest in games who are there only when you want them to be. The employees are honest too - they're not just mindlessly trying to sell you whatever a manager decided was the hot item that week, they'll give you their opinions on what games they like to play (which vary from person to person). While a store like EB tends to be unoffensive and just fine to shop in, that store lacks the variety and competent staff of a store like Starland. CD and Movie stores don't just sell things that came out in the past year or two, so why should video game stores?
My next article will deal with marketing games from the corporate standpoint, and have examples of good (Playstation) and bad (N-Gage) ways to market video game hardware and software. Feel free to send your opinion on the matter my way, and I'll see you…whenever.
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