US/UM Trailers and News Discussion

[FroyoDragon]

Well, to be honest, information drought strategies sorta paid off for Nintendo with the Switch, Zelda BotW, Metroid SR and Prime 4, and Mario Odyssey, just to name a few. Keep people in the dark for a while, then use the last moments to reveal info and go strong with the marketing. That way their products seem fresh to the general people while minimizing marketing costs... Not surprised GF would do this, too.

 

[Niyuura]

Well, to be honest, information drought strategies sorta paid off for Nintendo with the Switch, Zelda BotW, Metroid SR and Prime 4, and Mario Odyssey, just to name a few. Keep people in the dark for a while, then use the last moments to reveal info and go strong with the marketing. That way their products seem fresh to the general people while minimizing marketing costs... Not surprised GF would do this, too.

Did they not literally have an hour long gameplay of mario odyssey, or was that a time close to game release?

 

[PurplePopplio]

Did they not literally have an hour long gameplay of mario odyssey, or was that a time close to game release?

Mario Odyssey is releasing on 27 October. So you be the judge.

 

[FroyoDragon]

Did they not literally have an hour long gameplay of mario odyssey, or was that a time close to game release?

It only got announced this year and is also releasing this year, which means they've been keeping it under wraps for a long time before then, at least x3

 

[Niyuura]

Mario Odyssey is releasing on 27 October. So you be the judge.

It only got announced this year and is also releasing this year, which means they've been keeping it under wraps for a long time before then, at least x3

based on ^

I would not call it comparable to USUM because june and october are a long while away from each other and they showed a long gameplay segment which was enough to let anyone interested in the game see what to expect

Meanwhile, here we are, mid-august with a november release, we know next to nothing about the games and worlds will bring us some new pokemon form/variant at best (or maybe just show the boxart and say sumt about the necroleo and necronala lul). That being said, I have no doubts that GF could spoil the whole games even in a single month if they wanted, but as I said before, I'm just curious to know WHY they're choosing to go with this silence

 

[Bolt Strike]

Yeah, Mario Odyssey is not comparable to USUM at all. Even at Odyssey's reveal we had a fairly substantial trailer showing off some concrete information about the game like the general story, Mario's cap (even if we didn't know entirely what it did then, they still showed enough about it to get people excited about the mechanic), characters, and levels. Then at E3 they followed up with a more detailed explanation of the gameplay and an hour long demo fully explaining what the game was about. Other games like BotW and Metroid: Samus Returns are in similar situations, they were revealed close to release but they showed enough about the basic premise of the game and defining mechanics for people to make an educated decision over whether or not they wanted the game.

But with USUM, we don't have that much. The reveal trailer showed a bunch of vague clips that we can't really glean much from and all we know in terms of concrete details is that it takes place in Alola, there's new fusions of Necrozma and Solgaleo/Lunala as mascots, it takes place in an "alternate universe" (whatever that means), and there's a new Lycanroc form as an event near release. We don't really know what these games are in the same way that we do/did for some of those other examples, and none of them really made us wait several months after the reveal to figure that out. The only game you can really say that for is Metroid Prime 4, but it's understandable in that case because that game isn't coming out anytime soon (we don't even have a firm release date for it). So yeah, this is bad marketing. You're revealing a game that no one really knows what it is, saying nothing about it for months letting the negative impression of it fester, and then cutting it pretty close to release where the new information may not have enough opportunity to overcome the negative perception.

 

[Desdar300]

That's just the fate of third versions sadly.
They're conserving info because there's not as much to show this time around because unlike before we more or less know what we're getting into.
I think they're aiming for a September blow out because that's when Pokken and the GS rereleases are coming out.

 

[DoctorWhy]

I think they're aiming for a September blow out because that's when Pokken and the GS rereleases are coming out.

That's possible, though I'm hesitant to agree. Wouldn't the dual releases of both Pokken and GS VC cause a little too much traffic/crossover at once? I feel like it could get really congested if there's both of those games coming out while being surrounded by USUM news, which could potentially compete for the attention of people's wallets. You could be right, though I was expecting October to be the huge blowout.

 

[Desdar300]

That's possible, though I'm hesitant to agree. Wouldn't the dual releases of both Pokken and GS VC cause a little too much traffic/crossover at once? I feel like it could get really congested if there's both of those games coming out while being surrounded by USUM news, which could potentially compete for the attention of people's wallets. You could be right, though I was expecting October to be the huge blowout.

If there are Gen 2 Alolan forms then it'd be great to cross promote the two.

 

[William-Jdubz]

I think given the Gen 2 VC releases are happening before USUM and the Unown message in the trailer, its extremely likely we are getting Gen 2 Alolan Forms. Compared to the Gen 1 VC releases being released before SM, this seems like a fairly likely pattern.

 

[Nicolas721]

-E3 & Tokyo Game Show don't show anything.
-Pokenchi shows something.
-Coverage of 3 months.
-Lycanroc's video only available in Japanese.

So many steps back at the same time is suspicious. The only ones who care a little about the game are Japan and the retail stores. Maybe they don't want to steal attention from the Switch? That's a bad argument, because the game could be marketed to people who already own a 3DS.

 

[DoctorWhy]

If there are Gen 2 Alolan forms then it'd be great to cross promote the two.

Good point. I really do hope we get more Alolan forms.

 

[Pyrax]

I think they're aiming for a September blow out because that's when Pokken and the GS rereleases are coming out.

I agree. This could be why GameFreak's been so secretive about USM, so that they can reveal as much as they want throughout September and October. At this point I'm more curious about their reasons behind this secrecy than USM itself.

Also I was curious, so I did some digging on Platinum's pre-release period. By June (3 months from release), we knew about the following:

• Giratina Origin Form
• Distortion World
• Shaymin Sky Form
• Looker and Charon (just their designs via CoroCoro though)
• Regi Trio being obtainable
• Dawn, Lucas and Barry's redesigns

All from CoroCoro's June/July 2008 issues.

 

[Cute Charm]

They were really secretive about sun and moon too. Does no one remember the fake out "spies break in to gamefreak HQ and take overexposed images of the box art" article?

It's like they think that if there's a large info drought and they only release anime related things right before they show up in the anime (dusk lycanroc) it will stop early leaks or let everybody be surprised over the game when it comes out. It's incredibly naive, but still it's an attempt at something.

So comparing it to like Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, Platinum, and B2W2 in terms of info dumps isn't really a fair comparison given their new press tactics that started last year.

 

[Niyuura]

I agree. This could be why GameFreak's been so secretive about USM, so that they can reveal as much as they want throughout September and October. At this point I'm more curious about their reasons behind this secrecy than USM itself.

Also I was curious, so I did some digging on Platinum's pre-release period. By June (3 months from release), we knew about the following:

All from CoroCoro's June/July 2008 issues.

I still maintain that pre-3ds era of marketing was something done with another state of mind and done for a Japanese-only audience (it doesn't take much to excite most Japanese people)

And even so, Platinum was an established 3rd version and for what it was said to be, they showed all the right things to let people know what will be in the games or hint about what will differ

Now, again, for USUM, we are in the 3ds marketing era where they are marketing for global releases, they have to release information that excites a global audience, and we westerners are harder to please. It could be a reason why they have been going all-out with XY/ORAS/SM. And here we are with USUM, we don't know even the box art for the games 3 months before release. It doesn't have to be indicative of how bad or good the games will be at all, it's simply baffling that we don't even have something as basic as finalized box art officially revealed. And then we don't have official concept art of something also as basic and as simple as the new redesigns of the player characters..

Overall, people can say what they want that GF are waiting for all of their competition/literally every other game to steal people's attention and possibly wallet but that doesnt seem likely..

 

[DoctorWhy]

While I'm somewhat hopeful for and looking forward to USUM now, I expect, unfortunately, that they will probably be the worst selling main series Pokemon games.

 

[PurplePopplio]

While I'm somewhat hopeful for and looking forward to USUM now, I expect, unfortunately, that they will probably be the worst selling main series Pokemon games.

What's your reasoning for such a bold statement?

 

[Esserise]

While I'm somewhat hopeful for and looking forward to USUM now, I expect, unfortunately, that they will probably be the worst selling main series Pokemon games.

Oh, I'm not so sure about that. The series as a whole is at its most publicly visible since Pokémania, and as I understand it, SM brought in a lot of new players who may not know what to expect from a regional rerelease game (and therefore may not have a preexisting notion of them being "basically what you already have, but a bit different and better" - and if Game Freak do go with a significantly altered storyline for USUM, they may actually be able to disguise the games as something comparatively new and different). And the actual fanbase may be mum right now because there's not much to talk about at the moment, but they are inevitably going to come flocking right back as soon as the marketing reveals some Gen 2 Alola Forms and some new features.

Not that I think USUM will hit some impressive numbers (certainly not as good as I believe Kanto sequels would have), but they'll probably be fine. In order to be the worst-selling, they'd have to sink below 6.3 million or so, right? I guess that's a possibility, but it would surprise me.

 

[DoctorWhy]

What's your reasoning for such a bold statement?

While they have plenty of time for more news drops, the general public/fandom has been very negative about USUM. Many online communities, popular YouTube channels, and more have largely expressed disappointed so far regarding USUM--and more than recall for other games during their pre-release. Not only has fan response been vocally negative, but this is also the shortest period of time between an initial pair of games and their "third version" rehashes. Plus, I expect that the announcement of the upcoming Switch game might also discourage some people from buying USUM in order to save money for Pokemon Switch. In addition, sequels like B2W2 are inherently going to have a little more attraction by virtue of being sequels and not rehashes. It'll take a lot of high quality coverage over the next couple of months to make USUM any kind of (relative) success.

If I'm wrong, I will be pleasantly surprised. Perhaps they can beat B2W2 in sales, but we can only wait and see.

 

[Desdar300]

While they have plenty of time for more news drops, the general public/fandom has been very negative about USUM. Many online communities, popular YouTube channels, and more have largely expressed disappointed so far regarding USUM--and more than recall for other games during their pre-release. Not only has fan response been vocally negative, but this is also the shortest period of time between an initial pair of games and their "third version" rehashes. Plus, I expect that the announcement of the upcoming Switch game might also discourage some people from buying USUM in order to save money for Pokemon Switch. In addition, sequels like B2W2 are inherently going to have a little more attraction by virtue of being sequels and not rehashes. It'll take a lot of high quality coverage over the next couple of months to make USUM any kind of (relative) success.

If I'm wrong, I will be pleasantly surprised. Perhaps they can beat B2W2 in sales, but we can only wait and see.

It's far too early to tell but there have far worse times for the series.
I recall RS where most of the older fans jumped ship and that could've killed the franchise or BW and the non stop Gen Wars that the games caused.
Whether USUM will strike a sweet spot with its detractors still remains to be seen but I'm sure it'll do well enough