Red Dead Redemption? More Like Red Dead Domination

Surely by now even the most secluded-hermit like gamer has heard of Red Dead Redemption. I’d even say that those who don’t usually take notice of video games have heard of Rockstar Games' latest hit. The hype behind it was huge, ever since screenshots behind it were unveiled years ago. From then on it got bigger as the video game journalists finally got to have a play test; they were impressed kept saying this was going to be one of the best games in 2010.

Come review time and those opinions did not change one bit. It gained favourable reviews from 1UP.com (A Grade), Computer and Video Games (9.5/10), Edge (9/10), IGN (9.7/10) and VideoGamer (10/10). Even media like The New York Times, who you wouldn’t normally associate games with, couldn’t help but be impressed by it, with writer Seth Schiesel saying: “In the more than 1,100 articles I have written for this newspaper since 1996, I have never before called anything a tour de force. Yet there is no more succinct and appropriate way to describe Red Dead Redemption."

But would the consumers fall in love with the game the same way the critics did? The fact that the revenue sales manage to generate £10 million within two days sounds like consumers couldn’t wait for this game. Hell, Danny and I are still waiting for it to be restocked so we can experience the game for ourselves.

Rockstar’s current momentum makes it look like a company that Train2Game students should try and work for. Not only is the studio reaching its potential and growing bigger, but they also seem to be having a lot of fun, which can help productivity if harnessed correctly.

It’s quite amazing that a wild west game did this well in Europe, especially when you take into account that Redemption is a spiritual sequel to Red Dead Revolver, which is a) not a sandbox game and b) not remembered much (though it’s a fun game).

There are two main reasons why Redemption did so well. The first one is that review scores may have helped consumers decide on their next big purchase (check out MCV’s news story ‘Reviews ‘more important than price’ to see how consumers value reviews over pricing).

The second reason – and something Train2Game students will have to take on board – is branding.

You could say that video game studios can potentially become recognised “brands” through successful hype/marketing and providing games with good quality; Capcom did it with Street Fighter 2, Mega Man and Resident Evil and Square Enix did with Final Fantasy.

Rockstar is well known thanks to Grand Theft Auto. Sure it’s made other games before and since the first one, but it is the series that has established Rockstar. Because of that, consumers feel assured in buying a game that has Rockstar’s label attached to it. Other studios such as Nintendo, EA and Activision are also the video games equivalent of popular brands.

Perhaps the best indie examples are The Behemoth, with Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers helping them become very popular, especially thanks to Castle Crashers taking advantage of online play, Introversion Software who’s three games (Uplink, Darwinia and DEFCON) gained them critical indie acclaim, Jagex, responsible for the British-developed (and very popular) MMO Runescape, Q-games who made the loved PixelJunk series and thatgamecompany who are responsible for some of the most innovative indie games (flOw, Cloud and Flower).

For a Train2Game student, creating a good game isn’t the only important thing, establishing a brand connection with the consumers is another major part of developing and publishing a game.
What do you think about this? Send me your comments below.

Click here to see how much of an impact Red Dead Redemption has made: http://www.train2game.com/Games-Design-News/Gaming-Industry-News/Retailers-hail-performance-of-Red-Dead-Redemption$19807966.html

Also check this link to read on Red Dead Redemption retaining the #1 spot for the second week in a row: http://www.train2game.com/Games-Design-News/Gaming-Industry-News/Rockstars-Red-Dead-Redemption-retains-chart-lead$19811135.html