PC Games

[Minnsy]

Sorry for long post...

I have an option to secure exclusive distribution for 208 PC games in the UK. Format is as follows - user pays £24.99 and gets sent links to download 4 games per week (208 games in all, 4 per week) All games are fully warrented, PDF handbooked, mass market, with proven sales record, and when retailed were worth over £3000. These games are not the most upto date and current, (6-18 months old) and to real 'hardcore' gamers might not be appropriate. But to casual gamers, I am told it is a very good deal. However I am not a game - and want to ask those 'in the know' whether 208 games for £25 is a good deal or not..

Games fall into genres as follows -

Racing games
Sports games
Puzzle games
Educational games
Riding games
Chess games
Tycoon games
3D shooter games
Extreme sports games
War games
Strategy games
Poker games
Board games
Casino games
Kids games
etc...

A few examples of the games are

Diver: Check Dive - Extreme sports
Spin Off 2 - Puzzle game
Thoroughbred Tycoon - Tycoon game
Mars to Earth - Kids
Ice Cream Tycoon - Tycoon game
Grand Prix vs Superbike - Racing game
Beach Volleyball - Sports game
Wizard Chess - board game
Matchball Tennis - Sports game
Animals of the World - Educational game
Road to Fame - Racing game
king Sudoku - Puzzle game
Airborne Hero War - 3D shooter game
99 Classic Arcade - Strategy game
Dracula: The Blood Days - 3D Shooter game


Many thanks

David

[Marc W]

None of those games look like they were big names even when they were new and were probably only around £10 each at the most. You are right that you probably won't attract many regular gamers but you may well attract some people new to pc's. £25 for 2008 games does seem cheap but it would be an even better deal if the games were actually top titles (even older ones) rather than what appear to be very cheap games to start with.

[ShadownINja]

I suspected when reading this thread before getting to the list that they wouldn't be good...

Unless you could do a deal with some PC manufacturer ("208 free games with every new PC!"), I think you'll have a problem selling them.

Have a look in Game and you'll see some of those titles under the "3 for £10" section.

Edited by ShadownINja on Tuesday 26th May 10:26

[Ordinary_Chap]

If thats the game catalogue, its going to fail.

[rhinochopig]

Never heard of ANY on your list.

[Minnsy]

I have a full list of all the games, but it would be a long a tedious post... The only game I have ever played on PC is Doom!

The comments are very useful - last thing I want to do is waste my time on something that won't work.

The channels I have potentially lined up are a couple of national newspapers, affiliate networks etc.. so very a very broad base...

Appreciate you guys know your games - however I guess I am targetting people who play occasionally, and for £25.00 gets their hands on 208 games, across a range of genres... which although are not at the cutting edge of PC games, will give £25 worth of enjoyment...

[rhinochopig]

Another thing to consider is whether they'll actually all work on a Vista PC. Some older games throw a wobbly under Vista.

[Rob P]

They look like the sort of games that you can probably play for free now on the internet (or something very similar).

People with a more basic knowledge might be interested but would they spend £25 on games?

[Minnsy]

I have been told the following..

'All games are Windows XP and Windows Vista compatible
Full-license, commercial retail PC games, all with proven retail track records selling between £9.99 and £19.99
One-off purchase, no subscription, no limitations, no shareware, no adware, no gimmicks – you own it!
All games supplied with PDF handbooks
All games in English and fully licensed'

I have not 'quizzed' on the 2nd point - will do so and see where and how they sold before...

[The_Jackal]

Mate if you don't know the gaming business, dont go throwing away money on a get rich quick scheme.
Also the type of "casual gamer" (I think that has been the trendy buzz word to use lately) you are trying to appeal do, DOES NOT download and install games. That is too technical. What they do is log onto something like PopCap games (or any of the 1000s of other flash gaming sites) and instantly have a choice of 1000s of decent and addictive games. That's if they are not using their DS or PSP.

Also, I wouldnt be surprised if alot of those games are Abandonware, which means there are no distribution rights as they are free anyway.

Sorry but I wouldnt waste your money. Try setting up a ringtone business instead.

[Minnsy]

Just to be clear, this is not costing me a penny in cash terms, just a bit of my time.

Part of what my company does is explore (exploit) the relationships we have with a heap of channels in the media and other networks, and offer these channels 'deals' that we source.

This group came to us with their games offer - and as I have said, I am novice when it comes to games, but quite good at putting product into channels. it's whether the product in question within a really broad channel will work.

Good point about download vrs flash though.

Cheers (all comments very useful and taken on board)

ps... ringtones... nah, that'll never take off ;-)

[isee]

I am not a blockbuster title snob (well perhaps I am to a certain extent), but I would not pay £25 as a one off to download all 2008 of these games all at once.
One of the reasons being is you can pick up dvds with 100s of unkown titles like the ones you mentioned carmmed onto them in places like Staples, Texaco and WHSmith...

... for a tenner


The only way I would see this scheme working if it was on some sort of micro-payment arrangement.

[ShadownINja]

As I said above, if it's a freebie with a PC manufacturer you may make some money. The alternative is to advertise to people who don't play games and have no idea, so basically any magazines that you read.

Seriously, though, you could advertise them as gift vouchers (you said it was download?) in the likes of Saga Magazine, Reader's Digest, Knitters Monthly (does that exist?) etc to grannies to buy for their 10 year old kids. It's a way to profit but I wouldn't be proud.

[Alfanatic]

I guess it would probably sell, only because I think its a proven market. Similar compilations of unknown titles have been available for years, way back to my Spectrum days, so I can only assume someone buys them.

Lots of people prefer simple games where they don't have to read chapters of instructions before they can start it, aren't interested in amazing graphics, and don't care for a brain stretching plot. They'd probably be tempted by this, probably tempted by one title they think looks ace and then reasoning that out of 208, there has to be at least a couple of other decent ones shirley... ? Only problem is, online flash games and Facebook gaming etc. are probably the future for your target market.

Personally I'd be more inclined to spend £25 on one game that I really want than 208 that I've never heard of, but I don't think I'm the target market for this kind of thing.

Might it do well on a shopping channel like JML or Ideal World or whatever....?

[ShadownINja]

You might want to have a quick look at this:
http://playvideogames.virginmedia.com/MetaGame/tit...

Big name games for download.

[Ordinary_Chap]

ShadownINja said:

You might want to have a quick look at this:
http://playvideogames.virginmedia.com/MetaGame/tit...

Big name games for download.

Or some of the other big ones;

http://store.steampowered.com/

Steam has really taken over the online game download world.

http://www.direct2drive.com/