First, I'd like to thank Mark and Tom for giving me the opportunity to supply you with some news and commentary here at Quarter to Three. I've been a big fan of their work and it's a thrill to be able to work alongside them!

Now that the smarmy stuff's out of the way, did anyone else receive their Gathering of Goodness package today? I checked my mail and found a non-descript white envelope hanging out of the box. On the outside was a very small logo of one Godgames. As if in brazen contrast to the dull envelope, the contents were loaded with sex, sex, sex! Ok, maybe not that much sex. But the 12-month calendar inside was something I had to whisk away from my wife's prying eyes and she's very aware of the often scantily clad females found in game advertising.

Though the package is loaded with taboo for Junior, the marketing is unique and it worked on Pop. Not too long after opening the envelope, I had the disc in my tray and FAKK2 loaded for a quick look see followed by a viewing of Tropico. I even listened to The Gathering's "Cat Daddy" Mike Wilson tell me how his company is trying to reach the customer with the good stuff. This makes sense. It includes the kind of swag that's normally reserved for E3, where everyone already knows all about your game and has at least three of each swag item. Why not send it out to the people that are really paying your bills instead? The best thing is I can deal with this stuff on my own time. It stands in stark contrast to the intrusive Interplay marketers who called to offer the latest great Interplay game...during dinner. The Gathering might be on to something here. If you want to be a part of this Club Gathering, it sure ain't exclusive, but it seems to be worth it.

I'm never one to complain about the use of sex to sell anything. I think Gathering's got a nice idea going as long as they're not too intrusive with the marketing. Getting a CD in the mail now and then with some demos and promos of upcoming games seems like a good thing to me. Worst case scenario is you toss it in the trash. Let's just hope that a CD in the mail now and then isn't escalated to phonecalls during dinner.

>>I'm never one to complain about the use of sex to sell anything.

I think it smacks of desperation, that they can't be creative enough to latch on to any other angle to sell their products so they stick with the most obvious one: boobs.

They wouldn't be the first, and surely won't be the last, but it sorta reinforces the notion that gaming is a boys-only club full of (literal or figurative) 14-year old compulsive masturbators.

"I think it smacks of desperation, that they can't be creative enough to latch on to any other angle to sell their products so they stick with the most obvious one: boobs."

I don't think it's desperation. I just think Mike Wilson likes that kind of thing. If anything, it smacks of laziness.

"They wouldn't be the first, and surely won't be the last, but it sorta reinforces the notion that gaming is a boys-only club full of (literal or figurative) 14-year old compulsive masturbators."

I'm not sure about the masturbation part, but gaming is a male-dominated hobby, isn't it?

Setting the sex aside, I think the concept behind the CD and calendar is sound.

The ads that really make me laugh are the ones that involve some gorgeous scantily clad and then implies that you'd have more fun with the game than with the model (the original release of BC3K is the first time I remember seeing this, with a tagline that went something like "The last thing you'll ever desire." Heh -- the irony). I think there was also an issue of PC Gamer a while back that ran "Why RPGs are better than sex." Kind of contributes to the whole image of gamers as weird asexual beings, but maybe that's a bit more socially acceptable than being 14 year old compulsive masturbators.

In the more general sense, though, I think using sex is a valid approach to advertising, as long as it fits the product being leveraged. All those teen movies are pretty shamelessly just pandering, and unashamedly can have trailers and ads that consist mostly of bouncing breasts (Dracula 2000 was the most recent offender I can remember), but marketing, say, The End of the Affair that way would be silly, misleading, and a bit demeaning.

So, scantily clad Lara Crofy models and Duke Nukem leering at strippers are fine by me, but if Thief 3 has Viktoria on the cover in a leather bikini, heads shall roll.

Sidenote:is it just me, or does Viktoria have the sexiest voice in any computer game ever?

"They wouldn't be the first, and surely won't be the last, but it sorta reinforces the notion that gaming is a boys-only club full of (literal or figurative) 14-year old compulsive masturbators."

Exactly. It just reinforces what I'm least proud of about this industry: that it often makes a conscious choice to appeal to its juvenile and lowest common denominator.

-Tom

"Exactly. It just reinforces what I'm least proud of about this industry: that it often makes a conscious choice to appeal to its juvenile and lowest common denominator. "

I think GOD is going way, way, WAY beyond what anyone else is doing, though. From Sgt. Hulka's Boot camp:

"A few days ago, hardocp.com posted several pictures of strippers provided by GOD Games stripping off T-shirts to give away as door prizes during the Babbages/CPL Event. We questioned Angel Munoz, founder of the CPL, about the issue.

This was his response:
'It is not a hoax, as you said God Games did that in a separate room that they obtained from the hotel and the CPL had no part in it. The CPL does not dictate morals to other companies, especially those named God. :)'"

Lame. I'm surprised you guys didn't bring this up, since it's one hell of a lot more offensive than a revealing calendar.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

I could have sworn that I did read something about the strippers here, didn't I Mark? I know I heard about it somewhere, and this is place I frequent most.

And about the use of sex as advertising -- I have mixed emotions. I kind of agree with DeusIrae -- it depends on the product and the market. I don't think it's necessary for all those CK ads and the like on television, but sending a CD out to people in a club, like GOD is doing, is a little different, in my opinion. At least it's not totally mainstream and in the public eye, like TV commercials, where any ol' kid can see them. I think this is different. If people don't like it, they could have their name removed from GOD's list, or perhaps e-mail them and ask not to receive "questionable" material. They're not distributing it to everyone, and I think that's the main difference in my mind.

>>I'm not sure about the masturbation part, but gaming is a male-dominated hobby, isn't it?

Well, we have a sort of chicken-egg thing. There are plenty of women gamers, and would there be more (and a more broad reach for all gaming-related things) if it were less overtly male-focused? While perhaps women wouldn't be as interested in Heavy Metal, why use sex to sell Tropico, when historically these build-type games appeal to a lot more women? Is it any surprise that the top-sellers seem to appeal to women? (From The Sims to any role-playing game... whenever we get letters from our women readers it's usually about role-playing games they're playing and enjoying).

Oh, and by the way, that CD is being packed in to all of the gaming magazines in the next couple of months.

Oh, and as Deus said, using the sex appeal of a lead character to sell a game is entirely appropriate (though it can become gratuitous, such as in the case of the Oni ad that features Konoko in tattered clothes that she never wears in the game). I have no problem with, erm, "thrusting" Lara into the spotlight since she's the star of the game. Same with No One Lives Forever's Cate Archer.

Tom:
>>Exactly. It just reinforces what I'm least proud of about this industry: that it often makes a conscious choice to appeal to its juvenile and lowest common denominator.

Write a column about this at some point. Seriously.

"There are plenty of women gamers, and would there be more (and a more broad reach for all gaming-related things) if it were less overtly male-focused? While perhaps women wouldn't be as interested in Heavy Metal, why use sex to sell Tropico, when historically these build-type games appeal to a lot more women? Is it any surprise that the top-sellers seem to appeal to women? (From The Sims to any role-playing game... whenever we get letters from our women readers it's usually about role-playing games they're playing and enjoying)."

It's hard to say about the top sellers. Does Diablo 2 appeal to women? Unreal Tournament? The Sims and RCT are topsellers and may have appeal to women, but I think they're also just mainstream titles that casual game fans can instantly understand.

As to using sex to sell games like Tropico, I dunno. It seems like women's magazines use sex to see copies all the time. They never put a drab women on the cover. The cover's filled with teasers for articles about better sex. Cosmo actually looks like a men's magazine with the type of women.

If you're going to indict games for aiming below the belt, well, they'll be getting into a rather lengthy court docket.

The calendar was really pathetic compared to last year. They had real models last year, this year they have washed up ex-prostitutes (maybe not "ex") that look like they did the job for $200 worth of blow. I guess it's "edgy."

The catholic schoolgirl thing is getting old, too. You're "GOD"...yes...we get it. Move on. It doesn't work nearly as well with the skanks they have this year, either. I can just see Sister Mary Stevens talking to one of those girls in her office...

SMS: Young lady, those tatoos are a sin and a discrace! I'm going to suspend you for three days, and if I ever see another tatoo on your body, you'll be expelled! And those knee-high patent leather boots are NOT regulation!

G.O.D. model: Um... okay. Can I go now? The heroin is wearing off.

SMS: You're expelled!

G.O.D. model: Ummm... okay. Like, can I keep this outfit? I might be able to use to to land a modelling job for some horny game developers. Maybe they'll pay me in coke.

Now, I have no problem with selling sex. As Zapp Brannigan once said, "I think the most erotic part of a woman is the boobies." But at least tie the sex in with the GAMES somehow. G.O.D. isn't marketing games to me, they're marketing sluts to my penis. That would be fine--if that's what they were selling. My penis could use some more sluts, after all.

Perhaps the main reason it bothers me is because everyone ELSE in the industry is trying to grow up a bit, and G.O.D. does nothing but perpetuate the myth that games are for 14-yr old boys.

From reading this, a lot of you guys sound like computer games are the only market that uses sex to sell it products. Have you ever seen a perfume commercial? How about shampoo? I mean, come on!! At least a lot of the games actually tie the sex into the game somehow, as with using Lara Croft as the sex symbol.

Steve, good point about more women gamers playing if games weren't so "male-oriented." That seems pretty reasonable to me. Most games are marketed toward guys. G.O.D. is just using a theory that has worked for ages. Sex sells, plain and simple. They will stop using such tactics when such tactics stop working. And, obviously, it's gotten everyone's attention enough to spark quite a discussion here. And what is advertising for, if not to get people's attention?

>>It's hard to say about the top sellers. Does Diablo 2 appeal to women?

Absolutely. I asked Blizzard and they said it's about a 60/40 split.

>>Unreal Tournament?

Bad example. It's only hit the best-seller charts as a budgetware title, though it has been a good seller at full price.

>>The Sims and RCT are topsellers and may have appeal to women, but I think they're also just mainstream titles that casual game fans can instantly understand.

I dunno, maybe women ARE those casual gamers. I don't think either of those are casual games a la Hoyle's Casino, but I still contend that there's little reason to make your games appear openly hostile toward women.

>>It seems like women's magazines use sex to see copies all the time. They never put a drab women on the cover. The cover's filled with teasers for articles about better sex. Cosmo actually looks like a men's magazine with the type of women.

Yeah, but it's sex that focused toward women, i.e. "achieve a better orgasm." It's not "check out the tits on this bitch!", which would be the average game approach (or the Maxim approach).

>>G.O.D. is just using a theory that has worked for ages. Sex sells, plain and simple.

Sex gets publicity and/or notoriety, but at least in games it hasn't necessarily translated into sales. Aside from Tomb Raider, what games with a sexually-themed ad campaign, or even a sexy lead, have really sold well? The console worls has a couple, but I can't really think of any.

> Have you ever seen a perfume commercial? How about shampoo?

Oh sure...and most of them annoy me, too. But at least Shampoo and Perfume exist for the purpose of making your more attractive. Beer commercials used to be just as bad about using sex to sell beer (they're not so much anymore).

Most games are marketed toward guys, true. I'm not a guy who is attracted to skanky low-budget models in catholic schoolgirl outfits. Much of G.O.D.'s marketing and attitude makes me want to purposely AVOID their games. What kills me is that so many of their properties have lots of "guy stuff" they could go with. Fancy eye-candy graphics, lots of action, stuff blowing up, etc.

And hey, maybe part of the reason guys buy and play more games than girls is because of the marketing, and not the other way around.

"And hey, maybe part of the reason guys guy and play more games than girls is because of the marketing, and not the other way around."

I agree. Steve was making this point, too. I think that's entirely possible. On the other hand, I know that my wife wouldn't have touched a video game with a ten-foot pole, regardless of advertising, had it not been for me. She gives them a chance, now, and some of them have gotten her pretty addicted. Well, not addicted by most of our standards, I'd wager, but she does play them. She loves the Sims, and RCT. She really enjoys Caesar 3, as well, and sounded pretty excited when I told her about Tropico. Typically, she's more into console games, because you can play those for fifteen minutes and then be done with it more likely than you can with computer games, and she likes that. She has kind of a short attention span, I guess.

"I'm not a guy who is attracted to skanky low-budget models in catholic schoolgirl outfits. Much of G.O.D.'s marketing and attitude makes me want to purposely AVOID their games."

I'd agree with this statement, too. But I'm not sure we're in a majority there -- I mean, they're obviously doing something right. Perhaps they have a bad ad idea, and their games are selling in spite of their tactics, rather than because of them, but I'd wager a lot of the guys affected by the advertising are not turned away from the games. Just my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm not giving "most guys" enough credit, but I don't think so.

Maybe this is an opening gimmick to grab massive attention and get the ball rolling. GOD LIKES the T&A (skank-ridden as their choices evidently are...) factor, and they're willing to push that angle pretty far with the strippers and calendars, etc etc.

But maybe the next mailing will tone it down on the T&A and focus more on their gaming stuff for it's own sake, and not rely too heavily on the sex stuff.

Yeah, I know... I'm living in some kind of delerious dream world... but I'm probably happier than all you guys put together because of it! ;)

I guess I'm so used to seeing cleavage everywhere I go -- on TV, in movies, on game boxes, in my games, on magazine covers -- that I don't even think twice about it. It certainly doesn't offend me if someone markets at me with sex. I like sex. It's a powerful drive within me, even more powerful than my inner drive for pizza and Hostess cupcakes most of the time.

PCXL, anyone? More recently, IGN seems to be up to the same tricks, so the GOD thing doesn't particularly surprise me. I would, however, be interested in finding out what women think of all this.

DeusIrae: Viktoria's voice was done by Terri Brosius, who did the voice of SHODAN among other things.

- Alan

GOD should be ashamed of themselves for the crap they pull, particularly with the strippers at the babbage's tournament.

http://www.hardocp.com/news_images/2000/dec2k/wood_wood.jpg

This picture is enough to turn me off gaming, permanently. A bunch of pudgy, dorky gamers leering at a stripper?

Ouch.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Jeez, wumpus, I just ate. Be sure to put up a disclaimer before you subject us to links like that.

I wonder if that picture made it into the calendar...

-Tom

Alan -- yeah, I know. SHODAN's a little bit more on the scary side, though.

I think she (Terri) is currently lead writer for Thief 3, actually. Hope she manages to write in a part for herself :)

> I think she (Terri) is currently lead writer for Thief 3, actually. Hope she manages to write in a part for herself.

That's a good question. Terri is Eric Brosius' wife--he's pretty much the Carmack of Sound in the industry. He's the one from Looking Glass who did all the sound for the Thief games and System Shock 2 (all of which had, hands down, the best sound work of any games in the past 5 years). Eric's working on The Lost and Freedom Force at Irrational.

I think Ken Levine mentioned that she was working on Thief 3 remotely from Boston, though.

Victoria was, how shall we say...not a "normal" girl, so who knows if she'd even be in the third game? I wouldn't be surprised if she did some voice work regardless, but since her hubby isn't doing the sound for Thief 3 and she'd have to fly down to Austin (probably), maybe not.

ya know, im not gonna lie, i like the "sex sells" part if the women were actually good looking. . . yeah yeah im sexist whatever. . .

anway, didn't anyone think the NOLF box looked mildly interesting (in a sexy way). . . i know i saw a fortyish year old guy staring at it in best buy the other day. . . and hes not a masterbating teen. . . k? or maybe he is. . . hope he dont go blind. . .

etc

And, hey, why does the fact that game advertisers market with sex say to most people that the game industry is populated with teenagers? Beer companies use sex, yet teenagers aren't the only ones who buy that. Clothing ads, shampoo ads, perfume ads, some car ads...need I go on? Yet, those markets aren't reputed as being only teenagers. Why are we always getting shafted? Is it because computer games are just now becoming more publicized, and people haven't realized yet how common a past-time it is -- and not just with teenagers? I dunno.

mtKafka; Yes it is sexy but the NOLF box is done in such a way that doesn't offend many. The character Cate Archer is a fairly female friendly woman character.

Jason_cross : I totally agree. I got it in the mail today and it isn't often that I get grossed out by a bunch of half naked women but that calander did.

"Beer companies use sex, yet teenagers aren't the only ones who buy that. Clothing ads, shampoo ads, perfume ads, some car ads...need I go on? Yet, those markets aren't reputed as being only teenagers."

If you look at TV ratings, you see that a show with bad ratings can survive as long as it appeals to 18 - 34 year olds. Why? They are traditionally the ones who spend the most money on products. They buy the sports cars, the fancy purfumes, the beer that doesn't make you cringe. That's why they use sex to sell all of these products. They are typically targetting 18 - 34 year old single males who think that buying that new sports car or putting on those new jeans are going to suddenly get them a date with that hot blonde at the coffee shop.

The same goes for games. Game companies knew that most people who own computers are 18 - 34 year old single males. So they put these half naked women in an add in a magazine thinking that said age group is going to see it and go "Damn, who cares what the game is about, I need to see that chick". It explains Lora Croft, Tanya (or whatever they call her now) from the Command & Conquer series, and Julie from Heavy Metal. Would the games be the same with male characters? Yes. Would they sell as much? I highly doubt Tomb Raider would have a dozen different versions if it had Indiana Jones instead of Lora Croft.

However, the trend will most likely change after these last couple years of game sales. Frogger, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Rollercoster Tycoon, and The Sims were all huge sellers last year. Not a single gratuitous cleavage shot (well, ok, I guess there are some in The Sims), but they made huge profits. Why? Because now it's not just the 18 - 34 year old single males that own computers, it's the 16 year old girls, the 60 year old men, the 24 year old married guy with 2 kids. Games that appeal to all people are the ones that sell best. It's logical, but the industry is lagging behind a little.

"Games that appeal to all people are the ones that sell best. It's logical, but the industry is lagging behind a little."

One of the tricky propositions is to get a game that appeals to both the hardcore gaming crowd and the casual fans. It's pretty hard to do.

"One of the tricky propositions is to get a game that appeals to both the hardcore gaming crowd and the casual fans. It's pretty hard to do. "

That may be, but

A) advertising your games with T&A laden calendars
B) hiring strippers to take their shirts off at LAN competitions
C) hiring skanky methadone hos at every convention appearance

... is definitely _not_ the way to get there.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Using sex to sell games might be an effective way to sell to your hardcore audience, though. I don't think those methods can be dismissed out of hand as being ineffective.

"Using sex to sell games might be an effective way to sell to your hardcore audience, though. "

The best way to sell games to the hardcore audience is to build a great game, period. All this advertising crap is for the mass market by definition.

All the more reason why the gratuitous T&A GOD uses is pandering of the worst kind.

I've got an idea. How about "Mike Wilson's going to make you his bitch" in 72 point old english?

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

"the gratuitous T&A "

but i like Total Annihilation its a great game!

hyuk hyuk!

you can shoot me now! -P

etc

The worst things about the GOD calendar and ad campaign are:

1. The ad copy tells you almost nothing about the games, and the game shots play second or third fiddle to the women. Considering they're selling games, not liaisons (I think ), that's not too good.

2. The girls are largely, how can I say this, pretty skanky? I mean, I like nekkid ladies as much as the next guy, but there are a lot better looking women you can gawk at on the Web.

The "skanky women" criticism of Gathering's calendar seems to be a common theme.

I hope GOD isn't on a tighter budget. What will we do if they don't have their beer tent at this year's E3? Oh no!

It was great to head over there around 3 and hang out for awhile talking to people. E3 makes my feet hurt after awhile. It's nice to have the beer tent as your ultimate destination. It can keep a press guy going.

I really don't think GoD is trying to sell games with the calendar. I mean... it's just a calendar. No one's gonna open it up and be like "ooh, Ms. January is endorsing Kingdom under Fire." It's a calendar. I have absolutely no problem with what GoD's doing, especially since it's just to sell games, which is technically what they're in business to do.

That's the real issue, though. How does the calendar help sell games? I figure they can mount whatever ad campaign they want, but in the end the purpose of the campaign one would think would be to sell games. And their current campaign has several flaws:

* No one cares about G.O.D.--they'd rather hear about the developers. Few gamers think of a game as being a "GOD game," but rather "a game from Terminal Reality" or whatnot. The calendar doesn't link the games to GOD well enough.

* Using sex to sell cars makes sense. Ditto booze, beer, cigarettes, clothes, and cosmetics. But games? Leaving aside the stereotype of gamers = geeks who don't get any, it's harder to build a link between scantily clad models and a 3D shooter, say, than between a Corvette and a bloned.

* The GOD calendar is a piss-poor example of smut. I mean, if you're going to use sex to sell, use good sex.

"No one cares about G.O.D.--they'd rather hear about the developers."

GOD has always been a bit confusing to me. They're the publisher, but Take 2 is really the publisher. What GOD does is greenlight projects and handle marketing. In other words, they're like an internal division, so why market the GOD brand name? What good does that do? You have to wonder if there's not a touch of hubris in action somewhere up the food chain at GOD.

One thing that certainly got missed from the original post is that they do have this disc in there with lots of stuff on it and it really did work. I ended up trying some games I had been meaning to look at and might even grab one or two of them eventually based on those demos.

As someone with a 56k connection to the net, it's a good way to get me their demos without me having to A) spend the time downloading or B) paying one red cent for a magazine/demo disc.

I agree that the calendar is a bit much, but I signed up for it and knew what to expect as did all the others who received it. The bottom line is that despite the use of sex to help sell their games (or just make me remember Godgames), they gave me the kind of thing only journalists and retailers get at E3 for free.

As for no one caring about GOD and only wanting to hear about the developers, that's hard to judge IMO. Joe Gamer is more likely to remember a publisher's name no matter how much we'd like to believe they remember the developers. The publishers have numerous releases in one year, while the developer probably has one every two years. It makes sense to lead off their marketing of these games with GOD as the primary name.

Let's wait and see what they put out in two months though before calling this one way or the other. There could be some really significant developer stuff on the next disc.

--Dave

The CD is a good idea, though I wonder what it costs to mail them out each month? I also wonder if they will have enough new material for a CD each month? I guess if they toss on gameplay movies they can always have something new.

Are there any screenshots of this calender up on the web anywhere? Being an australian, the offer of the calendar isn't valid, and it'd be nice to see what you people are wrangling about.

There might be some on GOD's site.

-Or-

Just go to the local university and hangout with the local goth girls or vegans groups.

-Or-
Find a crackhouse and look at the women there.

All 3 groups are well repesented in the calender.

-Monkeybutt