Franchises and themes are a clever and interesting subject to talk about, it?s mostly marketing, and on our own behalf, our relation to the subject at hand. To give an obvious understanding of this, generally (maybe not so much now) when you think computers, you think Windows, because when you start up a vast majority of PCs you see ?Windows? for a good five or so seconds. If someone mentioned an MP3 player, it wouldn?t be unusual for an iPod to pop into your mind, as you see it as a standard for an MP3 player. This can work in the reverse as well, you see ?Windows?, you think computers, as the link is stronger this way because you can only really relate Windows to a computer. Now, the exact same logic works with large franchise games, if a console doesn?t have a lead game to represent it then it?s most likely not to sell as well, so if you now thought of Gears of War you?d quite likely associate it with the Xbox 360.
What is strange or slightly peculiar about the Xbox 360 is that Microsoft have seemed to have promoted two games as its lead associates, the well loved - and hated - ruler Halo, and its ever so close second in command, Gears of War. Most other consoles really had just the one, Mario, Sonic and Lara Croft, or it would just change in time to be something or someone else, e.g. Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series for Playstation. The interest behind all of this is how Gears of War became the start of a legendary and potentially huge franchise; and a game of which so many Xbox users and gamers in general love to play. Is it all due to Microsoft?s well known marketing skills? Or is Gears of War really that revolutionary a game? Or could it have been the first sign of next gen gaming on the Xbox 360? Maybe to help answer these questions, we need a reminder of what Gears of War is actually about.
The Gears of War
Gears of War was first released in November 2006, around a year after the release of the Xbox 360. Developed by Epic games - well recognised and known for creating such games as Unreal and the Unreal Tournament series - this game had promised to avid gamers true next generation graphics, engaging action and quick thinking gameplay throughout, and everything which was shown beforehand, at E3 and so forth, was pretty much what we played when it was released. And I suppose that?s one contribution to why it has done so well, it has delivered more or less everything that it had promised.
So, in Gears of War you play as a hardened war criminal called Marcus Fenix, and it being a third person shooter, you?ll experience and get to know the character you?re controlling. This isn?t it though, you?ll meet a few other intriguing faces on the way, all with their stereotypical deliveries and cheesy one liners. One thing Gears of War hasn?t promised is a well written, unique and attention grabbing story, everything you experience is pretty ?cut and dry? and very straightforward to follow, which is no doubt quite intentional as the emphasis is always on the situation at hand (which often involves you killing something). You experience all the things which make a war cool, and it gets very close and personal, making the visuals extremely, well... graphical. Chainsaws attached to guns, grenades which you can stick to your enemies, shotguns which make enemies explode on impact, and of course all the gore to go with it.
It doesn?t stop here however, not only does Gears of War offer gross and disturbing visuals it also offers you and a friend to redecorate the floors and walls of many interior and exterior designs, and this is offline or online. One of the first games on the Xbox 360 to offer great graphics which you can experience with a friend, and then on top of that, you can head stomp Locust or Cog scum online on a four vs four deathmatch like experience. So there?s quite a lot to partake in Gears of War with a lot of unpleasant violence, but is this the sole reason why Gears of War is so successful?
The new definition of next generation
There had been much hype before the release of the Xbox 360, of next generation graphics, next generation gameplay, next generation designs and ideas, but no one really knew what this meant. All we were sure of was it was going to look and play better than our Xbox and Playstation; so when the Xbox 360 did finally release to the public in 2005 we were given a few release titles such as ?Amped?, ?Kameo? and ?Perfect Dark: Zero?. Well, the sports lovers had already played and loved SSX and probably thought how could it get any better, Kameo was a title been in development for a while now and was originally meant to be for the GameCube and Perfect: Dark Zero... let us leave that as ?controversial? at the very`12 least. So, the public as a whole felt let down somewhat, we were still waiting for the real next generation to knock us on the head and wake us from the lucid illusion of a dream we had been living, and I think that happened quite clearly on the announcement and long awaited release of Gears of War.
Going back over the pre-made requirements of what many of us thought was ?next gen?, the game needed to have next generation graphics, well Gears of War had the newly improved and great looking Unreal engine, and it?s even awe inspiring now. Another characteristic was next generation gameplay, a vague feature, but Epic did show off some pretty nifty and easy to use character controls ? the use of the action oriented ?A? button and the ?war cam sprint? being two of the most impressive. And the next generation designs and ideas, well who would have thought of a machinegun with a chainsaw attached, I?d say that?s a next generation idea. Gears of War for many players, including long term PC gamers, offered to us what a next gen game should be like and it was coming exclusively to the Xbox 360.
But not only does the game itself contribute to the overall success of a game, the context and time of its release is a great effect too. Around the time of the release of Gears of War was the release of another next generation console, because of course the Xbox 360 had a head start in the ?console wars?. The clever and most appropriate spot of release happened to be right next to the release of the Playstation 3, it was a console promising some of the greatest visual power any console has achieved to date, and there had been some impressive looking first releases, however the Xbox 360 had proven its equivalent with the new and improved Unreal engine. And arguably still hasn?t received a match.
This explains why there was so much marketing and pre-built hype, mostly generated by Microsoft, behind the Gears of War release. Yes, it was a new IP from Epic, yes, it was using the Unreal engine and yes, it promised brutal killings, blood and guts; but most of the intentional media output came because of the soon to be released PS3. Maybe Microsoft wanted Gears of War at the time to be a temporary flagship of the Xbox 360, to shift sales and convert previous ?gen? owners. The surprise announcement has only recently evolved it to become a series and an inevitable franchise, we just knew the original success meant there was more to come.
Microsoft + Media = Mayhem
Anyone who knows Microsoft knows that they?re marketers first and software developers second. Microsoft has always been profound at getting their product across to users and non users alike. They have the strategy, manpower, influence, medium and - of course - the money to promote what they like when they like. Being the publishers of Gears of War the spotlight was definitely put on the game, but not just the game though, the developers behind it. Who knew Cliff Bleszinski before the announcement of Gears of War? I can say for sure a lot less before the success of it. Cliff Bleszinski has now been put up next to other infamous designers and creators such as Peter Molyneux,Tomonobu Itagaki and Hideo Kojima through essentially what is one game (and I?m sure others will argue otherwise that he deserves it). How did this happen? Well, he is lead designer, but of course if you keep showing the face at the events he becomes a representative. It also helps if that someone has a character as well, coincidently, Cliff Bleszinski does and it really doesn?t matter if you love or hate the man, either way you associate the person with the great franchise.
There had been developer diaries, interviews, previews, designer play-throughs and media covered events such as E3 to show off Gears of War and the hard work put into this now well distinguished title. And so, quite naturally, almost everyone knew what this game was and what it was going to offer us. Without Microsoft advertising to us, and without the events for journalists to write about the games popularity would rely essentially on the reviews upon release and word of mouth, this obviously wouldn?t have been anywhere near as efficient for huge sales on release date.
But of course the hype doesn?t stop after the release of the game, for consistent sales and to show that Gears of War wasn?t a complete flop you need to market the game further. TV advertisements, gameplay trailers, download content etc, all enticements to Xbox 360 owners who don?t have the game basically saying ?you?re really missing out here?, and also hinting at success and future releases.
Rate it AE for Almost Everyone
You can?t have a successful title without a defined successful purpose, and that purpose needs an audience to aim at. Any publisher will want to sell their product to as many people as possible, that?s their basic purpose, but with a game like Gears of War obviously there will be restrictions. We want to keep the rating as low as possible, however with this amount of blood and exaggerated death elements it?s understanding that this game is an 18. This will restrict the seller of the title and put age restrictions on gameplay footage, but this won?t at all restrict advertising the game with the less violent sequences. So it?s fine to put short teasers on TV, advertisements on the Internet and gory written details on the web-pages, the message will get out to as many gamers as possible because many shooter lovers like satisfying ways of taking your most hated monster like enemies out.
Gears of War will appeal to most players who like detail intensive graphics, it will also appeal to anyone who knows and enjoyed previous Epic developed games, and most 3rd and 1st person shooter lovers. Well, shooters are a well established genre and exist at least a little upon all platforms, including a lot on the previous Playstation, Xbox and PC systems. It?s also worth pointing out that it?s pretty much a western type of game, advertised mainly in a western part of the world, by a very well known western company, the results are fairly obvious... it?s going to attract a lot of the right audience.
To conclude...
You can never be sure exactly how a franchise will spark off, depending what it is it can be quite spontaneous and have many contributors, it may not be entirely intentional and maybe it ought to have been just a one off. Sometimes it?s best to wait, see what the reaction is and then give the go ahead for further sequels, as we all know sometimes too much of the same thing can lead against future sales.
Looking at this in context though, Gears of War was most definitely publicised by Microsoft in response to the soon to be released PS3, Gears of War was also a title which matched its promises and showed what the Xbox 360 as a next generation console was really capable of, after being the first ?next gen? console and already consolidating its audience. The success of this then lead to a very large fanbase (a different fanbase to Halo) and an expected term from many reviewers of being the ?flagship? of the Xbox 360. Of course rumours emerged of a sequel, and Epic answered everybody?s question with a ?surprise? announcement of Gears of War 2 at the GDC (Games Development Conference). We all know that the only real surprise though was of Epic on how successful Gears of War had really done, and that Microsoft?s and Epic?s natural reaction would be to create a sequel.
Whether Gears of War will become as big as Halo is a question answered in a matter of time, but to what being the biggest contribution to giving the game such a large potential? Well... this is mostly due to well timed marketing by the largest corporation on earth and some well researched demographics on ?next gen? expectations, expectations might I add which had already been created by Microsoft in the first place.
Posted By: Lee Burton
Date: 2008-10-05
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