PC Magazines

[68DevilM]

i buy them alot for thier technical advise and i never see Aces High Advertised in any of them or even reviewed.

this is a kick butt game that deserves attention.

or am i mistaken in thinking that this is the best damn flying fight sim out there?

[GreenCloud]

agree..


and i just saw the new commercial on mil channel...eee gawd man..

thsi game is bettr then that...the announcer is funny..but not in a funny profitable way for HTC


was wondering if HTC ever goes to E3..or things liek that?..

[ALF]

Because the realistic flight sim market is such a small percentage of the overall gaming/pc market, most main stream advertising is akin to peeing your money away.  There just arnt that many areas for an effective marketing campaign.

Mainstream PC/Gaming magazines cost lots to advertise in, and are so overflooded with full page adds you get lost...and even so, only a small percentage of gamers like flight simulations, and only a small percentage of those want the challenge that a realistic flight sim offers.   The return just isnt there.

Currently there are only a few 'flight sim' magazines, and these are almost 100% dedicated to MSFS.  Not only are these magazines very limited in distribution, but those who read them are less likely to be intersted in our game here.   Again, no value in adds here.

As for Aces High being reviewed in mainstream gaming mags, it has happened, but it almost inevitably ends up with a mediocre rating because of the bias of the was games are reviewed.   Graphics here are average at best, and gameplay is almost 100% dependant on the reviewers slant on realistic flight games.  They 'count off' for the sacrifices that have to be made for a massive online arena with such a dynamic environment (in everquest and such, it doesnt make much of a gameplay diference if you lag 1/2 second...here its huge).  Yet they dismiss the entire massive multiplayer aspect as if its a given...and then beach and moan about the lack of single player.  Trust me...its better not to be review by the twitchfest gamer mags.

Thats precisley why advertising on the Mil/Wings channel is the best option.  It is a specialized venue, that because of its more limited appeal, doesn charge too much (although its still pretty expensive, as you must buy advertising in blocks).  Good thing is, those watching the channel are predisposed to liking the idea of a simulation of combat.

Ah well.....

[Deth7]

Best advertising is word of mouth and I pass it on:D

[DamnedRen]

One major difference that may play a role is the expense to play this type of game. I'm not talking about the monthly surcharge either. It seems the average pc player of many of the online massive player games requires is a keyboard and a mouse. Some have gone so far as to use a gamepad. In fact, we are beginning to see new players show up in the TA and they fully expect to be able to use their gamepads. If you plan to fly and be able to maintain you status quote of gameplay you may need to spend the bucks so you stay up with the continuous enhancements and improvements. This includes upgrading the CPU/vid card every few years along with buying a good flight stick/throttle/pedal combo.

IMHO the average pc gamer has been able to play many games using the same old beater computer they've had for 5 years or so. And, it's hard for them to compare expenses to anything other than they're own personal experiences. If you compared flying to some FPS games you will  find we are a little higher  due to maintenance costs/upgrades. By the same token, if you like golf as I do and play once a week at $40 a round then the expense of playing our online game isn't very cost prohibitive.

If expense plays a role think of the steep learning curve required to become proficient in the game. A much as anyone can jokingly say the game is "point and shoot"...it ain't!  PC gamers have a tendency to "try" lotsa games but if they're hard to master they can just as easily move on to the next game. Think about how much time  HTC and Co. must  spend racking their brains to figure out how they can make a high learning curve game easy for a beginner without taking away the flight model which makes the game so brilliant in the first place. It kinda makes you wonder how much sleep they get at night .

I guess you have to first determine you market then come up with a strategy to go after that market in the most economical way. If that means you're after the PC gamer then maybe PC magazine ads might attract new players.