To make AHII sell as a boxed game, it must become entirely viable as a stand-alone sim.
No. Just look at the broad MMO market (cause AH2 is a MMO, just one that's very unlike the others, who are all MMORPGs). They're all on the shelf at Wal Mart, but have no non-online gameplay.
That's missing the point though, those games have huge budgets, distribution deals, etc, etc, etc. HTC can't afford to do the same thing as them. And besides that, they shouldn't do it, as the games are very different. What you're talking about is hugely expensive. A better cheaper way, which by the way HTC also
shouldn't do, would be to go all AOL on everyone and send a CD in the mail to everyone in the country.
But the fact is you need a joystick, and good one, to play this game. And now-a-days, very few people have even a bad one.
But I've already posted that idea twice now.
My other idea is that HTC should put print ads in PC gamer magazines. Yes, the kiddie percentage will increase. But if they can buy the mag, they have the money to buy a joystick. And if there's gamer mags that specificly target MMORPG gamers, they should put the ads in those mags. The roleplayers will be your future scenario players. The PvPers are DYING right now to play a game that takes skill instead of gear, and AH is just such a game, only MMORPG players have never heard of it.
Put this simple ad in World of Warcraft Gamer Monthly (if such a mag exists):
"Tired of Arena matches where you have no chance to beat the other team because of your class or their gear? Want to play a game that actually takes SKILL to win? Fly Aces High!"
And HTC will get all kinds of new subscribers practically overnight.
