Last night I bought World of Goo from Steam (it marches on). I had played the demo quite a while ago, and I really enjoyed it. Yet, I decided for some stupid reason to pass. Recently, in a stroke of [marketing] genius 2D Boy released the excellent soundtrack for free! I spent much of yesterday’s work listening to the soundtrack, and after listening to Red Carpet Extend-o-matic for the 100th time, I resolutely decided that I would buy the darn game as soon as I got home.
Guild Wars did a similar [marketing] thing with the Eye of the North Expansion when DirectSong released the soundtrack for sale nearly a month before the games release. I remember discussing what content we would get with the expansion based on the titles of the songs and how each song sounded. As if we weren’t all hyped enough with the imminent release we now had some “content.”
It’s a pretty simple concept. The content is already there for the game. Might as well double dip.Â
–Ravious
the cage of those meticulous ink strokes
Just shows that smart, creative companies will find new ways to separate themselves and find their customers. You don’t always need millions of dollars for prime-time TV ads to get noticed by fans.
Plus, if a company is that creative with its advertising, don’t you think the game might contain some of that creativity as well? :)
I love when soundtracks get released, free or not.
What I especially loved in particular about the Guild Wars & DirectSong relationship was they allowed you to buy additional soundtrack “packs” (including a couple free ones) that would play in whatever areas they were intended for. Just think how many MMOs have zones with “meh” music or you’re just tired of it. That’s usually when I start streaming RadioRivendell.com (modern music in a fantasy game just kills any sense of immersion I may have had) but the composers and publishers could get extra revenue and extra appreciation from the fans by releasing extra music as content too!
I’ve been listening to the soundtrack all week, it certainly keeps the game in my mind.
And I agree with Scott, free or otherwise any available soundtrack is appreciated. I’ve got a stack of game soundtrack CDs from games-gone-by. I remember how much the Wipeout soundtrack got me pumped up for that game. And geez, the Neverhood soundtrack was amazing.