GCG Posts Results of 'Challenge: Marketing Bullets'

GameCareerGuide, Gamasutra’s sister site for game dev education, hosts a weekly Game Design Challenge, and has published the results of a recent one, about writing bullet points from a marketing perspective, have been posted. The task was to write three bullet points, to be displayed on the back of the box, of a World War II shooter game. The leading submission among the best entries, sent in by E. McNeill of Dartmouth College, was a creative and innovative solution that invites the player to start playing the game before she or he has made the purchase. (To see exactly how McNeill carried out that feat, see the complete results on GameCareerGuide.com.) Another submission recognized for its excellence was from Dean Ray Johnson, who wrote a very convincing explanation of his bullet points that detailed what audience we was targeting: • Play through the eyes of Lt. Michael Dawkins as he discovers pain, danger, and mystery beyond what he was ever told about the life of a soldier • Pick right up into the basics of combat with the "Soldier's Action System," quickly learning over 30 weapons of the era • Go online with up to X friends in the online campaign that mimics the tactics of actual conflict While not the most realistic of situations (in practicality, marketing handles all product packaging verbiage), there are lessons that aspiring game developers can learn from this challenge. Manveer Heir, who authored this challenge, says the question being asked is, “How can we help our products stand out, when there isn't anything wholly innovative or new about them?” The “Marketing Bullets” challenge is as much about knowing what the competition is doing and how they are selling it as writing marketing copy. GameCareerGuide typically posts a Game Design Challenge each Wednesday (though this week, the challenge is on a brief hiatus -- it will resume next week). Professional game developers are welcomed to participate for fun, or offer their advice and critques via the free community forum.