Ahh marketing. This topic strikes a chord with me personally because this past December I graduated with a degree in marketing. Once you begin to study the subject you cannot even walk through a grocery store without thinking why companies do what they do in terms of marketing and advertising.

In the video game industry marketing is a two-headed demon. There are a select few games each year that have a ton of hype and a huge marketing push even though they may not need, or deserve it. There are also a few games who fly under the radar and could use a simple commercial or preview to show how good of game it actually is. Marketers (whether you want to believe it or not) have a very tough job; You don’t market a game enough and it won’t sell, you market it too much and it may sell, but may not live up to the hype you have created. For this reason I put the challenge more on myself (as well as other gamers) to decipher which marketing you listen to or which you don’t.

If there is a game you are really excited for and know a lot about, don’t pay much attention to the marketing, go buy it based on what you know. In the reverse scenario, if there is a game that looks cool but you know nothing about, jump into some of that marketing and advertising to find out what it is all about.

Overall I think it is up to the gamer themselves to pick through marketing and decide which to listen to. This applies to gaming as well as life in general. Just remember, marketing’s ultimate goal is to make consumers aware of a product, not to sell it, so in the end it is really up to you what you do and do not decide to buy.