Producer blames “marketing” for customer response to Halo ODST, not Halo ODST itself

Bethesda’s production director, Ashley Cheng, says that the problem with Halo ODST is the ‘marketing’.

“Microsoft and/or Bungie totally bungled the marketing on this,” he wrote on his blog. “First, saying it was a standalone expansion pack, then coming out and saying wait, no, we’re charging full price because – surprise! – we put ‘more’ stuff in it and it’s called Halo ODST now, versus it’s original title, Halo Recon.

“Like Microsoft was ever going to sell this for less than full price. It is a new Halo title, it’ll sell like hotcakes no matter what,” he added.

Yes, the discontent is due to the ‘marketing’. Give me a break! These are the same type of people who would blame discontent over a politician’s actions to be about the “narrative” or “story”. The relationship of marketing to customers is not the relationship between the potter and the clay. All marketing does is point the consumer to the product. If the product is unsatisfactory to the consumer, no amount of marketing is going to save it.

Indecision on Microsoft’s part has tainted reviews in the press, said Cheng, adding that a majority of first-person shooters offer less than 10 hours play – a criticism levelled at the game by reviewers.

Granted, the ‘professional reviewers’ can be way off on how a game is received by consumers (see Wii Sports), but let us say these reviewers match the consumer opinion. Clearly it is an argument of content. The price they paid is not worth the content that is in the game, from their view.

But what does consumer mean by content? It is not the ‘number of levels’ or how long the game is in the first place. Content in games would suggest its replayability, of how well crafted the game is. Asteroids and Joust have great content even though the ‘materials’ in the game can all be seen within a few seconds. They are fun to play and replay.

“Because of the waffling, reviewers are now mentioning that Halo ODST may not be worth the price point, that it should’ve been cheaper, etc… Give me a break.

“First off, most games – especially first person shooters – are anywhere from 5-10 hours. Tops. What makes Halo different from others? You can’t just ping Halo ODST for it. I bet if Microsoft hadn’t screwed up the marketing messaging, there would less talk about pricing,” he concluded.

And so this production director blames the consumers. But he is blaming consumers in a despicable way. The consumers are “wrong” solely because Microsoft’s marketing didn’t ‘program’ them correctly.

We’re not customers to the “Game Industry”. We’re automatons.