Where would you like us to advertise?

I use Gamespot a lot and think that would be a great place to promote the game!

South América?

Sins being a pretty hardcore game I think you'd get your best value focusing on hardcore outlets. If it were my decision I'd try sponsoring some podcasts. I'd start with GFW Radio and PC Gamer Podcast and maybe add a few popular niche podcast like Gamers with Jobs (I know they're looking for sponsors). I'd also look into some PC and indie focused game sites like Firingsquad and Rock Paper Shotgun. Of course, you might run into a little bit of a "preaching to the choir" effect at sites like those. Obviously if you're going for the broadest reach you could do a lot worse than sites like Gamespot, IGN, and 1up.com. There's a bit of a backlash against Gamespot for the whole Gerstmann issue, but they still get a crapload of hits every day.

I think general media coverage goes a lot farther than some banner add though. Things like the comments Penny-Arcade made, the interview you guys did on Evil Avatar Podcast, and the lengthy discussion GFW Radio had about Sins can influence a lot of people.

You could always try to strike a deal with Total Gaming Network to set up some podcasts, and even tournaments with the Total Gaming League. They've been expanding like a virus for the past few months, so I bet they're looking for more places to branch out to.

I thought you were talking about ingame advertising at first, and I was gonna say I wouldn't mind it if it were only on the sides of merchant ships or the trading ports.

How about at stores themselves? Like a Games Stop or EB? Too expensive I guess?

Viral Advertising is a thousand times better than conventional advertising.

Abuse the internet until you can't squeeze out any more pennies from the suckers who browse it.

You could see if you could get fan sites for other popular games to review your games. I liked the way Civfanatics follow GalCivII and that kept me interested.

Or failing that get a moderator on the starforce support boards to post a link to where people can obtain a pirated copy of the game , seemed to work well last time

The pirated copy bit would work well when an expansion is about to be released.

Get "Zero Punctuation" to do a review! I don't know how he goes about picking games to review though, and he'll probably tell you to go bugger off. It won't be pretty but it'll get the word out if he does a review on it.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2808-Zero-Punctuation-Crysis

(above link is Zero Punctuation's review of crysis, NSFW)

Times Square, NY?

Advertise on GPG Net.

Do some sort of an exchange with them on Ironclad Online and you on GPG Net, because I love both Supreme Commander and Sins of a Solar Empire. I'm pretty certain that your markets overlaps.

Inside EA games, which seem to be 60% ads.

/Just kidding. I'd go for the Escapist with the Yahtzee phenomenon, or 1up.com since it's becoming the most credible game site very quickly.

Penny Arcade click-ads work wonders, I've observed.

the place is entirely neon. people are completely jaded to the ads. plus, even at night it's too bright to see the ads. wonder if you could get the sins logo painted on the empire state building?

Just fly Sins blimps all over the US. People are so used to them being beer blimps, so they'll look up and oh hey, Sins

RPGnet might be a good place to advertise. It's a tabletop role-playing / miniatures games site, and I can imagine dozens or hundreds of people from there picking up the game.

Of course, a lot of people from that forum will already know about Sins anyway, so whether putting ads there will do any good is a judgment call.

Don't. And if you have to, anywhere BUT Gamespot and Fileplanet.



If you had any respect for Yahtzee at all you would know how much he HATES recommendations and wouldn't bother him with this.



Oh god, I lol'd. 1up is notorious for reporting rumors as fact.

With the willingness of the community and of developers to participate in discussion around the game, it seems like a no-brainer to not just advertise and sponsor podcasts, but to produce a Sins Official Podcast.

It doesn't have to be fancy, maybe even a group of dedicated players from the forums could host it, and get various devs / other players to drop in via skype once a week or so to talk about the game for a half hour. Topics could include Sins news, strategy/balance issues, tips of the week, discussion/analysis of multiplayer games between top level players, etc. A back and forth discussion can be a much better way to hash out points of strategy and game balance and tactics compared to one post at a time on a forum. I think it would be a great way to promote the game and more specifically to promote the multiplayer aspect (which can be a bit daunting, due to the sheer length of the games). As a model, I used to listen to a great Company of Heroes podcast called Tales of Heroes while I was playing that game.

He hates FANS telling him what to review. I'm pretty sure if Stardock threw The Escapist a copy he'd be obligated to do one...

Not to sound off topic, but does anyone else get th feeling that Yahtzee is updating slower and slower every week?

I think you should simply blast the sins logo into the surface of the moon.

Failing that, once you have a demo, get some space on the gaming sites. People who arent decided yet might be swayed by a demo, and you don't want to waste your advertising budget when you havent got the demo ready for them to try immediately when they come to your site. Also, once te 1.03 patch is out and mods are being made, people will be much happier since they can start fiddling with bits of the game they want changed and the forums will be a happier place.

Should try ads in Podcasts like the PC Gamer podcast or 1UP. Talk about hitting your target audience. And they are usually very cheap.

how about subway or bus advertising in major cities?

Seems to work better than any other types of advertising for me and would make long train /bus rides more interesting if i forget to bring a book or something...

You should advertise at Gamespy for sure. They're one of the few PC game sites my friends and I trust, especially when it comes to strategy games.   


I suppose you could consider Gamespot as well, but that's a little iffier. On the one hand they have a large audience. On the other hand, their credibility has obviously gone down the tubes lately, and so you might not want Sins to be associated with them.  :NOTSURE: