Game on: Word of mouth and test driving help decide what game to buy

Nov. 8, 2006
By JOSEPH M. DELEON News-Post Staff
jdeleon@fredericknewspost.com

       FREDERICK — Video gamers crowded electronics stores last week to buy the latest version of a role-playing game for PlayStation 2 that has sold more than 68 million units worldwide since it started on the Nintendo system in 1988.
Final Fantasy XII, which has sold more than 2.4 million copies in Japan since March, received glow ing reviews from gaming sites such as IGN . com  and GameSpot . com . It has a cultlike following and has been marketed like a major motion picture — cinematic trailers, full page ads in magazines and Web teasers.
     Alexandra Jones, 24, reserved her copy of FF XII more than a month ago. She picked up the $50 game and a $20 strategy guide at the Gamestop in Francis Scott Key Mall last week.
     “I reserved it as soon as I could,” she said. “And I bought Final Fantasy based on its long history and reputation.”
     While price is important to a consumer's final decision, it's the kind of game, game reviews, word of mouth and being able to try the game that are the most important factors, according to the recentlyreleased Games Purchase Drivers Report by the NPD Group, a market research company.
     Ms. Jones said the quality of the graphics are also important.
     “The graphics make a big difference — it makes it more like a masterpiece or a work of art than just a silly game,” she said. “If you can't see what you're doing and you have to squint really hard, it's not worth it.”
     Her boyfriend Kyle Pero, 21, agreed, adding that he tests how fluid a game plays when deciding to buy it or not.
“The way a game develops and movie clips sell a game,” he said.
Mr. Pero often buys games based on his friend's recommendations, such as God of War, which he bought two months ago.
“It really makes a difference when someone tells you between two similar games, which one has better graphics or game play,” he said. “You tend to play the same kind of game, but you want something that's going to keep you interested after the first 10 minutes.”
     Will Bell, 15, does his homework before buying a video game. He checks publisher's Web sites, reads online forums and downloads video trailers before plunking down his money.
     “If it has a good trailer video or if it came out in Japan first and got good player reviews, then I'll buy it,” he said last week after buying FF XII at the FSK Gamestop. “This game is sort of like a good novel or a good movie.”
     Like many gamers, Joe Deak, 18, prefers to try a game before he buys it.
     He considered buying Call of Duty, a World War II simulation, but decided against it after playing it at a friend's house.
     “I like Halo, but I guess that's the extent of my first person shooters,” he said last week at the mall. “Call of Duty got really repetitive after a while.”
     While Mr. Deak often buys used games, he said he doesn't mind paying full price if he really wants the game.
     The last game he tried and then bought was Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2. The huge colorful floor pad and techno music attracted him to the arcade more than a year ago.
     Last Christmas, he paid more than $60 for the game and floorpad. Gamers jump on oversized buttons, mimicking a virtual dancer on the screen while speakers pump racy electronic music.
     It's become one of his favorite games, and has even helped him prepare for soccer games.
     “It's fun to show off for my friends, and they think it's pretty ridiculous,” he said. “But it's better than just sitting down like in other games — it uses the same leg movements that we do in soccer practice.”