Fantasy of the Familiar

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Fantasyof theFamiliar

• Or Why do bad sales happen to good games?

2
What is this about?

• Answering What makes games sell?
• Why do some IPs channel the Zeitgeist and sell
  millions?
• Why do some really great games sell poorly?

3
Defining Fantasy of the Familiar

• It consists of TWO THINGS
• A Familiar Premise.
• People must know a lot about the subject.
• Deeper general knowledge and interest in the
  premise more sales.
• Pre-existing Fantasies.
• People must already have dreams/desires to engage
  in that premise outside of games.
• Examples Race car driving, slaying dragons,
  exploring space, playing pro sports, being a WWII
  hero, being a Star Wars character.

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FotF in Action!

• Licensed Games
• Sports Games
• WWII Shooters

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More FotF in Action!!

• Tony Hawk
• Grand Theft Auto
• Need For Speed Underground

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Even MORE FotF in Action!!!

• WWE Games
• The Sims
• Gran Turismo

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Last Set, I Promise

• Nintendogs
• Wii Sports
• Guitar Hero

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Good Games That Sold BadlyWas lack of FotF part
of the reason?

• Beyond Good and Evil
• Okami
• Mark of Kri
• Primal
• Ico

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FotF at the Micro Level

• Using Familiar Associations Inside Games
• Hockey in Spyro 2
• Licensed cars in racing games
• The shotgun in every FPS
• The tank (Scorpion) in Halo
• The radio stations in GTA3
• Pirates in RC Future

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Fantasy of the Forbidden

• Letting you do things you Wouldnt, Couldnt or
  Shouldnt
• Because those things are
• Illegal
• Risky
• Dangerous
• Scary
• Or Just Too Dang Hard

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Examples of Fantasy of the Forbidden

• GTA
• Tony Hawk
• Hitman
• Need For Speed Underground
• The Sims

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High Concept in Movies

• What is it?
• A High Concept idea can be described in a
  single sentence and immediately suggests
  boundless possibilities.
• When you hear a High Concept idea you cant help
  but instantly think of some of the fun directions
  it could go. Thats the promise of the idea.
  The film has to deliver on the promise by coming
  up with ideas even better than the ones you can
  think of when you hear the concept.

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Examples of High Concept

• Speed
• Click
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• Home Alone
• Toy Story
• Bruce Almighty
• Monsters Incorporated
• The Incredibles

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Whats the Point of High Concept?

• The biggest issue in marketing movies is telling
  people What It Is
• Whos in it?
• What kind of movie is it?
• Whats it about?
• Is it my kind of movie?
• High Concept Answers What Is It?
• In a single sentence it offers you a promise.
  It offers an enticing idea that sounds like it
  could pay off in a funny/exciting/interesting
  way. When you hear the one-line description you
  want to see the movie and see the promise
  fulfilled.

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High Concept in Games

• GTA
• Play as a gangster in a living 3D city where you
  can walk, drive or fly anywhere and interact with
  everything and everyone in the world.
• Dead Rising
• Youre stuck in a mall thats taken over by
  Zombies! Fight them off with whatever you can
  loot.
• Ratchet and Clank
• A futuristic platformer with high tech weapons,
  gadgets and interplanetary travel.

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FotF and High Concept in Games

• High Concept game ideas usually also rely on
  Fantasy of the Familiar.
• You know a High Concept idea when you hear it
  because it feels filled with potential.
• Most movie pitches have to be high concept to
  be considered these days.
• Very few games, even successful ones, are High
  Concept.
• Maybe the game industry should try to make more
  high concept games?
• Maybe we should?

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Pre-Sold Concepts

• Movie Execs love Pre-Sold movies.
• Pre-Sold means the movie has a built-in
  audience who will see it based on what it is.
  Examples
• Sequels to original hits.
• Big Licenses Spider Man, Transformers
• Every Adam Sandler movie.
• Films based on popular TV shows, video games
• Pre-Sold concepts succeed because they are
  familiar. People know what it is already.

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Main Reasons Movies Succeed

• Whos in it
• Strength of the genre
• Pre-Sold Concept
• Compelling High Concept
• Word of mouth i.e. was it any good?

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Main Reasons Games Succeed

• Pre-Sold concept (sequel, licensed property)
• Word of mouth
• Fantasy of the Familiar
• Compelling High Concept
• Strength of the genre
• (NOTE We cant control the first two factors.)

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Lets Look at Recent Sales

• Well look at top 10 on DS, PS2 and 360
• Well include titles released 2005 and after
• Sales are counted up through June 2006 (thats
  all I have data for)
• How many titles use FotF?
• How many are High Concept?
• How many have a large Pre-Sold base?

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Top 10 DS Games

• Nintendogs 4.6M
• Pokemon (Diamond and Pearl) 2.8M
• New Super Mario Bros 2.6M
• Brain Age Big Brain Academy 2.4M
• Mario Kart 2.0M
• Super Mario 64 1.9M
• Animal Crossing Wild World 1.3M
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 0.9M
• Yoshis Island 2 0.8M
• Pokemon Ranger 0.7M

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Top 10 DS Games (New IPs)

• Nintendogs 4.6M
• Brain Age Big Brain Academy 2.4M
• Pokemon (Diamond and Pearl) 2.8M
• Cooking Mama .42M
• Spectrobes .29M
• Asphalt Urban GT .28M
• CATZ .28M
• DOGZ .28M
• HORESEZ .20M
• Trauma Center Under The Knife .20M

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Top 10 PS2 Games

• Madden 06 3.3M
• Madden 07 2.8M
• Gran Turismo 4 2.1M
• God of War 2.0M
• Guitar Hero 2 2.0M
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 1.9M
• Kingdom Hearts 2 1.9M
• Lego Star Wars 1.7M
• Final Fantasy XII 1.5M
• Need For Speed Most Wanted 1.4M

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Top 10 PS2 Games (New IPs)

• God of War 2.0M
• Black .79M
• Gun .74M
• 50 Cent Bulletproof () .69M
• Destroy All Humans .63M
• Bully .59M
• Mercenaries .56M
• Naruto Ultimate Ninja .46M
• Thrillville (life simulation) .45M
• 25 To Life (shooter) .33M
• not sure whether this counts as a license

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Top 10 360 Games

• Gears of War 2.1M
• Madden 1.2M
• Call of Duty 2 1.2M
• Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1.2M
• Elder Scrolls Oblivion .94M
• Call of Duty 3 .94M
• Fight Night Round 3 .92M
• Rainbow Six Vegas .87M
• Guitar Hero 2 .84M
• Saints Row .75M

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Top 10 360 Games (New IPs)

• Gears of War 2.1M
• Saints Row .75M
• Dead Rising .70M
• Crackdown .67M
• Lost Planet .54M
• F.E.A.R. .31M
• Kameo .28M
• Viva Pinata .27M
• Table Tennis .23M
• Chromehounds .22M

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Summary

• The biggest new IPs over that time span benefited
  from Fantasy of the Familiar.
• The top overall sellers, not just new IPs, all
  have FotF.
• The best sellers tended to be familiar ideas but
  offered something new to games.

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So, Is Fantasy of the Familiar the Opposite of
Creativity?

• Well.. Sort of?
• Being too creative can be a liability.
• Creating a world where there is nothing familiar
  or accessible is likely to have a very small
  audience.
• But creating a familiar world isnt enough.
  Nobody wants to play Lets explore downtown
  Burbank.
• The most successful concepts are usually the ones
  that tap into pre-existing human dreams and
  fantasies.

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Conclusion

• This isnt a road map
• Games without FotF can still be hits
• These are observations, not guidelines
• Some mega-hit games dont fit this mold