Best game trailer + game promotion

Hi Guys!

Im writing an article about gaming companies and their marketing approach. And while there are plenty of blogs with top/best games I would like to ask you two small questions:

+ what is the best ever game trailer for you?

+ what is the correct path of game promotion (trailer, screenshot, developer diary, game preview, review)? In your opinion of course, what is the best aproach?

Im especially interested in the second one. For me, the best way is to present firstly screenshots, then trailer, developer diary from the very beginning and then preview, finally game review.

Best trailer: Wolfenstein the new order.

THanks for replies!

@pawciakk: maybe im too baked to understand the second question but the best trailers I've ever seen would have to be call of duty modern warfare 2 I believe with the eminem song til I collapse playing in the background as the dude shoots an rpg from the helicopter and the second would have to be gta v just because it's sooo movie like

Edit: I understand now, I like exactly what you said lol

Deus Ex Human Revolution had some awesome trailers that really piqued my interest/hopes for the game.

And this trailer for Silent Hill 2 is one of the best trailers I have ever seen for... anything:

-Byshop

Yea, I can agree with Byshop. HR had a great build-up to release. I remember watching those trailers and getting hyped as all hell.

Personally, I like what Rocksteady does with its Batman games. They understand how to market and build hype for their work. The announcement trailer is brilliant:

A few other notable trailers that pop to mind are here and here.

When a game is yet to be released I like and admire a marketing and promotional approach that attempts to maintain the fictional universe in which it resides. Meaning, I want what is conveyed to me, the consumer, to focus what I am interested in asa consumer. That may seem like pretty obvious marketing 101 material, but surprisingly there exist developers out there who are too transparent in their development process that gloss over this very fundamental truth, and I believe that this is the incorrect way to approach and ultimately harms building up momentum for any game.

For example, I find the way Nintendo markets its games to be extremely flawed. They dig into the development and show us games that are in progress in the pipeline. The latest Zelda footage to be a prime example. Not to say I'm not interested IN that process (I most certainly am, but only after the fact) but when I'm anticipating a game and hyping it up nothing is as much as a thrill kill as dissecting it and elaborating on what is to be done because it frames the game, the fictional world, the fun, the anticipation, through a very technical, sterile, and unfinished context.

I want the illusion all the various components of a game conveys to me, all at once. Before the game's release, present that illusion.....even if it's just an illusion. Don't show me unfinished segments or unpolished mechanics, or anything by themselves. NOTHING kills excitement more. I mean seriously, if movies were shown to us in the making stages before their releases, with green screens and people dressed up in suits with motion capture bulbs all over their bodies, many would go absolutely ape shit, and rightly so. Yet for games, it's somehow accepted. I vehemently disagree with developer diaries until after the game has been released. They are the anti-thesis of generating hype and kill marketing. Why this even needs to be explained to these developers, I'll never understand. It's as if these developers have never been customers themselves.

Games reside within fiction. To expose that fiction as fiction by explicitly showing how it is fiction is one of the most clueless moves any developer can make.

@MirkoS77: That's really interesting, since I feel like I'm the opposite of that.

Maybe it's just because I've spent so many years with PC gaming/indie games/Kickstarter projects, but...I find the development side of things to be really compelling, and like to see as much of it as I can.

If I see a trailer for a project years before release, I typically raise my cynicism shields and wonder what the final game will look like. Like the Bioshock trailer with the drill through the hand - it hyped up some people, but it just annoyed me because I wanted to see actual gameplay footage.

Meanwhile, if I see a new video for a game I've been following, where they announce "oh yeah, this month we included destruction physics for every building", or the latest Grim Fandango video where they explained the process of remaking the game, or even just the Witcher 3 videos where they explain the concept rather than showing off the game...I get hyped. You can see that the game is a labour of love, you can tell what the developers want the project to be, and you can appreciate specific features that may otherwise have been glossed over in a basic trailer.

Ultimately, I guess you need both kinds of trailers, but...maybe it's just because traditional release dates are becoming a relic of the past, or because consumer culture has become so greedy that we can't wait to see a finished product, but either way, I really like seeing the 'making of'/'work in progress' footage before a game is released.

Then again, I'm probably a bit weird.

Personally I feel that the Call of Duty franchise in that department are always nailing it with subtle messages in the trailers for anyone that actually plays close attention to them, it also solely matters on your audience and what enticing visual anecdote you wish to leave in the consumer. Regardless, what any gamer really wants to see is snippets of the gameplay, lets face it most of the companies that are remotely successful have the money to make a rather enticing trailer, though most of them end up being CGI, any CGI looks great, presuming the consumer actually knows this.

@MirkoS77, @Planeforger - damn! Thanks a million for such great replies. I was hoping that somebody will answer, but never thought of such in-detailed answers :)

When it comes to my opinion - i'm very close to what Mirko said. Personally, nothing more ruin my illusion of game than screens revealing quests/tasks, or what is worst - bugs within the game... I hope that gaming area will still go to the same path as movies - yes for publishing trailers, yes for second version of it. but no for revealing whole pie. I want to eat it. eat it alone :)

Nah I don't think that's weird at all, on the contrary I think it's pretty common otherwise devs wouldn't do it.

Don't get me wrong.....I hugely enjoy looking into the process of development (you should see how many books I have on the making of the original Star Wars), but timing is paramount. I'm not against seeing actual gameplay footage (in fact it's what I prefer) but what I don't want to see before release is any technicalities per how it functions. That pulls me out of the fun and is something I'd rather investigate after the fact. What I desire from marketing and promotion is to show me the game how it is going to be played or meant to be felt while played, not how it is designed to do so. It's like watching a sports car you ordered being built on the assembly line as opposed to watching videos showing it on the race track. Sure, the building of it interests me and I will look into it eventually perhaps when I learn the nuances of its performance and am curious as to how that was achieved, but what I am looking forward to before I buy it is how it drives. Showing how that's done before I even get it is enlightening my ignorance sans the experience. Thus, to me a large part of the wonder and excitement is stolen.

My appreciation for the creation of any work in any medium always arises after the fact of the experience, not before (or during) its conception and execution. I wouldn't hold nearly the gratitude for the work that went into it had it not had that initial imact upon me it did.

Agree with the Deus Ex trailer. Now here are my contenders:

That reminds me of what mercury steam did with their lords of shadow 2 promotion. They showed some concept arts from the game then a trailer then some developer diaries. Previews were all praising it at that time.

But when the game came out all the reviews were bad and I don't think the game sold that many copies.

But did it get me hyped? Yes.

Watch trailers of Blizzard's games. My favorite trailer is Ghosts of the past trailer for Starcraft 2.

Watch Tank Hero 3D Official Trailer - Mount your Tank and get ready to take the fight to new battlegrounds and become a Hero by conquering territories that will challenge you like never before.

I agree with this. Aside from some wonky dialogue: a very good trailer that does a great job of conveying the games story, setting and atmosphere.

this

and

and this

the way they handled this was awesome. SWTOR is by this day my favorite mmo aswell.

But you can't forget this trailer

The Monkeys are back I see. I'm fairly certain this group of ding dongs were the ones that spammed the crap out of GS something like 3-5 years ago.

I find it strange no one has mentioned what is probably both the best trailer ever but also the worst since it was just such a huge fake trailer compared to the game.

I have no yet seen any other CGI trailer who can match these in terms of installing emotion into the trailer.

BEST TRAILER : For me it would be Tekken 6's E3 Trailer. I remember watching this ad nauseum. The music was just so epic, and it was paced quite well teasing the new characters, new stages with nice lighting effects, and a more robust customization, with bits of behind-the-scenes to boot. Coming off Tekken 5/DR I was so hyped for the next-gen Tekken. (Warning : Trailer above shot in potato)

Correct Path for me would be an epic teaser trailer, then screenshots/stills, then developer diary then preview/reviews near launch.

BEST TRAILER RUNNER UP : Final Fantas 12 E3 Trailer

Another brilliantly paced trailer, starts off teasing the rich lively world, its story and introduces the characters now and then. It later builds up past 2min mark to show the epic battles and cinematics to be had.

TL;DR have epic music in your trailer!

(Unfortunately it was a bit disappointing upon playthrough). WARNING : Also shot on potato (I wish they'd rereleas these in HD)