There is no other consumer in the world that knows more about the product they are purchasing than the game customer.

He knows everything there is to know about the product. He knows more than me, more than you and just as much as your "Gamer" employee working behind the counter! He knows who the Developer is, who the Publisher is. Their track record, What games they made in the past, how good those games were and what the plans for future titles are.

No one is going to "Sell" this customer anything! He knows exactly what he is going to buy, when he is going to buy it and has already planned on how he is going to pay for it before it is even released. His purchasing decision was made long ago. He has researched it, is completely familiar with all of it's features. If it's single player only. If it is Multi Player how many per console, How many on Xbox Live, If it has Co-Op, what the different versus modes are and so on....

So how does one "sell" product to such a consumer? Well, for starters quality. He is not going to buy anything sub par. It does not matter what License or IP you attach to it. He will not fall for gimmicks. His standard is AAA. Anything less than that is unacceptable.

He also takes a certain ownership of the product, Let me explain what I mean by that. To him, It's not just a widget. It is something he has a vested interest in. I do not mean financially, I'm not talking about the $60.00 investment. I'm talking about his passion, his enthusiasm, his loyalty, his anticipation, his love, his time, his experience. That is why this customer has such a fanatic response to things. It's not just a widget, or a movie to him. He takes a certain ownership of it. He promotes the game, he gets his friends to buy it so they can play it together. He not only "sells" himself, he sells others!

Of course the flip side of this is comparable to that of a scorned lover. If you betray him, take advantage of him, hurt his feelings, dismiss him, he will not forgive this. He will do everything in his power to spread the word about how much it sucks, how much you suck. He will tell everyone he knows.

So we have a customer - Who is completely loyal, passionate and supportive of the product. How do we keep this customer happy and how do we increase sales while being held to such a high level of expectation?

This customer should be treated with much more dignity and respect. - We should not be taking advantage of his enthusiasm and support. This is a short term strategy, it will only work for so long before it makes him turn on you!

Less is more!

We should not be taking pre-orders for Digital Season Passes & Expansions for games that have not even been released yet!!!

They already feel that the digital add-ons and expansions that are being sold are nothing more than original content being with held from the $60.00 product at launch. No matter what Publisher you are, what your true motivations or intention are, even if you are NOT doing this out of greed but are truly doing it for the fans, It is interpreted this way and needs to be stopped.

Save it for the sequel and we don't need a sequel EVERY YEAR!

This consumer is smart and will just STOP buying your games for $60.00 and START buying everything you make six months to a year after launch and get EVERYTHING for $39.99 (or less).

We do not need to water down our brands. For example, other than the "NAME" was there any reason for Black Flag to be an Assassin's Creed game? Why not take that opportunity and create a NEW IP. Then you could have at least alternated from Assassin's Creed to Pirate Creed every other year. In my opinion Black Flag would have been a much better game if it was separated from the Assassin's Creed "Brand".

You need to stop lowering your damn prices! The consumer is fully aware that they can just wait and get whatever game they want after a year or so for $19.99! It is only a matter of time that the market adjusts it's buying schedule and habits to take advantage of the huge savings offered for being patient. It's not like there isn't enough alternative product on the market place to keep him entertained.