Capcom calls Dead Rising 2: Case Zero 'most dynamic sales weapon' it's ever had

by David Hinkle on Sep 24th 2010 12:00AM

"It's the most dynamic sales weapon we have ever had in our arsenal, giving us the equivalent exposure of a multi-million pound TV campaign," Capcom's UK product manager Karl Reader told MCV. "We foresee other publishers will follow suit."

And why shouldn't they? Dead Rising 2: Case Zero has been a huge success since launching on Xbox Live a few weeks back. At TGS, Capcom announced the game was closing in on 500,000 copies sold. But is there really a way to judge its effectiveness as a marketing solution compared to more traditional sales means, such as TV, print and online ads?

Reader said Case Zero "serves as a barometer for us as a publisher, allowing us to gauge demand for the title and adjust our marketing plans for Dead Rising 2 accordingly." We can all agree Case Zero was successful as a standalone game, but there's no way to tell whether it was an effective way to market Dead Rising 2 until it launches on September 28.

Source: MCV

Tags: Blue-Castle-Games, capcom, dead-rising-2-case-zero, karl-reader, microsoft, xbox

Reader Comments (67)

I was going to pass on DR2, but now I'm going to buy it! Not on release but sometime this year.

DR1 has always interested me, but the format turned me off. Case Zero on the other hand, I thought was brilliant. I'm torn, though. I can't figure out if it's the short attainable goal of Case Zero that I love. Case West has only made the case stronger for me to think that two short episodes for ten bucks is all the Dead Rising I'll need.

@PastaGabe

i preordered the high stakes edition september 4th. it is now on back-order..............................................................................................

....so, i won't be getting it until it's in stock again..... September 4th!! It's the 24th now!!

so if you get the high stakes edition, good luck.

*Pictures Capcoms deadly Assault Sales Taskforce with new found weapons and equipment*

@Stevetrop Man of Mystery Like this one: http://fast1.onesite.com/capcom-unity.com/user/s-kill/1378b2ef28b2370c3758742c27fab0ac.jpg?v=270000

@willooi

Exactly use anything and everything to strike their customers.

I wouldn't be surprised if Macgyver was a task force commander.

is that the way the full game is?

It'll be hard to prove sales of Case Zero were directly responsible for sales of DR2 (although comment #1 disproves that very statement) but as an idea I think it worked well - I wonder if they'll try something similar with Marvel vs Capcom 3!

@Halwende It wouldn't work with Marvel vs. Capcom.

I think for a lot of people this was also enough of dead rising for a while, especially since they didnt fix the time limit thing.

@mylittlepwny

Agreed I hate that they don't have a time limit but, for the few that really do try to play through the game properly it does add some difficulty...

*sigh* I want to buy Dead Rising 2: Case Zero but I know I would neglect it right now because of Halo: Reach and Fable III coming out soon. Does anyone think this is anything worth going back for after the videogame rush of the holiday season?

@kives343 I'd say it's probably even better to play it later rather than sooner. Did you play Case Zero? Because if you did, it would give you a great understanding of it's very classical "you cant do it right the first time" structure. You know, like, after playing it the first time and accidentally losing some survivors, you playthrough it again and realize the best way to save all of them and similar stuff. Definitely would be a great choice for those long months between releases

Well, the reason I got Case Zero was because I enjoyed the killing zombies with anything aspect from the first. But the main reason why I bought it was because it was only 400 Microsoft Points. And it was pretty much a full game where you could spend 5-6 hours playing with required multiple playthroughs for the full experience. I'm hoping other companies are taking the hint that we'll buy almost any arcade game if it's well priced like this was. If this was priced at 800 or even the bit steep price of 1400, this most likely would've been a flop.

@G5hockx21 At 800 points I don't see it being a flop but I do see it selling at least 100,000 less copies. I agree about the 400 points price tag being a reason for its vast success. I would buy a hell of a lot more Arcade titles at 400 or even up to 800 points. These 1200 point games give me great pause. Too many games to play to spend that many points and then not get to the game for months on end.

@Matrixxxx At 800 points you can easily raise it up to 200,000 less. Myself and 3 others bought this with out thinking twice since it was only 400, but at 800 I would have passed and most likely the other 3 as well.

Well deserved, for only $5 I got a good 4 - 6 hours of playtime, I finished it multiple times, I have a ton of money and I can start DR2 with an advantage.

As long as the price stays low, I could see myself investing in these demo's as long as they have an incentive that carries over to the full retail game and has a low price.

I know they announced that the levels you earn will carry over, but I haven't heard if the actual PP (experience) value will, because that keeps climbing after you cap out at level 5. For scoring purposes I assume.

Given the amount of game-setting time that is passing between CZ and DR2, it would be odd if money carried over. Probably starts the game saying he's had to spend it all on Zombrex. Poor Katie.

(protip: Google Katie Green ;)

@BoBsS Yep, 400 points hit the sweet spot. The growing trend of $15 arcade titles is disappointing. Even $10 is a bit easier to swallow. $5? That's perfect.

I liked it but won't be buying the game. I don't see it as a paid demo since you can still try the game with the trial. Its no worse than DLC released after the game came out. 400 points was the sweet spot for it I wouldn't have even tried it if it was priced at anymore.

@Solar Jetman
"(protip: Google Katie Green ;)"

Oh!

played the trial for case zero... won't be buying the full version or the full game. too slow and too many cut scenes.

This is an awesome idea, and I hope more companies take notice.

I'd love to throw down $5 for a Dead Space 2 'prequel' game, or something along those lines for many, many others games.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

But wasn't Dead Space Ignition a prequel game?

@Mach2 but that's the motion comic thing isn't it? Really quite different from this "paid demo" sort of deal here

I think this marketing idea helps to particularly cut down the numbers of DR2 that are returned or traded back in, given that players of Case Zero would be given enough of a taste of the game to decide whether they'd purchase or just rent the full title, or if they were happy enough with spending 400 points.

Really good idea pre-release and even story-wise, and I do hope more of these 'types' of Arcade titles come out

and they only sold 500,000 copies??? for the amount of drama that capcom did with the "lower numbers"... oh no wait!, they actually said : "good numbers" of street figther for the p.c. I'm surprised they didn´t considered this a failure too....

@(Unverified) I really wish you pc Street Fighter players would stop whining. If you really want the game then get it for a console.

@jmood88
they're just upset because pirating the game is easier on the PC. it's not like they would actually buy it if it came out for the platform...

@laser beams

And i wish i could really, REALLY know if you are so pirate-free as you "think" you are, not only on games, but on anything "pirate-able". :D

@laser beams I've over 2000 PC games. The only ones I have not purchased were either given away or no longer in production and more than 25 years old.

You speak as if you know the hearts of every PC gamer.

I could just as easily say "console players are just too dumb to operate a real piece of hardware" but as an owner of every major console release since the Odyssey2 (aside from NEO GEO) I know that isn't always true.

Hey look, Capcom makes proper DLC offerings and it sells REALLY well!

Remember last year when Capcom sold Resident Evil 5 versus mode and Street Fighter 4 costumes for the same price as Case Zero?

@Lerkero

they learned their lesson the hard way, specially with the street fighter version for the p.c., all the custom mods for clothes that the p.c. community did where 3,000 better than the ones capcom offered and they were free....you know, i´m starting to see why they didn´t wanted to release the pc. version of super......

@Lerkero

it´s very VERY funny to see how many xbox fan boys are here, if somebody says something about the p.c. fuuummm!!! you are down voted faster than a bullet. The funny thing is that pc´s are going to stay here for life....while the xbox, well.... it has 4 or 5 more years of life and that´s because billly was so cheap to convince the xbox community that they didn´t needed a new console, they just needed a stupid camera. And that was the upgrade. :D

I bought Case Zero, and although I did enjoy it, I won't be picking up DR2 since Case Zero has shown me that the problems I had with the first are still there. I just don't understand why they make such a cool open world then restrict the amount of time you can explore it. Anyway, I'm very happy with my $5 purchase, but it's not turning into a $60 one any time soon.

@BizarroPunisher In the first game, after beating it you unlock infinity mode, which let's you explore at your own pace.

@Petebot330 Partially true..

First you have to beat the 72-hour mode then you have to beat overtime mode to unlock infinity mode..

It's not really infinity mode if you health is constantly dropping is it...

The fact that you have to last 7 days (14 hours in one sitting of the game) for an achievement not to mention when the game came out that put your console at risk trying to do that..

@BizarroPunisher

I've cozied to the format. Here is how to have fun while playing it. You play the game a couple times, just running out into the open world exploring and killing zombies, doing all the wacky fun stuff. Yes, you'll get a bad ending, but you can skip that.

Then you start a new game, and play for real (saving survivors and what not). By then, you'll be leveled up from all the zombie killing you did in your fun play-thrus, so getting from place to place and fighting bosses will be much easier.

I do agree though that Zero seems like enough. I don't know if I want to do this in a large scale, especially knowing that Fallout: New Vegas is around the corner, and I am much happier to sink time into that. I might buy this during a lull next year.

They could have made more money by reordering it on PS3 too.Oh well Capcoms loss on both a DLC sale and retail sale.If I buy I'll get it used

...ya know that's funny. Because if it was so successful...why didn't they go for a multi-console release?

@ShadowXIII
Because chuck greene couldn't figure out how to duct tape a ps3 and xbox360 together

@ShadowXIII

I think MS paid extra for it?

@Dalrint

...I think your right.

@ShadowXIII Just staying loyal to Microsoft, saying: we'll take away the Dead Rising from your exclusives, but we'll give you a little extra to show our loyalty :)

It's a superb idea. A demo with substance and meaning! Whether it persuades you to buy the larger game or convinces you it's not your cup of tea, it still did its job while pocketing some of the $5 cut in Capcom's pockets, right?

You shouldn't call a whole gaming community thieves without knowing what you're talking about.

I play on both console and PC. There are plenty of people who pay for their games. You obviously have limited experience with PC gaming. Try giving Steam a shot, its like XBox Live, but free.

And besides, there are PLENTY of pirated consoles out there. You can't make comments like that without looking in all directions.

It's only successful if people liked what they played. That's the one thing that marketing and hype will net you: sales from people who would inevitably end up thinking your game sucks balls.

I hope this plays out well for them, because Dead Rising is awesome, and the business model is equally awesome. However, DR is still a love it/hate it affair, so it may not be as gangbusters as they expect.

this was actually a pretty fun demo. i liked it more than the original game- but i don't think i need the full DR2 game. Dead Rising is a fairly shallow experience. it was kind of neat in 2006, but i don't think i'll be entertained long enough to warrant a purchase.

dead rising 2 is a first day buy with or without case zero theres just something about killing zombies...

"We foresee other publishers will follow suit."

Capcom your dead to me...

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Dead Rising 2: Case Zero

Capcom calls Dead Rising 2: Case Zero 'most dynamic sales weapon' it's ever had

Reader Comments (67)

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:04AM PastaGabe said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 9:24AM MLS said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 2:57PM cylet said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:11AM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:30AM willooi said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 9:27AM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:13AM skiscaraudio said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:17AM Halwende said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:46AM jmood88 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:18AM mylittlepwny said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 9:52AM PlatinumSkeet said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:19AM kives343 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:39AM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:23AM G5hockx21 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 6:08AM Matrixxxx said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 8:10AM The angry pro consumer gaming ga said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:24AM BoBsS said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:00AM Solar Jetman said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 2:07AM Flapjackal said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 8:39AM sleepydumbdude said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 9:37AM Alex R said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:25AM maaax said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:25AM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:39AM Mach2 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:40AM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:34AM willooi said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:38AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:48AM jmood88 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:13AM laser beams said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:25AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 6:45AM Sabbatai said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:39AM Lerkero said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:27AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 10:52AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:39AM BizarroPunisher said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:54AM Petebot330 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 6:25AM ShadowMonkey987 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 9:38AM MLS said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:40AM Gigatyrant said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:47AM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:03AM cylet said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:06AM Dalrint said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 4:17AM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 10:41AM PipBoyV3 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 12:58AM TLatshaw said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 3:06AM Jason7731523 said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:15AM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:15AM laser beams said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 1:27AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 24th 2010 2:09AM Faenix said

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