These two quotes are highlighting the major problem I have with the following statement:
In the analysis of why a particular title sells well, the genre it is classified as is one of the most important “non-statistical” aspects to consider. The reason this is so crucial is that by classifying a title as a particular genre, the publisher/developer defines their target audience.
The flaw that both @Mary_Duffy and @MultipleChoice has in their analysis of genre is a blind-spot not unique to the industry as a whole but it is one that seems common in IF. They are applying the industry standards of traditional publishing and ignoring the standards of the gaming industry…
To analyze IF games more successfully and with applicable lessons learned that can increase sales, you must analyze these titles under the gaming standards in addition to literature standards because your market place store-fronts are gaming market-places and platforms in both name and in practice.
The flaw in @MultipleChoice’s “factual assertions” about genre (ie Tin Star is a ‘western’ ) is that he is not using the genre classification accepted industry-wide for games. Using the article cited here, you get an incomplete picture at best of “literary genre.”
If we were looking at just literary genre definitions, then classifying Tin Star as a “Western” is correct. The definitions of a historical genre in literature is: A story about a real person or event.
So, going back to @Mary_Duffy’s list, we can only truly classify Alexandria by @kgold as an historical title. Broadway by @r_davis as well as the new release may be titles classified as historical fiction; in literature defined as: A story that takes place in the real world, with real world people, but with several fictionalized or dramatized elements. An argument can even be made to shift Alexandria into the latter category.
These are not purely historical-fiction pieces because there is cross-over but from a marketing and publishing standpoint, this can be their “primary” classification as works of literature. and it seems to me by statements made, that is how these titles are viewed internally.
Applying these literary standards is not enough, especially when you are trying to sell to gamers. Marketing to your audience is essential to be successful in niche gaming markets. So, what does this mean to all of us making Choicescript games?
It means you must shift the way you view your product. To successfully reach your audience in the gaming world you must start speaking their vocabulary and you must start marketing and positioning your game in terms that a gamer can both relate to and understand.
With that in mind, let us actually start on classifying a game correctly.
Just what are the gameplay interaction elements we need to use? Here is the best devise I’ve found to help understand video-game genres:
As you can visually see in this image, the game genre is an entirely different beast than the literary genre.
At the core of every game classification is the question of: Is this an action or a strategy game. From there you ask if it is an exploration or a conflict based game. Once you figure out the broad category you can look for the target-specific genre to use.
Going back to Tin Star’s classification in addition to being a literary Western, I would posit that it is an Adventure/RPG mix, right on the white line between “SE” and “SCE” in the illustration above. A game that incorporates elements of conflict and exploration in a stategic RPG-adventure.
It is essential to realize the following:
I hope this wall-of-text explains why I think
and why before we can discuss “the reasons” a particular title such a Broadway or Alexandria sell or do not sell, we need to be able to identify their true genre in both the gaming and literary world.
By ignoring the game half of IF’s DNA, I feel any analysis done is faulty and any conclusions drawn from those analysis are therefore flawed.