Does The Name Sell The Games?

HighwindPilot

HighwindPilot

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So I was in G-Stop today, and I was browsing the DS games. I saw "Final Fantasy III", and I kind of chuckled a bit (a manly chuckle) because the cover art was...well, virtually non-existent. There was the graphic title, and nothing more to it. Yet that title alone was enough to make me stop and check it out (even though I've never had any interest in III).

So that made me wonder, does the name sometimes sell itself? How many of you have bought Final Fantasy games with great doubts about the quality of the installment, but did so anyway because of the series? And if you do think that the name sells, to what degree does it do so?

Or do you think it's about how promising any and each installment looks?
 
I suppose the name does play a factor but all in all, people continue to buy the series because they genuinely love the games produced by Square Enix. Either that or their friends refer them to it and once they've tried it, they're instantly hooked (or not). I keep buying FF games because I genuinely want to try it out...and yes I admit, sometimes I do have this mindset, "It's a Final Fantasy game, I have to get it!" That only applies to the new FF games and it's only because I really do have high hopes for FF. Now, I don't have all of the series and haven't played all of them, and I will say that there's quite a few FF that I didn't enjoy. I played FF1 and FF2 on PSX a bit back in the days, and when the remake came out for the PSP, I had no intention of buying it. So I can be quite sensible when it comes to FF games too. If I don't like it, I'm not gonna buy it, simple as that. Just because it's a Final Fantasy title doesn't mean I have to have it, but again that only applies to the older games - new FF titles are a different story. I just don't really have the patience to go back and play old titles from the beginning. If they do come out for the DS/PSP (I'm looking at V and VI here) then yes I'll get them because I'm actually quite curious with those two games.

We must also take in the fact that the hype can be a factor as well. News articles, screenshots, trailers...they all amount to the fans and therefore it just naturally appeals to people. As long as it looks promising in general, people will continue to buy these games that keep them playing for hours.
 
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the name made me play alot of them. if final fantasy tactics wasnt final fantasy i would not have got it, and nor would i have played one or two. and ffxii i got because it was indeed a ff, so i figured it would be good. however i disliked it, the point is i would not have gotten it if it were not final fantasy so i say yes, it helps sell the games
 
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When I first started the series, I picked a title at random and borrowed it from my brother. It turned out to be Final Fantasy IV, and that's the game that turned me into a fan of the series. Before that, I had only heard of the series from people talking about VII, and seeing him play from the PS1 entries.

I next picked up the Orgins version of FF I and tried it out. I loved it, and I started to do research on the series, and I discovered the other games in the series. From that point on, I've taken the time to research the other games in the series and decide if they were worth trying out.

Nowadays, I don't really focus on the Final Fantasy title itself since each game is so different. I tend to do some research into each game, and see if it interests me before I buy it.

That's why I ignored X for so long, and still haven't bothered playing XII. Aspects of those games caused me to not have any interest in them, despite them carrying the Final Fantasy name.
 
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The name does sell the game alone.

The Final Fantasy namebrand is one of the strongest and well known namebrands around in gaming. Not only that but it has been one that has held up for over 20 years which not many companies can say.


But Final Fantasy III is a throw back to the old school japanese box art style. Just look at the covers of Final Fantasy games in japan. All of them are plan like that and I personally love it.
 
i hope the name sells the game a lot i have liked almost every game in the series that i have played(i REALLY wanted to hate Dirge of Cerberus but did not) and it matters not to me what the game is i will try it if it wears the final fantasy label does that mean i will like it? no but i like a lot of things that are not shooters and have not found any final fantasy game that i do not like (except for the tactics advanced ones)
 
The name certainly does a lot for the series, despite some of the less-appealing releases that have come out in the past few years, but I do not think that the name alone sells the games.

(although, the first FF I owned, I pretty much told my mom to go to the store and buy something that was named Final Fantasy for the PSX lol)

I think that it reels someone in to take a look at the box, artwork, and samples of what gameplay looks like, which makes / breaks the deal.
 
Maybe not when they originally appeared, but right now the names basically does sell itself... If you've played one Final Fantasy, you'll want to play more, even despite them all being so different. And currently it's at the point where even if you've never played one, you sure as hell have heard about the series and how fantastically awesome it is. Exceptions are rare.
 
For sure, the high standards that the game has set over the years warrants an immediate purchase on name alone. There is no question, even gamers who rely on reviews for their purchase decisions. If they are a Final Fantasy fan, they will buy it regardless.
 
Definately, Ive bought FF games without reading reviews or knowing anything aboutt hem other than it's Final Fantasy. I'd never of bought any of the Tactics games otherwise, and I wish I hadn't bloody bothered either...
 
The name of the franchise is currently powerful. It's just like the Halo, FIFA and the Call of Duty names. The core fans who have had plenty of experience and affiliation with these franchises will be drawn to these names, regardless of any prior knowledge about the specific game itself. For example, many Halo fans bought Halo Wars despite it being an RTS- a genre not as the popular as Halo's conventional FPS genre. Of course, many weren't happy with what they got, but you see what I mean.

Look at Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3. It didn't sell very well here. Now suppose that it underwent a slight graphical editing and had its name changed to e.g. Final Fantasy: Valkyria Wars or something. Would that have sold better? Based on the strength of the name, undeniably, it would have. I'm not certain about this of course, this is just initial theory. But don't forget too that the name only gained worldwide dominance after FFVII.

 
Yes, i do honestly think that the Games name gives it alot of help when selling, i mean when people think Final fantasy they tend to think back to the First FF game they bought and how much they liked that.

It's the same with most Sequal like games though, it is the same with Call of Duty, the FIFA games, eventhe Smackdown Vs Raw games and also Fallout and Gears of war.

It's just the way things are really, especiall with games, if a game has the same name as a previous game that people have played, they think that the next game will be as good andas enjoyable as the previous game.
 
Of course it does, there are many games as good as FF, same as there are many FPS games as good as Half-life & Halo etc, but FF out sells them all because no-one outside Japan really knows much about them
 
Yes, the franchise name will most definitely play a part in how well it sells. Stella pretty much nailed it, many titles of FIFA, CoD and such like will sell extremely well because of the name and how well the franchise has done in the past, for example, I loved CoD:MW, disliked CoD:WaW, but I'll still get CoD:MW2 because of the previous one, even though I have no idea what's going to be in, same goes with Assassins Creed II as well really.

I did the same with Final Fantasy: Rings of Fate and Echoes of Time, although I had nothing to lose since I didn't "buy" it, but yeah, regardless of how good a game is, the franchise name itself will almost certainly sell it to people.
 
I would agree with this statement. The name does sell the game, generally, particularly for one this famous. Having crafted a name for itself in the RPG industry, I presume that Final Fantasy is a name known to most, if not, all.

Most people should have at least heard the name once, when they discuss games.... Or so I believe. Generally, so long they heard it at least once, that's what counts.

My presumption is that upon hearing about it that number of times, there is already the curiosity there. They may be tempted to buy the game of the same name to see if it's worthy of it's fame- simply said, to see if it's fun.

For fans of the series, they buy it because they expect a continuation to the enjoyment brought to them by the creators.... In my words.

To cut a long story short. I think the name does sell, psychologically. It is as good as advertisements and banners all over the web. Cheap and easy, too, but comes with a years of reputation in the area.
 
The name "Final Fantasy" played a huge factor in my game shopping. Each time I saw it, I would contemplate on buying the game, even if I had already finished it. The name is just alluring. Like if it is the "Final" fantasy that you could have ever had thought up. As though it would take you to a world full of untold stories which would develop in your mind. The name was very alluring to me :8F:
 
Well I played FF just because of the title. I guess if it's popular or something someone will buy it just to see how good it etc without knowing anything about the game other then it's popular. If you played one game and there's sequals etc then you'll most likely pick it up because you've played the first game liked it... and you get the picture. So yeah, it does sometimes sell itself.
 
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