Quote:
Originally Posted by TDK1044
It's no big deal to Tri-Star/Columbia pictures. They already have multiple versions of the movie pressed. If Ubisoft offered them a half decent deal then there's no reason not to do it. All they'd have to do is ship the DVDs. The movie is more than 20 years old, so I can't imagine that actor residuals are a problem. They just need to push for it.
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No big deal to Sony Pictures (the entity that would make such decisions)? Essentially you are suggesting that they enter a deal with an unrelated and unestablished product. They have a lot to risk, not least reputation. Besides, what would they get out of the deal, remembering that they are a corporate organisation that exists solely for profit and appeasing their shareholders, and SH5 has no connection with any of their products.
Frankly, just because the subject of both is the same doesn't make it a good match. What such a coupling does is imply to the
market that you are trying to capture that SH5 is a video game version of Das Boot, the movie, with the same level of "action and excitement" and characters...so imagine the potential outcry when said buyer finds himself sailing empty seas for hours on end (and with no Johann). I doubt Ubisoft would want to set themselves up for that kind of reaction. And I doubt Sony Pictures would be keen to promote such a very tenuous connection either; they get no return at all for taking on such risk.
This is besides the obvious licensing, production and logistical issues that would have to be addressed. Even a more logical approach of striking a deal with Sony to include a "$5 off Das Boot" voucher makes no business sense for either entity, when you consider market size and
potential return on investment.
IMHO Ubisoft has this market sussed out well - offer a standard AU$89.95 priced package as well as a fancy AU$129.95 deluxe package for the more "hard core" players. Ubisoft realises that most
of us will buy both, or at least the deluxe edition. By taking this approach they, in very simplistic terms (just to be clear to those marketing strategists that I am being simplistic) double, or at least increase, sales just through milking the same core market.
Hands up everyone that has two copies of SH4.
With this strategy in mind, why would they need all the other hassles?
The real question then becomes, how can they milk the core market more by enticing them to buy the fancier edition?
Someone mentioned including a U-boat Badge. Cost price $10. IMHO a nice incentive for the "should I/shouldn't I" crowd. A DVD including public domain footage and "making of" type documentary grabs a few more. Add a whiz wheel and you've got the hardcorers by the nuts. Charge $40 more for $20 more of product, and there's your obvious strategy.