TS3′s REAL core audience

“The Sims 3 is looking at 16-24 year-old PC players .. [it] has been developed from the ground up specifically against those consumer audiences.”

“it’s not just about appealing to the current Sims fans – they’re critically important, but we know we have to bring new consumers in too.”

So the people complaining about unnecessary changes, and who aren’t in this nicely-segmented age bracket or are ‘old consumers’, have a point. It’s not “developed against” them.

More below about the delay, social networking and kids, and the surprising use of the Internet to market games.

Intentional delays

When it comes to the reason for the June date, Arons replies, “Half strategy, half shifting.“. She gives the standard “more marketing” reason, adding that they intend to bring in new consumers (as quoted above).

She also talks about why EA went out with all these “trial experiences”: to bring in the “lapsed” flock who played TS2 when they were 12, but have probably moved on to KillBlow 3 and such games.

“A lot of what we’ve put significant effort into since we moved from February into June was creating trial experiences for new and lapsed players … “

Making kids buy stuff – I mean, network socially

“…what we’re leveraging on The Sims 3 in terms of social networking being a primary marketing vehicle – actually that’s not as appropriate for, say, young kids, but as we go into building up Littlest Pet Shop online, or any kind of kids online sites, we now know a lot more about social networking and how you dial it down for younger consumers.”

I think “dial it down” means “make it less obvious/offensive so we don’t end up on the news”. Parents should be concerned when they hear marketers talk about things being “primary marketing vehicles” for their children.

‘The online’

On marketing strategies:

“…with The Sims 3 (16-24 year old primary target) – those folks aren’t watching TV. Good luck there, they’re all Tivo-ing or watching online, so we had to go online. It’s probably one of the first marketing plans in EA where the online is more heavily weighted than television – and that’s an evolution. We have to spend a lot more time getting to this consumer group, that’s a lot harder to find than ever before.”

This is why they delayed it four months; because the core demographic is so hard to find! I’m a bit surprised that marketing mainly on the Internet is considered ‘novel’ for EA. In 2009.

Brilliant quote

“EA Play is less about “Let’s make a great game, because we know there’s a market out there.”"

OK, in the interest of fairness…

“It’s more about seeing that girls are really getting into gaming, younger and younger…So I’d say it was (sic) a consumer-centric approach that asks where the market opportunities are, and then goes about building the right titles and game experiences towards them.”

SimSocial, the so-called “free trial” of TS3 went live this weekend. I currently have horrendously slow internet but I did play it for about half an hour, and found the most interesting aspect of it the careers. We now have some information on career tracks that will probably make it into the final game! There’s probably a list elsewhere on the net, but here’s the one I’ve been compiling. As you may tell from the snarky comments, I’m not a big fan of them.

MEDICAL

Identical to TS3.

Organ Donor (ethics aside…)
Bedpan Cleaner
Paramedic
Medical Intern
Resident
Trauma Surgeon
Gene Therapist
Infectious Disease Researcher
Neurosurgeon
World Renowned Surgeon

POLITICS

Identical.

Podium Polisher
Ballot Counter (OK, it’s pedantic, but ballot counters aren’t permanent full-time positions.)
Campaign Intern
Yes-Man
City Council Member
Local Representative
Mayor
Governor
Vice President
Leader of Free World

JOURNALISM

Paper Child
Automated Spell Checker Checker (Ha ha. No.)
Freelance Writer (defeats the meaning of freelance if you ONLY work for one employer.)
Professional Blogger
Anonymous Source Handler
Investigative Reporter
Meteorologist – TS3: Weather-person
Lead Reporter
Editor-In-Chief
Star News Anchor

SCIENCE

Test Subject
Useless Contraption Manipulator
Lab Tech
Fertilizer Analyst
Carnivorous Plant Tender
Genetic Resequencer
Aquatic Ecosystem Tweaker
Top Secret Researcher
Animal Something Crossbreeder
Mad Scientist

CULINARY

Kitchen Scullion
Spice Runner
Vegetable Slicer
(none) - TS3: Ingredient Taster
(none) – TS3: Line Cook
Pastry Chef
Sous Chef
Line Cook
Executive Chef
Five-Star Chef

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Snitch
Desk Jockey (I don’t know what this means. What’s wrong with a real title?)
Traffic Cop
Patrol Officer
Lieutenant
Wiretap Reader
Crime Scene Technician
DNA Suspect Recon Simulator
(Forensic Analyst?)
(Intl Super Spy?)

MUSICAL

Music Fan (A paid one? SELLOUT!)
Roadie
Stagehand (isn’t that substantially the same thing as Roadie, except less music-specific?)
Band Manager
Talent Scout
Vocalist (because vocals < guitar)
Lead Guitarist
Pop Icon (because pop idolism < being a guitarist)
?
Rock Star (pop <rock. Value judgments!)