THE KOF FAN'S PROMOTIONAL PLAN

[Gunsmith]

YES! MORE LIKE THESE! Especially the first one because you can hear CROWD NOISE

Btw, Loona, the Leona moment will be back up soon, we'll get it back don't worry

[Gunsmith]

So I asked a class of my students about which trailer was better - they were split over RSG/Atlus dead even. While talking about MCM Expo and KOF XIII, the conversation inevitably turned towards UMVC3: "Did you see that Phoenix Wright video? He gets some big hand to... etc etc"

Interestingly they thought Ralf's 60 hit combo was ridiculous - I had to say "but isn't that usual for MVC?" - no comebacks for that one. However I couldn't really show anything with as much factor as Phoenix Wright's crazy stuff. KOF just isn't like that. I think the only thing to do (Hadoolket) in this situation is agree that it looks good (because if you don't, you're a troll). At this point you need to come up with a reason why you prefer KOF without looking like a... troll. This is the problem and I'm going to skip it and just force them to play the game .

Possible Reasons why KOF is better than MVC? To a young casual player who's looking for button mashing fun with insane graphics?

Uhh......

Uh.....

Help me out here....

[Loona]

So I asked a class of my students about which trailer was better - they were split over RSG/Atlus dead even. While talking about MCM Expo and KOF XIII, the conversation inevitably turned towards UMVC3: "Did you see that Phoenix Wright video? He gets some big hand to... etc etc"

Yeah, a lot of people wanted Wright in MVC3, and even those that didn't care were curious to see how they'd make such a non-physical character work, and they pulled it off. It will be talked about for a while and has a pre-existing public to bring in people, KoF can't really compete with that.
The closest that comes to mind SNK-wise was Marco in NGBC (between bringing to the fight the titular tank, the zombie attack and the hostage assist, among other things), and that isn't going to bring new people at this point.

By design choices (older outfits for classic characters), the game seems to be aiming toward those who were already aware of the series but didn't think much of it before (some say that the EVO guys look interested in the game, for example), and at the same time it's taken some interesting steps in the mobile market, between having the iPhone version being considered the best mobile fighting game for that platform, and that new free KoF Encounter application.
Maybe aiming for a completely new public wouldn't have the impact you'd get from expanding the curiosity of those more vaguely aware of it, but whom at least already acknowledge the series in some form.

Interestingly they thought Ralf's 60 hit combo was ridiculous - I had to say "but isn't that usual for MVC?" - no comebacks for that one.

This is kinda part of why I think it's better to go with short bursts of interesting action (ex: attack that looks hard to avoid -> atypical defensive measures against that -> counter-attack, possibly in short-but-powerful combo form ending in a cool-looking super, maybe with unlikely juggling - "what, something can hit after that?!..." - along the way).
If you show a long intricate combo, half of what you see is a completely helpless character, and it's boring to annoying to wear those shoes, which a new player may feel he'll end up doing.

However I couldn't really show anything with as much factor as Phoenix Wright's crazy stuff. KOF just isn't like that.

Some HSDMs in 2k2(UM) looked quite impressive (and May Lee's Disposition Frog DM, love that thing) - the closest to that I see in XIII are Athena's and maybe Mai's NeoMax moves, which do quite a number on the screen.

At this point you need to come up with a reason why you prefer KOF without looking like a... troll. This is the problem and I'm going to skip it and just force them to play the game .

Possible Reasons why KOF is better than MVC? To a young casual player who's looking for button mashing fun with insane graphics?

I'm probably biased because I'm mostly a play-for-the-plot kind of guy whose appreciation for the finer technical things KoF does right isn't nearly as complete as a lot of people's around here, but playing to a sense of characterization and how that reflects on how a character works in-game (or has worked, for those that changed over time like Kyo, Iori or Kensou) could be a way to do it.
For example, Leona's depicted as quiet, clinical and task-focused, but very efficient at what she does, altough she does have those RotB bursts, and this reflects perfectly in her gameplay, as she's a charge-based character whose specials require some degree of preparation (the one that doesn't, the earring toss, can be used at a relatively safe distance), but she can put out some impressive damage bursts, which if they involve enhanced supers display a reminder of the issues she's keeping in check.

You know how in RPGs people always remember the major playable characters and antagonists and how that's what comes up the most in discussions about them, despite the fact that in those games most of the time what you're doing is fighting trash mobs and almost forgettable sub-bosses and growing your characters and gear along the way? I have no exact estimate on that, but tends to sound like 80% consists on battles against inconsequent monsters, compared to about 20% in relevant cutscenes, but it's the story, characterization and lines in that 20% that sticks around, with maybe some interesting close calls and impressive-looking attacks from the other 80% being remembered once in a while.
The Super Robot Wars series comes to mind too - when they release trailers for those, they practically never show the actual gameplay (grid-based tactics, barely changed since the very first Gameboy entry with maybe an exception or two on the few 3D games), focusing instead on the intro movies and spectacular attack animations and interactions with classic rivals - a bit of an extreme example, but there' probably a lesson or 2 in there about marketing a niche game, as those have been around for 20 years.

Every once in a while I see people online declaring Terry their favorite character - have they kept up with his appearances in more recent games? If not, it might be worth it taking a few seconds to show off his new tricks - for XIII, that's mostly the NeoMAX, but maybe hyper drive mode allows his classic moves to be combined in ways that previous games (CvS2's custom combos, 2k2's Max mode) wouldn't allow?

For the newer characters, you have some characters capable of making an impact and ressonate people at a very simple level - like Shen Woo, whose moves don't look complicated or refined ("AH PUNCH THINGS!") and manages to look tough and keep up super-powered and remarkably trained people - while wearing a pink shirt ("Shen is a pretty cool guy, he punches people whiwhile wearing pink and doesn't afraid of anything").
Or Ash, who might as well be drawn as a trollface with limbs, since everything about the guy, his design, introduction as new main character, deeds throughout the plot, attitude towards other characters, reactions from the players and even move updates as described in old developer blog entries (that "blowing a kiss" one comes to mind, especially when used behind an opponent to help extend a combo, or EX version for a practically instant hit), seems conceived from the ground up to cause all sorts of odd and antagonistic reactions. Related

Basically, playing to the game's unique points and strenghts instead of going for a more direct comparison with more famous titles - most people aren't that into the finer points of MvC3's gameplay even if they're interested in it, so I'm not sure forcing the finer points of KoF's on that public would be entirely effective.

[ZeroSoulreaver]

I know a lot of people hate the idea of Phoenix Wright being in, so it seems kinda split. I honestly don't get the appeal of this character in a fighting game of all things but whatever.

What's wrong with the 60 hit combo? Besides they should know hits don't matter it's the damage. If they knew how much skill it takes to pull off those kinds of combos in the game it wouldn't be a problem. You should show them the lvl 10 trial mode combos.
I think Marvel is far worse when you can easily pull a 99 hit combo without doing much work. DHCs alone can get some insane numbers.

It's funny, I tried to get this guy to like KOFXIII. He said he loved XII but hated all the rest and doesn't like how XIII looks...yea. I just gave up after hearing that.

Not sure how to tell people why you find KOF better without them going into insane hate mode. It's like if it's not a big name people will say it sucks no matter what.
Maybe you just gotta find the right people who will give it a try and hope the mainstream gamer people eventually get into it through someone else. Weird, but that seems to be how things work. If you get someone popular to say they like something others will like it too just cuz.

[Loona]

I don't usually keep up with tournament videos and stuff like that, but I came across these and they make some interesting points on comments which could be used to inspire approaches to handling match videos and in the process helping people to learn the game:

http://iplaywinner.com/news/2011/10/17/ ... ntary.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - lots of good stuff in the comments, and something that gets mentioned a few times is the commenting of previously recorded matches, which could be an interesting approch - in KoFXII's case, especially with the console version. I wonder if there would be any issues about taking matches from throughout the net and tossing in your own comments and editing for clarifications...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448957" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

While at it, this is tangentially related, but makes some points that could help think of approches to encourage or avoid: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/pro-gaming" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gunsmith]

Too many comments to read.

What shocked me most is that I have yet to notice eLive.pro and the fact that anyone can commentate over any video on youtube. All you need is a mic. If people step up, one will rise. The people will decide what style they like most. It's happening right now with the KOF scene. We have used eLive to make tutorials, to comment over SNKP's otherwise inaccessible cancel and ex move guides. All that part is taken care of, all we need to do know is ATTRACT attention.

I'm thinking of using the anime angle...

[Loona]

Yeah, lots of stuff to read, but it just goes to show the focus some people have on the matter, especially some as a sort of career prospect.

The major things I got from that reading was the importance of balance in commentator focus if working as a team - for example, someone focusing on the intricacies of the game mechanics, mind games in place and how that affects a match's current state, likely developments and possible alternatives, without someone else providing the humor, info and stories on the players and the oft-mentioned hype.

The practice of some of working on their commentary skills in pre-recorded matches also came up a few times.

Also when handling the coverage of tournaments, the importance of using more of the screen to provide information readily (who the players are, where they're from, favoured games and characters, past tournament achievements, have these two guys fought before and what was the result, at what stage of the tournament are they, winners or losers bracket, etc...) and using the deader moments to the viewers' advantage/entertainment/education (instead of filming players switching controllers or something like that, have the commentators going over replays for deper analysis of match events, providing context on the status of the tournament, aspects of the game that are getting too much or too little focus and why, etc...).


How this can reflect in the KoF scene, or at least some ideas it can inspire:

- if you go on shoryuken.com and eventhubs, you often see several video shows on Capcom games by lots of people, some of them probably trying to make a name for themselves as a future career move; there are a few SNK-centric ones, comparatively fewer, so they have a theorethical chance of getting more exposure from being in a less saturated playing field, but they don't get nearly as much attention as they are practically only announced in their own sites, so they might not get as much exposure - especially if they get hosted in different video sites, so watching one won't expose you to another one - things get a bit insular that way...

- if a team of commentators is to be used for the benefit/promotion of KoF, invite usually Capcom-centric guys who've shown genuine interest in KoF XIII to comment matches or be featured in shows - if they have questions, their kinds of questions are likely to be on other SF players' minds, and it's a good chance to cover info SNK fans take for granted and thus don't discuss in their own shows, but which more casual players might not be aware of; if they happen to be aiming for more visibility, they'll likely point more people to at least that episode of the SNK show they've been invited to. Off the top of my head, and my information is likely very incomplete here, I can think of:

* haunts - I often see him in the NeoGAF KoF XIII thread and seems to be involved with stuff like the Southtown arcade ranbats, but still not a name I'm used to seeing at mostly SNK-centric online hangouts, I take it he has something of a Capcom base; anyway, turns out he also seems to be havily involved in iplaywinner, which is a more mixed game hangout.
* ShinBlanka - SRK guy who runs the Final Round tournament which will include KoF XIII in March; I think he has a presence at DreamCancel as well, but AFAIK his Final Round tournament is older than that site is.
* Laban - I've seen some of his posts at SRK.com and he seems very knowledgeable about both KoF and CvS2 - apparently he's even doing a fair part of the work on the SRK wiki's KoFXIII articles IIRC one of his posts, even if the main site nowadays only seems to link directly to the later Capcom game articles as a user-build strategy section; I'm not really sure about his SF background, but I've come across at least one video where he's commentating on a KoF XIII arcade match with another guy. Then again, it seems like all of his posts at SRK.com are SNK-centric, so it almost seems odd I don't recall seeing him anywhere else online but he still seems remarkably well-informed on engine intricacies, which makes for an interesting phenomena.

These are just a few that come to mind, there are likely more out there - maybe a short list of potential ON show guests, in the very least, or maybe they could point to more Capcom-centric guys who could be interested?

[Gunsmith]

Like I have done with Kayane, like I'm going to do with Ryan Hart, SF players will be given the chance to play KOF XIII and then interviewed for their opinion.
Haunts and the IPW stream are probably one of the biggest reasons KOF is hot right now in the US. The other guys need to get on eLive and start commentating on matches. But let's not go offtopic, we are thinking about promoting KOF, not personal egos/careers, and not to the same old crowd.

Please list any influential SF / MVC3/ MK / BB players here: Anywhere in the world. We can get access to them, either through eLive or other friends.

[hadoolket]

well, i know mk has players like perfectlegend and tom brady, they might be willing to give kofxiii a shot

blazblue's top us players already seem indifferent to kof, i don't think lord-knight was all too interested in kofxiii last i talked to him, anyway, but what can you expect from people who like to spend the day hitconfirming into combozzz like NEETs

for mvc3, i think there's marn, combofiend, um...

i really don't pay much attention to the tourney scene names, i just watch the fun matches assuming they'd actually be fun to watch, and mvc3 and blazblue are both not fun to watch

the only matches that have been hype for me lately are the kofxiii matches on iplaywinner, and norcal players look like some of them are actually learning the game somewhat, like chris-tan i think his name is? though haunts was still doing his trademark wake-up special moves, , when he was using leona in one match, he kept getting knocked down and kept waking up with moon slasher. and people need a few more training in actual fundamentals, but at least they're stepping up their game more

just, people making attempted comebacks in kofxiii is a lot more awesome and adrenaline pumping because they lack some form of what can be construed as comeback mechanics X-FACTOR (yes, i know you can use that any time you want) and ULTRAS, so they're not working on a crutch to make a comeback, just either a lucky guess or a really clever tactic, which is kind of ironic since snk WAS the pioneer in things such as low-life "desperation" moves

[ZeroSoulreaver]

Hmm let's see there is Arturo Sanchez. He appeals to both a minority and majority audience. Considering he is known to play a little bit of everything. The guy supports MK, Arcana Heart, and other games, so maybe if he did the same with KOF it would spark some interest.

[Gunsmith]

UK's well known players (thx Supa)
SFIV Ryan Hart, Slizzle, F-Word @dawgtanian Andreas, Tahaa, Packz, Affi, Yota for SSF IV Infexious, RMZ, Problem X, Sunny, Hutch USA
MCV3 Cheech Wizard, SYN Aaron, SYN Chris, SYN D Don, Kaworu, 1upMiles, HowtoRead
BB Frost, Firei

I can't help with the US players but I can invite UK heads for a testing of the beta version.

When the game is released, you fans need to do your best to get those US players (or any for that matter) to try out KOF XIII.

Any ppl reading this who need help or want to help getting those players in touch with me, just PM or email me.

[Gunsmith]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/previ ... -of/723689" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

guys, pass this one along to your non-kof friends, it's a goodie!

[yamazaky96]

I found this kof02um video by chance and its an awesome come back...
and showed it to the street fighter community in UAE who likes "amazing comebacks..!"
now many of them are impressed

[Gunsmith]

that's good, but will that make people buy XIII?

As you should know by now, I've interviewed one of the top UK MVC3 and BB players and gave him a chance to play KOF XIII.

When the game drops, I know you want to play it to death, but new fans won't pick up a game that everyone else has played to completion.

Do you want to go online where everyone else already has reached level 50?

Show the game to as many people as you can. Let them try it! The future of KOF is in your capable hands!

[yamazaky96]

Im sharing about four or five videos every day about KOF13
but since we dont have KOF13 on arcades and every one here knows that KOF12 failed badly when it was on the arcade
as no one was playing it at all....
when they see KOF13 they cant figure out the difference between 13 and 12
only KOF players are watching the KOF13 videos while no feed back from the others
when it comes to kof02um they already know its the top on Dubai arcades (even some guys have the kof02um arcade cabinet at home...!!)so most of them want to master it...
maybe after KOF13 comes out and they see us playing live they will be interested in KOF13
my plan is to let them love kof in general and they will get KOF13 for sure
some new kof fans pre ordered it already after I recommended them to
I'm trying my best to save KOF..