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Gaming => General Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Aki-at on February 24, 2012, 04:54:07 pm

Title: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on February 24, 2012, 04:54:07 pm
Game is out in Europe so EuroBits members probably have it, for those who don't want waiting for cheap price, Amazon and Zavvi seem to have entered a price war that has made the game price go to £25!

Anyway what is everyone thinking about the game? Finished chapter one and so far loving it, decided to start on the hardest mode so far and still find it a bit too easy (Not that I have come close to dying!) but feeling a bit bored, not because the game is bad, but played or watched most of this chapter already! Probably going to take it nice and easy in the second chapter!

Very impressive for the team's first third person shooter, I hope this does indeed become a series for SEGA!
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on February 26, 2012, 06:16:26 am
I still think the Bosses are the highlight of this game, and it really irks me to see reviewers completely ignoring that part of the game.

It's easily the best bosses in any TPS.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Suzuki Yu on February 27, 2012, 08:01:26 am
i finished the game last night on survival difficulty (360)
this is my favorite TPS campaign EVER. (apart from Uncharted series which isn't a Pure TPS experience anyway)
from where should i start?
good story, awesome twists by the end, superb cut-scenes as usual form the RGG team with great & seamless transition between the cut-scenes and gameplay in real time.
the pacing in this game is really Hot from the beginning till the end, a lot of diversity in action and locations, and a lot of great battle situations. 
tech wise it was impressive in different areas specially effects, explosions and particles, Models and the complexity animations of the enemies.
vending machines and upgrades, trust system and a working voice recognition were all a nice touches in the game.
great and satisfying shooting mechanics, great and unique AI for the enemies, huge variety of enemies with really good designs.... and above all that one of the best boss battles in all time and i mean it! the bosses in this game is beyond incredible!

what i don't like though was mostly your Squad constantly getting in your way of shooting.
also some minor issues with the main characters animations, and rarely frame drops at some crazy points.

what i am not sure about yet is of course the consequence system since i didn't start my second run yet.

if i would rate the campaign i will definitely give it a 9 out of 10
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Team Andromeda on February 27, 2012, 08:42:50 am
I just like to echo what Yu Suzuki said . This is just incredible and keeps on getting better and better, the bosses are simply brilliant .

Such a shame that next to on-one knows its out and SEGA PR push for the game is utterly pathetic and non-existent
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: nuckles87 on February 29, 2012, 01:02:10 am
Am I the only one who's voice recognition keeps randomly yelling things like "fuck" and "shit"? It's made the voice recognition completely unusable to me. Which is a shame, because I liked yelling those words at my team mates.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on February 29, 2012, 02:41:39 am
Doesn't the game calibrate and adjust to your voice? I think I heard something like that
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Shigs on February 29, 2012, 03:16:40 am
Just bought it yesterday and finished the first chapter. The in game facial animations are very expressive. I love how the robotic A.I. Operates. Even though they mainly just trudge forward, they WILL flank you when they can. I didn't bother with the mic stuff. It's been great stuff so far. Can't wait to play more after I wake up. On the negative, Dan's voice is still too low and the boxart is still horrible.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on February 29, 2012, 06:23:36 am
Just finished it last night! Sacrificed some sleep because of the final boss, here is my quick review.

Great points
- Bosses, highlight of the games and perhaps, along with Yakuza 3, MadWorld and kinda Bayonetta, the best boss battles this generation, forget the Grand Lancer, but some of these bosses are damn fine to fight and enjoyable to fight!
- Level variation and progress, this was great, never felt I stayed in one location too long and felt the story kept going like a great action film from the 90s
- Some of the characters are brilliant, especially love Cain, guy needs his own spinoff game
- The action setpieces are great stuff and helps the vary the game, plus fantastic to look at!

Good points
- Took me about 8 hours to complete on Survivor (The game's hard mode) settings, must have died about 15 times in there
- There literally are new enemies even towards the final chapter, really the game never gets staled and sort of laughs at games that indeed wants to limit itself to 15 odd baddies a game
- The script has numourous moments of good humour and dialogue is often quite good!
- Few of the onrail sections are great, though one particular one almost outstayed it's welcome (To be fair, playing it on hard probably had the effect)
- The atmosphere that is produced through the art direction really does suit this future Tokyo very well!

Bad points
- Disappointed in how the game concludes itself, seems a bit last minute and all and probably the weakest ending in all of the team's game (And I include Kenzan and Of the End in that) story was underwhelming too (Felt it needed another chapter or two)
- Felt a few of the characters were underdeveloped, compared to Yakuza's NPC characters are given even more backstory, disappointed in this
- Framerate drops on the Playstation 3 version
- Unlike the Yakuza games, there is no challenge box in Binary Domain so the replayability is on the short side (There are collectables in the levels though)

So in the end... I think an 8/10 (Excellent) is deserving of the title and probably my favourite third person shooter this generation, highly recommended for anyone who wants to shoot things.

In terms of favourite game out of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio? Still think I prefer all four of the mainline Yakuza titles though! Just felt this game missed that extra chapter or two to push it above and beyond. Still eagerly look forward to a sequel if they made one, but since it's a failure, more than likely that will not be happening, oh well!
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on February 29, 2012, 06:46:27 am
"- Unlike the Yakuza games, there is no challenge box in Binary Domain so the replayability is on the short side (There are collectables in the levels though)"

What about the online multiplayer guys? I havent heard anything about that yet.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on February 29, 2012, 06:51:51 am
"- Unlike the Yakuza games, there is no challenge box in Binary Domain so the replayability is on the short side (There are collectables in the levels though)"

What about the online multiplayer guys? I havent heard anything about that yet.

I'm not an online person and I only really enjoy multiplayer when someone is next to me so...

0/10, must try harder next time.

PS Have not even touched the multiplayer yet, was more interested in the single player! But yeah you do have multiplayer that adds to that, but I would much rather have a challenge box than that if I am being perfectly honest.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: segaismysavior on February 29, 2012, 10:56:15 am
Am I the only one who's voice recognition keeps randomly yelling things like "fuck" and "shit"? It's made the voice recognition completely unusable to me. Which is a shame, because I liked yelling those words at my team mates.

Same problem, and I have to talk really loudly and expressively for the game to recognize my voice. Simply talking normal/monotone doesn't work and exhaling out of my mouth tends to get a "I have no idea what you just said" from my squadmates.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on February 29, 2012, 11:27:35 am
I had an issue with words starting with f, just picking them up randomly (Faye, Fuck etc) but there is an option to tell the game how much background noise there is in the option menu, see if that helps you out.

Also just checked my playthrough with someone else's playthrough, plus one of the trailers I saw. Do not quote me just yet, but it looks like this game is going to have multiple endings! Now just to figure out how I got the ending I did.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on March 01, 2012, 02:24:51 pm
Still think I prefer all four of the mainline Yakuza titles though! Just felt this game missed that extra chapter or two to push it above and beyond.
I think the game could have benefited from a few more Lower City levels.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 01, 2012, 05:46:15 pm
I think the game could have benefited from a few more Lower City levels.

Nah, it just needed another two chapters I felt, just so the story lasted longer and a bit longer, but it's still a fantastic game and if a sequel ever gets made (Considering how little it seems to have sold, doubtful!) I am sure they would improve the length of the game!
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 02, 2012, 09:29:07 am
So just verified, there are four different endings depending on the trust of certain characters, so whilst there are three normal endings, there is one that is indeed a GOOD ending. (Just changes the final cutscene and probably how hard the boss will be... That's about it)
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 02, 2012, 12:52:41 pm
Just some initial impressions so far.

Good interface, nice spin on the gameplay mechanic introduced by GOW.


Characters are good,like the western voice acting as it fits the various main characters...but

The japanese voice acting is more superior, you get the idea of the drama of the situation more. The western voices are full of character but they're more exclamations of drama rather than actually selling you the drama of the situation.

The story is tight and it also shows you can actually create a story for this type of genre instead of an outline of a story and just blast away. The ploy combined with the gameplay kept me engrossed in this game more than your average shooter has been able to do.

Its obvious some reviewers haven't played the game properly yet as the consequences system does affect gp and that's going through various situations. On both (play) copies i have.

Like VANQUISH before it with BINARY DOMAIN the japanese developers has issued a direct challenge to the western game makers holy grail on how to produce a shooter, or a different way to approch it. The game is not a GoW killer or a Halo killer but it is a step in the right direction because its a serious attempt by a japanese developer to do so. it is fitting that Sega was the company to do so.

To me the game's not finished. Its finished in the sense that its a complete game but to me it seems they have left a lot of things out so they could do or include these things in a sequel. A lot of things could have been expanded upon. It just felt we were getting a "demo" of the actual game rather then getting the whole game, but that's my opinion. Hopefully this will sell enough to see what's in stall down the line.

Like VANQUISH the game excels in boss battles straight from the arcade past and executed in a modern way. This has been missing for a very long time. A boss battle is supposed to heighten your senses and give you a sort of trepidation if it was a real good boss level. Like all the real good bosses are meant to do no matter how use to it you are as a player. it seems as far as  i'm concerned that Nagoshi and his team has managed to achieve that.

More games like this for the consumer market please Sega and not just from one studio.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Team Andromeda on March 03, 2012, 02:29:45 am
It's so sad that on a so called SEGA site and when SEGA release a BIG and quite brilliant game no more people are talking about this gem .

I can't believe how good this game is or who good it looks too . This game is so much fun and way better than GOW III and the bosses battles are just the best and the graphics are nothing short of sensational . The Yakuza team have gone from poor animation and lacking with next gen shaders to now displaying some of the best animation and using almost every next gen shader there is with millions and millions of polygons on screen - The world just looks so solid, so real its amazing and I love the constant use of environment mapping and motion blur ect .

Sure there are issues, but its the team 1st go at a game like this and that what's a sequel is for . It just a shame that yet again SEGA inept PR dept have let the Team down - With no TV slots hardly any Magazine push and the most basic and cheap on-line push .


SEGA bits followers do your self a favour and buy this game
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: max_cady on March 03, 2012, 03:57:38 am
I was a bit on the fence on this one, but everything I've seen thus far has convinced me to get the title. When you think about it, Sega's Binary Domain is actually a good fit for early 2012, because there aren't many TPS in the horizon right now. Though it is true that interest in the game has only spiked due to the amount of footage that has been shown thus far.

Speaking of which, here's an awesome playthrough of Binary Domain done by Spill.com, they comment while playing, cracking a lot of jokes(spoiler warning though):
http://my.spill.com/profiles/blogs/the-loading-bar-presents-jeff-and-jason-play-binary-domain (http://my.spill.com/profiles/blogs/the-loading-bar-presents-jeff-and-jason-play-binary-domain)
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 03, 2012, 12:42:54 pm
It's so sad that on a so called SEGA site and when SEGA release a BIG and quite brilliant game no more people are talking about this gem .

I can't believe how good this game is or who good it looks too . This game is so much fun and way better than GOW III and the bosses battles are just the best and the graphics are nothing short of sensational . The Yakuza team have gone from poor animation and lacking with next gen shaders to now displaying some of the best animation and using almost every next gen shader there is with millions and millions of polygons on screen - The world just looks so solid, so real its amazing and I love the constant use of environment mapping and motion blur ect .

Sure there are issues, but its the team 1st go at a game like this and that what's a sequel is for . It just a shame that yet again SEGA inept PR dept have let the Team down - With no TV slots hardly any Magazine push and the most basic and cheap on-line push .


SEGA bits followers do your self a favour and buy this game
Segabit followers aren't enough. I know half of them will buy this game. What bothers me is these nitwits who go on how great a sega game is on numourous sites than don't buy it and then have the audacity to complain when Sega doesn't make a sequel. in the old days the old sega would have made another sequel of a game that didn't do great but under satomi's sega, that will never happen ever. And while that's a shame i kinda agree that Sega can't keep making games for the sake of it because of stupid nintendo owners screaming for one type of game and then not buying it or others going on how great asnd why no sequel to VANQUISH and VALKYRIE CHRONICLES Aae but didn't buy it in the first place. I'll pull my hair out if this happens again. There's enough gamers who know about this game that aren't particularly Sega afficiandos and they the ones who need to get of their fat arse and buy it. Sega's problem is letting the outside world know about the game, you know people who own a console but aren't living in a gamers world. Seganeeds to reach them. but don't. that's where Sega fux up. IMHO its a bit of both. false promises and inept advertising.

Remember that expression you wait all day for a bus than two come along at once. its funny how Sega kinda ends up with two shooters that are not only good but ends up or will end up influencing western shooters. Once again to be this good...

As for PR isn't Nagoshi in charge of that now? I think he shares the same problem you have with it at least the western department because of the position he's just been put in charge of, sega's image as it werer In japan weve seen how advertising can affect the sales of a shooter, the fact BD has gotten to number two is very good for a genre a lot of japanese game consumers have not taken to. But of course Sega west knows better....
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: SEGA_Portuguese on March 03, 2012, 01:06:59 pm
Segabit followers aren't enough. I know half of them will buy this game. What bothers me is these nitwits who go on how great a sega game is on numourous sites than don't buy it and then have the audacity to complain when Sega doesn't make a sequel. 

I'm pretty much sure this gonna happen. People at internet are saying "darr, seems a good game, i'm waiting for bargain price". Those people will be THE SAME ones that will go one year later in Sonic videos and say: "hey SEGA, where's Binary Domain 2? Stop shitty Sonic games and give us Binary 2! You hate your fans, why dont you listen us?"

 
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Suzuki Yu on March 03, 2012, 01:28:21 pm
BTW i just finished the "no mercy" difficulty and yeah the fate of the characters changes depends on how high the trust meter is with each squad mate.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Kori-Maru on March 03, 2012, 05:13:48 pm
BTW i just finished the "no mercy" difficulty and yeah the fate of the characters changes depends on how high the trust meter is with each squad mate.
So, this means that there's multiple endings in this game? By the way, I officially hate [SPOILERS] after fighting the final boss. >:(
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 03, 2012, 10:49:23 pm
BTW i just finished the "no mercy" difficulty and yeah the fate of the characters changes depends on how high the trust meter is with each squad mate.

Yeap. Just completed the game a second time through for the best possible ending! Here are the four variations of the ending and what gets you them. Spoilers of course!


WARNING SPOILERS READ IF YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED

Ending 1: Low trust Bo, low trust Cain. Bo betrays the Rust Crew, Rachel sacrifices herself to save Faye. Bo dies due to injuries sustained fighting Dan and the Rust Crew

Ending 2: Low trust Bo, High trust Cain. Bo betrays the Rust Crew, Cain manages save Faye without anyone sacrificing themselves. Bo dies due to injuries sustained fighting Dan and the Rust Crew

Ending 3: High trust Bo, low trust Cain. Bo fights alongside the Rust Crew to take down Phillps, but sacrifices himself to save Faye. Dies of his injuries later on.

Ending 4 (Best Ending): High trust Bo, High trust Cain. Cain flies from the sky and crashes down in a hail of bullets to join the Rust Crew (Because he's that awesome) Bo fights alongside the Rust Crew to take down Phillps, Cain manages save Faye without anyone getting harmed. The whole of the Rust Crew lives.


SPOILERS END!

Such a shame though, really would love more Binary Domain, but highly unlikely at the moment unless it somehow manages to become a consistent seller, which is even more doubtful.

Should mention I was playing Invasion tonight and someone knew me from SEGAbits! I feel so famous now. But yeah, if anyone is willing to arrange a community mash up for Playstation 3 users, I'm completely for it!
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Team Andromeda on March 04, 2012, 02:15:08 am
Quote
Segabit followers aren't enough. I know half of them will buy this game.

Yeah but I would expect this site more than most to be talking about this game, but even this site is a letdown about this brilliant game.

Quote
VANQUISH and VALKYRIE CHRONICLES Aae but didn't buy it in the first place.

Val Chronicles I can sort of understand - It wasn't multi platform and it was on the PS3 at the time when the system was really expensive , plus its it was a game in a really limited genre. Vanquished I know , but I really don't consider that to be A SEGA game (please lets not get into a debate about it, I just don't)

Quote
As for PR isn't Nagoshi in charge of that now?

Maybe in Japan, but I doubt SOJ have much say on PR for the West  Japan isn't the problem this game needs to sell well in the west . SEGA will spend millions and millions on pushing a game like Sonic (which don't really need a big push) and not spend anything on pushing a brand new IP (where it needs a big push) . I'm getting sick of this now, and this has been the case since the death of the DC , where SEGA's PR is totally and utterly inept.

Shame this game is a stunning achievement on almost every level and for me blows Gears III out of the water , can only imagine what the team could do with a sequel , shame then if this games bombs we'll never get to see it .I'm the 1st to have a pop at SEGA Japan and their next gen piple lines and games, but this game is just stunning and totally brilliant and the best SEGA Japan I've played since Orta  (well maybe Yakuza II) - Its harks back to the SEGA of old :- Stunning next gen gfx, brilliant sound and where SEGA take an established genre and puts their own unique spin on it .

This game deservers so much more .
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on March 04, 2012, 08:44:33 am
What about non-ending variations?... For example:

SPOILER:


Can you prevent Shindo from dying? Or have more interactions with Kurosawa? What about Charlie and Rachel?
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Barry the Nomad on March 04, 2012, 08:47:57 am
Yeah but I would expect this site more than most to be talking about this game, but even this site is a letdown about this brilliant game.

Dude, what the hell? Why are you going all emo on SEGAbits? We've reported on nearly EVERY trailer, every press release, most extended demo videos, the Japanese DLC, we had a weekly five, we had talked about it numerous times in the podcast, we had an interview with Nagoshi AND we'll have a review once George writes it up.

Calling SEGAbits a letdown when it comes to talking about Binary Domain is a bit insulting, given all the effort we put into all of the above.

CHeck it out, six pages of Binary Domain news: http://segabits.com/blog/tag/binary-domain/
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Shigs on March 04, 2012, 08:56:01 am
Seriously, we've done more to support this game than any other site out there.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Team Andromeda on March 04, 2012, 10:24:16 am
Dude, what the hell? Why are you going all emo on SEGAbits? We've reported on nearly EVERY trailer, every press release, most extended demo videos, the Japanese DLC, we had a weekly five, we had talked about it numerous times in the podcast, we had an interview with Nagoshi AND we'll have a review once George writes it up.

Calling SEGAbits a letdown when it comes to talking about Binary Domain is a bit insulting, given all the effort we put into all of the above.

CHeck it out, six pages of Binary Domain news: http://segabits.com/blog/tag/binary-domain/

I'm not having a go at the site, I'm on about the posters , one's who are meant to be SEGA fans and yet with a game like this (a gem) are strangely quite , its quite depressing really the lack of chat on this game on the forum
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on March 04, 2012, 02:37:54 pm
Maybe it's because everyone agrees with each other that it's an amazing game. No need to discuss or argue when that's the case.

I can't comment about the game yet though. Still haven't received it sigh. That's what you get when you go for the cheapest solution
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Sharky on March 04, 2012, 03:58:04 pm
I havent recieved my copy yet either... Channel Islands...
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CovertVector on March 04, 2012, 06:27:18 pm
 I just stared playing over the weekend and I'm having a blast so far!

Single Player: I'm only at Chapter 2, hopefully I'll meet Cain (?) soon. Not much else to say except I'm excited to see how the story progresses.

Multi Player: Played a couple of matches and had no lag in either game (no one else seemed to be lagging either). Now I just need to pay attention for claymores. ;_; Survival mode went surprisingly well; I had expected a lot more dying and we even made it to Wave 45 in my first game! :D

Now I just need to find more time to devote to the single-player.

Edit: Seeing as this is my first post, I guess I'll go ahead and say "Hello!" Nice to meet you all, and hopefully we can get in a few games of Binary Domain! :) (Hi Aki!)
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: MadeManG74 on March 04, 2012, 06:33:05 pm
Ain't got mine yet, because I know I wouldn't have time to play it right now. I'll wait until I finish the games I'm currently playing and then get it, or get it if I see it on special somewhere.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Barry the Nomad on March 04, 2012, 06:40:39 pm
Ain't got mine yet, because I know I wouldn't have time to play it right now. I'll wait until I finish the games I'm currently playing and then get it, or get it if I see it on special somewhere.

Same here. I'll have the money for the game in a few weeks, and will have the time to play it then too. I considered buying it this weekend, and canceling a few Amazon pre-orders I had (blu-rays, mostly) to balance the price, but I don't have time to play it this week anyway.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: segaismysavior on March 05, 2012, 10:19:54 am
its quite depressing really the lack of chat on this game on the forum

I've had the game since release, but I haven't had much time to play it. Otherwise, I'd be mouthing off like crazy about what was great and what felt half-assed.

I agree about it being more interesting than Gears 3, but it understandably has a away to go before reaching the heights of that series. Three titles and a multiplayer Beta are hard to catch up to on the first go, but Nagoshi's team has a done a respectable job at the design of this game with a few technical hiccups. The cinematics of BD though are pretty close to Vanquish at being the sharpest I've seen in a game (but with better story).
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Barry the Nomad on March 05, 2012, 10:28:45 am
BD has already dropped $5-$6 on Amazon (depending on the console you buy it for):

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Domain-Xbox-360/dp/B004EW7LSY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330964915&sr=8-1

edit: $45 at Newegg!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874163050
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 05, 2012, 11:36:02 am
Well its time for those Sega PR guys to lose their jobs...




Quote
Top 40 Entertainment Software (All Prices), Week Ending 03 March 2012

1.SSX – ELECTRONIC ARTS
2.FIFA 12 – ELECTRONIC ARTS
3.MARIO PARTY 9 – NINTENDO
4.UNCHARTED: GOLDEN ABYSS – SONY COMPUTER ENT.
5.MARIO & SONIC LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES – SEGA
6.UFC UNDISPUTED 3 – THQ
7.CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3 – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
8.FIFA FOOTBALL – ELECTRONIC ARTS
9.ASSASSIN’S CREED: REVELATIONS – UBISOFT
10.BATTLEFIELD 3 – ELECTRONIC ARTS
11.SYNDICATE – ELECTRONIC ARTS
12.BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY – WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
13.THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM – BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
14.ZUMBA FITNESS – 505 GAMES
15.FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 – SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
16.RAYMAN ORIGINS – UBISOFT
17.JUST DANCE 3 – UBISOFT
18.SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD – THQ
19.UNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION – SONY COMPUTER ENT.
20.RAGE – BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
21.SKYLANDERS: SPYRO’S ADVENTURE – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
22.KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING – ELECTRONIC ARTS
23.SUPER MARIO 3D LAND – NINTENDO
24.FORZA MOTORSPORT 4 – MICROSOFT
25.METAL GEAR SOLID HD COLLECTION – KONAMI
26.ZUMBA FITNESS 2 – 505 GAMES
27.FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS ULTIMATE EDITION – BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
28.F1 2011 – CODEMASTERS
29.MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLING ZOO – MIND CANDY
30.LEGO PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN – DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
31.MARIO KART 7 – NINTENDO
32.LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 5-7 – WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
33.THE DARKNESS II – TAKE 2
34.SONIC GENERATIONS – SEGA
35.THE SIMS 3 – ELECTRONIC ARTS
36.SKATE 3 – ELECTRONIC ARTS
37.THE SIMS 3: PETS – ELECTRONIC ARTS
38.DEAD ISLAND – KOCH MEDIA
39.BINARY DOMAIN – SEGA
40.CARS 2 – DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS

I've seen SSX plastered all over the place in the UK and nothing on BD which is a big game. And who gets the highest chart position? The game advertised. Can Sega be that suprised of its bad showing especially in the UK where Sega games usually sell stronger over here? And it isn't even a strong release week for big games which is even greater the crime that Sega PR has committed. Not good enough at all considering the legacy of Sega's marketing of the past this is what were stuck with now. Too many big Sega games have flopped because of these guys its time for a major rethink.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: SEGA_Portuguese on March 05, 2012, 11:51:11 am
Ruby was asking for the fans to talk about Yakuza DS for all friends on SEGA official forum, then i said:

Quote
Well, im gonna do everything i can to help Yakuza, but really, i dont know if makes difference. I did a lot of things to help Binary Domain and in the end the european sales was horrible the same way. I cant put in words how much sad i am because the sales of Binary Domain.

And Ruby answered me:

Quote
The most important thing is that you chose to support the game and did your part. If you give up, how can you ever succeed in helping a game you love grow? Some battles are hard, and you won't always win - but often, it's making the effort that is what really counts.

I'll also voice some support for Binary - fans of Dead Souls and the Yakuza franchise should definitely check it out.


I respect Ruby a lot, but the fans can't do miracles. 
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 05, 2012, 12:08:27 pm
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Yeah but I would expect this site more than most to be talking about this game, but even this site is a letdown about this brilliant game.

Well unless Sonic isnt involved you don't get an 80 page talkback. You can't have a proper discussion on VF or any non sonic sega game without someone mentioning sonic this or that. And if you don't mention it the topic dies a quick death. But that really comes to the average age of most of the posters in here. which would be around 17-20 something. I'm way outside that age bracket and remember a time when Sega made games before sonic was a blue blink in anyone's eye. So its depressing to see that its hardly the big thing in the forums. Apart from the fact or in my case i'm still playing the game. 

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Val Chronicles I can sort of understand - It wasn't multi platform and it was on the PS3 at the time when the system was really expensive , plus its it was a game in a really limited genre. Vanquished I know , but I really don't consider that to be A SEGA game (please lets not get into a debate about it, I just don't)

It is one, A Sega second party game. In the fine tradition of many second party Sega games over the decades.
It doesn't matter if you do or not acept it as a sega game, the profits was the thing that sega would benefit from. or didn't as much  in VANQUISH's case.

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Maybe in Japan, but I doubt SOJ have much say on PR for the West  Japan isn't the problem this game needs to sell well in the west . SEGA will spend millions and millions on pushing a game like Sonic (which don't really need a big push) and not spend anything on pushing a brand new IP (where it needs a big push) . I'm getting sick of this now, and this has been the case since the death of the DC , where SEGA's PR is totally and utterly inept.

TA, Sega is a centralised operation nowadays, SOJ has more control over Sega west (especially since SoE and SOA have merged) than they did under the wild west cowboy gold rush days of Kalinske's SOA. If Nagoshi is in charge of Sega's brand name that will include ALL Sega operations not just japan. And Nagoshi has had his run in with western Sega PR more than once so he's well aware that they need the change most of all.

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Shame this game is a stunning achievement on almost every level and for me blows Gears III out of the water , can only imagine what the team could do with a sequel , shame then if this games bombs we'll never get to see it .I'm the 1st to have a pop at SEGA Japan and their next gen piple lines and games, but this game is just stunning and totally brilliant and the best SEGA Japan I've played since Orta  (well maybe Yakuza II) - Its harks back to the SEGA of old :- Stunning next gen gfx, brilliant sound and where SEGA take an established genre and puts their own unique spin on it .

This game deservers so much more .
I won't disagree with that apart i'd say is the best Sega produced game since ORTA and the best Sega game i've played since RGG and that's down to originality or offering new elements in a estabilshed genre. Even though i don't think its a real finished product.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on March 05, 2012, 12:55:20 pm
Hey ROJM, that's dissapointing to say the least... I agree that SEGA really isn't knowing what they're doing. I mean even if the marketing would cost too much money in order for binary domain to make profit, the IP needs recognition and alot of IP start this way to go big with the sequel. Dead space is a great example of that.

But if I may ask, for what region/country is  that? The game has been getting alot of positive reactions, and sometimes word of mouth can help a game as well.

Anyway, still very sad
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: segaismysavior on March 05, 2012, 03:08:51 pm
I've seen SSX plastered all over the place in the UK and nothing on BD which is a big game. And who gets the highest chart position? The game advertised.

To be fair, SSX is also an established IP that hasn't seen a game for a while. It doesn't help that most people are saving up for Mass Effect 3... so few new IPs are gonna make a dent right away at $60 a pop.

When I walked into Gamestop and said I was here to pick up a preorder, the sales rep imediately asked if it was SSX. I declined and said Binary Domain, and she replied "Oh! You're that guy."  :(
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Sharky on March 05, 2012, 05:18:38 pm
Sega West market so badly they have pretty much killed off a bunch of potential great series...
Vanquish, Valkyria Chonicles and now Binary Domain. They could have all been huge, At least Bayonetta managed to escape their nonsense and strike out on word of mouth.

Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: max_cady on March 05, 2012, 06:21:40 pm
Well, the sales for Binary Domain are a little bleak, that's a given. Like many of Nagoshi's games, Japanese sales are where most of the profit comes from.

I expected an even worse drop (Valkyria Chronicles was dead on arrival), but I just cling to the hope that Binary Domain will be a slow burn. Hopefully word of mouth will help.

The game's been getting a lot more attention after it's release. The latest is Howcast Gaming who is doing a major playthrough(warning: spoilers)

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABB49B9E21D302A7&feature=plcp (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABB49B9E21D302A7&feature=plcp)
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: MadeManG74 on March 05, 2012, 06:55:23 pm
Has Segabits ever tried to approach a marketing person from Sega for an interview? It seems that Sega's marketing get's bashed from pillar to post on these forums, it would be interesting to actually ask them the hard questions. Sega probably doesn't want to give too much away but it would be good to actually get a conversation going to see the reasons they felt BD shouldn't get a lot of spending for marketing etc.

One thing that's important to note is that games are given set budgets for marketing not by the Marketing people themselves, but by the management. If they are only given a shoe-string budget to spend on BD then theres not a lot they can really do, and it's unfair to berate them for not having TV campaigns etc which would cost a fortune.

Of course this just directs the anger towards management instead, but again it would be good to get some insight.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Centrale on March 05, 2012, 07:59:35 pm
Quote from: MadeManG74
One thing that's important to note is that games are given set budgets for marketing not by the Marketing people themselves, but by the management. If they are only given a shoe-string budget to spend on BD then theres not a lot they can really do, and it's unfair to berate them for not having TV campaigns etc which would cost a fortune.

Well, I think you pretty much said it all right there, and I'd be surprised if any PR people would be candid enough to say the same thing.  All they would say is they do the best with what they have.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: SEGA_Portuguese on March 05, 2012, 09:40:07 pm
Do you guys know if this is a good headset for Binary Domain?

http://www.itechnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Sony-PS3-Bluetooth-Headset-2.0.jpg

There is the other one, but that one is too much expensive. I was thinking in buy this one, but i'm afraid maybe will not work well with BD.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: George on March 05, 2012, 09:51:13 pm
Yeah, the one I use for the podcast doesn't work for shit with voice commands. After a few hours of tweaking, I just gave the fuck up.

My friend does wholesale, I'll contact him if he will hook me up with a Turtle Beach headset.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 06, 2012, 05:41:38 am
By my calculations, UK sales stand at around 4k - 6k, which is terrible when you consider Rise of Nightmare did better. If SEGA Europe/America keep this up, better not expect SEGA Japan to attempt any global brands in the future. I just do not understand it either, Binary Domain is clearly something that could do quite well in the West, or at the very least, better than where it is now.

Edit: Seeing as this is my first post, I guess I'll go ahead and say "Hello!" Nice to meet you all, and hopefully we can get in a few games of Binary Domain! :) (Hi Aki!)

Hey there Covert! Good game that day, shame about those damn crabs, quite glad I managed to do that one round all by myself though haha. Robots certainly are much more dangerous in multiplayer than singleplayer thats for sure, mind if I add you on PSN?
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 06, 2012, 07:12:56 am
Has Segabits ever tried to approach a marketing person from Sega for an interview? It seems that Sega's marketing get's bashed from pillar to post on these forums, it would be interesting to actually ask them the hard questions. Sega probably doesn't want to give too much away but it would be good to actually get a conversation going to see the reasons they felt BD shouldn't get a lot of spending for marketing etc.

One thing that's important to note is that games are given set budgets for marketing not by the Marketing people themselves, but by the management. If they are only given a shoe-string budget to spend on BD then theres not a lot they can really do, and it's unfair to berate them for not having TV campaigns etc which would cost a fortune.

Of course this just directs the anger towards management instead, but again it would be good to get some insight.

But that's only true in Japan, it doesn't really apply to sega west. It sure as hell didn't back in the genesis/megadrive days. Sega Japan has been amping this title for nearly a year now, they've even given Nagoshi his own studio to help launch this title. They do all that just to have a non existant ad campaign in the UK and America because they didn't give Sega west enough money? The same Sega west i may add that's been buying new studios and setting them up in the last 6 months?
Sega west has always been able to set their own campaign budgets and let's face it Sega is still one of the bigger companies out there so they have the money to advertise. But they obviously seem to think that advertising is putting up trailers on the internet where the people they need to reach to don't go on you tube to check out game trailers. Or like TA said go with easy choices like SONIC and even ALIENS VS PREDATOR that got advertised on TV. And that campaign was used effectivly in the UK because it was advertised during a film season of Aliens on a british film and tv channel. Or idiotic choices like MADWORLD being advertised during Smallville. Wrong audience at the wrong time, when they could have advertised it during the same time as escape from new york was being shown on another channel, which would have been cheaper and the target audience would have been watching. Stupid decisions has marred at least the british side of things and from what i heard the american side of things isn't much better, especially from what i heard about what happened with ALPHA PROTOCOL. 

And it isn't a management thing. This is a marketing dept. thing and it has been a major problem for a while now. As i mentioned before, Nagoshi had a big bust up over Sega PR guys over YAKUZA when the game was meant to debut at E3 2005 but he decided against it because they "didn't get it." and did his own press conference a few months later.  And we all saw how they got it when the terrible localisation of YAKUZA finally appeared.
Nintendo is going to market RHYTHM THIEF R when its released so we will see how well that title does. if it does do well it would really be the final insult,that nintendo knows how to market a sega game better than sega themselves.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 06, 2012, 07:24:35 am
Hey ROJM, that's dissapointing to say the least... I agree that SEGA really isn't knowing what they're doing. I mean even if the marketing would cost too much money in order for binary domain to make profit, the IP needs recognition and alot of IP start this way to go big with the sequel. Dead space is a great example of that.

But if I may ask, for what region/country is  that? The game has been getting alot of positive reactions, and sometimes word of mouth can help a game as well.

Anyway, still very sad

Its Britain. The third biggest games market and in Sega's case their biggest market in who buys the most games of their brand. And that's what makes it worst. Sega has always had a good showing in europe across the board, yet their biggest game to date fails in britain. god knows how it did in Spain, portugal, france which besides britain are the other traditional sega strongholds sales wise.


Ruby was asking for the fans to talk about Yakuza DS for all friends on SEGA official forum, then i said:

And Ruby answered me:


I respect Ruby a lot, but the fans can't do miracles.

Unfortunatly that's the type of garbage you will have to get use to at the good old sega forums,SP. You're correct what can one fan do when a company with millions in the bank can do much more than they are actually doing.


Sega West market so badly they have pretty much killed off a bunch of potential great series...
Vanquish, Valkyria Chonicles and now Binary Domain. They could have all been huge, At least Bayonetta managed to escape their nonsense and strike out on word of mouth.
Come to think of it BAYONETTA was never advertised on the telly, was it.Lucky indeed.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 06, 2012, 07:52:46 am
I'd also like to add, just look at the excitement from SEGA themselves. Go to SEGA's official blog and see how many posts there are for Binary Domain, only 12. There is no one in SEGA's blogging staff that is drumming up any excitement for it, Sonic 4 Episode 2 already has 11 posts! Valkyria Chronicles all have more than Binary Domain and its more than likely Binary Domain will not break past 20 posts.

Blog posts are not an important part of marketing at all, but it does show even more the apathy SEGA West has for this title.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Barry the Nomad on March 06, 2012, 08:45:39 am
I'm surprised SEGA Blog has not written about the game a lot more. They're in a very unique position: they're the SEGA Blog! Writing a BD article wouldn't take away from the marketing budget, in fact aside from the time an employee spends writing up a blog post, it's free marketing. Better yet, SEGA Blog could repost articles from blogs like SEGAbits or link readers to them.

I really think SEGA West's employees just aren't fans of the game, so they don't post about it as much as other titles.

They should really bring on guest writers from the community. Pay them with merch or free games.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: SEGA_Portuguese on March 06, 2012, 08:47:39 am
I'd also like to add, just look at the excitement from SEGA themselves. Go to SEGA's official blog and see how many posts there are for Binary Domain, only 12. There is no one in SEGA's blogging staff that is drumming up any excitement for it, Sonic 4 Episode 2 already has 11 posts! Valkyria Chronicles all have more than Binary Domain and its more than likely Binary Domain will not break past 20 posts.

Blog posts are not an important part of marketing at all, but it does show even more the apathy SEGA West has for this title.


Also, one day before the european release, they were more worried in talk about the Sonic 4 trailer and Jet Set Radio trailer. Reallly, both Sonic 4 and JSR are still far from the release date, why they chose the day before the release date for BD to talk about those games? And in the day for the american release, they were talking about the grafitti contest for JSR.

Everything about the marketing for Binary Domain was so strange that is hard to understand. I saw a dude on twitter saying that, he works in a game place and he said that they have very few copies of BD because nobody did a pre-order, so they was like "all right, this game will bomb, let's not stock too much copies". This is the only reason i can see, two months before the release the pre-orders was like 200 or 300 copies, so SEGA just gave up the game. I'm not saying this is right, but is the only reason i can find.


Ah, and Barry, i was not joking on the comments section, you guys really did a better job in the marketing than SEGA did. SEGA should hire SEGABits people for the marketing.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 06, 2012, 08:54:27 am
Please Aki, tell me you are kidding.

I've got a feeling they're saving their budget for ALIENS COLONIAL MARINES. That's the only possible explanation. Which means if its true that Sega west is deliberatly screwing this game over. This would never have happened under Kalinske's day. He could pardon the expression make a turd look like gold  with the hype and marketing that some games had even though many people at the time knew the game wasn't up to scracthe.

Look, Segabits has some sway these days, I dunno if its possible to get some interview with A sega PR guy like MM suggested  or better yet highlight the problem with Sega and their marketing department. I really do feel that some sort of attention needs to be brought onto this. Following TA's sentiment enough is enough already. If Sega PR can't do their job its time somebody embarrases them to do it. I don't want to see a game like this go into the hole of no return like many good games this gen from Sega
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CovertVector on March 06, 2012, 03:05:20 pm
Hey there Covert! Good game that day, shame about those damn crabs, quite glad I managed to do that one round all by myself though haha. Robots certainly are much more dangerous in multiplayer than singleplayer thats for sure, mind if I add you on PSN?

Sorry for the late reply. And I agree, the robots definitely hit harder in multiplayer than in singleplayer. Also, yes, feel free to add me on PSN! Maybe we can get another game in soon. :)
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Ben on March 06, 2012, 10:13:49 pm
Quote
Yeah but I would expect this site more than most to be talking about this game, but even this site is a letdown about this brilliant game.

We have done features on the game, as Barry has pointed out, as well as posting all the released trailers and news. Truthfully, there hasn't been a lot of that going on throughout Binary Domain's development, something you can talk to Sega West about. 


(Posts on the Sega blog do little, I don't think non-Sega fans read the Sega blog, and you really need the success of more than just fans of a publisher to sell a new IP.)

Quote
Come to think of it BAYONETTA was never advertised on the telly, was it.Lucky indeed.

Bayonetta actually did get a TV commercial in North America...it wasn't great, but it helped put the game's name out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPJTf01_W1Q
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Psycho Echidna on March 07, 2012, 03:09:26 am
I tend to agree with Joe. The game breathes Sega (I/we loved) through all its aspect : ambiance , story, soundtrack, existing gameplay with sega spin...

The game even gets recognition via couple of gamers forums.

Another stupid step from Sega west in my eyes is the removal of RGGG logo at the boot of the us/eu game. There is some odd dynamic between soj and soa/soe on this game and this is getting reflected in the pr approach.

Sad as this games cries for a second opus...
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Team Andromeda on March 07, 2012, 01:16:23 pm
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unless Sonic isnt involved you don't get an 80 page talkback. You can't have a proper discussion on VF or any non sonic sega game without someone mentioning sonic this or that.

Yeah, Kind of a poor show :(.


Quote
ell unless Sonic isnt involved you don't get an 80 page talkback. You can't have a proper discussion on VF or any non sonic sega game without someone mentioning sonic this or that.

Not on about profits , more about a game SEGA it's self made. To me Van was just a game SEGA picked up and published, nothing more .

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TA, Sega is a centralised operation nowadays, SOJ has more control over Sega west

Well its worse now than ever . I've not seen one single add for BD or even a Magazine ad .

Quote
I won't disagree with that apart i'd say is the best Sega produced game since ORTA and the best Sega game i've played since RGG and that's down to originality or offering new elements in a estabilshed genre. Even though i don't think its a real finished product

Oh its a close call with Yakuza II which was just SEGA at its very best . It's own spin and pushing the platform to its limits . Can only imagine what the same team could do with a sequel to Binary Domain , give how much they improved Yakuza II over Yakuza .

Shame SEGA inept PR have all but made sure we'll never find out
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Ben on March 07, 2012, 05:07:44 pm
Just felt compelled to write a blog post about what I thought could have been done far better here with marketing this game, thought I'd post it here to see if it adds to the discussion;

Or you can read it in blog format here;

http://nintendosega54.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-post-binary-domains-sales-woes-and.html

Quote
It's never an easy thing to sell a new property. Looking back at Binary Domain's ride to release, it was certainly on a road rife with ups and downs. The game's first trailer was not received well, to put it mildly. The script, voice acting, and character designs, often a tricky thing with games coming from Japan, all came under immediate scrutiny, and for a different reason than is often the case; this was a game that tried, maybe too hard, to appeal to Western tastes. It was a game intended as a worldwide hit, and probably a new franchise for Sega, whose own Toshihiro Nagoshi (Yakuza, Super Monkey Ball, F-Zero GX) headed up its development. But even so, very little was done in the West to establish and promote Binary Domain as a must-have title. Though future trailers unquestionably got better, this never was positioned as a potential hit, its marketing never established its own identity, and it didn't, I feel, do enough to highlight its distinguishing features and to make it stand out from the crowded market of third person shooters.

Once released, reports of modestly successful sales in Japan were clouded a good deal by what can only be described as a complete sales tragedy in the UK, and the game is already being discounted at several retailers in North America; never a good sign, especially for a title developed for worldwide tastes. Binary Domain, it's sad to say, was an example of the difficulty often experienced by publishers to release and promote new franchises, especially when a Japanese studio is attempting it in the West. This is what I personally feel could have been done better in this case. Keep in mind, I haven't played this game beyond the demo (Mass Effect 3 came out this month, more on that later) so this is coming, I'd like to think, from a place of non-bias. I'm a gaming (and gaming industry) fan and a Sega fan, certainly not one with marketing experience or the knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes at companies like Sega. But this is what I feel, as an observer, were the flaws in the marketing of Binary Domain and many other new franchises which stumble out of the gate.

Target Demographic
Before anything else is accomplished, before a game is even finished with its development, I feel that deciding a target audience should always be the first step. If this is accomplished early on, it then allows a publisher to immediately begin to focus on interesting this audience all throughout its development. Binary Domain's focus was always tricky; was it targeting fans of Japanese games or fans of Western shooters? Was it targeting sci fi heads or the more mainstream Gears of War fans who likely think of sci fi as nerdy? It really was just never clear what type of game this was, with some trailers highlighting a heavy focus on story while others showed off Binary Domain's various gamaplay systems. But little was here that made this game pop out to anybody who wasn't already looking out for it. And very little to alone attract any sort of strong following in any particular demographic.

Take a game like Skylanders, for example. For all intents and purposes, this was a new IP that just happened to feature Spyro the Dragon; the planned sequel will be removing Spyro from its title entirely, which just goes to show how much the Skylanders have become their own entity. Never was an effort made to cater to Spyro fans, and I definitely never saw any commercials for Skylanders during the shows that I watch on TV, but the kids the game was targeting all had seen them and were well aware of its release. Activision has clearly managed to market well to their target demographic of 8-13 year old kids, and the game has become a massive hit. Had Sega West picked a demographic for Binary Domain and focused on appealing to that group, rather than the sometimes confusing "who is this game for" marketing direction that we ultimately received, I think we would have had a stronger-selling title.

The Game Itself
To be fair, not all of this may be Sega West's fault. Some aspects of Binary Domain's confusing transition to overseas markets may have more to do with its own developers. It would definitely surprise me if Sega West was not asked for any input throughout the development of this game, especially with the developers' focus on Western markets, but then again, that's the only conclusion that I could reach when I first saw the laughably stereotypical and overly "macho" cast of characters. People, especially gamers, tend to be cynical, especially when they see noticeable attempts to be "catered to." From the start this was a stumbling block with Binary Domain and though I definitely don't believe that the West should have any input on games being developed for Japan, or a large amount of input on Japanese-developed games in general, a game being made for Western audiences I feel should have been graced with a little bit of at least, "hey, I don't think these characters will go over well with the audience you're trying to attract." The second your potential fanbase thinks "there's a 3rd rate Gears of War," then your game's in trouble.


Delay and no follow-up

What I found so strange about Binary Domain was that the amount of media coverage it was receiving didn't increase as it neared release. You wouldn't have known, from Sega's and the media's treatment of the game, that this was a major title. Instead, I'd compare its handling to that of a small Japanese title coming from a company like Xseed. When a game hits its release date and arrives in the marketplace, that's when the publisher is expected to follow its hype up with a marketing blitz, or at least a moderate bit of awareness raised. Binary Domain didn't have this, and in fact, its situation was complicated by a last minute delay from January to February, which made the little ad campaign it did have (which was mainly focused on internet ads) completely worthless. Internet advertisements are booked far in advance, and I remember being surprised when I began seeing Binary Domain advertisements with relative frequency on game sites like IGN and even movie sites like Comingsoon.net....back in January, after the game had been announced as delayed until the next month. February then rolled around, and at that point, nothing.

Delaying a game at the last minute is rarely a good business move, especially when it's moved into a month where it then finds itself in competition with the highly-anticipated Mass Effect 3, which likely stole a good portion of its potential audience, myself included, I have to say. Not a great move.

TV campaign

Television is of course an expensive brand of advertising and not one that works for all types of games. There is a demographic, though, that TV advertising has done very well with, and that's with games like Gears of War; who doesn't remember those chilling commercials? Certainly action game fans did, and that new franchise did incredibly well.

Marketing's important, there's no doubt about it. By their nature, people cling to what they know. If they enter a store to buy a video game, it's likely going to either be a franchise that's proven itself with them in the past, or a game that "they've heard of." If they haven't "heard of" Binary Domain, why buy it? Commercials are a big way people "hear of" video games, in my experience, and while Binary Domain may not have deserved a gigantic advertising campaign, at least something to get its name out there would have helped. Bayonetta had a North American TV commercial and that game did fairly well here for such a Japanese title. It helps, more often than not.

To sum up

It's never easy to guarantee success with new IP. It's entirely possible that Binary Domain could have had all these things and still flopped majorly on these shores, we don't know. Some things, like its decidedly less-than-great Metacritic average, are areas that the game's actual developers over in Japan bear the bulk of the responsibility for. But these general failings on the part of Western publishers to know how to market or to understand Japanese-developed IP are very common. But it's my opinion anyway that you never know unless you try, and when a company like Sega has Sonic to fall back on financially, it would have been nice if they had tried a little harder with Binary Domain.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Centrale on March 08, 2012, 03:23:57 pm
I think handling the PR in-house might be the problem.  You can bet publishers like EA and Activision don't handle this stuff with internal staff.  They hire agencies who specialize in designing and orchestrating mass media campaigns.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CosmicCastaway on March 08, 2012, 07:32:19 pm
GameTrailers just posted their review of Binary Domain:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-binary-domain/727775
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on March 08, 2012, 09:41:41 pm
^ Did he just complain about the pacing and boss fights? the best elements in the game?

Also, they just reviewed it? Seems like they don't give a shit about the game to begin with.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Ben on March 09, 2012, 02:22:08 am
^ Did he just complain about the pacing and boss fights? the best elements in the game?

Also, they just reviewed it? Seems like they don't give a shit about the game to begin with.

Or, they weren't sent a Review copy until the last minute, a tactic publishers often take if they're afraid of low scores.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on March 09, 2012, 04:35:17 am
Considering other, more critical, gaming outlets have reviewed the game in its first week or prior, I don't think that's the case.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 09, 2012, 05:00:48 am
The pacing and boss battles is some of, if not, one of the best this generation.

Or, they weren't sent a Review copy until the last minute, a tactic publishers often take if they're afraid of low scores.

Considering Gametrailers were given the exclusive announcement trailer for Binary Domain, think its fair to say they must have had one sent prior.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ROJM on March 09, 2012, 05:09:56 am



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Not on about profits , more about a game SEGA it's self made. To me Van was just a game SEGA picked up and published, nothing more .

Actually, it was created to be published by Sega. Sega paid for its development. Sega owns the IP. Also the STG was involved in the development of this title in its final phrase.  So they hardly picked it up.You might as well say RANGER X isn't a sega game or GUARDIAN HEROES, a game you've been clamouring to get a sequel isn't a Sega game. Or even PANZER DRAGOON considering the team that made it wasn't exactly part of the main Sega studio infustruture. As i said its part of a great line of Sega second party games that while are not first party Sega titles tries to deliever the same depth of play innovation originality and excitement that the company who publishes it stands for, 

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Well its worse now than ever . I've not seen one single add for BD or even a Magazine ad .
Yes something has gone wrong but i think its more easier for SOJ to excert their control than it was back in the nineties.


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Oh its a close call with Yakuza II which was just SEGA at its very best . It's own spin and pushing the platform to its limits . Can only imagine what the same team could do with a sequel to Binary Domain , give how much they improved Yakuza II over Yakuza .
I'm talking about bringing fresh ideas to market. There wasn't anything like YAKUZA when it was first released in a stagnant PS2 market.

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Shame SEGA inept PR have all but made sure we'll never find out
:'(
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Ben on March 09, 2012, 09:22:26 pm
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Considering Gametrailers were given the exclusive announcement trailer for Binary Domain, think its fair to say they must have had one sent prior.

Well I know IGN had the Exclusive Review; theirs was I think the only one that went up before the day of the game's release.

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Considering other, more critical, gaming outlets have reviewed the game in its first week or prior, I don't think that's the case.


Well it also depends on how quickly they played through it. :p
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: segaismysavior on March 10, 2012, 08:34:09 pm
I finally finished single player, and I seem to have gotten the lousy ending.  :'( It'd be easier to keep people trusting me if they didn't walk directly into my line of fire.  >:(

I expect to play again for better results, and still haven't tried multiplayer yet. With my stats maxed out, I was cleaning house with headshots, except against the Shinobi bots... ugh.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 11, 2012, 10:10:27 am
Just started this game on No Mercy, it really is brilliant in that mode since it takes forever to take down robots meaning you would probably see quite a few robots without their armour walking around!

Well I know IGN had the Exclusive Review; theirs was I think the only one that went up before the day of the game's release.

IGN probably did get the review copy before anyone else, but Gametrailers review came out before Destructoids, 1UPs, Gamespots, every major media outlet as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on March 19, 2012, 01:36:05 pm
Good news for the Master Race! Binary Domain is coming for PC (In both Digital and Retail form!)

http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/17126/sega-brings-binary-domain-to-the-pc-in-april
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ezodagrom on March 19, 2012, 04:02:13 pm
Good news for the Master Race! Binary Domain is coming for PC (In both Digital and Retail form!)

http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/17126/sega-brings-binary-domain-to-the-pc-in-april
Awesome news, I'm definitely going to buy it.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CovertVector on March 19, 2012, 05:20:23 pm
D: Looks like I'm double-dipping! Hope the system requirements aren't too high...

edit: P.S., Team Fortress 2 hat, please! :<
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: max_cady on March 19, 2012, 05:54:26 pm
Good news for the Master Race! Binary Domain is coming for PC (In both Digital and Retail form!)

http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/17126/sega-brings-binary-domain-to-the-pc-in-april

What? How exactly did they pull off a PC version so quickly like that?
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ezodagrom on March 19, 2012, 05:56:06 pm
What? How exactly did they pull off a PC version so quickly like that?
Most likely they've been working on the PC version for a while, but only announced it now.
According to the Steam store page, the studio that is handling the Binary Domain PC port is the same studio that ported Sonic Generations to the PC, and it's coming on April 6.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/203750/
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: DeSade on March 20, 2012, 03:41:48 am
Finished two days ago and immediately started a new campaign!
Truly one hell of a game! I loved the characters' characterization and i really empathized with them...
Speakin' of gameplay, the game is solid and really fun to PLAY (in oppositon to, for example, a MGS 4 which was only graphic, cheesy dialogue and no fun... ONLY GRAPHIC AND NO FUN MAKE DE SADE A DULL BOY!)
Battle with bosses are epic and tear scrap heads to pieces is damn addicting!  ;D
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 20, 2012, 06:15:41 am
Playing Binary Domain on my third playthrough (Though to be fair I've been playing Dead Souls in between, oldschool arcade action!) on No Mercy with aim to get the best possible ending, Cain seriously is one of the best characters this generation. A spinoff (Even better, a sequel!) starring him would be the best thing, just hope the recent announcement of a PC version will ensure Binary Domain continues to sell well long into the future.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on March 20, 2012, 06:43:06 am
Yesterday I hesitated buying rayman origins on steam . Guess that became a defenite no. The steam version of BD was an instant pre-buy.

Cult hits like this build a much better name and online community's on PC. What an excellent decision
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on March 20, 2012, 08:59:22 am
Yesterday I hesitated buying rayman origins on steam . Guess that became a defenite no. The steam version of BD was an instant pre-buy.

Cult hits like this build a much better name and online community's on PC. What an excellent decision

I really am hoping it does, its already the 14th top seller on Steam, despite being announced yesterday, to be that how up two weeks from launch is surely a good sign.

Really do hope sales pick up on PC, I want that sequel starring Cain, make it so PC gamers.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ezodagrom on April 04, 2012, 12:31:03 pm
Requirements have been added to the store page.
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Minimum requirements:
- OS: Microsoft Windows 7/Vista/XP
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.66 GHz or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 2GB RAM (XP)/3GB RAM (Windows 7 / Vista)
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT220 (512MB) / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (512MB)
- Hard Drive: 8 GB free hard drive space
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Recommended requirements:
- OS: Microsoft Windows 7
- Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 2.66 GHz or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 3GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (1GB) / ATI Radeon HD 5750 (1GB)
- Hard Drive: 8 GB free hard drive space
http://store.steampowered.com/app/203750/
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on April 04, 2012, 03:44:20 pm
No release date yet?
Also, this is coming for retail right? I can't find it on amazon.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: George on April 04, 2012, 04:27:40 pm
I think its digital only.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ezodagrom on April 04, 2012, 05:22:58 pm
No release date yet?
Also, this is coming for retail right? I can't find it on amazon.
According to SEGA's UK website, digital release in April 2012, retail release in Summer 2012.
Most likely the retail release will require Steam though.
http://www.sega.co.uk/games/binary-domain/
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: George on April 05, 2012, 02:03:09 am
Someone told me its out April 15th, but I think that was a holder date as well.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on April 05, 2012, 10:40:46 am
 I almost forgot it was april lol. Can't wait! Hope I can woop some of your assez, or getting my ass wooped  :-X
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on April 12, 2012, 09:31:32 am
Still no release date!!
WTH
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Team Andromeda on April 22, 2012, 05:42:15 am
Finished this and I must say the end plot twist was incredible and its bound to be copied in a Sc-Fi film . The best game I've played in ages and my Game of the Year already ..

In fact its the best game SEGA made since Orta and in many ways it's even better . I've got to take it back from Nagoshi-san his Presentation may have been piss poor , but his team delivered a game , that's one of the best game that's ever been made by any corp on a any system

Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Barry the Nomad on April 22, 2012, 08:15:19 am
Just picked this up at Target for $39! Can't wait to start it! :D

I'll have to figure out how to access my Japanese xbox account, I really want that DLC.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: stevetheman90 on April 24, 2012, 09:01:59 pm
A true review for this game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvPFrcvtYmg&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Sieghardt on April 26, 2012, 09:21:01 am
so according to NPD this only sold 20k, pretty sure even I could have sold more copies than that, way to go marketing team, the bright minds who thought the best way to market it was by throwing Dead Souls and House of the Dead 4 under the bus by going on about how every other shooter has zombies.

I enjoyed it quite a bit, the combat is great and it's super fun if you play like a madman charging in and headshotting everything, especially when there's massive hordes of enemies. I feel they shouldnt have targeted the shooter demographic at all though, they should have gone more RPG since the story is one of the best aspects and the online is already dead. One of the coolest things in the game is the fantastic world so letting us properly explore the slums and upper futuristic city would have been awesome.
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on April 26, 2012, 11:43:11 am
Well it's coming out on steam in a few hours so we can see how that will turn out. I really hope enough people will buy this so the online mode attracts enough people heh.

But yeah, i'm pretty excited
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Aki-at on April 27, 2012, 08:09:53 am
Game was 13th best selling game on Steam, now upto 9th. Hope it sticks around the charts for a while, SEGA needs the money so I can get Binary Domain 2: THE LEGACY OF CAIN!!!!!
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ezodagrom on April 27, 2012, 10:00:25 am
I had some problems with the controls in Binary Domain PC, but someone in the Steam forums found a fix for this problem (camera moving randomly with the mouse, space not working in the menus, only E was working, not being able to use A and D in the menus, just the numbers equivalent to the controller d-pad left and right):
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2672146 (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2672146)
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: Pao on April 29, 2012, 05:26:58 pm
I made this video using FRAPS to showcase the great hit reaction in the game!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbzOLTXMr1Y[/youtube]
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: CrazyT on April 29, 2012, 05:33:00 pm
Yeah, i've been hesitating to comment myself since i wanted to finish the game first. But from what i played so far.... my god. What an excellent game. This game really got a bad treatment for what it is. This game should have gotten alot of promotion and marketing. It's sad playing the game knowing how just only few people are experiencing this game while it could attract so much more.

Aw well, i'll be enjoying the game in the mean time
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: ezodagrom on May 03, 2012, 12:22:23 pm
The PC version has just been updated, here are the patch notes:
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* FOV options have been added in the Configuration Tool for Aiming and Normal views.
* Fixed Configuration Tool crash when modifying options for DirectInput control pads.
* Restored missing Controller Sensitivity options to Configuration Tool.
* Added basic keyboard and mouse navigation to the menus.
* Updated mouse sensitivity; mouse aiming should generally feel more comfortable now.
* Added Volume option in the Configuration Tool.
* Changed the Screen Size setting to be 100% by default.
* Changed the default button prompts to the keyboard icons.
* Fixed a crash on game exit.

Hardware issues:

* On Intel Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors, users may experience a graphical issue during the cutscene in Chapter 1 when you let go of the ship and swim over to the gangway, just before using the grappling hook. Intel is aware of the issue, and the fix will be rolled out in a future driver update. Please continue to keep your graphics drivers up to date, and the issue will soon be fixed.

* Users playing the game on some NVIDIA graphics cards, using more recent driver versions, may experience corruption of the water reflections (appearing as a mosaic-like effect over the water). NVIDIA is aware of the issue and will work on fixing it in a driver update.

* Users on Optimus laptops will likely be unable to select the correct graphics card in the Configuration Tool. NVIDIA is aware of the issue, and will work on fixing this for a future driver update.
http://store.steampowered.com/news/7886/ (http://store.steampowered.com/news/7886/)
Title: Re: Binary Domain Official Thread of Nagoshi Nagoshter
Post by: max_cady on May 03, 2012, 01:06:10 pm
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2rhqvs5.jpg)

Yesterday I told you guys that I finished Binary Domain. The screenshot above is just one of many impressive lines in the game.
I'm very impressed by the game. It's set-piece, after set-piece, after set-piece. The best part? You are never really doing the same thing in one go. I also liked those slow parts in which you can walk around and talk to NPCs.
The bosses are THE major highlight. It shows Nagoshi can be really creative with something as mundane as silver plated bosses.