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It isn’t only games that come out on Tuesdays.
Books, DVDs, CDs also tend to be released on what the retailers call Super Tuesday.
But why is Tuesday the holy day for retailers?
Is it all down to a slick marketing campaign by Sega some twenty-odd years ago?
Or is it simply a question of logistics?
With trucks delivering on the previous Friday and stores having Monday to spend stocking
the shelves, Tuesday might be the logistical answer to the supply chain problem.
Or is it just a random day to release material?
And will this Tuesday release date continue to be the standard as more and more consumers
simply download their media entertainment rather than purchase in store.
Today on the Infographics Show we look at the history behind the video game release
strategy and find out just– Why Do Games Come Out on a Tuesday?
First of all let’s take a look at the psychology behind marketing.
Consumer psychologists study the decision-making process, examine social persuasions, and generally
look at the motivations of shoppers.
In a consumerist world needs drive motivation to buy.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow constructed the hierarchy of need model, placing essential
needs such as food and shelter at the bottom of the pyramid.
higher up on the pyramid, and less essential, are entertainment media such as films, art,
music, books, and video games.
The trick is for marketers to position their products so that they appear to be needed
rather than just wanted.
To gain a shopper’s attention tactics must be employed to make them stop, watch and listen.
Once their attention has been gained then the product must be placed in a position superior
to other competing products.
It also helps if markers install in the shopper’s mind a ticking clock.
If the buyer knows exactly when the product will be released then they are in a position
to prepare to either buy or pass for another product.
Also humans tend to use herd-like behavior when consuming.
If a big enough buzz can be achieved surrounding a certain product then a race to the stores
can be part of the consumer’s positive buying experience.
So how does this relate to the games and Tuesday release date?
Well, let’s travel back in time some 20-odd years.
The original Sonic the Hedgehog was an instant hit when it arrived in 1991.
This was good news for Sega who were competing with Nintendo.
Nintendo was the company behind revolutionizing the home games console market, but Sega wasn’t
far behind with their little blue hedgehog pushing the line forward.
Sega had the 16-bit console on the market before the equally powerful Super Nintendo
hit the shelves.
In addition Sega also had a great concept to hype up the release of the sequel to Sonic.
Sega marketing director Al Nilsen describes the launch plan, “We’re going to start
in Japan, move to Europe, and then end in the US.
No trucks, no boats; everything will be delivered by plane exactly one day before.
We’re going to have the world’s first global launch, and in the process we’re
going to break every single sales record.”
While deciding the timing of their new mega launch the team stumbled on a great idea.
“It should be Tuesday, and we’ll call it Sonic 2sday,” Nilsen said.
So it was that on Tuesday 24th November Sonic 2 was launched.
Before that day in history games were released on random dates and days of the week, but
the rest of the game market followed.
This is Blake Harris’s explanation of the Tuesday release date as illustrated in his
book “Consoles Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the battle that Defined a Generation.”
This seems to be a good solid explanation for the Tuesday release date and is line with
what we already know about marketing.
When consumers know that a certain product will be released on a certain day of the week
it allows them to ring their calendar, organize purchasing funds, and makes that day more
special.
But more importantly it builds a sense of anticipation.
The same method is used with the movie industry.
Films generally show for the first time on a Friday with audiences rushing to the theaters
for the opening weekend.
Being at the end of the working week that makes perfect sense as many people are paid
and most have the next Saturday off.
So why don’t games follow the same release date?
Well, in the UK they do with most games being released on a Friday.
Another theory for the Tuesday release date in the USA is that producers were noticing
slow first week sales if games were released later in the week as stores would take time
to fill the shelves.
Tuesday seemed like a good idea as it gave staff time during the week to stock the shelves
and weekend staff aren’t required to ready a new game for a Monday release.
Nowadays one of the biggest reasons why media including games, DVDs, books, and CDs are
released on a Tuesday is down to Soundscan sales data.
This database measures the number of weekly sales across retailer networks and they use
Tuesday to Tuesday as their time frame measurement, so releasing on any other day means the retailer
loses a day of sales figures on that all important first week.
Another explanation is that a Tuesday release date gives the producers four days in the
week to fix any bugs or technical problems that come to light after the release.
With print media such as books Tuesday is also the holy day of the week.
Also movies (DVDs) are released on the day retailers call Super Tuesday.
The big retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target etc have been known to try and gain a competitive
advantage over the independent stores by putting out the product ahead of the agreed street
date.
But generally if you want to purchase a new type of entertainment media Tuesday is the
day to do it.
Interestingly our purchase habits with games and software has changed dramatically.
In 2009 20% of games were digitally downloaded with 80% bought physically in store.
In 2017 these figures almost did a complete reversal as 79% of games were downloaded and
21% were bought physically.
This statistics by Digital Game User show that 118 million people downloaded games in
2017.
So it remains to be seen if the Tuesday release date is to be continued as consumers tend
to prefer the instant gratification of a fast, fluid download rather than waiting for a specific
day of the week.
And if you want to start creating your own games, and who knows, maybe you’ll release
them on a day other than Tuesday, we suggest taking a class called Make a 2D Platformer
Video Game with Unity and PlayMaker on Skillshare.
There is no coding required to take this class.
You can learn this and many more things by joining Skillshare.
Premium Membership will give you unlimited access to topics that will improve your skills
and your life!
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So what day do games come out where you live?
What was the last game you waited in line to buy?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Also, be sure to watch our other video called Why Do Games Cost $60?
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe, see you
next time!