What games would a noob buy?
A game store. A handful of cash. And three non-gamers.
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Test subject A: Kim
On the Knowledge of Gaming scale, Kim placed herself somewhere between None and Very Little. However, she confessed to having played - and liked - quiz-'em-up Buzz and post-pub favourite SingStar, and that she also enjoyed a little finger-wriggling with the PSOne version of Worms. She has tried a spot of Wii-based hand-waving, although she "got confused with all the coordination stuff".
Prior to our 'experiment', Kim hadn't crossed the threshold of a game store for a "very long time". She had previously entered a geek stronghold to purchase Abe's Oddysee on PSOne for a friend's birthday. So hardly what you'd call a patron.
The purchase
The quickest of our three newbies to make a choice, Kim picked Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for Xbox 360. She knew it would cost more money than we'd given her for the necessary guitar controller, but it's what she wanted, so who were we to argue? And why did she fancy rocking hard with this particular game? "I chose it partly because I've heard people say that it's good, and partly because I'm a big music fan."
Obvious conclusion
This is definite proof that you can't beat a healthy dollop of positive word of mouth to drum up some extra business. Y'know, friends talking about something being good fun because, well, it's genuinely good fun. It's that magical essence of honesty that wanky marketing 'creatives' simply can't concoct with transparent,wanky viral advertising.
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
So, a smart way to sell more games is to simply make good games. And to make sure they're perfect for parties where they can be exposed in all their gurn-faced glory to non-gamers. Oh, and throwing in some quirky controller device that temporarily transforms players into an axe-grinding God of the Rock probably helps as well.



