13-01-2003 19:24									#1
	Questions for Gamers [marketing-oriented] Tired of ads?

For a marketing assignment for Uni, I need some information from gamers.

The idea of the assignment is that Dell Computers extends its assortment by entering the gamer market (next to the business market and the standard consumer market).
The new product is a PC tailored to fit gamers. Dell's usual "built-to-order" business model will be maintained, the only difference is that the components will be more high-end, suitable to play (resource-intensive) games.

We're currently in the planning and pre-analysis stage of the assignment, and we need to conduct some research.
That's where I turn to my fellow Apolytoners

I have some questions concerning the consumer/product-relationship:

1) Self-relevance
If you were to buy the Dell "gaming rig", what would drive you to buy it (as opposed to building it yourself e.g.)?
Relevant determinants could be: attributes (price, components etc.), functional consequences (performance, durability etc.), psychosocial consequences (personal feeling, feelings of others about you etc.), and values (self-esteem, and other preferred modes of behavior and states of being).


2) Knowledge
a) Would you what to buy (which components to order)?
b) Would you know what to buy it for?
c) Would you consciously use the product for its purpose (gaming)?



I hope I can get some answers here

Edit: rephrased question 1) to be more hypothetical

Last edited by Zopperoni on 13-01-2003 at 19:51

	13-01-2003 19:40									#2
	Inflate your Upload Space

1. I won't buy it

2. a. Yes b. Yes c. Yes - if I buy it, which I won't

	13-01-2003 19:48									#3
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

I don't really consider myself a gamer, but...

1) Functional consequences (guarantee -> durability, kind of). I wouldn't buy it, though.
2) a. Yes
b. Yes
c. Yes

	13-01-2003 19:48									#4
	Inflate your Upload Space

UR, Ari, thanks for the replies:

Why wouldn't you buy it?

Is it because you'd rather build a PC yourself, or are the games you play (most) not that resource-intensive that you require a high-end machine, or something else?

	13-01-2003 19:53									#5
	Tired of ads?

I would look for optimization, esp. with an eye to upgradeability. Value (not cheap, just getting more bang for my buck) would be the next consideration.

This being Dell, I would expect to be able to customize. For instance, if I had just bought theatre monitor or a kick-butt controller (joystick, whatever), I would expect to be able to delete that portion of the offering.

I would expect such a thing to be marketed primarily to broadband and bbd-wannabe customers (assuming internet play), so perhaps a comarketed braodband component would sweeten the appeal.

I would expect a huge HD, lightning speed, awesome graphics, and perhaps some software utilities to help manage things.

I think you can assume a knowledgeable target market for this, but the "score" factor would have to come from effectively differentiating this from the so-called multimedia PCs you see everywhere. Maybe both a "standard starter set" and a "Cadillac" version could be devised off the same core platform.

If this is not possible within your creative brief, pick one, as these are very different markets in both size and price.

	13-01-2003 19:59									#6
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

1) I wouldn't buy it

2) yes, yes, yes


The thing is: laptops are not designed for intensive gaming and it won't ever be suitable for it... sure it is possible for some games such as adventure and the Sims, but if you're going for hardcore RTS or first person shooters a laptop is simply not good.

i have a normal computer and a good dell laptop, and the difference is awesome: it is much harder to play on a laptop (you would need an additional keyboard and mouse anyway as the onboard mouse and keyboard are not very handy ) even though graphics might be nice and everything

laptop screens are also a bit laggier than normal computer screens and even computer TFT screens (which I have, so I know what I'm talking bout)

	13-01-2003 20:03									#7
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Since when did Dell only make laptops? o_O

The machine in the assignment would be desktop machine.

Sorry, if that was unclear.

	13-01-2003 20:06									#8
	Remove this text

1. I wouldn't buy it either ...

Why? Well I kind of am convinced that Dell or similar cannot give me what I can buy separatley, and there is no extra value in the product, apart from warranty, however knowing a couple of people - two to be exact - that had to exercise the Dell warranty (and a few more that I have seen on the net)... I kind of doubt that I would be the one who get the service as intended. Which means a lot of hassle, dealing with inept support staff until they give you what they have to or even try to charge you for it, which pretty much gives the warranty value of - maybe - and that is not what I want. The component manufacturers give you better service.

So there is no actual added value form a "brand" in my view.

The only added value is possible low price.

Now I have seen that they have been selling a full PIV 2ghz for a day as a special deal for £350 in VAT in December. Which went to 700£ a day later I guess they got a lot of orders. So if the price was so low (>20% or more than the usual selling prices) I would consider them.

Which means if they could price it right, and that would be 10-20% less than I could built it myself on hardware only - without OS or additional software. And that is pretty much impossible.

2. yes, yes, yes

The same as UR - if I buy it - which I won't

Basically you need to invent some addded value in the product.

OK... maybe they could get me if they sell me a PC with R300 (Radeon 9700 pro) now and than promise a free upgrade to R350 - the next iteration. Or to upgrade for 30£ for example giving that you return them the card. Now that might tempt me. Still being in the financial condition as I am ... buying components one by one when I see a deal, it still the only way to go... the above was example what might give added value, might be possible, and of course has to be cheap and can be without OS, or with linux alternatively. So pricing would be the key it seems, with warranty support being better too, but I guess they must be trying on that front, plus build quality good, as it seems shoddy sometimes too, but I guess that is a given.

	13-01-2003 20:22									#9
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quote: Originally posted by Zopperoni UR, Ari, thanks for the replies: Why wouldn't you buy it? Is it because you'd rather build a PC yourself, or are the games you play (most) not that resource-intensive that you require a high-end machine, or something else?

Since both Ari and myself are geeks, and probably a large number of 'Polytoners are, don't expect we give you the same answers as, say, marketers

The main reason why I won't buy any OEM is value. I can build my own at a lower price. Since computer parts are very reliable these days and I am looking at an average of 3 years of lifespan, service isn't all that big a deal. The only time I buy OEM is for large corporations, in at least 50 box lots. It's not money out of my pocket, and the top brasses feel better that way.

A minor reason is configurability. No OEM offers a very wide range of options for their boxes. Maybe I want a 3D Lab Wildcat for the computer, so I can use it to do 3D rendering other than playing games?

Try the same question on SDMB.

	13-01-2003 20:36									#10
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

I wouldn't buy it because 1) I'm a poor, geeky student, and damnit, Dell is not for people who both want low prices and can build their own computers (or, preferably go for small vendors with low prices) and 2) because I don't really play much games anyway, not very graphically intensive ones, at least. You don't need to spend two kilobucks to kill a couple of characters in ADOM in a month .

Perhaps you should check the chatrooms of (insert a modern multiplayer FPS or a large American ISP with the letters A, O and L in its name) and see if the people there are willing to devote a few minutes of their attention to this. Their answers might be quite different.

	13-01-2003 20:39									#11
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger Try the same question on SDMB.

quote: Perhaps you should check the chatrooms of (insert a modern multiplayer FPS or a large American ISP with the letters A, O and L in its name) and see if the people there are willing to devote a few minutes of their attention to this. Their answers might be quite different.

Looks like my opinion on Dell users is... a bit less reverent, perhaps, than UR's .

	13-01-2003 21:29									#12
	Increase Your PM Length

Com'on, I don't want to mess Zopper up on his assignment

	13-01-2003 21:41									#13
	Put an end to popups!

LOL, yeah well dell desktops.... nuh-uh noway!
their laptops may be good (and expensive) but that's it

yea I thought of laptops because my dad has a dell laptop you see

	13-01-2003 21:51									#14
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Thanks all for your time and responses so far.

I'll try it on SDMB, UR, thanks.

quote: Originally posted by Trajanus LOL, yeah well dell desktops.... nuh-uh noway! their laptops may be good (and expensive) but that's it

I have a Dell desktop (since July 2000), and a Dell laptop since August 2001. They're both still live and kicking.

:knocks-on-wood:

	13-01-2003 22:06									#15
	Re: Questions for Gamers [marketing-oriented] Inflate your Upload Space

quote: I have some questions concerning the consumer/product-relationship: 1) Self-relevance If you were to buy the Dell "gaming rig", what would drive you to buy it (as opposed to building it yourself e.g.)? Relevant determinants could be: attributes (price, components etc.), functional consequences (performance, durability etc.), psychosocial consequences (personal feeling, feelings of others about you etc.), and values (self-esteem, and other preferred modes of behavior and states of being).

I am probably less of a tecchie than many of the other respondents, with too little knowledge but enugh dough to buy. I bought my last deskptop from Dell because it gave me a good mix of components for a reasonable bundle.

Things that concerned me then, and would with a gaming pack:

- need to assess the quality of the individual items (e.g. is the joystick a $5 version or is it top of the range)
- visibility of "you must haves" you really ought to haves" and "you might like to haves". Different games require different stuff, they dont all need joysticks or awesome graphics or whatever
- some idea of compatibility and capacity for the rest of your typical home desktop gear e.g. number of cards and connectors of the right type
- some idea of upgrade path for hardware items esp sound and graphics cards

quote: 2) Knowledge a) Would you what to buy (which components to order)? b) Would you know what to buy it for? c) Would you consciously use the product for its purpose (gaming)?

a) Not very well off the bat, but I expect that a little browsing on-line or in the right gamer/pc magazines would give me enough info
b) From the work in a, yes
c) Yes - dont do much else on the home pc except surf and bit of Microsoft apps

	13-01-2003 22:24									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

1) Self-relevance
If you were to buy the Dell "gaming rig", what would drive you to buy it (as opposed to building it yourself e.g.)?
Relevant determinants could be: attributes (price, components etc.), functional consequences (performance, durability etc.), psychosocial consequences (personal feeling, feelings of others about you etc.), and values (self-esteem, and other preferred modes of behavior and states of being).

if it costs a lot more than what i could get at a computer show (and it would if you wanted to turn a profit) i wouldnt buy it, so cost, top of the line parts, super support, and free replacements for when i try to overclock everything and end up melting some silicon.


2) Knowledge
a) Would you what to buy (which components to order)?
b) Would you know what to buy it for?
c) Would you consciously use the product for its purpose (gaming)?

a) i'd KNOW what to buy if thats what you mean
b) yes
c) yes

theres always alienware

	13-01-2003 22:36									#17
	Put an end to popups!

Thanks again, folks, your responses will be useful for our Analysis, or for some other stage in the project.

Uberkrux,

I did look at AlienWare, Voodoo, and Falcon Northwest as examples.

	14-01-2003 00:50									#18
	Put an end to popups!

one problem for Dell that UR touched on is that people who known enough to be able to pick their own specs in a high end system probally known enough to build it themselves (and exactly how much money they could save doing it)

	14-01-2003 01:03									#19
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quote: Originally posted by reds4ever one problem for Dell that UR touched on is that people who known enough to be able to pick their own specs in a high end system probally known enough to build it themselves (and exactly how much money they could save doing it)

thats the fact. if you really wanted to sell these things, you'd have to have a minimalistic price markup. if you bought in bulk from hardware manufacturers, you may get the parts cheaper than what people can find at computer shows. if you then raise the price of the part a little (still under or at the market value) the box would be pretty close to what i could build one for.

you'd probably make the majority of your money on service / warranties.

or, you could impliment some kind of system where i pay a set price per year, and i get the newest vid card on the market whenever i request it (up to twice a year, have to send old part back working).

The boxen would have to be completely customizable (gateway is notorious for being wh0res about this), i should be able to tear it down and build it back up if i feel the need to.

another thing that chaffs me about Dell / Gateway is the fact that if you f*ck with the hardware (overclock, add new stuff thats not approved) you violate your warranty. you'd either have to allow such modifications (not very likely to happen), or offer raw parts cheap (again, cheaper than computer shows).

it probably wouldnt work out too well, and you're fairly sure not to turn a profit for a while. but it could be a great company if you had a ton of money with nowhere to put it.

	14-01-2003 01:05									#20
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

1) - No ... Dell doesn't particularly like people tampering with their systems ... and I'd want to overclock it.

2) Yes | Yes | Yes (Not that I'd buy it).

	14-01-2003 01:11									#21
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

The thing is that Dell would have trouble matching self built systems as many people use secondhand parts and illegal/semi-legal software.