Saturation Points

Saturation points are something that the game trade uses to justify poor performance ("Redakai is a great, innovative game, but the Japanese TCG segment of the market has hit its saturation point").  The idea is that no matter how awesome a game/service/whatever actually is or how well it's marketed, the industry/community/whatever just can't support it.

It's total bullshit.  Gamers are the perfect customers.  Outside of recreational drugs, I don't think there's an industry with as devoted a client base or one as eager to snap up something new.

There's a game store in the Bay Area, about an hour away from us, that does everything right behind the scenes.  It's a fantastic store and the owner's a very smart guy.  He's got this idea, though, that no matter what effort he puts into selling the Games Workshop line, he's never going to be able to improve his numbers; it's a strong, steady seller, but essentially he believes that he's hit his saturation point.  He's wrong.

As part of our efforts to sell GW, I'm very active on the popular forums and keep in touch with prominent players in the Bay Area and Sacramento.  Because this particular store has such a great reputation, many of these players have attended its monthly 40k tournaments.  I can't overstate how important it is that these monthly events are run professionally and hand out generous prize support; they're the first step in welcoming new players to your gaming community.  You only get one chance to make a first impression, and the first impression I've seen from each and every one of these players was the same: it's a nice store, but I won't be back.

What are they doing wrong?  The biggest problem is the fact that their tournaments are run by a volunteer rather than an employee.  I've heard everything from "the guy who was supposed to run the tournament never showed up," to "the guy running the tournament called time and sent us to lunch, then kept playing his own game for another hour."

The advice for this store is the same I'd give to the guys behind Redakai or any other game, and it's simple: you're not offering the best prices, the most convenient shopping, or the best gameplay.  Your job, instead, is to build a community and to maintain it through regular, professionally run events and a welcoming atmosphere.

There's no such thing as a saturation point.