Get In The Game is a weekly column by Dan Yarrington, managing partner of Myriad Games in Manchester & Salem, New Hampshire, Treasurer of the Professional Game Store Association, and Editor-in-Chief of GameSalute.com.  This week, Yarrington says, "There's too many games, and here's what to do about it!"

Welcome back to Get In The Game, a column that focuses on proactive ways we can improve the games industry.  This week, we focus on quality over quantity.

Your Game Is Not That Great
Most games are not all that good.  The sooner you accept that, the better.  There are too many games coming out these days.  We can't keep up.  Consumers are deluged by options.  Stores are overloaded with information, and we all need help filtering all those choices.  There’s not enough space for it all.  Not enough space on our shelves, not enough space in our closets, and not enough space in our heads.

Publishers, I'm Talking To You!
Everyone thinks their game is the best.  That's understandable.  But once we set aside ego and pride and put a game through rigorous analysis, sometimes the best choice may be to not make the game at all.  As a publisher, you're spending thousands and thousands of dollars to bring a game to market.  You need to make damn sure it's better than "alright."  You need to make sure it's freaking amazing!  You need to make sure you’ve taken into account all the aspects of the product from pre-production to a comprehensive marketing plan, to how the game will ship, how the game will fit on shelves, how the game will display, how you'll get demo copies out there, and more and more and more.  Even the biggest companies make mistakes on this, so no one is immune.

Stores: Stop Reacting and Start Acting
As stores, we're very reactionary.  No one wants to commit or preorder or take a stand on a title.  In part because we're not given any monetary incentive to so, and in part because it’s easier to try to catch up later, once something is confirmed to be hot.  A publisher calls and says they have an awesome new title.  We say "Oh, that's nice.  If I get some requests for it, I may bring it in."  Or "I’ll see what my local group says about it."  Then we curse and moan when we miss something that sells out in two weeks because we weren't paying attention.  Or, more realistically, we received 15 emails about said awesome game and ignored them all, along with the rest of the tidal wave of electronic messages that overwhelm our inbox each day.  Just as we have a limited amount of space on our shelves, so too do we have a limited amount of bandwidth to thoughtfully consider and evaluate games.

You've Got It All Backward
As an industry, we're approaching product development, marketing, and line management all wrong.  We're using a crank-action shotgun instead of a laser-powered sniper rifle, and the middling results are a testament to the effectiveness of that approach.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  What if we had a system where select stores were involved in a system of comprehensive product evaluation and test marketing.  What if those stores could commit to supporting a line far in advance of the game's release.  In exchange, they'd receive early release options, additional margin, or special marketing status.  We need to less reactive and more proactive in how we select and highlight games.

So Here's What You Do...
As a buyer, choose one new game a month to truly champion.  Filter through all that noise of hundreds of products releasing each month and pick just one to highlight and get behind.  Stock up, promote the dickens out of it, and evaluate your results.  Do the same for an existing title or line, reinforcing previous success.  Review your sales, cull the weak, support the strong, watch for under-appreciated games, and build a portfolio of games that you can sincerely get behind.  Start watching for what make games great sellers for you: price point, promotional support, presentation and display, marketplace accessibility, consumer enthusiasm, and dozens of other elements.  And when a title doesn't perform, let it go.  Don't try to keep it alive past its expiration date.  You only have so much space in your selection.  You have to make decisions and make them constantly.

Don't Be A Cannibal
We're so busy trying to cannibalize existing market share that we're not focused on expanding the hobby and the entire tabletop game market.  We need to grow up and grow out of this habit of just sloughing along making ends meet and casually accepting the standard of "alright."  So here is my solemn plea.  We need fewer, better games.  We need more companies releasing solid titles on a steady schedule, with excellent promotion behind them.  We do not need dozens of mediocre games releasing every week.  We need a dozen awesome games releasing once a month.  And it all starts with you.

Talk Back!
Tell publishers what types of games sell well and why.  What price points are best for you?  What categories are hot?  If a game's collectible, does that kill it for you?  If it’s below 45% margin, does that mean you can't carry and support it?  Does a certain designer or artist mean a game will be awesome?  What's coming up that you're most excited about?  What games surprised you?  Get the conversation started and keep it going.  We should be talking about this stuff all the time, so get started now!

I'm Not Above Bribery
I will personally award a Free Game to one lucky individual, randomly selected, from all those who provide feedback through Talk Back here in ICv2.  Take one solid minute and chime in with your thoughts on any of the topics above.  What makes games great and what makes them 'meh'?  Don’t wait--just click and type.

What are you waiting for?  Get In The Game!

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.