I really hate to mention the competition and all, but the following talk from a Sony developer relations manager at GDC last week seems rather timely:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/sony-dont-send-self-published-titles-out-to-die-lonely-and-unloved

In brief:

Self-publishing a game is like self-publishing a novel, an album, or anything else.  The barrier for entry is lower, the creative control is greater, the cut of the profits is better, but the day your product starts shipping, you haven't got a friend in the world, and the onus of marketing your creation, spreading the word about the wonders you've unleashed, rests squarely and solely on your own shoulders.  Too many developers assume that if they build it, people will come, or that marketing is something that can be left until after the game ships, and it's a shame to watch their games languish because the developers haven't told anyone they exist.  He goes on to explain that developers should begin planning their marketing well before release, and that developers should never underestimate how many tools they have available to them.

Obviously, many of the actual examples he gives are fairly Playstation-specific, but the principle is platform-agnostic.

In the spirit of discussion: Does anyone have any suggestions of oft-overlooked modes of getting the word out?  Anything that has or hasn't worked for you?  Granted, I suspect that for many people here, any recent CG releases were their first self-published release, so perhaps we only know what's been tried, not what works - that's still valuable to know.

We've got people putting games in bars and distributing Flash demos, which are awesome, unique techniques.  Perhaps some other people have tried more conventional things, like a web ad or contacting a gaming news site?  I'll throw in the venerable Kieron Gillen post on the subject, (which I swear I saw linked here before, but cannot now find by searching) How To Use And Abuse The Gaming Press:

http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/?page_id=693

EDIT: Gillen's site appears to be down, but Google still has it cached, as does the Internet Archive:

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:UB4-J3FB_pIJ:gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/%3Fpage_id%3D693+http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/%3Fpage_id%3D693&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/?page_id=693

Hi there's an interesting thread about marketing vs CG.

http://forums.xna.com/forums/p/28043/156837.aspx#156837

Not everyone didn't marketing here, someone spent some money and someone else lots of time, but the results (even when the game is really good) aren't too good.

Sony doesn't have anything like XBLCG.

They are still talking about smaller devs who's budgets are in the hundreds of thousands or low millions no?

Well, I can't speak to budgets, but you're quite right that Sony doesn't have anything like Community Games.  Still, we are self-publishing games here, are we not?  Indie is indie, whether it's on CG, a PC, or somewhere else.  Granted, most people here have little or no money budget for advertising, but that's not insurmountable.  Both Eden and Gillen's comments skew pretty heavily toward low- and no-cost solutions.  They trade off a lower money cost by requiring more time invested, something many indies have a great deal more of.

Echthros, you've given some great information!  Thanks so much!  The cached Gillen's post was well worth the read...

Running Pixel, that thread was unfortunately locked but there were some great discussions in it, so it's worth checking out, and I hope the ideas keep flowing...

I'm just curious to know if there's a chance of "resurrection" from the grave in wich our games are buried.

Until today looks like there's nothing we can do; now I'm trying something (else) on my own, and I will share the results (if any) and what I did to get results (if any)

Particularly when it comes to games that have been out for a while but were under-marketed, we have some advantages over bigger publishers: We don't have to worry about shelf space or availability - our games are always equally available on Xbox Live.  And most of us aren't trying to sell people on our cutting-edge use of technology - our games age more slowly.  So I believe that there is always a chance of resurrecting an under-marketed game.

Since our games get very little exposure that we don't engineer ourselves, many of the games on the service are only known about by the people who regularly follow XNA and Community Games.  But this can also work to our advantage.  The majority of people out there haven't heard about your game yet - so whenever they DO hear about it, it will be new to them.  You still have a chance to make your first impression.

(BTW - for those curious about what Running Pixel is talking about, he's got another thread where he's showing off the cool guerrilla marketing he's doing for Bricks4Ever: http://forums.xna.com/forums/t/28392.aspx)

Good points Echthros.

I also do not see why marketing cannot come after the game is released, rather than before.  Does it really make a difference?  It sounds like you dig a grave if you do not market beforehand.  Most of us are just trying to get the damn game done.  I think it may have to do with reaching critical mass.  A lot of marketing all at once must better than the same amount spread out over a year.  And the hype that can be generated about a game before you have a chance to play it gets people talking; gets people excited.  Whereas actually playing it the minute after hearing about it may mean it being dumped into the waste can to never be mentioned again.

Just some thoughts...

The only real marketing tool you have is your screenshots that are included on the shop interface. Make your graphics look NICE. So many people have unimaginative gameplay layouts, and tons of beginner art mistakes that drive people away. Go to the library and read some books. Knowing how to do better layouts and choosing complimentary colors can take you a long way.

Make nicer cover art.

Here is a nice thread full of resources for that stuff.
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?p=879002#post879002

Don't use pictures of your startup screen or menus - sell the game