I know I was alive before the internet existed, but I can’t remember how we got by. I have vague memories of card catalogues at the public library, but everything else is a blank.

However we did it, though, the fact of the matter is that no one would dream of trying to market something today without a website, and (obviously) Rocket Slime is no different. Of all our marketing initiatives, the website has the greatest potential for return on investment—or ROI as those wacky marketing guys call it—since compared to the packaging, magazine ads or word of mouth, it’s possible for many times more people to come across a website.

Even though the Rocket Slime website launched only weeks ago, months have gone into producing it.

As soon as we know a title will be coming out in the US, one of our marketing communications associates (like Parker from two weeks ago) will begin drafting a site map. Most of our games’ sites will have pretty similar information: Story, World, Characters, Multimedia, etc. Rocket Slime has a few more sections since we’re also running a contest and this here Slimeblog, but the idea is to use all of these sections to create a positive and accurate representation of what is in the game.

After the associate has nailed down what we want to put in the site, he’ll look through all of our materials and assets to determine how we can represent the game on the site visually. Every single slime, tank, monster—everything—comes from something Rocket Slime’s development team made. After reviewing each piece of material, we’ll look through different examples of what we might want to use to make sure the site catches the audience we want to attract.

Sometimes the suggestions will differ wildly. With Rocket Slime, though, we had a clear idea at the beginning. You could almost say the site was finished right then and there.

But then came the months upon months of fine-tuning.

“Let’s use that tank there.”

“I like the grass background better than the swords.”

“Don’t forget to put the release date on the top page.”

* * *

“Are you sure that joke’s funny? I don’t get it.”

“Did anyone remember the wallpapers?”

“Wait, shouldn’t we use actual items for the collecting mini game?”

Stuff like that. For almost three months.

Three. Months.

It took a while to finalize, and adding E3 plus a few other games to the schedule certainly compounded the Rocket Stress, but all in all it turned out well.

Just kidding. I have no control over who wins the contest. I just wanted to try out using cheesey Rocket Slime puns. I apologize.

But if you haven’t entered the contest yet, worry not! You still have time!

Download the entry form, color it in, mail to us. We’ll take care of the rest.

“But Truman, coloring is so boring.”

Boring?! Yeah, boring now, but not boring when you’re playing your new copy of DRAGON QUEST HEROES: ROCKET SLIME on your new Nintendo DS Lite while leaning back on your new Slime bean bag cushion! And there’s some key chains and a strategy guide that I couldn’t fit into that situation. But you’ll win them all!

“But Truman, I don’t wanna color.”

Gosh, you just can’t be pleased. It’s a “coloring contest,” but that doesn’t mean all you have to do is “color.” I was kidding about the instant win, but why don’t you give gouache a try? Or digital paint? Or macaroni art? Or a dyed eggshell mosaic? Slime-themed macramé will keep you entertained for hours.

Actually, even if I don’t get to judge the contest, I still get to see the entries. So here’s a deal for you: send me some really interesting entries and I’ll feature you in the Slimeblog. Special Assistant Marketing Project Manager Truman Prize! (SAMPMTP for short.)

All entries must be postmarked by September 19, so get cross-stitching!

You might’ve seen the bright yellow box with the happy blue slime in stores by now, but that didn’t always exist! I recently interviewed my carpool buddy about the Rocket Slime packaging. Fortunately, he also happens to be the guy who sacrificed a good deal of surfing time to make sure it was completed on time, so he knows what he’s talking about.

Truman B. Fitzgerald (Me): I’m here today with Parker Sapp, one of our “creative” guys. Parker, could you please tell us your name and title?

Parker Sapp, Marketing Communications Associate: My name is Parker Sapp, and I’m a Marketing Communications Associate here at Square Enix.

Me: And what responsibilities typically fall under your watch as a marketing communications associate?

PS: My day is usually divided between reviewing and directing creative from our designers, communicating with our parent office in Japan, and pulling purchase order forms from the top shelf for you.

Me: Hm. Anyway, I know we used a few different designers while producing creative materials for Rocket Slime. How did we decide what types of materials we needed and who would make them?

PS: We know that every title needs a box to sit on the shelf. Inside that box, they all need a manual, and we have to have some sort of art on the disc or cartridge. Outside of that, it all depends on the game. Some of our more popular projects call for multiple page magazine ads, fold-outs, in-store banners, television spots, and so on. When we first sit down and talk about a title, we look at its strengths and how we want to convey these strengths to consumers. We also figure out how much money we have to promote it, and then how we can use that money to reach the right people. Our marketing department tells us who might be interested in the game, what magazines they read, what channels they watch, and where this money goes. From there, we try to utilize our designers to create the most attractive, effective ads while still sticking to the budget.

Me: How long did it take to do all of that for Rocket Slime, from start to finish?

PS: We kicked off back in April. The Product Marketing team gave us our initial direction, and we began working on package concepts. There is so much that goes into a complete campaign today that we are often working on different materials 6 months after that first kick-off.

Me: The package design for Rocket Slime was finalized several weeks ago. How do you like it?

PS: It’s cute. It really stands out on the shelves.

Me: Do you think it’s cuter than your white hatchback?

PS: Nothing is cuter than my white hatchback.

Me: That’s quite a bold statement. Thanks for your time. I’ll let you get back to work now so you don’t fall further behind schedule.

PS: Look who’s behind schedule, buddy.

And there you have it! When you pick up Rocket Slime next month, imagine the sound of waves that Parker didn’t hear while he was busy looking up Pantone 872-C, and feel free to send the poor sap a thank you letter.

Unless you subscribe to a few certain magazines like Nintendo Power, you’ll probably miss them, but we here at Square Enix marketing have concocted some slick print ads to tickle your four-color fancy.

It took a lot of time and many different revisions. We used the same designers that worked on Dragon Quest VIII, and with our combined powers we turned into a king slime. I mean we made a print ad.

To develop the design, we took a bunch of illustrations of slimes and tanks and monsters and everything else the Rocket Slime development team had created while making the game and passed it all to our designers. They then combined, arranged, colored, filtered and cut and paste in every which way and brought back to us a11 possible versions of the ads. These early versions are officially called “comprehensives,” but everyone calls them “comps” for short.

After looking at all the comps, we narrowed our choices down to the top few we liked and thought about what needed to be done to improve upon them. Things like, “Make Rocket bigger,” or, “Fade out the sky so it doesn’t blend in with the logo.” All very scientific, I assure you.

The designers also gave us a handful of taglines to use with the ad as well. The three ideas we wanted Rocket Slime ads to communicate were 1) the Dragon Quest environment, 2) Slime, and 3) Tanks. So many ideas went back and forth, some of them good, a lot of them bad. A couple examples of early taglines include, “Seek answers, steer panzers. Fear nothing,” and “Go on a quest. Go on a rampage!” These touched on the ideas we wanted to use, but didn’t quite have the oomph we were looking for.

“Go on a quest. Go on a rampage!” was the closest feel we wanted, though. After more late night brainstorming, we decided it worked because of its two-part anatomy, so we tried thinking of similar ideas. However, one facet from our original three ideas was missing from this tagline. We needed to get Slime back in there.

We came up with every bounce, squish and goo concept possible. Finally, we realized the answer lay in my own simplistic structure. Folks, I’m not ashamed to admit it: There is not a bone in my body. After all the years I’ve had to endure people pointing out I had no backbone, I’m disappointed we didn’t think of this earlier.

After deciding on using the dichotomy of our literally spineless hero rolling out in a giant tank to fight the enemy, the question became, how do we say it? My personal favorite was “Minimum backbone, maximum carnage!” but everyone agreed it was a little too vicious. “Minimum backbone, maximum firepower!” was another, but it didn’t share the dichotomy specifically related to slime.

And then the last pieces of the formula fell into place. Rocket is a slime, so he has no backbone, but he’s brave and squishy.

No spine, just guts!

Welcome back! It’s Mon…it’s Tuesday?! Gah!

All you youngin’s on summer break, enjoy it! It doesn’t last. In not too many years, the weekend is the only time you have to play the games you want. And then you play too much on Sunday night. And then you come into work on Monday and realize you didn’t finish writing your Slimeblog entry on Sunday because you were up until 3am playing Rocket Slime because you really need all that catnip if you want to make the level three bombshells, because bombshells don’t make themselves!

And you can’t go outside during the day in summer when you work an office job either.

But for the rest of us Monday morning warriors, rejoice! For we will have enough money saved up to buy Rocket Slime next month! And we will have our tanks leveled up before those who spent the summer laughing and lounging! Hahahaha…

Welcome, faithful readers and newcomers alike, to Slimeblog, Season 1, Episode 2. I’ll be your host, Truman B. Fitzgerald.

On today’s show, we’re going to talk about Rocket Slime (That’s DRAGON QUEST® HEROES: ROCKET SLIME™ to you uninitiated types). Most of you probably stumbled across Slimeblog by way of our highly informative and expertly designed product homepage. Or perhaps you were provided our URL while one of the ever courteous Slime Knights was helping you cross the street. Whether by sea or plane, though, odds are you know as much about Rocket Slime as I know French. If you want to know more, keep reading! If you already know everything about Rocket and the Plob, stop reading and come back Monday for the advanced course.

On a tiny island in the middle of the sea, there is a small kingdom called Slimenia which is, as the name implies, largely populated by slimes. The slimes live as peacefully as most RPG villagers do before they get attacked by the main villain. Then one day, the villain attacks. A gang of Platypunks calling themselves the Plob roll into (and over) town in their Monster Tanks and proceed to slimenap every last slime, except for a young blue slime named Rocket. Or whatever you want him to be named I guess. You’re Rocket and you get to pick your own name. I named myself “Truman,” but “DRAGON QUEST HEROES: TRUMAN SLIME” doesn’t scream adventure like “Rocket,” so we stuck with Rocket Slime.

Anyway, Rocket heads out to save the kingdom, true to Dragon Quest-hero fashion. Fortunately for you, the Plob have a somewhat sloppy work ethic and have left most of the blue treasure chests confining your friends just lying around the island. Early on your adventure, you’ll unearth a giant tank of your own, the Schleiman Tank. Load it up with all the cannon shells, arrows, rocks, apples and other junk you can find and duke it out with the Plob’s Monster Tanks in oversized boss battles.

But wait, there’s more…! After saving a certain networkishly gifted slime, you can exchange fire with other friends who have progressed at least as far in the game as well (Real-life friends, that is; not your in-game slime friends). A lot of people have said this is their favorite part. Personally, I prefer the adventure and story parts, but it is hard to not like the multiplayer excitement.

And there’s the basic overview. Whew, it was a lot longer than I expected it to be, haha. Go ahead and write about any questions you have and I’ll try and cover them in the advanced course.