Author Topic: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing  (Read 12680 times)

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Offline broodwars

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #25 on: April 20, 2009, 01:23:22 PM »
I thought real gamers replayed their games regardless of "length."

All 66,000 of them already bought the game (including me, by the way, in case you forgot).  To the general public, Madworld is not worth its price right now.
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Offline Ian Sane

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #26 on: April 20, 2009, 02:07:32 PM »
Madworld is not the sort of game that should ever be expected to sell huge numbers.  It wouldn't have sold big on the other consoles either or on the PS2 last gen.  It's just not that kind of big blockbuster hit kind of game.  It stands out more on the Wii because of a lack of mature core games, but it isn't a big title.  Combine that with an iffy price point and there you go.

For GTA... well I didn't even know it had come out.  But I don't see videogame ads on TV very much at all these days.  I just don't seem to watch the shows that videogames are advertised during.  When I used to watch wrestling I used to see game ads all the time.  So I can't say if it was marketed enough or not.  But I didn't really see big hype for the title on the internet.  With the really big games you just KNOW when the game is coming out, even if you're not specifically paying attention to it.  There's buzz on game forums and such.  I haven't seen that really with GTA: Chinatown Wars.

I wonder if part of it is how the title was revealed.  When it was "debuted" all we had was a logo.  No screenshots at all.  There was nothing to start the buzz aside from the GTA name.  Don't forget it was also debuted at last year's E3, which went over like a fart in church with the internet core gamer audience.  Instead of starting the hype train it just lumped GTA: Chinatown Wars with Wii Music and Animal Crossing as part of "that crappy E3".

I think there's also a portable vs. console game thing going here.  It's like GTA IV is the REAL GTA and there's that natural assumption that portables are given half-assed spinoffs.  That's not necessarily the case here but, with American third party publishers, there's a mostly fair assumption that only suckers get the portable cash-ins.  Portable versions of American franchises usually just rely on a popular name to attract sales.  If you got burned by that too many times you might see GTA for the DS and assume "Ah, it's not going to be that good.  It'll just be scaled down and half-assed."

I think it may also be the GTA is VERY overexposed.  You had three console games last gen, a GBA game, the two Stories games (so a PS2 owner might own FIVE GTA games for one console) plus GTA IV's recent release.  I think we're at a point where it isn't essential to own EVERY GTA game and a gamer with that attitude is more likely going to cut out the portable games first.

With mature games though it really relies a lot of Nintendo's example.  The reason their systems are considered "kiddie" is entirely because Nintendo puts in no real effort to providing mature games aside from a token title here and there.  The first party really sets the tone.  On the flipside the Xbox has never really been seen as a valid option for kids because despite a few token efforts of MS, the first party lineup is all targetted at an older audience and the image follows it.

Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #27 on: April 20, 2009, 02:14:39 PM »
Did GTA Advance do any better? What about GTA 1 and 2? GTA wasn't big until it went 3D, this regression could have had a serious impact on the appeal of the game.

Offline Rize

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #28 on: April 20, 2009, 02:36:44 PM »
There are a few games on the DS that I will probably by eventually, I'm just not in the mood now.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Fire Emblem
Grand Theft Auto

The reason I'm not in the mood?  I don't know, but these are all franchise games so I have a pretty good idea what to expect from them.

Then again maybe I'll never buy them.  I didn't like FFT on the GBA, haven't completed a FE game since the first one that was ported here and have never completed a GTA game (although I came close on the original for the PSX but the last level was so glitchy I couldn't finish it).  I'm most interested in GTA of those 3 since it's a return to the overhead style that I prefer to the sprawling 3D games.

Offline Nick DiMola

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #29 on: April 20, 2009, 02:53:42 PM »
I'm most interested in GTA of those 3 since it's a return to the overhead style that I prefer to the sprawling 3D games.

Don't be fooled, it is the same as the sprawling 3D games just with a slightly different viewpoint.
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Offline Urkel

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #30 on: April 20, 2009, 03:25:56 PM »
GTA will continue to sell, but sales would've been a bit more impressive at launch if Rockstar had done a better job at convincing everyone that it was actually a quality game. Everyone assumed it was just going to be a half-assed quick cash in. Returning to an overhead view didn't help, either.
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Offline GoldenPhoenix

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #31 on: April 20, 2009, 03:31:31 PM »
Also once again I state if it is moving the goal post why wasn't a huge deal with the GTA games for PSP which went on to sell 2million plus and 1 million plus?

That was a big deal.  I remember lots of laughing at how badly those games did on PSP and how Rockstar had to port them to PS2 to make their money back.

Yeah I remember those too, but still the first game sold EXTREMELY well over the long hall along with the sequel. Maybe not as good as its console counterparts, then again this is a different market, something I think people should also consider as well. GTA is a popular CONSOLE series. As we know from the success of DS and various hits the market is very different in regards to the type of games.
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Offline Stogi

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #32 on: April 20, 2009, 03:39:11 PM »
I have to agree with GP on this one. Just because it's not flying off the shelves doesn't mean it won't sell well over the long run. If Rockstar decides to not make any more titles for Nintendo because of the initial sales numbers, then good riddance.
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Offline GoldenPhoenix

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #33 on: April 20, 2009, 03:44:50 PM »
I have to agree with GP on this one. Just because it's not flying off the shelves doesn't mean it won't sell well over the long run. If Rockstar decides to not make any more titles for Nintendo because of the initial sales numbers, then good riddance.

Like I said though I think the whole thing is blown out of proportion, heck I'd even go as far to say that maybe all of this is a free way to market the game. I'm curious to find out what people think the target audience is for this? Would it necessarily be the GTAIV owners? They are pretty different in how they work. I wouldn't be surprised if many GTAIV fans thought this was a step down for the series because of the visuals.

Regardless if it follows the PSP titles in sales patterns it will do perfectly fine business for Rockstar in the end. Maybe not a ton out of the gate but consistent sales over, perhaps, years.
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Offline NWR_Lindy

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #34 on: April 20, 2009, 07:26:38 PM »
Hell I'm not even saying that it WON'T sell.  I'm just playing devil's advocate here.  Obviously the fact that this game didn't do big numbers out of the gate indicates that something is out of whack.  My assumption is that it'll have legs, but who knows?  As for the media blowing this out of proportion, they've giving the game free PR and basically TELLING the public that they should buy this game by claiming it's not selling as expected.  The media isn't always the big, bad anti-Nintendo crusader that people think it is.
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Offline GoldenPhoenix

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #35 on: April 20, 2009, 08:54:46 PM »
Quote
The media isn't always the big, bad anti-Nintendo crusader that people think it is.

Yeah they just create articles every day about how Wii is doomed now and that no one is buying "X" game at the moment. How the fad is ending, and how the world is going to crash down around the Wii because PS3 is outselling it by 3k in Japan. I still want an explanation how it not selling out of the gate is out of whack? That is a pretty common sales pattern for DS and Wii games, nothing really new there.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2009, 08:56:46 PM by GoldenPhoenix »
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Offline Luigi Dude

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #36 on: April 20, 2009, 09:17:18 PM »
Madworld is not the sort of game that should ever be expected to sell huge numbers.  It wouldn't have sold big on the other consoles either or on the PS2 last gen.  It's just not that kind of big blockbuster hit kind of game.

And you would be correct.  Madworld is pretty much the spiritual successor to God Hand for the PS2.  God Hand came out on the PS2 when it had an even bigger user base then the Wii has now, and yet, it did even worse then Madworld did it's first month.
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Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #37 on: April 20, 2009, 09:43:45 PM »
The difference is that MadWorld is a good game (sorry to any God Hand fans).
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Offline Jonnyboy117

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #38 on: April 20, 2009, 11:18:05 PM »
I wouldn't have felt cheated by Mirror's Edge at $60.  It's considerably longer than four hours (took me about twice that), and the experience is consistently fresh because the gameplay is based on level designs that are always changing to present new challenges.

My reluctance to buy MadWorld is based on a combination of its brevity and what I perceive to be simple gameplay that doesn't change much over the course of the game.  Given that it's a simple beat 'em up, we should perhaps be glad that Platinum didn't stretch it out any longer.  But that kind of game just isn't worth full price to me these days.

Also, games whose appeal is based primarily on aesthetics are almost always rentals for me.
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Offline Stogi

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #39 on: April 20, 2009, 11:22:10 PM »
"Also, games whose appeal is based primarily on aesthetics are almost always rentals for me."

Like Okami, right?
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Offline NinGurl69 *huggles

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #40 on: April 20, 2009, 11:30:28 PM »
RIGHT.
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Offline NovaQ

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #41 on: April 20, 2009, 11:41:42 PM »
The difference is that MadWorld is a good game (sorry to any God Hand fans).

No worries - I have a feeling you're not going to get many responses to that "low-blow"...
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Offline NWR_Lindy

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #42 on: April 20, 2009, 11:42:45 PM »
Yeah they just create articles every day about how Wii is doomed now and that no one is buying "X" game at the moment. How the fad is ending, and how the world is going to crash down around the Wii because PS3 is outselling it by 3k in Japan. I still want an explanation how it not selling out of the gate is out of whack? That is a pretty common sales pattern for DS and Wii games, nothing really new there.

Change is news.  The Wii sells the doors off for three years straight, and then suddenly the PS3 tops Japan for six weeks in a row or whatever, and that's not news?  Iwata says that the Wii is "at its weakest point in Japan" and that's not news?

What, is anything remotely critical of Nintendo not news to you?
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Offline Stogi

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #43 on: April 20, 2009, 11:52:30 PM »
I remember when the GC topped charts.....just saying.

This is non-news.
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #44 on: April 21, 2009, 04:14:59 AM »
Obviously the fact that this game didn't do big numbers out of the gate indicates that something is out of whack.

Yeah, the thing out of whack is the sales pattern on "casual" consoles (spread out over a long time as opposed to frontloaded, selling big one month and being forgotten the next) but we've known about that for a long time already.

Offline NinGurl69 *huggles

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #45 on: April 21, 2009, 11:45:08 AM »
Yeah, but that only applies to sorta-good-enough casual games that the casuals would buy.

non-casual super mature artsy niche games like MadWorld haven't performed as such.
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Offline oohhboy

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Re: Initial GTA, MadWorld Sales Numbers Disappointing
« Reply #46 on: April 21, 2009, 12:23:48 PM »
The difference is that MadWorld is a good game (sorry to any God Hand fans).

No worries - I have a feeling you're not going to get many responses to that "low-blow"...

Don't ever diss God Hand. Not much to look at but it makes me want to go buy a PS2 just so I can play it non-stop. It deserves a sequel that's not coming.
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