Topic: Dunaway: Sales of GTA 'Frustrating'

[NWR_DrewMG]

The Nintendo VP talks about the sales and marketing of Chinatown Wars.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=20533

 In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, Nintendo Vice President of Marketing and Sales Cammie Dunaway said that the sales of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS were "frustrating" and that the game should continue to receive marketing support from the publisher.  "The old dynamic of throw it on TV for a few weeks and forget it isn't going to work, because new consumers are coming in all the time," Dunaway said.      

According to Gamespot.com, Chinatown Wars sold just under 90,000 copies in its first month, a comparatively low number to other games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.      

Dunaway continued, "Certainly there have been mature titles - Resident Evil, the first Call of Duty - that have sold over a million units and with something like GTA, there's great content there. We do think it'll have a long tail and we've seen that with a lot of titles across all genres on the DS platform that consumers continue to discover them."

[BlackNMild2k1]

Whether it's a good game or not, maybe they should try releasing a current GTA for the Wii and not a 1999 GTA for the DS. I'm pretty sure that might help out in the sales department.

[Chozo Ghost]

I've played it, and I agree it is a cool game.

[Stratos]

Anyone who likes GTA games should get the DS one. Quite fun and engaging. I like hot-wiring cars.

[Jonnyboy117]

It is easily one of the best DS games of the year, and there was plenty of competition. It's not Nintendo's fault that the game didn't sell, although third-parties usually wait for Nintendo to prep the market for certain kinds of games, and that certainly did not happen with GTA.

[Ian Sane]

I've heard the PSP version's sales are also underwhelming despite strong reviews.  I suspect people are just not that interested in a portable 2D GTA.

Remember also that GTA became a big deal with GTA III.  The original 2D GTAs were not nearly as popular with critics or customers.  So there isn't really any nostalgia associated with that style of gameplay.  There are people that own all the console GTAs and love them but have never played the 2D games and don't feel like trying them out.

A lot of portable versions of console games also come across as shovelware.  The exceptions are classic series like Castlevania which has considerably more nostagic value than 2D GTA.  If I'm a yutz GTA fan that doesn't know better and pretty much considers GTA III to be the first game then I see a China Town Wars screenshot and think "oh it's a crappy 2D version" instead of "hey it plays like those old GTA games".  Yeah I'm insulting the intelligence of the GTA fanbase but, let's face it, most of them came on board when the series went 3D and it does attract a fair amount of "DUR I LIK THE VIOLENCE" types.

[TJ Spyke]

Whether it's a good game or not, maybe they should try releasing a current GTA for the Wii and not a 1999 GTA for the DS. I'm pretty sure that might help out in the sales department.

Huh? It's a 3D game, not 2D. So calling it a 1999 game doesn't make sense. Besides, the game plays very similar to the current GTA.

Ian, I wouldn't say people aren't interest in portable GTAs. I know it's not saying much since PSP software in general does not sell well, but Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories continue to be among the top 10 PSP games (every week they are in the top 10 PSP games list in the UK. Both have sold over 1 million (with LCS selling over 2.7 million).

I have played Chinatown Wars, but i've heard it's great. Reviews I have read say the DS version is still more fun to play because the minigames were designed for the DS touchscreen. I also agree with Cammie that publishers shouldn't stop advertising a game after a month of two. People buy the system all the time and want new games. This is why GameStop continues to advertise New Super Mario Bros. in their holiday catalog 4 years after the games release, people continue to buy it (I bet most are new DS owners). I don't think i've even seen a TV commercial for Chinatown Wars.

[BlackNMild2k1]

From the limited amount of screen shots I've seen it looked like a top-down GTA and not a over the shoulder one, therefore it looks more like a 1999 GTA(GTA 1&2) than a current 3D one.

And I have seen the commercials. They were played pretty often around the month that the game came out. I always meant to check it out, but I had forgotten about it until now. Maybe they should continue to advertise their games, keep it fresh in our minds amidst all the other things going on in out lives.

[TJ Spyke]

It wasn't top-down, it's isometric (basically 2.5D). Maybe it was the channels, but none of the TV channels I watch ever had commericals for the game.

[Ian Sane]

It wasn't top-down, it's isometric (basically 2.5D).

This is largely a technicality.  The design of it is clearly meant to be closer to the original games than the ones from GTA III and on.  Or at least that's what it LOOKS like.  If it really is nothing like the old games then I will shift a significant amount of blame to the marketing department as from day one I've assumed this is more of a old-school GTA.
 
I'll also point out that I personally think the graphics look TERRIBLE at least in still shots which is what you'll see on the back of the box.  It's all pixelated with these ugly back outlines around all the characters.  This alone might put off a superfiscial GTA fan.  It LOOKS like your typical console-to-portable shovelware.  It has this ugly ass look that something like a portable Splinter Cell or Call of Duty would have.  The look of it alone just BEGS you to write it off. 

[Jonnyboy117]

Actually, the game looks fantastic on the DS screens. It's probably my vote for best graphics on DS this year.

[Chozo Ghost]

I've never seen a TV advertisement for this game either. I think I seen some ad banners online back when it came out and perhaps in magazines, but that's it. That's how it is for a lot of games, and probably why a lot of games flop.

[KDR_11k]

It's 2D GTA. What the hell do you expect? GTA only became big when it went full 3D since driving cars in top-down just doesn't feel right.


Yes I know it's technically 3D but so was GTA 1.

[Chozo Ghost]

It's 2D GTA. What the hell do you expect?

Well, the DS is capable of 3D gaming. It is seldom ever done in a good way, though...

[KDR_11k]

Well, the DS is capable of 3D gaming. It is seldom ever done in a good way, though...

I guess the GTa devs didn't have the headgold to do it, eh?

[Chozo Ghost]

I guess not. But in any case the Wii certainly is capable of handling 3D GTA games, and as a matter of fact it should be very inexpensive for Rockstar to port PS2 GTA games over to the Wii, and also add new controls and content. This worked very well for a lot of last gen games, and they would make money even if sales were poor.

The problem is they are reluctant to support Nintendo hardware for some reason. It was a miracle they put Chinatown wars on the DS, and the poor sales doesn't bode well for future games being on the DS or Wii...

[TJ Spyke]

It's 2D GTA. What the hell do you expect? GTA only became big when it went full 3D since driving cars in top-down just doesn't feel right.

Yes I know it's technically 3D but so was GTA 1.

GTA1 was 2D, Chinatown Wars is 3D.

[BlackNMild2k1]

It's 2D GTA. What the hell do you expect? GTA only became big when it went full 3D since driving cars in top-down just doesn't feel right.

Yes I know it's technically 3D but so was GTA 1.

GTA1 was 2D, Chinatown Wars is 3D.

from a top down perspective.
in other words, it's not like GTA3(and it's multiple versions), the handheld "Stories" versions or GTA4.


You can defend the game till you're blue in the face, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a special top-down version much in the same way as GTA 1 & 2 and that's not exactly what people are looking of when they think GTA regardless of it's on the DS, iPhone or PSP.

[TJ Spyke]

You are wrong, but I am not gonna keep correcting you because I have better things to do.

Go out and actually play the 3D game.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I've seen the commercial. it looked top down to me(slightly angeled) with thick black outlined toonshaded characters. If I'm gonna buy GTA I'd prefer it be the same GTA3 style that I'm used to seeing.

You could always provide some pics or a video if you want though.

[KDR_11k]

It's 2D GTA. What the hell do you expect? GTA only became big when it went full 3D since driving cars in top-down just doesn't feel right.

Yes I know it's technically 3D but so was GTA 1.

GTA1 was 2D, Chinatown Wars is 3D.

GTA1 was 3D. It represented cars and people with sprites but the world was displayed with polygons and movement had a Z axis (you could jump over a broken bridge, for example).