Enter the Matrix Sells Like Hotcakes

May 23, 2003, 12:20 am EDT
Total comments: 16

One million down, three million to go.

Atari's Enter The Matrix Premieres as No. 1 Selling Video Game

Sales Surpass 1 Million Units in First Week

Enter The Matrix(TM) Sets Historical Mark by Reaching 1 Million Units Sold-Through Faster Than Any Other Movie-Based Game

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2003-- Atari's Enter The Matrix, a third-person action game that parallels Warner Bros. Pictures' and Village Roadshow Pictures' action blockbuster, The Matrix Reloaded, is the No. 1 selling video game worldwide, selling more than 1 million units in North America and Europe in the first week of availability.

The game was made available in stores May 15, in conjunction with the release of The Matrix Reloaded, for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft, the Nintendo GameCube(TM) and the personal computer. Enter The Matrix will be available in Japan on June 19.

"We are thrilled by these early sell-through numbers," said Bruno Bonnell, Chairman and CEO of IESA and Atari. "These initial sales results exemplify the power of the Wachowski Brothers' vision for the franchise. With the exceptional box office results of The Matrix Reloaded and the explosive sales of Enter The Matrix, we are witnessing the true convergence of Hollywood and gaming. This is the beginning of our sales success as we expect continued strong returns for the duration of the year, based on the success of The Matrix Reloaded and the upcoming release of The Matrix Revolutions(TM)."

"The Wachowski Brothers wanted to tell the epic story of the Matrix trilogy in multiple mediums, and Enter The Matrix is a key component in their visionary storytelling scheme," said Joel Silver, producer of the Matrix films. "The record-breaking success of both The Matrix Reloaded and Enter The Matrix is a testament to the strength of the Wachowskis' vision and game developer Shiny Entertainment's commitment to furthering their story in an incredibly innovative, visceral and exciting way."

Enter The Matrix is the No. 1 selling video game worldwide and claims a spot as one of the most explosive video game launches in history. Online and brick-and-mortar retailers have reported overwhelming sales statistics for the game, with Enter The Matrix outselling its closest competitors on PlayStation®2 by two-to-one and on Xbox(TM) by four-to-one.

Developed by award-winning Shiny Entertainment (an Atari studio), Enter The Matrix is a revolution in interactive entertainment - a third-person action game that effectively blurs the line between Hollywood blockbuster films and next generation video games. The game is directed and features a script written by the Wachowski Brothers, writers/directors of The Matrix movie trilogy, creating the most intensive collaboration between a video game publisher and a movie studio to date. The game features the same over-the-top gunplay, mind-bending martial arts, and insane driving and stunts that made The Matrix famous.

Enter The Matrix includes approximately one hour of never-before-seen footage - shot exclusively for the game - using the actors, sets and crew from the blockbuster film, The Matrix Reloaded. In addition, the game features an hour of cineractives, directed by the Wachowskis and rendered within the game engine to help tell the epic story of Enter The Matrix.

Enter The Matrix carries an estimated retail price of $49.99 and an ESRB rating "T" for Teen. More information about Enter The Matrix is available at www.enterthematrixgame.com. To learn more about The Matrix Reloaded, visit www.thematrix.com.

Talkback

deminismaMay 22, 2003

My theory in regards to the entertainment industry...

LAME MOVIE + LAME GAME = BIG $$$$$$$$$$$$$

Shiny, what happened to you?

EDIT: Don't you DARE call it Atari's "Enter The Matrix".

oohhboyHong Hang Ho, Staff AlumnusMay 22, 2003

Excellent movie + Excellent Lisence + Crap game + Hype = $$$$$$$$

But the games sell through numbers are not really that good as it is 1 million over 4 machines. AKA, 250,000 copies per machine. So with a little creative wording, they have manged to make the launch bigger than it really is.

"PlayStation®2 by two-to-one and on Xbox(TM) by four-to-one."

Meaningless.

But the fact that this game stilll manged to sell a million copies is abit sick and will only encouge more crap games. May whatever video game deity save us all.

GamefreakMay 23, 2003

Mantarok?

Sean WhiteMay 23, 2003

I bought Ikaruga the other day (one HAPPY European citizen!!!) and I tried the Matrix game just out of couriosity. -Maybe it was because I wanted to confirm what I had already suspected.....:

This game is utter crap.

It felt more like playing Syphoon Filter on PS1 than it felt like an epic add on for a state of the art movie concept.

The graphics were less that mediocre, The gameplay seemed lame, the controls were unconvincing.

I feel pity for the poor souls who buy this game in expectation of some "matrix like" experience.-Let me say it again:

This game is utter crap.

Go see the movie twice instead of bying this game. -And no....you don't even have to rent the game.

That's just my advice.

oohhboyHong Hang Ho, Staff AlumnusMay 23, 2003

Thinking about now, I think we have been forsakened by our deity (Xel'lotath?). Either that, or he/she is extreamly sadistic.

SCFMay 23, 2003

Spider man dejavu anyone? Good movie + crappy game = $$$$$$

Illini4May 23, 2003

SEE! This is why Nintendo can't get any 3rd party support!! We are all Nintendo SNOBS! Not saying that is a bad thing, because I am very much so a Nintendo snob. I own 17 GCN games. Of those 17, 13 are Nintendo games (1st and 2nd party). With the others being from Sega Capcom and EA (sorry, i can't pass on a fifa game). The reason is because, 3rd party games don't have nearly the quality or refinement of Nintendo games (excluding Kirby air ride). Rarely is there a good one. But game quality doesn't mean anything today. I also own a PS2 soley to play Final Fantasy, and I feel even Square has lost a bit of their refinement. Did anyone notice that Matrix is selling 2:1 over other games for PS2 and 4:1 over other games on M$'s Xbox? PS2 has such a huge user base that 90% of those people are "casual" gamers and think, hmmm i like movie--i like game. So that explains PS2's sales. But hahahaha, yet another funny fact about XBOX. XBOX is the George W Bush of the video game industry. Nobody knows how he got there? He has no experience in the field he is in! Nobody knows how he is still around. Nobody in their right mind could ever like him. Yet he is still around, and some think he might actually be around for another term! XBOX2 and GWbush getting elected (for the first time, since he never won before) are two things that make my head itch. I can't figure out how either of these work, but getting back to XBOX. I do not own an XBOX, and in fact i have given up following anything about it! The only news xbox ever has is, "duh we made another move that will cost up Billions yet duh this is some how not the start of a monopoly." But come now, 4:1?!?! Wow, hahahaha. I feel more sorry now for xbox owners than i ever have. I mean not just Matrix, but look at splinter cell. That was the best selling game (or one of them) for xbox last year? Now we have it on our blessed cube, and I have no intentions on buying it. I might rent it, but that is a giant might! All in all, this is actually a bad thing (yes odd i know, give me one more second). Here is a 3rd party game, that is selling like "hot-cakes" and GCN has NOTHING to do with it. Nintendo can not increase sales of 3rd party titles with their current user base (all of us!) because we do not want 3rd party games. We want Mario, Zelda, Star Fox and any other character from the brilliant mind of Shiggy-san! So, big woopty-doo, Matrix is selling well, so did N'Syncs last album.

NWR_LindyJon Lindemann, Associate EditorMay 23, 2003

Good lord, learn the meaning of paragraphs.

Matrix Reloaded was a crap movie...I mean, it can't even hold the jockstrap of the first movie. Cool action sequences but that's about it. As for the game, my distaste for the movie carries over into the gaming arena as well.

silks

nolimit19May 23, 2003

yea it reminds me a lot of spider man......crap movie, crap game

BloodworthDaniel Bloodworth, Staff AlumnusMay 23, 2003

Burying your political tirade in the middle of that huge hunk of text does not make it ok.

NintendoFanGirlMay 23, 2003

Quote
Originally posted by: Illini4SEE! This is why Nintendo can't get any 3rd party support!! We are all Nintendo SNOBS!

I agree with you but I can say that I am making an effort to buy more 3rd party games. I did buy Splinter Cell and I'm glad I did. This is actually a fun game. No, don't rent it. Buy it! There are deals out there, you just got to look (or ask me).
As I posted on anothe forum, Amazon.com's sales rank for Enter the Matrix is as follows:

PS2 - #1
XB - #4
GC - #45

That is horrible. I don't care if it is a crappy and/or mediocre game, those numbers are terrible. We, as Nintendo fans, need to stop being so incredibly selective and refusing to buy anything that isn't rated a 9.5 or above. We have become too picky. A game doesn't have to be perfect to be fun to play. I just started Luigi's Mansion again and despite what everyone thought, this game is pretty fun.
Now go buy some quality 3rd party games, they ARE out there!

Ian SaneMay 23, 2003

While I don't think it's good that this game sold well I will congratulate Atari for a brilliant strategy. First of all the title is based on a popular franchise so it was an instant hit for the casual crowd. And by releasing the title during E3 they managed to grab some of the hardcore crowd as well because with all of the E3 news taking up everyone's time there were no reviews online so nobody could tell ahead of time that it was a dud. The E3 release was probably a fluke thing but in retrospect it was a pretty smart move. I was in EB the day it came out and all sorts of people were asking about the game. They hadn't been able to find any reviews so many of them just took the plunge and bought the game to "see what it's like".

"We, as Nintendo fans, need to stop being so incredibly selective and refusing to buy anything that isn't rated a 9.5 or above. We have become too picky. A game doesn't have to be perfect to be fun to play. I just started Luigi's Mansion again and despite what everyone thought, this game is pretty fun."

Well first of all Luigi's Mansion actually sold pretty well. Plus Enter the Matrix isn't like a good title that got ignored because it's not perfect. According to GameRankings it got an average score of 73.5% which is pretty low for such a hyped up title. Plus a lot of reviewers gave it scores in the 60% range. The PS2 version which has more reviews has an average score of 66%. It's not a problem that Nintendo fans are too picky. The problem is that the PS2 and Xbox userbases are clogged up with people that aren't picky enough. A lot of really average-to-crappy titles sell well because of hype or a popular license or "mature content" or graphics and this sort of trend screws everything up for everyone else. The result is that a third party will release all sorts of crappy bug-filled games because they know they don't have to try any harder. As long as the title is marketed well it will sell with the PS2 and Xbox userbase. These same third parties will then port these titles to the Gamecube (usually with bugs) and then when the title doesn't sell they'll pull support and act like it's OUR fault the title didn't sell well instead of their own.

Personally I think we should stay picky because there's too much crap being released and the only way to get these companies to care is if they lose money. As Gamecube owners we may get the shaft now but in the longrun it will be better for us when the casual PS2 audience finds a new fad and half-assed licence games can't support a mediocre third party anymore.

SatansNemesisMay 23, 2003

Amen brotha!

Besides, there are some quality games for cube that are from 3rd party: burnout 2 (gonna get after next paycheck!) splinter cell (and the paycheck after that!) and hopefuly grap the sonic mega collection, skies of arcadia, soul calibur 2 and f-zero gx before end of summer. ALL of those are from 3rd parties....maybe that explains why nitty had a weak showing @ E3?

sycomonkeyMay 23, 2003

Matrix Reloaded absolutely OWNED. It was nearly as good as the first one. The action was certainly a lot better, though the plot was a bit less phenominal.

Dealing with the game... Way too many mixed reviews on this one. I'll buy it when it's cheaper, but I need to pick it up eventually if only for the extra movie footage.

NarutoMay 24, 2003

Tirade. Now there's a new word for me.

But yeah Enter the Matrix(PC) reeked. How they managed to make such a crappy game to take up 3.4GB of space is beyond me. The movie part is
1hr,and with divx format shouldn't take more than ~400 MB. Game took 3GB? Amazing how inefficient coders have become..
It took 10 mins to install. And 5 mins to UNINSTALL. *Sigh*

Knuckles_69May 24, 2003

This game is crap, I dont understand what kind of jackass would buy it.

Add to the discussion!