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[GrotesqueBeauty]

I'm guessing a port of Lunatea's Veil is on the way if this one hits expectations. The original Door to Phantomile did 28k in the States and it wound up with a sequel. (EDIT) The Japanese release was much more successful, though. Unfortunately, it's kinda up to the States to carry the remake.

I don't think the franchise has even sold a million copies yet.

Yeah, Luneta's Veil sounded like the next step in interviews the team gave (although I desperately wish they would just do an entirely new game). I would hope for a full blown remake rather than a port though, especially since they already have an excellent engine up and running. At first I thought there wouldn't be much of a point to re-releasing Klonoa 2, but now that I'm playing it directly following the Klonoa Wii the difference is astounding. I'd definitely double dip for a version of Luneta's Veil with the same degree of polish.

 

[Haunted]

i'll go ahead and say that it'll do much better than excitebots, but not well. nothing is doing /well/.

Yeah, maybe. :/


But I sure prefer the hype-building marketing machinery (Smash Bros., Monster Hunter 3) to those sneaky stealth announcements (Excitebots, Contra Rebirth).

Although I guess there's a healthy middle-ground to be found, I don't want more Killzones and GT5's with 3+ years between announcement and release.

 

[Rolf NB]

Yeah, maybe. :/


But I sure prefer the hype-building marketing machinery (Smash Bros., Monster Hunter 3) to those sneaky stealth announcements (Excitebots, Contra Rebirth).

Although I guess there's a healthy middle-ground to be found, I don't want more Killzones and GT5's with 3+ years between announcement and release.

You could be a Wii owner in Europe, be hyped and then wait until "spring 2010" for Oboro Muramasa.

... is that actually NOE's strategy?

+the game's a known quantity for at least a year before release
-spring 2010 wtf

 

[Cosmonaut X]

You could be a Wii owner in Europe, be hyped and then wait until "spring 2010" for Oboro Muramasa.

... is that actually NOE's strategy?

+the game's a known quantity for at least a year before release
-spring 2010 wtf

...and how is that NoE's fault? Or are you just expecting them to publish any and all reasonable-looking third party titles in Europe?

 

[Scrubking]

Stealth releasing Excitebots fucking failed. Poor Monster Games.

Let's see how the opposite marketing strategy works - Nintendo is releasing a steady flow of info, trailers and commercials, actively trying to build hype for Punch-Out.

If there's anything I learned in the past two years is that advertising works and poor advertising is sure to doom whatever it is your selling. And it's not just advertising either. It's how you advertise or rather pitch your product. Overall I can say that the vast majority of 3rd party Wii games have had mediocre to poor advertising. When you combine that with a new IP in a niche genre like Madworld, or even a mid-teir Nintendo game you can only expect poor results.

In spite of what the console warriors say, if a game fails the only people to blame are the publishers/creators not the consumers. There is a way to reach the Wii consumer, but I don't think anyone has found it yet or really tried.

 

[Man God]

If there's anything I learned in the past two years is that advertising works and poor advertising is sure to doom whatever it is your selling. And it's not just advertising either. It's how you advertise or rather pitch your product. Overall I can say that the vast majority of 3rd party Wii games have had mediocre to poor advertising. When you combine that with a new IP in a niche genre like Madworld, or even a mid-teir Nintendo game you can only expect poor results.

In spite of what the console warriors say, if a game fails the only people to blame are the publishers/creators not the consumers. There is a way to reach the Wii consumer, but I don't think anyone has found it yet or really tried.

Only one problem with that: Madworld was advertised quite frequently.

 

[Stumpokapow]

You could be a Wii owner in Europe, be hyped and then wait until "spring 2010" for Oboro Muramasa.

... is that actually NOE's strategy?

+the game's a known quantity for at least a year before release
-spring 2010 wtf

ah, yes, they should have pushed the fast forward button on rising star games' account.

 

[markatisu]

Only one problem with that: Madworld was advertised quite frequently.

That would fall under his not advertising correctly arguement as MadWorld commercials were almost violence free.

 

[DMeisterJ]

At least Valkyria is in top 10 PS3. It hasn't been there in a while, correct?

 

[Stumpokapow]

At least Valkyria is in top 10 PS3. It hasn't been there in a while, correct?

yes, this is a significant bump for valkyria. also, the top 10 of a console generally bottoms out around 25k-30k, so that'd be a significant numerical bump for valkyria presuming that ps3 software sales didn't drop this month (obviously without actual numbers we have no way of knowing)

 

[GuardianE]

While I'm surprised by Guitar Hero Aerosmith's numbers, it makes sense.

There were sales for GHA at Gamestop, Best Buy, and Blockbuster all last month, featuring the game for $10. Gamestop even gave away a free guitar with the $10 purchase. I bought 3 of them myself.

 

[Man God]

That would fall under his not advertising correctly arguement as MadWorld commercials were almost violence free.

Well then, carry on.

I thought the Madworld ads worked pretty well at showing off the game, but then again I already knew quite a bit about the game...

 

[Haunted]

You could be a Wii owner in Europe, be hyped and then wait until "spring 2010" for Oboro Muramasa.

... is that actually NOE's strategy?

+the game's a known quantity for at least a year before release
-spring 2010 wtf

Rising Star.

In a perfect world, all we'd get would be global simultaneous releases, regardless of publisher. I want to play Captain Rainbow, Fragile and Muramasa.

Then again, Rising Star brought over Little King's Story (even before the US), so I can't be too mad at em.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Well then, carry on.

I thought the Madworld ads worked pretty well at showing off the game, but then again I already knew quite a bit about the game...

Yeah, the ads didn't give a good idea of what the game is about. Hell, those short clips before the challenges would have made better material for an ad. A lot of games can get away with it because they are more approachable. I've seen Guitar Hero ads and they don't give any good insight into the gameplay but any body can easily describe GH or RB in 5 words and the attraction is already there. For Madworld, the 'attraction' or 'grab' to a mainstream consumer isn't there. They have to do more and couldn't.

And the game does not sell itself. It's not intuitive nor does it really show you how to get the most out of it. Poor advertising and average gameplay.

 

[TomServo]

Apparently selling Aerosmith for $10 worked on moving that excess stock.

I bought a copy for Wii, just in case someone wanted to play a song or two.

It's still sealed.

 

[thefro]

I'd look for things to continue to be way down across the board for the rest of the year.

Big-name games will sell well but that'll be about it. The core will cut out buying mediocre titles when there's a month of saturated releases and the more casual gamers will be less apt to buy (although Nintendo's big evergreen titles will still do solid numbers).

 

[acm2000]

That would fall under his not advertising correctly arguement as MadWorld commercials were almost violence free.

really? uk ones certainly werent :lol

 

[justchris]

I think people are attributing the low sales of Excitebots to the wrong thing. You don't have to announce and hype a product for months to generate sales. It is entirely possible to announce and release something, blitz the public with marketing and sell millions on the first day. It happens with other products, and it can be done with games, too, if someone's actually willing to put the marketing muscle behind it.

It wasn't the short period between announcement and launch that hurt Excitebots, it was the extremely anemic marketing. A few screenshots and videos, cover of Nintendo Power, and that was pretty much it. No frontpage news on any gaming sites, no online ads, no tv ads, no radio ads, no retailer promos or deals, no sales circular announcements, nothing. Let's face it, Excitebots had shitty marketing. It could have been announced 2 years ago, and it still would have sold just as bad.

 

[TheKurgan]

PSP

Okay now you are just being mean. The pain of this season hasn't faded for us Flames fans...

 

[Barrett2]

So Madworld is a confirmed disaster?

 

[markatisu]

really? uk ones certainly werent :lol

The UK version of MadWorld had its own issues outside of advertising, and a lot of gaffers from the EU complained about them vocally.

So Madworld is a confirmed disaster?

In 1 year we will all know, you can say its a disaster now then eat crow if it turns out to sell to appriopriate numbers in a year as many Wii and DS games do.

 

[DMeisterJ]

In 1 year we will all know, you can say its a disaster now then eat crow if it turns out to sell to appriopriate numbers in a year as many Wii and DS games do.

It's not even on the Wii top 20 this month. I know that lots of games have legs and sell for a period of time on Wii and DS, but for this to be out of the top 20, I don't believe in 12 months this game would have sold drastically more than it's already done selling.

 

[Stumpokapow]

So Madworld is a confirmed disaster?

yes.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Guys. Madworld is Black and White.

 

[FrankT]

No doubt about it.

 

[Rolf NB]

I think people are attributing the low sales of Excitebots to the wrong thing. You don't have to announce and hype a product for months to generate sales. It is entirely possible to announce and release something, blitz the public with marketing and sell millions on the first day. It happens with other products, and it can be done with games, too, if someone's actually willing to put the marketing muscle behind it.

It wasn't the short period between announcement and launch that hurt Excitebots, it was the extremely anemic marketing. A few screenshots and videos, cover of Nintendo Power, and that was pretty much it. No frontpage news on any gaming sites, no online ads, no tv ads, no radio ads, no retailer promos or deals, no sales circular announcements, nothing. Let's face it, Excitebots had shitty marketing. It could have been announced 2 years ago, and it still would have sold just as bad.

I still think making it Wall-E without really being Wall-E was an unfortunate decision. "Generic" cars, trucks, quads, whatever would have been much easier to accept.

 

[-PXG-]

Guys. Madworld is Black

What did you say?

 

[Taker666]

I think people are attributing the low sales of Excitebots to the wrong thing. You don't have to announce and hype a product for months to generate sales. It is entirely possible to announce and release something, blitz the public with marketing and sell millions on the first day. It happens with other products, and it can be done with games, too, if someone's actually willing to put the marketing muscle behind it.

It wasn't the short period between announcement and launch that hurt Excitebots, it was the extremely anemic marketing. A few screenshots and videos, cover of Nintendo Power, and that was pretty much it. No frontpage news on any gaming sites, no online ads, no tv ads, no radio ads, no retailer promos or deals, no sales circular announcements, nothing. Let's face it, Excitebots had shitty marketing. It could have been announced 2 years ago, and it still would have sold just as bad.

I'm quite surprised they didn't go for a big tv ad campaign with Excitebots.

Considering how well Mario Kart Wii has done you would have thought another "Wii Wheel" game could have done some very good crossover business. I can seen no logical reason why Excitebots couldn't have done 2-3 million worldwide (with a good tv ad push) if not more.

It gets frustrating when you constantly see Wii fit being advertised (when it really doesn't need to be pushed any more) yet they won't spend advertising dollars on a new game with alot of mass market potential.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

What did you say?

Don't get me wrong, some of my favourite Video Games are Black and White.

 

[-PXG-]

Don't get me wrong, some of my favourite Video Games are Black and White.

I was trying to purposely misquote you, and accuse of being racist. Joke backfired :lol

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

WII GUITAR HERO AEROSMITH
360 GUITAR HERO AEROSMITH
PS3 GUITAR HERO AEROSMITH
PS3 SOUL CALIBUR IV
PSP MORTAL KOMBAT: UNCHAINED

What do these old, forgotten games have in common? They went on sale during the month of April.

Well the first and most obvious point is that those games were on sale at more than one store from what I understand, and CTW was on sale at a store that is having trouble getting consumers through their gate last I checked. Not mention MK PSP doesn't mean much being that all the top 10 DS games surpass the #1 PSP game the majority of time anyway. Also some were bargains much more than others (as someone stated Guitar Hero Aerosmith the equipment is practically being given to you, the game was $10).

Nope. It's pretty much 100% dead.

My guess is that the price will drop to $30 or something, and sales will spike a bit. It might do NMH numbers, but considering its massive drop, I doubt it.

CTW is an example of the opposite. Its sales have been holding steady, so it'll probably do well over time.

I'm glad to hear about CTW having legs but that's not that big of a surprise as Nintendo has really been pushing for the adult male market with the DSi.

As for Madworld I already gave my points to its failure but its sad that it's going down like this.

Only one problem with that: Madworld was advertised quite frequently.

But very shitty. The commercials focused on the "grimness" instead of the violence and comedy which was the games main selling point. Not to mention the game is very very niche. Again as I've said before I'm not saying that the Wii is the haven for "M" rated games just that Madworld had no chance when you combine the lack of appeal and awkward advertising.

Than again SEGA has always been shitty when trying to appeal to the Western consumer in marketing besides Sonic and a select few others.

Example:


Jet Grind Radio Commercial

Spoiler

For North America...

 

[Grampa Simpson]

paradigm shift

Here's the last time I mentioned a paradigm shift on GAF.

ds is especially uncool if you're a child. kids get beat up for much less than repeatedly shouting "BROOOOOOOO" into a gameboy. owning a ds is the 00s equivalent of being the kid whose parents bought him an educational console instead of an nes. you all remember that kid.

what

He's about to be left behind by the paradigm shift. It's causing him to be put under a lot of stress, and when drohne is under stress, he becomes more unrestrained and obnoxious than he normally is.

lol you said paradigm shift in all apparent seriousness

 

[Pachael]

So Madworld is a confirmed disaster?

If Madworld is a confirmed disaster Excitebots is, uh. well. EXCITE

 

[Neo C.]

I think this month's NPD provides a big hint. The industry needs a business model that is more sustainable.

A very large number of users are being overshot with graphics and horse power, the market at large can't be based upon those proposals any longer. This isn't about one company or the other company, or who's evil.

At least the notion that development costs are too high is well accepted by now. Hopefully companies won't make the same mistakes again in the next generation.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

I was trying to purposely misquote you, and accuse of being racist. Joke backfired :lol

I know. I tried to play into it.

Oh well next time.

 

[squatingyeti]

Sony is still losing money on each PS3 sold. A pricedrop now would be like jabbing a butter knife slowly into your heart:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2009/05/15/sony_ps3_profitability/

CFO Nobuyuki Oneda stating that the PS3's cost to Sony is still about 10% higher than the system's price. This is current as of the end of March.

The PS3 is priced differently in each territory, but in Japan, 10% would mean about a 4,000 yen hit (this is assuming Oneda is referring to the retail cost, which may not be the case).

 

[FrankT]

Sony is still losing money on each PS3 sold. A pricedrop now would be like jabbing a butter knife slowly into your heart:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2009/05/15/sony_ps3_profitability/

Yea I thought they still were as of late last year best esimates were still a loss of $50 and now that looks like around $40. Perhaps the slim version will be closer to break even point, and that would be a good thing.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Sony is still losing money on each PS3 sold. A pricedrop now would be like jabbing a butter knife slowly into your heart:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2009/05/15/sony_ps3_profitability/

10%? Almost there!

 

[squatingyeti]

The bad news they're facing is even if they get it to even, any amount of effective price cutting will only further punish them. This really was the perfect storm to bring Sony down.

 

[Shiggie]

If Madworld is a confirmed disaster Excitebots is, uh. well. EXCITE

How long was it out to be counted on the charts?
I heard it was one day.

 

[-PXG-]

MadWorld is now $29.99 at EB Games ($26.99 used).

 

[Pachael]

How long was it out to be counted on the charts?
I heard it was one day.

Excitebots came out on the 20th, so it still had a good 10 days of sales., at the very least.

Just in case we use the 10 day excuse now. Or the Legs one. EXCITE Legs.

 

[justchris]

I still think making it Wall-E without really being Wall-E was an unfortunate decision. "Generic" cars, trucks, quads, whatever would have been much easier to accept.

Wouldn't have mattered if anyone besides internet forum lurkers actually knew it existed and how much fun it is.

At least the notion that development costs are too high is well accepted by now. Hopefully companies won't make the same mistakes again in the next generation.

Yeah, but how do they get out of it? Most of the larger, more competent companies have focused almost entirely on a single target market which demands more and better graphics/sounds/AI/physics/gimmicks. Sure, they could pull back from that, but look how well that turned out for Nintendo with the hardcore crowd?

 

[RuneFactoryFanboy]

MadWorld is now $29.99 at EB Games ($26.99 used).

Which is why I didn't buy it. I've learned my lessons on buying any Sega published game full price, they are almost guaranteed to have a price drop soon after release. Sega games do not hold value for very long, at least the ones I'm interest in don't.

I feel kinda bad, because I know full well the devs wont see a dime of the money the way I buy, but I'm a consumer first not a charity.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

System: Average weeks ownership (Average purchase date)

Wii: 54.5 (April 16, 2008)
PS3: 60.4 (March 6, 2008)
X360: 81.8 (October 8, 2007)

So the average Wii owner has now had their system for over one year.

And are you also not surprised at how low the 360 sales are considering it's price point ?

Not really. The only time I can think of when a second place console sold significantly more than that in April was 2004, when the original Xbox dropped to $149. I think that was also when they finally had an SKU with Halo bundled, too?

Imagine the Super Nintendo outselling the N64 three years into the generation. Wouldn't we be asking for a hardware revision instead of a price cut?

I guess that depends on what would be so different about the revision? Worth noting that this far out from launch, US N64 was at $129. By the time it reached a full 3 years, it was at $99.

Playstation 3
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/6/6d/Janeway_Heartbroke.jpg

Playstation 2
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/a/ac/Bujold-Janeway.jpg

:lol

So ExciteBots sold over 8,000 without the wheel bundled? I'm not really surprised since I had to hit up three stores just to find it without the wheel on launch day.

Interesting. I didn't consider it a day one purchase, but figured I'd buy one of the wheel bundles if I saw it somewhere. Weeks later, haven't seen one yet. Plenty of Mario Kart wheel bundles, though.

Rhythm Heaven's had the most extensive ad campaign I've seen for a DS in quite some time. Probably the biggest campaign's NOA's ever done for a new IP.

I realize we're getting into relatively ancient history here, but after its massive success in Japan they went pretty big on promoting Pokémon in 1998.

THIS is the #1 selling PSP game this month?

Didn't this game come out in 2006? :lol :lol

Well, to be fair, DS's #1 game is essentially a rerelease of a 2007 game, its #2 game is from 2006, and its #3 game is from 2005.

 

[markatisu]

Which is why I didn't buy it. I've learned my lessons on buying any Sega published game full price, they are almost guaranteed to have a price drop soon after release. Sega games do not hold value for very long, at least the ones I'm interest in don't.

I feel kinda bad, because I know full well the devs wont see a dime of the money the way I buy, but I'm a consumer first not a charity.

I have been saying that for months, almost every SEGA Wii game including Mario and Sonic Olympic Games sees a price drop recently after release (Sonic and the Secret Rings did, all their lightgun shooters did, Mario and Sonic did less than 45 days on the market and it was a sales hit,etc)

Seems only diehards buy SEGA games, everyone else waits for the adjusted pricing. I am actually shocked HoTD Overkill has yet to go on any kind of sale, it is one of the few that bucks the trend.

 

[Ranger X]

WOW, it's rare I comment those threads but it seems i'm really surprised this month. It's really a big WTF:


- PS3 selling less than PS2 (lol - pricedrop needed anyone?)

- 360 basically selling like the PS2

- Wii dropping like 50% (I think we need new N games?)

.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Sony is still losing money on each PS3 sold. A pricedrop now would be like jabbing a butter knife slowly into your heart:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2009/05/15/sony_ps3_profitability/

Sony put themselves in this position. Like I said earlier; Sony needs to pick wisely; either lose more money now by price dropping and gamble for increased base/software sales, or lose less money now and risk losing your market altogether.

Sony is fucked financially either way; they have to decide which will fuck them less long term.

Keeping in mind that they forecast an extra 3 million units this fiscal year I'd say it's a pretty fair bet which direction they chose.

 

[Hunahan]

Okay now you are just being mean. The pain of this season hasn't faded for us Flames fans...

I don't watch hockey so I don't even get the reference.

For some reason, Bishop decided to edit that into my post. :lol

 

[A Twisty Fluken]

I know this is a North American thread, but that doesn't explain how the same game became such a sensation in Japan, which is where the disappointment at the numbers comes from.

I'm guessing Rhythm Heaven is in the 11-20 range, so maybe it's just having a slower start than its Japanese debut. No mention of it in the Nintendo response makes me worried, however.

Well, this is speculation, but it did have Tsunku, a moderately major name with a media machine behind him, attached to it. I'd imagine there was some outreach there. It was also a sequel. Was the first one similarly brisk out of the gate?