Holiday Game Sales Semi-Merry After All?

Thanks to CNN for its report discussing specific sales numbers for November's top videogames. The report, shortly following previous analyst worries, mentions that "game software sales climbed 7 percent, as compared to November 2002", fairly reasonable, but still short of (possibly excessive?) analyst estimates. GameSpot has further commentary, mentioning the big winners ("Strong sales of True Crime: The Streets of L.A. (630,000 copies) and Tony Hawk's Underground (554,000) let Activision skate its way to a 46 increase in sales over November 2002"), and the not so fortunate ("November's big loser was Take Two Interactive, whose sales plummeted 47 percent. Hopes that Manhunt would help fill in for the absence of a [new] Grand Theft Auto game proved woefully unfounded, as the controversial game only shipped 75,000 units, a fraction of the 502,000 GTA Double Packs sold.")

Comments

Rockstar Needn't Worry

[Babbster]

I can see Manhunt being eschewed for holidy gift-giving because of its over-the-top violent nature. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if it sells at a more brisk pace once the season of peace and love ends and the season of returns and gift certificate spending begins.

Re:Rockstar Needn't Worry

[Wyatt Earp]

I see it being eschewed because it looks about as pointless as State of Emergency.

Re:Rockstar Needn't Worry

[Babbster]

How about releasing the games you want to release and letting the chips fall where they may? Gamers of all stripes complain about the lack of originality in games, usually specifically concerned that game developers/publishers don't want to take risks. I know I'm fighting the CW here, but I would consider Manhunt to be a risk - especially in a market filled with RPGs that too often tread the same old level treadmilling ground, action platformers that struggle for even a semblance of originality and first-person shooters which are the most repetitive of all.

Besides, a company that can do a re-release of two games that have been out for "ages" (gaming ages being pretty short) and sell another HALF MILLION copies doesn't have to worry much if a title or two have trouble finding an audience.

What's funniest about the tizzy over Manhunt is that this kind of game (gory, ultra-violent) is NOT the norm. Even the supposed "hardcore" lament the direction gaming is going while ignoring the fact that the bulk of titles released are rated E and T.

Hell, even the people who generate that top ten worst (in terms of being "unsafe" for children) games list had to include DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball (a game that gets an M based on cute animated girls in bikinis) and Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne (rated T for Heaven's sake, not to mention being pure fantasy). In other words, there were so few putrid M-rated games on the market that relatively innocuous titles get lumped in with the likes of Manhunt.

In short (if that's possible now), I could make a lot of money selling "chill pills" if all the people who were in need decided to take one.

Re:Rockstar Needn't Worry

[Babbster]

I see it being eschewed because it looks about as pointless as State of Emergency.

And yet it receives a 79.1% rating (an average of the review scores from 36 different sources) at gamerankings.com, only 0.3% less than Metal Arms (which I've read a lot of good things about), 1.2% better than True Crime (a game that has been selling well and has a sequel already in the works)...In fact, it's 8.8% better than State of Emergency for the PS2.

Of course, never having played a game doesn't tend to stop people from insulting it, just as it never stops pre-release hype.

Brand Recognition

[superultra]

I don't think that Rockstar has necessarily build up enough brand recognition for it to sell every game it makes. If they did, it was all but spent on the horribly medicore State of Emergency. As much as I'm sure they'd like to disagree, since they plaster their logo nearly everywhere, I think people are far more attached to the Grand Theft Auto tagline than they are necessarily Rockstar. Really, few game companies have outside of the niche hardcore gamer. The only brand that really brings in sales on a wide mainstream basis (sales near the level of GTA) based merely on brand is EA Sports. People buy Tony Hawk Whatever because it's Tony Hawk, not necessarily because it's Activision. While you or I might pick up something because Ion Storm or Irrational or Rockstar crafted it, I don't think Christmas shopping parents look for game studios when they're picking stuff up.

Maybe if they'd called it Grand Theft Auto Manhunt it would've sold better.

Re:Brand Recognition

[Violet Null]

What brand recognition? Gamers have been burned enough time that there's really not much in the way of brand recognition. How many times has Game X done well, and then been followed by Game X Part 2, which is often as not a $50 expansion pack?

I'm one of those people who bought a PS2 just to buy GTA. I'd heard it was a fun, entertaining game. But I'm incredibly uninterested in Manhunt, because it's...well, not a fun, entertaining game. It brings nothing to the table besides excessive gore, and excessive gore simply ain't fun. I didn't play GTA because you could get a hooker, then kill her and take your cash back, no matter how much the mass media may try to convince themselves otherwise. Seems Take Two bought into that hype, too.

Re:Brand Recognition

[Oddly_Drac]

"But I'm incredibly uninterested in Manhunt, because it's...well, not a fun, entertaining game."

I've passed it by because it's a sneaker, and I don't find sneakers that much fun. A noticeable deviation from this taste question was Deus Ex, though.

Trying to sell a game on controversy, as this one was, is always a bit of a hit and miss affair, especially when we get jaded to the whole thing. Rotting corpses? Big deal. Chainsaws? Had those in Doom.

I suspect this is why 'The Sims' completely exploded without a machinegun in sight.

Interesting they left out Nintendo

[edwdig]

According to IGN, Mario Kart: Double Dash sold 528,000 copies so far.

The mainstream media really has something against Nintendo this round. They'll gladly complain that their sales are down over past years, but they'll also ignore the fact that sales below Nintendo norms are still really damn high compared to almost everybody else.

Re:Interesting they left out Nintendo

[Anonymous Coward]

Almost nobody plays online console games.

The Gamecube is $99, $80 less than the Xbox or the PS2.

These are facts.

Nintendo's games are also very fun. This is an opinion of course.

Re:Interesting they left out Nintendo

[Oddly_Drac]

Do you need a hug or something?

Re:Interesting they left out Nintendo

[jellybean_bunny]

I think that dropping the Gamecube price to $99 was a very smart move. I was initially going to buy my brother some PC games, but I found out that he has a n old PC. So I got him a Gamecube with the Zelda game pack and 2 other games for less than either the Xbox or the PS2. I would think that we should see a substantial spike in the sales of Gamecube, because it is such a bargain.

BTW. Why does a Gameboy Advance cost as much as a Gamecube?