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Where Did the Games Go?
Gamaroo writes "EuroGamer.net has up an interesting editorial by Kristan Reed in regards to the lack of hits that result from so many game releases near the Christmas shopping season, and the resulting post-Xmas lull. As Reed stated, 'Note to publishers; we can't afford to buy 20 games in the run up to Christmas. Even 10 would be a struggle, and the truth is gamers are forced to play safe and go for the games they know are going to be good.' He goes on to state that, 'Of the eight or so games that Microsoft put out exclusively on Xbox, just one of them (Project Gotham Racing 2) actually sold in decent numbers. Of Sony's extensive line up, literally all of them flopped; leaving its summer hit Eye Toy: Play to fly the flag for its first party strategy.'" It's worth noting that the editorial refers to the UK charts/sales figures, so Xmas release dates differed somewhat from the States.
Perhaps the gaming industry will soon look like the film industry. There will be lots of releases from a range of game makers (from indies to EA) with a range of budgets -- some will be massively profitable, others will seem to sell well but not make up for their big budgets, others might sell poorly but be profitable for a small india game maker, and some will just suck. Games that do well will get sequels and mechandising tie-ins. Games that do poorly will dissappear or be relegated to second tier channels like the "free" games that might come with a console or the games you can buy for the price of shipping and handling from mail-order computer places.
Personally, I suspect that the game industry is maturing and diversifying into categories for different age groups and interests. The result will be lots of little hits (e.g., the best selling game for preteens) along with an occassional category-crossing megahit.
Its not a matter of how many releases are hits, but how many releases make enough money to pay back the development costs.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
And, if you have all three systems, gaming can get quite expensive around the holidays, even at only $50 a pop in the US, if you go for the brand new titles.
It makes me wish more companies would release their bigger games earlier in the year, rather than later. I like the fact that Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes comes out this month, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles came out last month, and Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life comes out soon as well.
Plus, when games come out earlier in the year, there's less frustration going to stores as you don't have to deal with the holiday rush.
Of course, publishers know the most sales happen during the holidays, so they try to delay their games till then if they think it will be a big hit. First and second week sales are quite important to publishers, as they often make the largest part of the money they wver will on a game in those first few weeks (especially in Japan, where games seem to fall off the sales charts overnight).
At one point, Crash Bandicoot was the Sony "mascot". Remember those commercials with the guy in the Crash Bandicoot suit? They were actually pretty funny.
Unfortunately for Crash, he's no longer mascot material - the traitor has showed up on other platforms, plus, no one I know has ever actually *played* a Crash Bandicoot game. Still, everyone loves people in animal suits making asses of themselves. Even Nintendo (I suppose Yoshi qualifies as an animal) and ESPN have gotten in on that action.
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I have to agree with the article. There are so many times out of the year that I am waiting for my next gaming fix to come along. I remember last year, when Knights Of The Old Republic (xbox) Came out... it looked good, and there was nothing else really new, so I bought it. And boy was I not dissapointed. But if it had come out around Christmas, I probably wouldn't have given it a second look as I was all hyped about buying Arx Fatalis for the xbox and SSX3 along with the new Tony Hawk. (On the other hand, I'm wishing that another game around the same time as KotOR had come out at the end of the year.. Pirates of the Caribean (xbox).. what a dog). I don't know how many times I've gone into a video game store, jonesing for something new, just to walk out feeling dissapointed. I know it doesn't make sense, but I am sure that a lot of the games I never gave a second look at around Christmas would have been welcomed purchaces most any other time. I know they are still the same game, but it just doesn't feel the same if they have been out awhile. (And yes, I know it is completely irrational, but I am sure I am not the only one affect with this "Shiny New Game" disorder.)
The first 3 Crash Bandicoot games sold 8.35 million units between them in North America, making them respectively the number 6, number 2 and number 4 all time sellers on the PSone. Though you didn't mention them but someone who replied to you did, the 3 Spyro games sold 5 million units between them with the first title being number 7 on the PSone all time list. I've finished all six of those games and I would definitely say they are extremely high quality products.
The key here is the teams behind the two franchises, namely Naughty Dog and Insomniac. Once they moved on to new things and Universal handed the licenses to other teams, things went south.
Graham
I can't speak for anyone else, but I have Unreal Tournament 2004 on preorder.
The demo was great. It really gave me an idea of what to expect and made me hungry for more. I get a little tired of playing the same assault map over and over again so I'd like to have the full game as soon as possible.
The deal seemed pretty good. You get the game and a headset for $40. It comes on DVD with the map making tutorials on another DVD. The shipping was free.
There is some sort of competitive social aspect to this too. Surely my friends will be getting this game. Without my own copy I'd be out of the loop.
Now if there hadn't been a demo I'd probably never preordered this title, especially after what people said about Unreal Tournament 2003. If this had been another company who had a good track record by my standards I'd certainly consider preordering their next title. In the case of a sequel to a great game it doesn't require so much thought.
There are some games I want right now like Half-Life 2 and Doom 3, but won't see for some time. I demand instant gratification! We are consumers and it's perfectly ordinary to want the latest greatest thing by yesterday delivered to my doorstep on release day so I don't have to drive my lazy self to the store.
Ultimately, I'm greedy and lazy.