Slashdot Mirror
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.
What does the title of this article have to do with its content?
In terms of US releases... and in terms of the Game Cube, which is where I do most of my gaming... I got Prince of Persia, 1080, Mario Kart, Pac-Man Vs., and Rebel Strike. Which of the big releases did I miss?
On GBA, I got Mario and Luigi, SMB3, and FF:TA.
Again, did I miss anything?
It's perfectly easy to buy all the good games around Christmas. I mean, 4 games at $50 and 4 at $20-30 isn't that much...
Philip Sandifer's academic website
Ahh /. effect.
Anyway, it's simple supply and demand. When you have 100 games all released for Christmas, it's not surprising that the huge supply and lower demand causes losses. Of course for that one game that outsells the best, maybe it's worth losses on other titles. Let's not also forget that a lot of titles just plain suck or are retreads. I can't tell which industry has suffered more from sequelitis, the movie industry or the video game industry.
The last 3 and next 3 months, at least for me and my beloved Xbox has seen a glut of games that might not be considered A+ titles by all, but are certainly a look:
Prince of Persia
Ninja Gaiden
Manhunt
SplinterCell 2
Chronicles of Riddick
Fable
Driv3r
Halo 2 (maybe soon?)
And probably a few others I've forgotten right now. And that doesn't even include PC titles.
It's always been somewhat of a problem, but it appears to have reached an all time high this year.
I rented a Crash Bandicoot game once, and it was a disappointment. It was essentially a remake of a Looney Tunes game I had recently played where you go around doing mini games in various worlds and collecting stuff. Now that I think of it, Spyro and Ratchet and Clank are remakes of the same Looney Tunes game and/or that Crash game and/or themselves.
Vote in November. You won't regret it.
Actually I talked to my friend about it once. He said that all shipment of used games temporarily get boosted a few weeks before Christmas and then stop until about February. I guess retailers don't want used games filling up the shelves, so the best time to shop for (rare) used games would be around Thanksgiving time.
Why do people feel they have to buy every game that is coming out during the release week? What do you get for buying early or pre-ordering? Overcharged? I usually wait 2-3 months and save about $20, or the full price if I hear the game sucks and I skip it.
'Same speed C but faster'
Where do the games go when they don't sell well -physically ?
Do retailers do sell off all their stock at closeout prices, or can they return non-sold games to the distributor ?
And what do distributors do with non-selling games, sell them off cheap somewhere (where ??), export them to other countries, or destroy them ?
Learn about pinball machines on www.flippers.be