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.
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.