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.

Comments

Not to troll, but...

[Snowspinner]

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...

Re:Not to troll, but...

[unclethursday]

If memory serves, though, games in the UK are closer to the equivalent of around $70 US brand new.

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).

Re:Not to troll, but...

[Mike Hawk]

Just off the top of my head...

Project Gotham Racing 2
Need for Speed: Underground
Tony Hawk's Underground
Medal of Honor
Deus Ex: Invisible War
True Crime: Streets of LA
Midway Arcade Treasures
Call of Duty
Lord of the Rings
SOCOM II
And that doesn't include ports that were released for the first time on a given platform...

The article isnt about buying all the games that fit into one person's arbitrary definition of "good". Its a fair lament, but like so many internet rants, isnt going to change anything. Games come out in November and December because thats when everyone is out buying toys. It takes away a predictable bit of the enormous risk involved with making a AAA+ title. The same as tying it to a movie launch, etc. When (if) it stops working, then things will change.

Re:Not to troll, but...

[Kris_J]

Games come out in November and December because thats when everyone is out buying toys

Ah, but is everyone only buying toys at that time because that's when they're released?

Not just video games but also gadgets, I noticed a huge upsurge in available cool stuff in the lead up to xmas. I would have bought what I bought at any time of the year.

If companies really are going to just head for Nov/Dec releases, they should tell us and we can all just close our gadget weblogs for the other ten months.

Re:Not to troll, but...

[Roman_(ajvvs)]

I don't know about you, but I'm somewhat reluctant to spend AU$80- $120 on a single game, let alone shell out 4 times that much. I can buy a decent mobile phone, a PDA or a PC-part upgrade for that amount (, which by my estimates comes to around AU$400)! And for reference, I haven't upgraded any part of my PC for the last 16 months, and I'm saving up to replace my broken mobile. It'll last longer than "Sands of Time" is lasting my cousin ( took him 5 days to get to 50%). I earn a decent living, but my budget allocation for games has never in my life gotten me more than 6 games in an entire year.

On top of that, these days I have a backlog of games to start and finish and limited time to spend on them. What's the point of buying 4+ games (good or otherwise) at once when one game will take up the time I can afford to spend?

I'd say a successful release would be sales from the 100,000+ mark. In a large market of tens of millions of consoles, that's a relatively small percentage. For every person that buys all the top hits over christmas, there might be 6 to 10 others who get one or two arbitrary games at most. The gaming flood that happens over christmas is riding on herd instinct and offering the game when there are the most buyers. This ignores the fact that buyers are there across the year. The key is to find a release date where the competition is relatively absent compared to the number of buyers. Truly good games should leave christmas "to the masses" and focus on being able to find a time when people can more easily find the game.

I'm kind of wondering when people will start collating all the independent observations about game quality, purchasing periods, gamer demographic changes and game development evolution and introduce a unified theory of the video game market. It's long overdue

Better Question: Where did the website go?

[b0r0din]

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.

Gaming industry becomes like film industry?

[G4from128k]

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.

The assumption is flawed

[Slashdot Insider]

Note to publishers; we can't afford to buy 20 games in the run up to Christmas. Even 10 would be a struggle...

The question is, is that what publishers expect? I doubt very much that publishers expect a gamer to buy 20, 10 or even 5 games within a four week period at the end of the year. Some gamers that I know don't even buy 10 games a year at budget (Greatest Hits, Player's Choice) prices! Fact is that just before Christmas time, there will be a lot more buyers on the market than at other times of the year, for hopefully obvious reasons. (in fact, the last weekday before the 24th is one of the busiest shopping days of the year) I mean come on, everyone is spent out by January. Unless you have a guaranteed mega-hit like GTA4 or something, what's better? A before or after Christmas release?

Re:The assumption is flawed

[grahamwest]

It's not what individual publishers expect but it's what the industry collectively must expect when it puts out so many titles in such a short span of time. The industry's output quintuples (or more) during November and December but the available shelf space only grows moderately if at all and the consumer dollars spent probably only triples or quadruples.

We actually decided for our game that, since it's a new title rather than a sequel, it would be better to release it after Christmas when things have calmed down. It meant we got more time to polish the game, more time to get the marketing campaign focused and it was easier to get it onto retail shelves. From what I'm hearing about our pre-order levels it seems like it was the right choice to me - obviously the real test will be when the game goes on sale.

Re:The assumption is flawed

[bigman2003]

In the past 3 months (December, January, February) I think I've gotten 7 new games.

This is actually a huge number of games, when my goal is to 'finish' each of them. Of those 7, I think I've finished 2, gotten a good way through 2 others, and barely touched the other 3.

AND- I've got some other big games coming soon (namely Splinter Cell 2 this month, Rallisport Challenge in May).

When you add in Xbox live, and XSN replayability- the games each have far more playability than ever before. Pretty soon I'll need to quit my job just to keep up with the new game releases.

Re:The assumption is flawed

[alphaseven]

Someone last month posted a interesting theory on why so many games are pushed out unfinished into a crowded Christmas marketplace, something about investors desire for a "big Christmas" to keep the stock up.

I don't quite understand myself exactly why investors would want rushed games to come out and sell less copies but someone must think it's a good idea.

I can certainly relate to this

[toiletsalmon]

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.

Where?

[Sparky77]

Where did the games go?

They left with the heros, the cowboys, and the left socks.

Re:"me too" "me three"

[Fortunato_NC]

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.

Re:"me too" "me three"

[Mr. Piddle]

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.

Don't have to worry about that

[hambonewilkins]

If you're like me, and you own a Dreamcast, you never have to worry about the Christmas rush!

In fact, it's weird, the availability of games seems pretty much the same all year round.

Re:Don't have to worry about that

[MMaestro]

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.

I have to agree

[Mitijea]

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.)

Why buy all 20?

[Fizzlewhiff]

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.

Re:Why buy all 20?

[crazyaxemaniac]

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.

The Crash platform games were very popular

[grahamwest]

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.

where do they go

[DZign]

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 ?

Re:"me too" "me three"

[ronfar]

I don't quite understand why the Gamecube hasn't picked up GTA, or does the decision reside with Rockstar not to produce for that platform?

Well, a few things here's a long response from famed Nintendo designer, Shigeru Miyamoto:

In previous years, Nintendo sold the most popular games in the world. Tastes have changed though. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is currently the biggest game in the West. What are your thoughts on such a violent game being so popular?

Mr Miyamoto: That is quite a tough question and I really don't have any quick answer to make. If we were just focusing on the games and if the game can sell then it's very good business and we would just sell that kind of title. It is not that simple for Nintendo as we are not making those kinds of games. After all, as long as people can realise what kind of morals they should have playing with a video game, many games are alike including the excessively violent games. But when we are talking about the mass audience, many people have different viewpoints and have different ways of making use of the technology in front of them.

As the makers, we have the responsibility to think about how it will be used and thought about by the mass audience. In Japan, no companies are willing to market Grand Theft Auto but it will become different if people become desperate to sell their software. Companies right now are not marketing Grand Theft Auto but people now have an idea of the danger of the current situation and the more important thing is that we need to think of a substitute for Grand Theft Auto in terms of video games sales. It is our mission to think of an alternative that is unique and not as violent .

So, I mean there is precedent. I think right now, they are OK with violent games (Resident Evil, for instance), as long as they aren't as 'controversial' as Grand Theft Auto. (Note, though, they still prefer non-violent fantasy type games.)

(I recently found out (to my disgust) that Nintendo was responsible for lobbying Joe Lieberman to go after violence in the game industry back when Sega were cleaning their clock: Volume 4 - Sega CD/Mega CD. Hey, somebody prove this is an urban legend, please, no one will be happier than me.).