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[Road]

NPD: Top 20 Reveals Lost Planet 2, ModNation Racers

11. Lost Planet 2 (Capcom, Xbox 360)
12. New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo, Wii)
13. Pokemon Heartgold (Nintendo, DS)
14. God of War III (Sony Santa Monica, PS3)
15. Just Dance (Ubisoft, Wii)
16. Mario Kart, with wheel (Nintendo, Wii)
17. Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom, PS3)
18. ModNation Racers (United Front/Sony, PS3)
19. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward/Activision, Xbox 360)
20. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii)


(12 should be DS.)

 

[Tiktaalik]

The part you are missing, IMO, is that their desire to make these games "Western" is the proximate cause of the poor execution.

Maybe with LP2 Capcom is hitting the mushy middle but Capcom has also made another mushy middle Japanese/western title in Dead Rising and that was a critical and commercial success. Capcom themselves seem aware of the mushy middle problem. With Dead Rising they said that it was "too Japanese".

I haven't played LP2 aside from the demo, but from reading the reviews I'm not seeing how the mushy middle is what's killing the game. If anything from what I've read it seems like the game was criticized for being too much of a coop necessary Monster Hunterlike. Monster Hunter seems spared the same obvious criticism because, well, it's Monster Hunter. Perhaps someone whose played the game quite a bit can fill me in on what went wrong with the title.

I think it's a difficult discussion to have because it's hard to separate what elements of their recent games are western design ideas and which are a natural evolution of Japanese game design being updated for the new generation. For example I would consider RE5 to a very westernized RE, and thus a big success for Capcom's new western approach, but I think it's also a fair argument to simply say that it's an evolution on the more action oriented approach of RE4.

The main thing is that we can't ignore that their biggest western title failures were simply weak games by independent western developers. Dark Void for example feels more like Capcom simply publishing a game by a western developer. Capcom has largely failed with their attempts to make games with western partners. Their track record with their own internally made titles is much more mixed I think.

It's going to be very interesting to see how Dead Rising 2 turns out, as with this one it seems like Capcom is taking a much more hands on approach to publishing.

I still think the strategy of learning how to make games for a western audience is a good one. We've seen a lot of solely Japan focused companies die this gen. NA and EU is a massive market and I think it would be foolish to ignore it.

 

[WillyFive]

Is this Modnation Racer's first month?

 

[KJ_Wii]

It [PSP] has it's own identity, it's a very powerful multimedia machine with a ton of unique games that can't be done on any other portable.

Won't be true for long. Pretty sure the 3DS can, from a technical standpoint, play anything that's on the PSP with minimal fuss, while the reverse is not going to be true.

To me NSMB Wii is about as core as Viva Pinata.

lol SMB is the original of the current core, though back then you would've called it an expanded audience title. Galaxy-type titles are the overshot evolution of those titles and other than having Mario and involving jumping around they aren't even remotely close to each other anymore. You might be able to call it a "bridge" title that appeals to all audiences but there's no way it's a current expanded audience title.

I don't know if you saw additional sales data, but 360 software sales are up healthily this month. PS3 software sales are way up, and Wii software sales are almost 25 percent down. This is including Mario Galaxy 2 being released in the month. So something is going on to have a downward spiral for Wii software sales when they had a heavy hitter out.

Frankly I don't think many interesting games have come out for Wii this year, particularly from Nintendo. And the main expanded audience title they launched last year is now bundled with the hardware, so that's a big chunk of sales missing too. There was a quote earlier from Pachter about Wii owners either not being satisfied/enticed by current software offerings or just not needing new software, and judging by purchase rates up until now I would bet it's the former scenario.

It seems like between the backlash from Wii Music/Animal Crossing and success of Motion Plus, Nintendo is re-tooling a lot of their titles and leaving a bit of an opening here that they're trying to fill with sequels and franchise revivals that otherwise don't necessarily fit in with their overall strategy. Between that and 3DS taking away development resources, the Wii is missing a lot of the big-selling and filler titles from Nintendo it had in its first 2-3 years, and third parties have gone from putting out a flood of crappy games trying to find what stuck to almost nothing at all.

Plus these numbers are based on revenue, not actual sales, your mileage may vary.

NPD: Top 20 Reveals Lost Planet 2, ModNation Racers

16. Mario Kart, with wheel (Nintendo, Wii)
18. ModNation Racers (United Front/Sony, PS3)

Interesting, Mario Kart outselling all of its would-be competitors in their debut months. Wasn't it a bit lower in the rankings last month too? And what happened to ModNation Racers being in the top 15?

...while Nintendo's mainstay Wii Sports Resort falls all the way from sixth position to 20th - perhaps dogged by hardware shortages that have affected peripheral-bunded Wii games from time to time.

lol yea I'm sure it being bundled with the system had absolutely nothing to do with its standalone sales dropping.

 

[AniHawk]

Is this Modnation Racer's first month?

yes, and it's Mario Kart Wii's 26th.

also, it's nsmb's 49th.

 

[Busaiku]

I'm amazed Wii Sports Resort is still in the top 20.

 

[MikeE21286]

NPD: Top 20 Reveals Lost Planet 2, ModNation Racers

11. Lost Planet 2 (Capcom, Xbox 360)
12. New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo, Wii)
13. Pokemon Heartgold (Nintendo, DS)
14. God of War III (Sony Santa Monica, PS3)
15. Just Dance (Ubisoft, Wii)
16. Mario Kart, with wheel (Nintendo, Wii)
17. Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom, PS3)
18. ModNation Racers (United Front/Sony, PS3)
19. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward/Activision, Xbox 360)
20. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii)


(12 should be DS.)

so ModNation.....DOA as a new IP?

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

12. New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo, Wii)

Clearly this is the DS version of the game.
The Wii installment resides in 7th.

Both Blur and Split/Second have reached MEGABOMB status.

Nice legs for God of War III.

 

[GitarooMan]

Unreal that Split/Second didn't even crack the top 20.

 

[3rdman]

Metacritic of 83, most people here at GAF seem to think it is 'better than average', most podcasters that I listen to seem to think it is better than average.

'Average' is a pretty low bar in the game business. Most games are awful.

Metacritic is wrong. I know that there are others that liked it but I just thought it was repetitive and a Twin Peaks rip-off. I believe EDGE gave it a "7" and that is pretty close to what I would give it and that is not high enough to warrant an expensive media campaign.

 

[Y2Kev]

Maybe with LP2 Capcom is hitting the mushy middle but Capcom has also made another mushy middle Japanese/western title in Dead Rising and that was a critical and commercial success. Capcom themselves seem aware of the mushy middle problem. With Dead Rising they said that it was "too Japanese".

I don't think Dead Rising is very western. What's western about it? The sandboxyness?

My issue is that Capcom DOESN'T seem to be aware of the mushy middle. They say DR is too Japanese, but it's their most successful new game this generation. Why would they go more and more to the center (or to the American side of things)?

 

[Reilly]

And what happened to ModNation Racers being in the top 15?

That data I used was ranked by revenue, not unit sales.

 

[Vinci]

I'm amazed Wii Sports Resort is still in the top 20.

Prior Wii owners who were late picking it up? I'm surprised too.

 

[Ecotic]

Ugh, a bad month for the industry. Besides the weak economy, and this being the fifth or sixth year of this generation, I think the casual gamers already have their Wii Sports, Guitar Heroes, Wii Fits, etc. of this generation and aren't coming back to the store. Maybe Move and Kinect can at least bring some needed revenue back to the industry, if nothing else.

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

I'm amazed Wii Sports Resort is still in the top 20.

The fact that it tumbled from 6th position the previous month indicates a significant portion of its monthly sales came from new Wii console owners as opposed to existing ones.

 

[FateBreaker]

Based on previous main versions' sales it will be a slight disappointment. But honestly, there's no reason to doubt that GT5 can't do 10 million+ over its life.

GT3 launched will barely 15 million PS2's out in the wild, and that went over 14 million. GT5 will be releasing with around 40-45 million PS3's released, so there's no reason why GT5 should be the lowest selling installment of the main series.

Blur sold poorly. Split/Second sold poorly. Mod Nation Racers sold eh. Forza 3 sold eh to decent. I know that Gran Turismo is the king of the racing genre, but I don't think racnig games are as popular as they used to be. GT5 will be the ultimate test.

 

[Pooya]

Blur, S/S RIP.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I don't think Dead Rising is very western. What's western about it? The sandboxyness?

Yeah I'd say so. It's funny though you're right it doesn't feel that western, but it must have been western enough, as it sold great in NA and 90% of its sales were outside of Japan. It clearly set off the "western title" radar in the minds of Japanese gamers.

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

Ugh, a bad month for the industry. Besides the weak economy, and this being the fifth or sixth year of this generation, I think the casual gamers already have their Wii Sports, Guitar Heroes, Wii Fits, etc. of this generation and aren't coming back to the store. Maybe Move and Kinect can at least bring some needed revenue back to the industry, if nothing else.

Nothing else is going to do it. (And I have yet to see a compelling argument that Move will achieve any traction in the casual space in light of its high entry price and hardcore-focused applications.)

You guys might fear Kinect but this industry NEEDS it to be successful for any hope of market expansion.
Just like it needed the Wii previously.

 

[Vinci]

You guys might fear Kinect but this industry NEEDS it to be successful for any hope of market expansion.
Just like it needed the Wii previously.

What??

 

[Tiktaalik]

My issue is that Capcom DOESN'T seem to be aware of the mushy middle. They say DR is too Japanese, but it's their most successful new game this generation. Why would they go more and more to the center (or to the American side of things)?

I suppose Capcom feels that it should be a wholly western title and they are comfortable with it not appealing in Japan. Most of the complaints were on the odd un-western design side of things. For example the unusual save system certainly put off a lot of gamers. A typical western developer would have likely just put in an auto save.

 

[Omotesando]

Was there something in their contract that said if Alan Wake didn't sell great then they would be forced to make Kinect games? :lol

Obviously joking. Although this is GAF, I must admit.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Blur, S/S RIP.

Ultra bombs.

 

[Htown]

anyone expecting 10 mil from gt5 is going to be sorely dissapointed.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

You guys might fear Kinect but this industry NEEDS it to be successful for any hope of market expansion.
Just like it needed the Wii previously.

Uh, why?

 

[Road]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-ct-games-20100702,0,3292949.story

Activision Blizzard Inc.'s debut racing game, Blur, failed to catch on, selling just 31,000 units.

 

[offshore]

Bizarre Creations RIP.

Fixed, I'd imagine.

 

[Omotesando]

anyone expecting 10 mil from gt5 is going to be sorely dissapointed.

Because almost every GT sold in that scale? Or you don't likw what you have seen thus far?

 

[V_Ben]

31'000? Ouch. That really is not good. In the slightest.

 

[SapientWolf]

Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption and Split/Second were all released on the same day. What were they thinking?

 

[Vinci]

Blur, failed to catch on, selling just 31,000 units.

Holy shit. Seriously... holy shit.

 

[GitarooMan]

31'000? Ouch. That really is not good. In the slightest.

Well at least they probably got some excess stock off the shelf with that $10 best buy deal a couple of weeks ago.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption and Split/Second were all released on the same day. What were they thinking?

May was kind of a fucked up month.

I don't know what anyone was thinking.

 

[Eteric Rice]

I think the prices of even more casual games need to drop. $49 might not be worth it to most.

 

[Ecotic]

Uh, why?

Because the industry has been declining the past year and a half. It needs a boost, any boost.

 

[AniHawk]

fail like a big boy

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Because the industry has been declining the past year and a half. It needs a boost, any boost.

and Why is Natal so special, besides being technology from Microsoft? Why shouldn't, say, move do well?

 

[surly]

Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption and Split/Second were all released on the same day. What were they thinking?

Exactly. People only have so much disposable income and most people chose RDR (my personal favourite of the 3). Over here in the UK, Split/Second come out a week before Blur and sold better, and Alan Wake came out a week before RDR and topped the charts. I don't know actual numbers though, but the release schedule has a lot to do with the performance of these games IMO.

EDIT - Uh oh. Someone's mentioned Kinect. This thread is now gonna be filled with people saying "but you can't sit down to play", "the horror of the lag!" etc.

 

[Averon]

How long does Bizarre Creations have before The Hands of Kotick reign down upon them?

 

[DuckRacer]

Holy shit, Blur sold even worse than PGR4. Hopefully their Bond game sells well or else they're turning into a Guitar Hero factory.

 

[KingDizzi]

Blur sold poorly. Split/Second sold poorly. Mod Nation Racers sold eh. Forza 3 sold eh to decent. I know that Gran Turismo is the king of the racing genre, but I don't think racnig games are as popular as they used to be. GT5 will be the ultimate test.

There have never been racing franchises as big as Mario Kart and GT, from the looks of it never will be anytime soon.

A GT5 bomba = 6 million

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-ct-games-20100702,0,3292949.story

my god

S/S also not being in the top 20 is not good at all, Blackrock studios just can't catch a break.

 

[Vinci]

EDIT - Uh oh. Someone's mentioned Kinect. This thread is now gonna be filled with people saying "but you can't sit down to play", "the horror of the lag!" etc.

I hope not. The manner in which he brought it into this discussion intrigues me.

 

[jett]

Now that's a bomba.

 

[Trurl]

Blur will serve as an example of how not to make a television commercial.

 

[SapientWolf]

How long does Bizarre Creations have before The Hands of Kotick reign down upon them?

Their twitter has been silent since June 21st. It's not looking good.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

and Why is Natal so special, besides being technology from Microsoft? Why shouldn't, say, move do well?

Because, given reasonable pricing, it has the lowest barrier to entry for potential new gamers (no controller required) and differs more from Wii than Move does.

Anyway, poor Bizarre :-/

 

[Ecotic]

and Why is Natal so special, besides being technology from Microsoft? Why shouldn't, say, move do well?

If Move does well, that's great too, anything to reverse the month-on-month declines.

 

[Vinci]

Because, given reasonable pricing, it has the lowest barrier to entry for potential new gamers (no controller required) and differs more from Wii than Move does.

It doesn't differ from the Wii when it comes to software, which is the most important part. That's been my issue with it since they showed the games for it.

 

[offshore]

Blur will serve as an example of how not to make a television commercial.

I thought it was funny...it's just too bad Acti did it before Blur tanked. You should only really troll the opposition after the fact, when you're sitting on a mighty high perch with sales numbers to boast about.

Unless you're Kevin Butler though, in which case it's cool to troll at any time :lol

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

and Why is Natal so special, besides being technology from Microsoft? Why shouldn't, say, move do well?

It has nothing to do with the fact that it's Kinect, new tech or even that it's coming from Microsoft.

It's that absolutely NO ONE else in the console space is positioning ANY product to capture a new audience at an affordable price point for the remainder of this year apart from Kinect. The existing hardcore audience & even the entrenched casuals are clearly being more selective with their consumer dollars that will only flock to the established standouts thus leading to many quality developers getting thrown to the wolves after sales disasters like Blur and Split/Second. This is pure economic "law of diminishing returns".

I'd suggest the only other product that stands out in that space is Epic Mickey and we still haven't seen how it's going to be marketed.