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[Herb Alpert]

Wow. It seems that quality is inversely proportionnal to shipped quantity. Players have good tastes.

I noticed that with Homefront, for example.

1 Make a shitty game
2 advertise it like crazy, spend millions on marketing. Be sure not to bet on the consumer's intelligence.
3 take the money.
4 prepare for the sequel, then go back to 1

Works fine. More and more defines this industry, the lessons from movies were well learned.

I really think that Mickael Bay did not only hurted Hollywood, but his mischieves attained Video Games too. That's kind of sad.

 

[Parakeetman]

Whoever wins, we lose.

First post nails it.

Guys in the UK I know you love the pub and all that, but is it really necessary to hit it up before going to the game store to throw down money on a title? lol

 

[SuperMod]

Individual Charts:

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110032

same procedure as every week, no wii u software, but vita alive and kicking, place 37 for
VIRTUA TENNIS 4: WORLD TOUR EDITION

 

[AHA-Lambda]

It's not really a surprise at the end of the day. The terrible reviews will definitely stump it's long term sales success though; this game will drop like a rock in the charts.

Just posting what I thought from the other thread.

 

[Carl]

This isn't about a difference in opinion; it's about people essentially buying a broken/half assed product. You'd have to be away from the internet for the past week to think this is a decent game.

Was talking to someone the other day who genuinely enjoyed it. So yeah. Nothing wrong with buying a game with bad reviews. I've enjoyed quite a few games this gen that reviewed badly.

 

[Porcile]

I apologise for the actions of my fellow countrymen. Look at this way, the UK is in such shit at the moment that topping the charts might mean it only sold like 200 copies.

 

[Mael]

Pachter was right! UK market IS shit.

 

[Gustav]

I can say this with the utmost confidence: UK, you are so weird in your gaming shopping habits!

 

[SteveWD40]

One word: Marketing. I have seen dozens of ads (and pretty good ones too, motion sensor sound effects etc...) all over the place.

Shit games sell everywhere.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

I bought this game for $35 and I only slightly regret it. I'm so sorry.

 

[MasLegio]

this is the true evil of Gamestop etc.

used games is not a problem


but fooling people into preordering games is


and the games media are just as guilty with their (payed for?) previews where they do not want to offend the publisher/developer who was so nice to them and payed for the trip, hotel and entertainment at the preview event. Also they would not want to risk their developer friends getting fired....

glowing previews combined with preorder deals can be a deadly combination

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

I really think that Mickael Bay did not only hurted Hollywood, but his mischieves attained Video Games too. That's kind of sad.

Michael Bay movies are plenty well made, though. Expertly shot, expertly edited and so forth. None of this seems to apply to the recent high profile game duds.

 

[netBuff]

Was talking to someone the other day who genuinely enjoyed it. So yeah. Nothing wrong with buying a game with bad reviews. I've enjoyed quite a few games this gen that reviewed badly.

It's nice for him that he enjoyed a terrible game, that still doesn't mean that people can't dream of better and more interesting games being in Alien: CM's chart position. Not all opinions were created equal.

 

[Kazzy]

Life does not cease to be funny, and this is proof.

All that negative groundswell and this, THIS HAPPENS!

I'd usually say that taste is all subjective, but everything that has come out of this release should have set some alarms off with the discerning amongst us. I guess you can't quell the initial sales that the license provides.

 

[antitrop]

I bought this game for $35 and I only slightly regret it. I'm so sorry.

Part of the problem.

Spoiler

It's okay, I bought Medal of Honor: Warfighter. We all make day 1 mistakes.

 

[water1111]

Whoever wins, we lose.

is that from Aliens Versus Predators the movie?

 

[Coolwhip]

Well in the UK that means about 10 people bought it.

 

[antitrop]

is that from Aliens Versus Predators the movie?

 

[thesuperfunk]

While pretty much all of the gaming media has panned the game there are still other outlets [such as TV shows and newspapers] offering favourable reviews. :\

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Part of the problem.

Spoiler

It's okay, I bought Medal of Honor: Warfighter. We all make day 1 mistakes.

Day -20 mistakes or something, it was a preorder. New games in Aus still cost ~80 bucks on PC, so a preorder for 35 was a decent bargain.

is that from Aliens Versus Predators the movie?

Yes

 

[Ding-Ding]

Not surprised. I have seen this advertised extensively on the main commercial channels. Going on adverts alone I was tempted to pick this up.

God bless the internet...

 

[Bedlam]

Ultimate proof that the majority of customers are gullible idiots.

The saddest part of this is that the next game in the franchise will probably sell worse because of Colonial Marines, no matter how good it is. Poor Creative Assembly, they already got fucked by Gearbox and might as well not even try to deliver a good product.

Part of the problem.

Spoiler

It's okay, I bought Medal of Honor: Warfighter. We all make day 1 mistakes.

But why make them again? With both games there have been enough reasons to be sceptical prior to release.

 

[QaaQer]

Not surprised. I have seen this advertised extensively on the main commercial channels. Going on adverts alone I was tempted to pick this up.

Good bless the internet...

Marketing drives sales. Thats why ea budgets more for marketing than game development.

 

[hodgy100]

I'm not suprised this sold well, ther are lots of people that dont follow the industry like we do and they would have bought it just off the name.

Buying the games doesn't mean they will enjoy it of-course

 

[dead monkey uk]

While pretty much all of the gaming media has panned the game there are still other outlets [such as TV shows and newspapers] offering favourable reviews. :\

Yeah a lot the newspapers in UK review games, but reading them they are more like adverts with a review score attached. Resulting in some strange scoring, 10/10 for Uncharted Vita comes to mind.

At this time of year it does not take that many sales to get to number 1 in the UK chart.

 

[Garibaldi]

Unfortunately this just goes to show how much you can sell something simply by attaching a well known brand name to it. I've not played the game personally but have seen videos. From what I see/read it's primarily yet another corridor shooter where you fight human combatants with a few levels of bad ai driven xeno action.

Under any original ip name this would have died.

I warned a mate off buying a 360 just for this game the other night. People seriously need to get more informed about buying decisions other than face value and brand appeal or this kind or lazy licensed practice will continue as it has done, forever.

 

[Psychotext]

I can say this with the utmost confidence: UK, you are so weird in your gaming shopping habits!

You think that it'll only be the UK charts this gets to the top of? Not a chance.

 

[CadetMahoney]

Unfortunately this just goes to show how much you can sell something simply by attaching a well known brand name to it.

It's primarily yet another corridor shooter where you fight human combatants with a few levels of bad ai driven xeno action.

Under any original ip name this would have died.

Pretty much.

 

[AbandonedTrolley]

Ni no Kuni = one week wonder?

Dropped to #25 but given it's rather niche appeal and lack of stock everywhere it's still doing well to stick around somewhat.

 

[SteveWD40]

You think that it'll only be the UK charts this gets to the top of? Not a chance.

Don't ruin their little "lol uk gaming" meme, Gaf needs it's deflectionist fantasy to get through the day.

 

[mclem]

Oh no, people are enjoying something that other people didn't!

Well, they're purchasing it. Whether they enjoy it or not... we'll see.

 

[Pie and Beans]

TV ads = game purchases. Who knew.

(I KNEW THIS ALL A FUCKING LONG)

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Whoever wins, we lose.

Flawless.

 

[MrT-Tar]

first post strikes again.

Also, once again I despair at my country's taste in gaming

 

[SneakyStephan]

UK making the rest of Europe look bad, again.

 

[VariantX]

I want to be surprised but i can't, after how well the socom resident evil sold...

 

[cacildo]

 

[Saty]

So you think CM is going to sell more in the US in its first week\month than Dead Space 3 did?

 

[Beermeister]

This is why Adam Sandler still makes films.

awinnerisyou.gif

 

[Little Old Man]

Aliens IP + no one reading reviews + marketing= strong sales.

The only beacon of light is that poor word of mouth will get round quickly, damaging the chance of success of a sequel if Sega were mad enough to fork out for one.

At least the Wii U version isn't going to sell many copies.

 

[Floex]

Oh great another UK bashing thread.

Ni no Kuni goes to number 1 - 'Well, that was unexpected'
Aliens goes to number 1 - 'Yeah, UK is fucking shit, all they do is buy shitburgers'

>_> Tedious American GAF, tedious.

I'm surprised people are surprised by this. A well loved franchise and people go gaa, gaa for it regardless of its quality.

 

[Berto]

Most people buy the name and don't read reviews. I'll say most of them saw a new Aliens game in the shelf bought it and even enjoyed it. People are dumb.

 

[JordoftheDead]

This is why Adam Sandler still makes films.

Salutes.

 

[C4Lukins]

Well the one happy thing I can take from this is that the Alien franchise still has an audience that wants to enjoy it. Maybe next time around we will get a good game. I am sort of angry at Gearbox for fucking this up.

 

[Currygan]

not surprised. The masses generally don't have a critic's eye when it comes to buying products, and it's not just the UK market

 

[EGM1966]

Not really a surprise - decent advertising and a known and still popular brand in a medium where the majority probably don't bother with reviews in a popular genre in a proven market for that genre. Couple that with general UK market position and a likely low bar to chart high at the moment and it was almost a foregone conclusion.

It does suck for better quality lesser known titles and new IP, and it does seem depressing, but it's not a surprise.

In cheerier news I finally re-installed AvP2 on my PC and despite the older graphics can at least enjoy a decent game with aliens in it.

 

[liquidfox00]

So you think CM is going to sell more in the US in its first weekmonth than Dead Space 3 did?

I hope so just for the epic meltdown. unfortunately ill be counted amongst those poor souls but at least I only paid $35. It was the Pitchford Pre-order hype train that did me in, and some bullshots, and a bullshit demo, and.............

 

[Zemm]

The "Aliens" name still has a large following, it's ready to blow up if we can ever get a really good game. I guess it's selling OK at the moment, but it could/should be a huge franchise under the right devs.

 

[Violet_0]

Gearbox redeemed?

!

 

[dmr87]

People are going to get pissed when they find out what they've bought.