Why do some great games sell terrible?

Games like Enslaved and Majin were quietly passed over by most gamers this last fall. Was it because bigger, and more popular games came out at the same time, say like Call of Duty Black Ops, or Fallout New Vegas? Was it the lack of marketing? Consider this, it could have been all of those factors, and one way to fix these issues, is to release what is known as DLC Prologue, and a shining example is Dead Rising 2's Case Zero.

[TheMrMadzen]

Hype, Developer and release date are the things that makes a game sell

[MariaHelFutura]

Why do some terrible games sell alot?

[kube00]

Cover art? Hype?

[MariaHelFutura]

Brainwashing?

[Focker420]

I absolutely hated Enslaved. Short, boring, repetitive, and a really weak story.

[STK026]

So, Majin is one of the best game you've played this generation, but it's not great because it's not a PS3 exclusive? And, if you meant they would have sold better had they been PS3 exclusive, I highly doubt that.

Both are great games, but, like their previous efforts (the underrated Heavenly Sword and Folklore), these games were almost destined not to sell a whole lot, exclusive or not. Poor marketing and release dates can kill a game.

[Darkfiber]

Hype. Pretty much it. That, and people don't seem to like anything new or different. Make the same old 8 hour linear war FPS and it'll sell millions and win game of the year.

[badz149]

just Platinum it yesterday and I might say, for $40, you can't go wrong with it! 20 or so hours to platinum, not so bad IMO!

[ShinMaster]

* Marketing/hype.
* Mainstream appeal.
* The general public is ignorant.

Has to be what people think is "hot" right now or it will be ignored.

[PS3Freak]

Enslaved was a great game, just got the platinum the other day. I agree it was pretty short though(finished the story in a couple days), and the ending kinda leaves with a "I wonder what will happen" thought. Good game otherwize though.

[visualb]

marketing.

@ShinGino

Marketing encompasses bother mainstream appeal (you aim for that as a marketeer) and you also count on the general ignorance. Those are key marketing strategies for big consumable products and services. ;)

still, you are right

[Azianphil88]

good question

[jeseth]

I bought Majin thinking it would be incredible and it sucks. Worst game voice acting ever.

Majin has the plot of Prince of Persia and crappy graphics.

Don't buy it.

[badz149]

"Worst game voice acting ever. Majin has the plot of Prince of Persia and crappy graphics. Don't buy it."

come on dude. Shenmue has terrible voice acting, yet people still want the sequel like forever. the plot of Majin is way off from PoP, where did you get that from? IMO the story is quite good. crappy graphics? that's it? there's nothing wrong with the gfx. certainly not UC2 level but totally acceptable.

you only say "don't buy it" for CRAP like CoD but under appreciated game like Majin? that's just wrong dude! for $20 less than CoD, this game is a must especially for single player fans!

[Biggest]

Shenmue was made in the '50s, dude. Majin should have current generation type voice acting. You can't use old games as defense for new games.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

I just watched Qore from October (I think) and the guy from Ninja Theory told Veronica that Enslaved would be focusing on gameplay instead of gizmos like in Heavenly Sword, apparently hinting at Sixaxis. Well that didn't come very grateful for the "air time" Qore gave them after all that previous bitching about Playstation...

Bad sales = Instant Karma in this case.

[Inside_out]

I rented Enslaved and never finished it. It's a good game with good story unfortunately, I'm not huge on hack and slash/boss battle games and would never buy a single player only game with out renting it first. I lost interest quickly and found the graphics disappointing. It struck me like a budget title. The graphics engine, Unreal 3, looked dumbed down.

Just look at Gears 3, Bioshock Infinite or Bulletstorm for how sharp that engine looks. I'm curious to see how the PS3 and 360 demo's for Bulletstorm match up. I'm convinced multi-platform game engines are being dumbed down to accommodate the PS3. The exclusives on PS3 look great when using an exclusive engine unfortunately, if the game is developed for the 360, the engine suffers trying to run on a PS3 and the changes also effect the 360...Enslaved is a perfect example.

As for Majin...well...I down loaded the demo and not my cup of tea tho it could be fun but not at full price.

It all comes down to price point and replay-ability. These games should of started at $39.99 and I'm sure they would of sold better. No co-op and multi-player automatically reduces the price and scores IMO. The same for other single player only games like Vanquish, GOW and Heavy Rain that don't even have DLC.

There were alot of great games released over the holidays. Halo Reach, Fable 3, MOH COD, and GT to name a few. The summer was completely dry, why didn't they promote there games at E3 and then release them right afterwards.

[MrChow666]

"Why do some terrible games sell alot?"

like Fallout 3?

[bakasora]

Because Ninja Theory screwed up Dante

[jeseth]

@ Badz.

Trust me. I really wanted to love Majin. I drove to 5 different stores just to find it.

I get the POP feel by the well all the enemies are surrounded in a black slimey ooze that have enveloped everything that was once good, just like POP.

The voice acting is hoorible. There's no two ways about it. It ruins the experience for me. It's off key, corny, and just ruins the mood of the game.

The graphics are crap. Resistance Fall of Man from PS3's launch blows it away...and that is a bad thing. Terible textures, animations, and graphics. Especially when you consider the point in time when it is coming out.

The premise behind Majin is great, I loved the idea of the plot, but I also won't sugar coat a mediocre (at best) game. I was hoping for more.

[krouse93]

@1.1.3

That must be it. They turned away from PS3 exclusivity. And we abandonded them fro being bullheaded. They spent more on development for a multiplatform game and in return made less money than they did on their PS3 exclusive launch time framed games.

[HolyOrangeCows]

"Games like Enslaved and Majin"

Let me stop you there...those titles were nothing special.

[LoaMcLoa]

Indeed, they should've mentioned MadWorld, No More Heroes 2 or Vanquish.

[R_aVe_N]

It all really comes down to marketing in the end. If people do not know about your game they will not buy it.

[kneon]

I believe part of the problem is also that there are just too many games being developed. The market just can't support so many games.

I've bought about 20 games this year and that's just for PS3, and I didn't buy either of the two games from the article. Most people buy far less games than I do and they are more likely to stick to franchises they know rather than try some new unknown game.

I'm actually a bit concerned that so many games are failing to live up to sales expectations. If this continues then you can expect more studios to go under or cut back and a lot less new IPs being developed.

[R_aVe_N]

I agree that can also be a problem. I agree when people are forced to choose because of money they usually go with the higher marketed and well known titles. Games like these two mentioned in the article got next to no marketing.

[Blaine]

Disagree.

I don't think we're anywhere near the point where there are "too many games being developed" when there are still serious release droughts in the summer.

If there is a problem, it's that some devs aspire to CoD-like sales (lol, sounds like godlike--but CoD definitely =/= godly) when they DO NOT have a product with the same level of appeal (case in point: ENSLAVED. You suck Ninja Theory, face it).

If devs realized the potential of each individual game, then more of them would be Demon's Souls stories--where the game sold a lot more than expected--and less Enslaved-stories (paraphrasing: "oh our game is amazing the gaming market is retarded for not buying it").

[Ducky]

Yup, it's marketing and appeal.

Usually if I hear about a game and find it interesting, I'll buy it. Bought 70+ games this year, and didn't buy Majin because hadn't heard of it, and Enslaved just didn't appeal to me.

Don't agree with the article on adding DLC prologue though. It's what demo's are for. If they were ineffective, then how is having the option to pay for an extended demo gonna help?

EDIT: Hmm, I'll take a gander then.

[R_aVe_N]

I really enjoyed Majin you should give it a try if time and money allows!

[kube00]

Marketing and advertising are big. I also thought release date also factored in it as well.

[Carlos_Irwin_Estevez]

The videogame industry used to be a quality/innovation led industry, its now becoming a marketing free for all.

Soon sites like N4G will be 100% spam and trolling, sales figures and marketing scams.

Games became legends because of how good they were not their marketing budget games built by gamers for gamers.

Support ur favourite franchises and developers buy them new.

I will pick up majin as soon as i have some cash.

[Focker420]

I will not buy Majin because it doesn't look fun to me. I'm not gonna buy a game I have no interest in just to 'support the developers'. If they want my support then they need to make a game I'd want to play.

I'm not sayin Majin is a terrible game, it just doesn't appeal to me personally.

[sleepy3]

Bubbles up my friend. If the game doesn't appeal to you, why buy it? Its like buying the best steak in New York even though you are vegetarian, just to support the cooks. Why?

[Focker420]

Perfect analogy, bubbles for you as well

[NYC_Gamer]

lack of marketing and catching peoples attention

[Foxgod]

Theres also the has been done there concept.
While Enslaved was simply poorly marketed, Majin was just way too stale to catch anyones interest.

Games have to look fresh, otherwise people will pass up on it.

[Miiikeyyy]

cus kids prefer playing Halo and COD, they dont want new and original games!

[Focker420]

Keyword: Kids

You do realise the average gamer was 35 years old a few years back, that is until the Wii came out. Kids will play anything (even if it sucks). Tell a kid something is great and his sponge like brain will believe it to be true. Kids don't know what a mature game is (figuratively speaking). Its just playtime for them.

Its like watching a movie as a kid, then watching it again as an adult, and you think "wow that actually sucks, why did I like that?" Kids are very impressionable. I think we should call it the CoD or Halo Effect.

[Blaine]

Keyword: impressionable.

Who's telling these kids that CoD and Halo are great? It sure as hell isn't me.

[roblef]

Enslaved wasn't that great. I bought into the hype and regret it.

[bobrea]

It should be:
Why do some games sell "terribLY." I won't read your article if you can't bother to use correct punctuation.

[PirateThom]

Originality and "being good" isn't enough. In fact, developers are nearly always pubished for it now.

No one can compete with the sheer marketing hype of Call of Duty or Halo.... not that they're terrible games and don't deserve sales (especially Halo since Bungie, at least, care enough to look after their fanbase) but it's really impossible for anything other than established franchises to get a foot in the door, unless they have a huge marketing push behind it, or new franchises from established developers. Really, some games just get lucky from word of mouth like Demon's Souls and Amnesia.

I wouldn't call Enslaved or Majin great games though, in fact, I'd say their sales are pretty well deserved for being derivative and uninteresting and not catering to an established fanbase.

[Ducky]

"Some games just get lucky from word of mouth like ...."

... and Minecraft.
Don't. Forget. Minecraft.
It's like the poster-boy for word-of-mouth advertisement.

[Baka-akaB]

people are full of it too .

Case in point : Enslaved .
i've seen in a few thread and here people complain that people dont buy original games .

How is enslaved even original to begin with ? It took an existing premise and tale , put its own spin on it like all of the others , and built it's gameplay from a similar one found in Heavenly sword , already harshly criticised , with exactly the same issues people complained already about .

Psychonaut , minecraft , even majin alan wake or heavy rain are games that are actually different enough . And sometimes some of those do sells .

let's not expect the same from an ok rehash game with a poor demo , mediocre gameplay , and poor length , released at the worst time possible ... with the worst attitude before release from its dev

[GigaGaia]

The release was too close to other big titles. Also, the games were good, but not that great.

Especially, Enslaved was really short and only worth a rental, not a purchase. It was only 12 hours and that's by getting the platinum trophy or 1000/1000 achievement.

[GOODKyle]

Majin sucked, so that I understand why it doesn't sell. Enslaved was above average but not great. Black Ops was ok but sold millions because of hype and the Call of Duty tag.

[AceofStaves]

The familiar is more of a sure thing in any form of entertainment. Hollywood pumps out sequels and remakes/reboots/reimaginings for precisely that reason.

This is why the sales argument is moot when discussing a game's quality and why discussion about the need for innovation and new IPs in gaming has to be tempered by economic realities.

[Tuxedo_Mask]

Why are there so many articles whining about how Enslaved didn't sell well? If you liked the game then that's fine, but not everyone is going to like the same things.

[JAMurida]

Depends really, I personally thought games like Resonance of Fate, Tales games and Demon's Souls were some of the best games this gen, but unfortunately, people like me are only like 20% of gamers out there and the other 80% only care about shooters.

[Blaine]

Demon's Souls was definitely one of the best games this gen. That's why it sold a crap ton more than even the devs thought it would.

[gypsygib]

I don't know about the other 2 but Enslaved was not a great game, combat was very shallow, climbing was completely automatic but it had a good story...but not the type you want to see over and over like MGS or U2.

7.5/10 = good

[Azianphil88]

i would also like to add is the relations between the developer and the gaming public especially Ninja Theory complaining about Sony and Heavenly Swords and the announcement of a reboot version of Devil May Cry.

[Blaine]

lol, Enslaved and Majin are both shit.

[Ponurasky]

true, some games flopped for a reason.

[ClickClank]

Majin is awesome, it's my GOTY for last year.

[LMS]

majin and enslaved both had terrible graphics, ugly character designs and unfamiliar concepts, i downloaded the majin demo and was instantly turned off, same with eslaved,

monkey is your main character, he looks like he always needs to poo

i will maybe, MAYBE buy these in the $5 bargin bin

[bviperz]

This is easy: Because sales =/= quality