These June Game Sales Numbers Are Kind of Depressing

[llubtoille]

Can't really say I'm surprised about Duke vs Eden
Duke was available on PC, Xbox & PS, and was a well known franchise, and everyone knew it was being released
whereas eden was only on the xbox, and I've only heard about it via watching that review XD

it's like comparing a transformers movie to something played in rialto.

 

[Wolfram23]

What is this? I don't even...

What a shocker that is, two games that nobody has ever heard about sold shitty. Oh and a game that people have been talking about for the past 10 years sold pretty decently. Besides that get the fuck off your high horse and realise that your opinion is not universal. Just because you disliked a game that does not mean that it was bad. It just means that you didnt like it.

Besides the harsh language, this. Those results are neither surprising nor depressing.

 

[Kargathia]

Soooo, a game that has the advantages of oldschool nostalgia, puerile humour, being a running joke for the last 10 years, and plain old better marketing sells better?

NEXT UP: The shocking news that Harry Potter 8 draws more people than "The Undefeated".

 

[Latinidiot]

I think that Child Of Eden will keep making sales, while duke will be left in the dust.

 

[Centrophy]

Very objective article you have there John.... If it only were.
While I get that you are upset that DNF outsold some games that you enjoyed, this article is pretty damn unprofessional in its subjectivity.

This! For god's sake this! Stuff like this and the sensationalist titles are why I typically shy away from reading any of the articles here. Reminds me of how FNC operates, always throwing their bias around and generally being unprofessional in their presentation.

OT though, I did buy Infamous 2, wasn't bad. I mostly bought a couple of old games during the Steam summer sale. Thinking Zeno Clash next for about $4.00US.

 

[William Dickbringer]

why am I reminded of movie bob's rant about how Scott Pilgrim didn't do so well in the theaters but The Expendables did well

 

[maninahat]

Very objective article you have there John.... If it only were.
While I get that you are upset that DNF outsold some games that you enjoyed, this article is pretty damn unprofessional in its subjectivity.

What it essentially boils down to is "People didn't buy that game I really liked and bought lots of that game I don't like!" Boohoo.

Perhaps if Eden didn't have such narrow appeal and limited publicity, and Duke wasn't an accessable and heavily awaited title we wouldn't be seeing sales results like this.

 

[Baresark]

Wow, this is not a worthwhile article at all. First off, Duke doesn't require a $150 peripheral to play, and it has 13 years of hype built onto it. Also, June (any summer month really) the sales always suck. Most of the people who buy games, buy the ones they want on release. Nothing has come out. It's not depressing, it's reality. Other things that show sharp decreases in summer is gym memberships and workout equipment sales. Things that increase dramatically are acohol sales and beach business's. Imagine.

 

[Stall]

You mean to tell me that interesting and somewhat innovative games are outsold by tripe, and that the sole decider of how well a game sales is its ad campaign?

This is more stating the obvious than news.

 

[mikev7.0]

I find it hard to compare Duke to Eden. Duke doesn't require a $150 peripheral to play it.

I know nothing about child of Eden, but based on what I read here...

Agreed. And considering I have played both, and found Duke to be more entertaining...


Jesus, Christ, yes, we know DNF was terrible for it's amount of time in development, but come on. There is no need to be constantly slandering a game that was average. A bad game is one that is broken, like Turning Point. Yet I don't even remember people talking about it, let alone taking the piss out of it every second fucking post.

I wanted to second this except I can't because I don't think Duke Nukem is terrible. Technically speaking the game is solid. No glitches or ugly graphics, and the boss fights, I think, are outstanding. Also, if you look at my old posts, this is all coming from someone who was not planning on buying Duke Nuke Em', but did. The multiplayer is very reminiscent to me of an old game for the XBOX called Whacked! (Freeze guns, launch pads hell even a Jet Pack and Whacked! didn't have that!) and I've had hours of fun with it. Oh Surprise! The other gamers playing it are actually really cool old school types and I haven't heard a single scream or racial slur. Besides, what gamer from the old days wouldn't want to own 14 years of gamer history? I own both Child and Duke and both are great games. (Yup, I said Duke Nukem is a great game) Also I play Child of Eden with a controller and still think it's great. I heard people say it's worthless with a controller and that's not true for me. Also people I think Child of Eden is on sale for $30 now at least at GameStop.

So the people who actually have to pay for their games disagree with the critics who get them for free?

"Try to look surprised!"

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Duke Nukem: In of itself, it's a piece of history with so much behind it. At this point, buying the game is like buying a piece of history regardless of its shit quality. Plus: Multiple Platforms.

Eden: Needed Kinect (alt. control scheme granted). Kinect as a peripheral is one of very divided opinions, so it's obvious that it would affect sales. Perhaps a demo would help? Also, it was released on one platform.

Shadows of the Damned: Only heard of it now. Well, right after Rooster Teeth's "This is" show introduced it. Released on two platforms, almost nonexistent ad campaign.

 

[Nimzabaat]

I find this really funny because the Escapist has been going on and on about how poorly DNF has been selling and here's this thread with *gasp* figures proving that they're as unbiased and professional as Fox News.

From what i've seen of Children of Eden, it's a crap game for a crap peripheral. Well drop the ring finger 'cause here's a shocker, it didn't sell. People are actually surprised? (I am aware that people by Kinect, for 3 year olds)

As for Shadows of the Damned? It looks kind of fun but where was the advertising? I saw some gameplay at the local Gamestop and that's literally the first i've heard of that game. Judging by previous posts i'm not alone in that.

PS: I may have to do a poll to see if the Escapist site has itself turned troll. It's certainly looking that way

 

[lord.jeff]

Child of Edan just doesn't look that amazing to me personally, it seems to be just a space rail shooter like Starfox.

 

[RelexCryo]

I bought Shadows of the Damned. Good, but low replay value.

It is not surprising that Duke outsold Child of Eden- Child of Eden is an amazing game, but you need the Kinect to play it. Paying enough cash to buy a new Wii console for one game is not an attractive proposition, especially since the Kinect has trouble with close ranges, and most people don't have giant rooms to play in. This was covered by the Escapist News Network. Moreover, people didn't get DNF because they thought it was good, but because of all the buildup and anticipation. It would be difficult to not get it after all this time.

Basically, this outcome was not surprising, at all.

 

[TheComfyChair]

Pretty sure PC gaming did just fine over June/July with the steam sale, we already know witcher 2 has sold well over 400k copies (it as announced they surpassed 400k a while back, well before the steam sale where it was #1 in sales on it's day). Of course retail puts witcher 2 somewhere down the list, but now we know for a fact it was the #1 selling game of June. Well done Witcher!

The PC gaming is dead argument has never looked so dead.

 

[Triforceformer]

Honestly, dude. You could have at least fucking tried to be objective with this. We get it. You love Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned while you think DNF is dog shit. But just because you say it is doesn't mean everyone automatically agrees with you. You don't control the consumers, the consumers look at your reviews to get an idea whether a game is one THEY would like.

They don't just look them up to read your (Apparently superior) opinions. That and Child of Eden requires Kinect, and we all know how well the Kinect goes over with alot of gamers.

tl;dr This article is good in terms of getting information out, but sucks in terms of the writer realizing his opinions aren't shared with everyone.

 

[Ghengis John]

Eh to be fair the game most people were comparing Child Of Eden to was Rez, which I recall wasn't exactly a blockbuster either. I guess it's the true spirtual successor then.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

If I said E.T. The Game was a glitchy mess, there would be SOMEONE among you would start flaming the hell out of me.

But seriously folks, despite the fact that several of the posters here may not have the brainpower to pass Remedial P.E., the overall point is valid. Why would you expect a little-known game (I'd never heard of it...though I don't own a PS3 or a 360) to sell anywhere near approaching somewhat close to a game which arguably has more marketing behind than any game in history?

And yes, this is an editorial, not a news article.

 

[Dogstile]

Seriously? Duke is fine. There isn't anything inherently wrong with duke. Its not even bad, its just average. Can we stop insulting it in every article because it didn't live up to the impossible idea everyone had built up of it in their heads now?