NPD September 2007

As far as I've last heard, there's barely more then 2 million BR movies sold so far. And we can safely assume that their actual market - hifi enthusiasts - is very small... So PS3 owners aren't playing games and they're not watching HD movies either. Maybe Sony's right to remove PS2 compatibility?

 

I think what one tried to say, was that a lot of the early adopters of the PS3 also owns a 360 and many of those with a limited game budget and limited time to play might have prioritised Halo3 in the US.

 

Heavenly Sword just wasn't promoted like it should be from Sony; not nearly to the extent that Motorstorm was among the general public, for example. In fact the only advertising for it I've ever seen was an ad in the movie theater - which though awesome in its own right - just isn't really what you'd expect to be the extent. It may be hard to see past that here given Heavenly Sword's prominent position in B3D forum life, but excellent PS3 title though it be, it simply hasn't been positioned to capture the public imagination.

 

Pardon me, but 22 thousand is "doing really good"?
I know it's a smaller market, and that it's only 1 week so far... but honestly, a $20 million budget means that the game has to sell 500K+ copies just to break even, maybe even closer to a million. So far Lair's struggling to reach 100K.

 

The marketing of HS is really strange then... it may be that Sony's withholding the budget for Ratchet and Uncharted; or they'll start the push only after the price cut (this actually makes a lot more sense).

Also, HS seems to be the kind of game that'll keep selling for a while. A few more months like this, combined with EU sales, and they'll hit a million units. Rememer Resistance? I thought the game was a financial failure based on its initial sales but it's up at 2 million so far.

 

I've seen quiet a lot of advertisement on french TV.

And this game has been shown by sony as soon as E3 2005.

The actual state of the ps3 in mind share is the reason behind HS poor sales IMHO.

 

I've seen a lot of advertisement on tv. They show the commercial about 5 times every time Heroes is on.

I'm really surprised at how Heavenly Sword and Metroid Prime 3 have done for their respective systems. The sales are a fair bit lower than I thought they'd be.

 

The Legendary outsold every other 360 game as well. Will it make it better for you if we compare to them as well?

The fact that any $130 game sold 400k+ in 1 week is pretty stunning. Especially considering some of the negative comments I saw in regards to a $130 game. Evidently the market is there for it.

We all think $499, and $599 is too expensive for a console. Well, $130 is too expensive for a game too, but that still sold exceptionally well!

 

France isn't the US though, which is all I was speaking to, and where these NPD numbers come from. I wouldn't be surprised if HS does better in Europe than N America, but I agree with Laa-Yosh above that it seems like a title a lot of folk will continue to as they buy into the system. And that's not to say I disagree that PS3 has a mindshare malaise at the moment either, but E3 showings I don't see as overly relevant, as the press comes away with only a couple of games in mind. For PS3@E3 those have been KZ2 and Lair (unfortunately).

Looking forward, to tell you the truth I don't think Uncharted - though likely an excellent game with strong reviews forthcoming - has a lot of hype right now either. Unless the scores really get into 9.0+ territory or there's some marketing blitz, it might be another quality title disappointing on sales. Ratchet and Clank who knows, but it looks like Insomniac is the de facto top PS3 dev thus far this gen if you look at it from a sales perspective.

 

I saw HS in this banner ad currently running on web sites.
http://apps.eyewonderlabs.com/adWdrVideoSpace/ad/28148/approvalJSTags.html

Motorstorm has been getting promotions for a very long time, I guess HS will be like that with DLC and such. With the new $399 model coming they can spend the promotion budget better.

 

Ah, well I don't watch Heros, but I can see where they would target that show.

 

Low HS sword sales could be attributed to it's short length. Everyone's renting rather than buying?

 

Unlike many here, I don't think Sony were expecting high HS sales.
Warhawk(w/ headset), Lair and HS were all available around $50, before and after the release, if you knew where to look. Neither Lair nor HS had any hype or real media attention.

Sony will advertise R&C properly, but game may not attract young adults which I believe make most of PS3 demographics.

Uncharted used to be in a similar position to HS regarding the attention, but recent previews seem to be very positive. Still lack of online will hurt all of those games.

Also I wouldn't be surprised if Resistance gets a few ads of its own here and there.

I personally hate live action Haze trailers, they better find something better.

Overall lineup looks great to me, even without the third parties. But Sony may be cursed at this point.

Have a link for that?
You mentioned that a couple of times, but don't remember any official source.

 

To be honest, I barely watch tv. For some reason I watch Heroes every week, even though I don't think it's spectacular. I'm not sure how much advertising HS gets during other shows, but I know I've seen the ad while flipping through the channels.

 

Little Big Planet beta
Eye of Judgement
Ratchet and Clank
Uncharted
Singstar
GT5 Prologue ?
Of course none of these are shooters, so maybe they don't count as exclusives that can help Sony

As for HS not selling, I wonder how much of that was negative pressure from the media? Before it's release it was upheld as a flagship title, like Lair, and then upon review because it wasn't the greatest game of all time ever (as no game can ever actually be) they downplayed it, giving the impression that even though good, it wasn't worth bothering with. Either that or the (over-emphasized?) notion of it being short scared people away.

 

I've also seen ads during NFL games and some late night teletoon ones. I've actually seen more ads for HS than any game aside from Halo3.

I don't know that they are doing badly, but I agree I thought they would be bigger.

 

There's been a Factor 5 GDC presentation on Lair in 2006. They've been throwing such numbers around, and don't forget that they've slipped a lot. Extra months with full staff cost a small fortune...

As for HS, just look at the production time (4-5 years), the size of the staff, and the production values. Motion capture at Weta with Andy Serkis isn't cheap either.

 

I've seen a lot of ads for Heavenly Sword on TV here in Canada recently as well, seems like as many as for Halo 3. It's advertised a lot on G4 and I've seen it on TVs in bars during sports as well. It's definitely one of the most heavily TV advertised games at the moment.

 

Goes to show there will never be such a thing as a "Playstation" (just for quoting) legacy in the console world.

The majority of console gamers are too fickle and take console gaming waaay less seriously than a few hardcores.

 

Well, you're including two demo's, and a niche card based title, that's why they don't count

In terms of titles that will actually stimulate sales, Singstar, Uncharted and R&C are basically it, at leats from that list. I don't remember any demo ever having a large impact on sales of a console.

Is Haze still coming?