Wow..some consoles actually make money

[Phil]

Why buy a GameCube (or Xbox for that matter) when you already have a PS2 that (while not having all of the best games) easily facilitates your entertainment needs? It'll cost you hundreds more to buy a GameCube or Xbox that currently have no more than 50 really buyable games between them. It's not worth the investment unless you're either hardcore or semi-hardcore.

Thanks for confirming what I've been trying to point out all along. Why buy a GameCube if there's not enough software to justify the purchase? On PS2 (and Xbox also), you can slowly get games of all genres. Get a GameCube, and you'll be hard put to find a worthy game in every genre. With Cube loosing support, market apeal is certainly not getting any better.

Wether it's lack of marketing or not, GameCube simply does not have enough market apeal or else it would be selling better.

People bash the GameCube just for the family-friendly approach and the lack of any really controversial games. Word spreads. Soon enough, everybody and their brother is telling people "Hey, I heard GCN sucks.. get a PS2. It has GTA!"

And there you go. This should tell you that the market is changing and Nintendo has not adapted fast enough. Games like GTA sell and those type of games are clearly missing on the cube.

 

[wazoo]

And there you go. This should tell you that the market is changing and Nintendo has not adapted fast enough. Games like GTA sell and those type of games are clearly missing on the cube.

It is not Games like GTA that sells, only GTA. In the coming year, you'll see a lot of GTA clones with very bad sales, like it occured with Myst, lemmings, Mario and every other million sellers that originate some genre.

 

[Blade]

GCN is getting games like True Crime, Phil. Sadly, though.. publishers/developers are too slow.

By the time GCN gets its first Metal Gear game, it may be too late for the console to appeal to th' mature audience. Sadly, Nintendo lost a lot of faith with the N64's 3rd-party blunder. Only devoted 3rd-parties (like Capcom) dared to begin GCN development years before the console hit. (which is why RE1 was one of the GCN's first big 3rd-party exclusives)

Companies like Namco and Konami have really delayed things with this console. While I don't mind the excellent 1st/2nd-party software that Nintendo has provided thus far (as well as Capcom's, Sega's, and a few others' contributions to my game library) it's a shame that 3rd-parties couldn't get on the ball earlier as they did with PS2.

Well, that's what you get for messing up in the mid-nineties Nintendo. Hopefully you can recover your 3rd-party relationships and start with a clean slate in 2005. Until then, I'll be sitting here playing whatever quality title you throw at me..

 

[Phil]

It is not Games like GTA that sells, only GTA. In the coming year, you'll see a lot of GTA clones with very bad sales, like it occured with Myst, lemmings, Mario and every other million sellers that originate some genre.

No? I guess the Getaway is an exception title then... BTW; I just used GTA as an example since it's THE game at the moment. Other games like MGS, SplinterCell and many racing games are no exception.

GCN is getting games like True Crime, Phil. Sadly, though.. publishers/developers are too slow.

By the time GCN gets its first Metal Gear game, it may be too late for the console to appeal to th' mature audience. Sadly, Nintendo lost a lot of faith with the N64's 3rd-party blunder. Only devoted 3rd-parties (like Capcom) dared to begin GCN development years before the console hit. (which is why RE1 was one of the GCN's first big 3rd-party exclusives)

Companies like Namco and Konami have really delayed things with this console. While I don't mind the excellent 1st/2nd-party software that Nintendo has provided thus far (as well as Capcom's, Sega's, and a few others' contributions to my game library) it's a shame that 3rd-parties couldn't get on the ball earlier as they did with PS2.

Well, that's what you get for messing up in the mid-nineties Nintendo. Hopefully you can recover your 3rd-party relationships and start with a clean slate in 2005. Until then, I'll be sitting here playing whatever quality title you throw at me..

Then that's great news Blade. I really wouldn't mind seeing Nintendo do better, but being a PS2 owner, I'd get the Cube for the Nintendo goodness and only that. My only concern about the console I think casuals have, is the lack of appeal. Marketing is a reason, but it's not as if Nintendo hasn't been doing anything. People know that the Cube is around, it just doesn't offer everything yet. With that, I'm thinking of especially racers (I love them) and more adult orientated games. It will do lots of good for Nintendo getting that MGS (I'm still suprised, as Hideo always said the Cube is out of the question as a game such as MGS wouldn't be apreciated or something like that anyway). If it's a port though, I don't think it will be much different than MGSx on Xbox, but it would still be better than nothing. GameCube is certainly a step up after the N64 - too bad the sales just aren't there. Hopefully, that wil change...

 

[CaptainHowdy]

why get a GC? because its the only console that I get games and genres I wont find better on my PC.. Pretty much every Major game I have the slightest interest in on PS2 or Xbox comes better to my PC...

 

[Qroach]

why get a GC? because its the only console that I get games and genres I wont find better on my PC.. Pretty much every Major game I have the slightest interest in on PS2 or Xbox comes better to my PC...

Well then, I think you're in the minority.

 

[wazoo]

why get a GC? because its the only console that I get games and genres I wont find better on my PC.. Pretty much every Major game I have the slightest interest in on PS2 or Xbox comes better to my PC...

PC gaming is dying.

 

[wazoo]

It is not Games like GTA that sells, only GTA. In the coming year, you'll see a lot of GTA clones with very bad sales, like it occured with Myst, lemmings, Mario and every other million sellers that originate some genre.

No? I guess the Getaway is an exception title then...

I do not think (but I maybe wrong, no big deal) that the Getaway will sell lots after the big rush of the first sales (result of the big marketing and hype Sony built during 3 years). Unlike GTA, Getaway is not a game you will consider to be good (IMO and according many reviews) after some playtime.

Anyway, I do not classify Getaway as a GTA clone, it was started way before.

 

[Teasy]

Teasy, you know Metroid Prime has sold over a million copies in the US? I wouldn't say that it was totally ignored by casual gamers!

Selling 1 million copies does not make it a hit with casual gamers. I wouldn't say it was totally ignored by casual gamers. Perhaps I should have said that most casual gamers have probably never heard of it.

 

[Almasy]

Wow, I thought that sales of 1 million copies were excellent...

 

[CaptainHowdy]

why get a GC? because its the only console that I get games and genres I wont find better on my PC.. Pretty much every Major game I have the slightest interest in on PS2 or Xbox comes better to my PC...

PC gaming is dying.

Morons have been saying that for over 10 years now, thanks for adding yourself to thier group.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Add me to the list as well. PC game sales declined again last year.

 

[Teasy]

Almasy

I didn't say that 1 million sales for MP in the U.S alone wasn't excellent. What I said is AFAIK MP has not been a hit with casual gamers.

Maybe I'm wrong, I don't live in the U.S. Who here thinks MP has been a hit with casual gamers? Who hear's the sort of talk from casual gamers about MP that we've heard from casual gamers about, for example, Halo?

 

[Almasy]

I don´t live in the U.S. either, but knowing that publishers consider a game that hits 300k a big hit, I´d say it was a pretty big success. I can´t imagine MP not getting any attention by casual gamers, since the number of titles that reach that status is small.

 

[CaptainHowdy]

Add me to the list as well. PC game sales declined again last year.

WC3 was one of the best selling games on any platform, the Sims still outsold every console game on the market(even though it sucks)..

even if there was a decline, doesnt mean PC Gaming is dying, it will never die, but I dont have to add you, you were already on the list.

 

[Phil]

What was the selling number of "the sims"? I kind of forgoten that... thanks.

Oh and Howdy, no matter how good those titles sold in comparison to console games, it's still doesn't change the fact that PC gaming sales as a total as decreased and is decreasing.

 

[Qroach]

That's completely correct Phil. warcraft 3 on PC sold somewhere around 2 million untis I believe (I don't have the sales info in front of me, it might not have reached that number...). The sims might be at 4 million by now, but just look how many years that game has been on the market for, and it's system requirements are extremly low, which means the majority of PC's can play it. Even warcraft 3 could be played ona slow systems. Compare this to the sales of something like UT and you can see they are targetting a smaller segment of the market with faster hardware.

Even if you compare it to GTA3, i think that sold more copies compared to the sims in a shorter amount of time. All you have to do is look at how many PC titles broke a million in sales compared to console titles across all platforms. even look at how many PC titles broke 100,000 units. It's a very telling picture.

It's something like 0.4% of all PC titles do not sell over 100,000 units. A typical console game that sells 80,000 units is considered just "ok" by publishers. Unless it's a big license/budget title (like a Mario game or GTA, etc...), 300,000 units is considered a success.

Teasy, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to point out, but metroid had very good sales and tons of advertisements to support it. It's been one of the better advertised Nintendo games I've seen in the last year. Infact, I saw the metroid ads more often than the Splinter cell ads. If you're saying that it could have sold better if Nintendo advertised it more? I don't think there's any reason/excuse for it's sales other than how over all popular the GC console is in the US. It probably attracted the biggest portion of casual GC gamers that already had or didn't have the system.

 

[CaptainHowdy]

That's completely correct Phil. warcraft 3 on PC sold somewhere around 2 million untis I believe (I don't have the sales info in front of me, it might not have reached that number...). The sims might be at 4 million by now, but just look how many years that game has been on the market for, and it's system requirements are extremly low, which means the majority of PC's can play it. Even warcraft 3 could be played ona slow systems. Compare this to the sales of something like UT and you can see they are targetting a smaller segment of the market with faster hardware.

Even if you compare it to GTA3, i think that sold more copies compared to the sims in a shorter amount of time. All you have to do is look at how many PC titles broke a million in sales compared to console titles across all platforms. even look at how many PC titles broke 100,000 units. It's a very telling picture.

It's something like 0.4% of all PC titles do not sell over 100,000 units. A typical console game that sells 80,000 units is considered just "ok" by publishers. Unless it's a big license/budget title (like a Mario game or GTA, etc...), 300,000 units is considered a success.


not breaking a mill wont stop the games from coming, yea, when new consoles come out, sales do decrease, they come right back up again, PC games keep coming because its pure profit, they dont have to pay fees to anyone, whereas Nintendo Sony and MS all get a piece of the third party pie. and Newsflash, Unreal Tourney 2k3 tore UC up in sales(and rightfully so)

in 2 years, the Xbox will be gone, the PS2 will be gone and the GC will be gone... all are aiming at a 2005 upgrade... My PC will be plenty strong in 2005, and I can promise, when CS comes out for Xbox, it will still be played more on PC 5 to 1 in comparison.

There are more people playing Halflife in a given day than there are people even subscribed to Xbox live, it has been the most played online game for almost 6 years now, in 2007 will anyone even remember Halo?

PC games have NEVER sold as well as console games, yet, they still seem to keep coming, and they always will, Xbox's cheap versions of the same games wont change that.

 

[Phil]

not breaking a mill wont stop the games from coming, yea, when new consoles come out, sales do decrease, they come right back up again, PC games keep coming because its pure profit, they dont have to pay fees to anyone, whereas Nintendo Sony and MS all get a piece of the third party pie. and Newsflash, Unreal Tourney 2k3 tore UC up in sales(and rightfully so)

in 2 years, the Xbox will be gone, the PS2 will be gone and the GC will be gone... all are aiming at a 2005 upgrade... My PC will be plenty strong in 2005, and I can promise, when CS comes out for Xbox, it will still be played more on PC 5 to 1 in comparison.

There are more people playing Halflife in a given day than there are people even subscribed to Xbox live, it has been the most played online game for almost 6 years now, in 2007 will anyone even remember Halo?

PC games have NEVER sold as well as console games, yet, they still seem to keep coming, and they always will, Xbox's cheap versions of the same games wont change that.

This would actually make sense if profit would be close to what publishers can get on consoles. It's not though, not even by a close bit. Best sellers on consoles sell in the millions (see GT3, MGS2, Getaway, Devil May Cry, Mario, Zelda, GTA etc sales), surpasing anything on PCs. Despite the license fees that go to the console makers, publishers make much more money than the PC gamer base would ever allow to. If this weren't the case, most publishers would be developing for PC instead of consoles. They're not. Also, on PC, to be able to sell your product, you got to handle compatibility over a wide range of PCs, downgrade to what PC the majority playes on plus dealing with piracy.

And lets be honest here, how many players actually own Half-Life (Counter-Strike). Piracy is far more common than on consoles - that's why developers will choose consoles over the open PC architecture. And the more consoles will offer in the future, the more PC gaming will decrease in size. And with the decreass of PC-gaming, support will decrease until you are left with "garage developers" who can't afford to get their product onto consoles.

PC gaming has decreased over the years - and the way things are heading, this trend is unlikely to change.

 

[CaptainHowdy]

now your talking out of your arse bigtime..

first off, yes, BIG MEGA hits do sell in the millions, but they arent as common as you pretend, if you look at most console games they are lucky to hit the 100K mark. Big name PC games sell in the Millions as well(WC3, UT2k3, C&C Generals, Unreal 2, all have been selling extremely well..)

how many own Counterstrike? none, they all own Halflife, CS is free..
Piracy is becoming less and less of a problem, if you pirate halflife, you dont play online, Wons Authentication makes its extremely difficult to pirate, you can get the software, you can get the key, but playing online is an obstacle only a moron would try to tackle, because when your IP/Key are being checked by the service, your going to get caught.(that and Halflife is now free on Ebgames.com with a $20 rebate, only a moron would pirate it)

CD's become more and more uncopyable every day, I know from experience UbiSoft was one of the first to really successfully master copy protection, I copy cd's for backups and have managed to do so with pretty much every game that has come out for years, but even way back in the Rainbow Six era, I was unable to copy Ubi Games.