2010-02-17, 07:51 PM
Recently I've been following a very good podcast for gaming and it's been bringing up some interesting topics. For those wondering, I'm listening to 4playerpodcast. Search it up if you want.
I've been brought to attention to where the industry of gaming is gearing towards nowadays and I would like to hear some thoughts on this.
Although I'm not too sure if many of you guys have heard of the game Just Dance but it is a wii game that supposedly wants to follow the moves of a silhouette of a famous singer. This game is rated rather poorly. 47 from metacrtic, 2.0 from IGN and probably more. Bayonetta (360), an incredibly well made game (9.1 on metacrtic), No More Heroes 2, also well received (8.8), sold reasonably well. And yet, Just Dance sold more than both these games combined for the month of January
On the note of Bayonetta (360) as well, Mario Kart DS outsold this game during that month. Bayonetta was released January of 2010. Mario Kart DS was released in 2005. Personally, I think this is rather ridiculous. A 2005 game beating a game of such high standards on release month.
Tatsunoku vs Capcom, another game rated rather well sold a measely 50 000 units. So much for expecting another vs game.
Overall sales, the NPDs gave out the top 5 games sold in 2009. 4/5 of the top games are wii games.
1. CodMW2 (11.86 mil)
2. Wii Sports Resort (7.57 mil)
3. New Super Mario Bros Wii (7.41 mil)
4. Wii Fit Plus (5.80 mil)
5. Wii Fit (5.44 mil)
Uncharted 2 is only nearing 3 million. Mass effect 2 reaches 3.9 mil as of Feb 9. Why produce a game of such high quality boasting incredible graphics, voice acting, polished mechanics, deep storyline and othe aspects only to be beaten by a game such as NSMBW? These two games undoubtedly put more effort into making their game. Yes, it can be argued that some of these games are indeed good, but nonetheless, you know these games are more suited for a casual audience than hardcore.
I may not be 100% sure on some of the figures, but my question still stands, do you think the industry is going to head more towards casual in the future, drowning out some of the more hardcore games? Or can companies and developers continue to find the business incentive to create high quality games for the more dedicated players?
Or perhaps, do you agree with the direction of moving towards the casual audience more than the dedicated?
I've been brought to attention to where the industry of gaming is gearing towards nowadays and I would like to hear some thoughts on this.
Although I'm not too sure if many of you guys have heard of the game Just Dance but it is a wii game that supposedly wants to follow the moves of a silhouette of a famous singer. This game is rated rather poorly. 47 from metacrtic, 2.0 from IGN and probably more. Bayonetta (360), an incredibly well made game (9.1 on metacrtic), No More Heroes 2, also well received (8.8), sold reasonably well. And yet, Just Dance sold more than both these games combined for the month of January
On the note of Bayonetta (360) as well, Mario Kart DS outsold this game during that month. Bayonetta was released January of 2010. Mario Kart DS was released in 2005. Personally, I think this is rather ridiculous. A 2005 game beating a game of such high standards on release month.
Tatsunoku vs Capcom, another game rated rather well sold a measely 50 000 units. So much for expecting another vs game.
Overall sales, the NPDs gave out the top 5 games sold in 2009. 4/5 of the top games are wii games.
1. CodMW2 (11.86 mil)
2. Wii Sports Resort (7.57 mil)
3. New Super Mario Bros Wii (7.41 mil)
4. Wii Fit Plus (5.80 mil)
5. Wii Fit (5.44 mil)
Uncharted 2 is only nearing 3 million. Mass effect 2 reaches 3.9 mil as of Feb 9. Why produce a game of such high quality boasting incredible graphics, voice acting, polished mechanics, deep storyline and othe aspects only to be beaten by a game such as NSMBW? These two games undoubtedly put more effort into making their game. Yes, it can be argued that some of these games are indeed good, but nonetheless, you know these games are more suited for a casual audience than hardcore.
I may not be 100% sure on some of the figures, but my question still stands, do you think the industry is going to head more towards casual in the future, drowning out some of the more hardcore games? Or can companies and developers continue to find the business incentive to create high quality games for the more dedicated players?
Or perhaps, do you agree with the direction of moving towards the casual audience more than the dedicated?