Topic: Sega to Scale Back M-Rated Wii Games

[broodwars]

I can't seen to find data on how well Silent Hill Homecoming did, but I did find a page on the internet (so it must be true) stating that Shattered Memories sold 47K in it's first week, which was in line with Homecoming.

Considering this is Silent Hill's first outing on a Nintendo console, I think it would be pretty incredible if it did sell as well as Homecoming did already (especially considering Konami's Dead Space Extraction-esque method of only advertising in web banners).  Yeah, it's a game that has problems, but I think the overall quality of the game shines through as something unique that could only really be done on Wii (I know it's a multiplatform title, but c'mon all the game's mechanics are very Wii-centric).

As for Dead Space Extraction, I think that's a title that simply got yanked from the developers before it was ready.  The apparent lack of quality bug fixes alone says that much.  But for all its problems, it does try to carve out its own niche in the rail shooter genre as something very story-based and fairly immersive (witness the lengths the game goes to establish that your character is interacting with the world via frequent shots of their arms and legs).

[Louieturkey]

I guess I do most of my TV watching these days on Hulu via PlayOn, so it's possible that I'm just completely out of touch on what's being advertised.  I would say, however, that running ads on TV is only a very small part of what makes effective advertising.  A better way of advertising, in my opinion, is talking with sites like ours, and the major gaming blogs, so they will run news stories about your game to keep your game in the public mindshare leading up to release.  I remember reading lots of stories about Dead Space: Extraction in the months leading up to it's release.  Likewise, I remember thinking very little about Borderlands until it was pretty much on the store shelves. 

Just like to remind you what website you write for here. The way you worded this, it sounded like you were surprised Take 2 didn't come here to advertise their game.

[Peachylala]

So considering giants like Galaxy are clearly not meeting their sales potential it makes sense for publishers to be weary about new Wii investments. Especially after three earnest attempts.

3D Mario titles are not as accessible to newcomers as the 2D titles are, not matter how awesome (Galaxy) they are. It's also a known fact that no matter how good the 3D Mario games are, their overall sales will not make a dent in the long burn of the 2D Mario titles.
 

Considering this is Silent Hill's first outing on a Nintendo console, I think it would be pretty incredible if it did sell as well as Homecoming did already (especially considering Konami's Dead Space Extraction-esque method of only advertising in web banners).

Metroid Prime 3 got the same advertising when it was first released, and it sold only a tiny bit less then Bioshock 1's overall sales on the 360. Then again, Metroid Prime is part of a established franchise.
 
But so is Silent Hill. I can imagine most of the Wii owners (including myself) have played at least one Silent Hill game on the PS2.

[NWR_DrewMG]

Well no, I didn't expect to see Borderlands ads here, but Dead Space and Silent Hill could both use a little bit of help from Nintendo-centric sites.  We got a really great interview with the developers of Shattered Memories that is what I'm talking about.  It's in their best interest to find their consumer on the internet, where they're talking about the game, and speak to them.  Let them know more about it, get word of mouth going. 

But NWR is only one of the gaming sites I visit regularly.  I also visit Joystiq and MTV Multiplayer, and I listen to about a half dozen gaming podcasts weekly, and I just don't remember the word of mouth for Borderlands being there.  Maybe I just didn't notice it, that's certainly possible.  I do, however, remember lots of talk about Dead Space Extraction in the lead up to it's release.

Considering this is Silent Hill's first outing on a Nintendo console, I think it would be pretty incredible if it did sell as well as Homecoming.

I dunno, I find it hard to believe that REALLY matters that much with an IP like Silent Hill, which has been around long enough for even the Nintendo-only gamers to have formed some kind of opinion about, even if it is as generalized as "interested/not interested."

[SixthAngel]

I think we should judge the success of "mature" ps2 games using the same metrics we do the Wii.  So we have three ways to judge.  Suda 51, Platinum Games guys (Madworld) and rail shooters.

Killer 7 bombs hard on the ps2.
God Hand bombs hard on the ps2 (so does Okami).
Rail shooters exist?  I guess there are a few arcade ports.

According to my exhausting research of test games the ps2 was a terrible system for anything "mature. "   It obviously was a failure for all of the "mature" games.

"Mature" is not a genre.

Seriously, this 1,000 times.

[Peachylala]

Mature is not a genre, but a way of life for most gamers/third parties.
 
This is our sad reality.

[Chozo Ghost]

I wish someone would strap some dynamite to these rails and derail them. Rail shooters suck!

[Peachylala]

I wish someone would strap some dynamite to these rails and derail them. Rail shooters suck!

Can't expect third excuse makers to use the last dying bit of their brain power to make something good. God forbid they do, it might sell well.
 
We are all better off just giving our spending dollars to Nintendo until the de Blob team makes another Wii game that is.

[Stratos]

Its tough to blame Sega on this one. They spent a lot of time on three quality games, threw them at the wall, and couldn't get one to stick. Wii sales are just odd. Some great games tank and some games that should tank sell great. Galaxy is an interesting case study. While it's sales are certainely good they should be much higher. There are millions of Wii owners ignoring this title. Is it that they don't know about it or are they just not interested in 3D platforming?  With the userbase at the size it is now it'll be interesting to see how Galaxy 2 performs if this new userbase see advertising for it. 

So considering giants like Galaxy are clearly not meeting their sales potential it makes sense for publishers to be weary about new Wii investments. Especially after three earnest attempts.

I would only count Conduit as a truly legitamate try. Madworld and Overkill were niche. FPSes have broader appeal.

[Chozo Ghost]

I'm sorry, but this is not a litmus test. We need to see some quality M-rated efforts on the Wii of the sort that is confirmed to sell well on any other system. Rail shooters don't cut it. How well do these games sell on PS3/360? My guess is they probably don't well on those systems either, and I can't even think of any off hand that do exist on those platforms, because those systems get real games instead of half-ass crap.

It pisses me off that this Sega guy is using rail-shooter crap as a litmus test. It isn't fair.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

It's funny that Sega hasn't even made these games themselves.

MUST BE PROUD OF THAT SEGA TENNIS HUH, IN-HOUSE PRIDE LEMME HEAR A WHUT-WHUT

[Peachylala]

Takashi Iizuka must be so proud of Sonic '06.

[ThePerm]

for Nintendo to get a best selling MACHooor game on one of its system it has to snag exclusive metal gear whatever for whatever its next system, and whatever is the popular casual gamers preffered shooter series at the time, and like an exclusive resident evil game, and like make their own exclusive machoor game to boot, the finally everyone will stfu about machoor games on Nintendo consoles...
really goddamned esrb..back in the day there were no real content ratings, and what type of grey area did we live in?

[Peachylala]

If there was no ERSB ratings, NoA would still censor games.

[Kairon]

So considering giants like Galaxy are clearly not meeting their sales potential it makes sense for publishers to be weary about new Wii investments. Especially after three earnest attempts.

3D Mario titles are not as accessible to newcomers as the 2D titles are, not matter how awesome (Galaxy) they are. It's also a known fact that no matter how good the 3D Mario games are, their overall sales will not make a dent in the long burn of the 2D Mario titles.

Agreed.

Look, 3D is awesome and all, but I couldn't get my parents, who absolutely PWNT at the NES Zelda and taught me all its secrets, to play an hour of Ocarina of Time. Plus there are other issues like Camera control and the search for the elusive 'perfect" camera. 2D Mario really has a huge advantage in the audience it can appeal to therefore.

[Luigi Dude]

So considering giants like Galaxy are clearly not meeting their sales potential it makes sense for publishers to be weary about new Wii investments. Especially after three earnest attempts.

Galaxy has sold over 8 million copies and is one of the best selling games released this gen on any system.  The only games released on the HD systems combined to sell more then Galaxy are both Modern Warfare titles, Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto 4.  By your logic Sega should drop all 360/PS3 support as well then since anything that's not a FPS or crime simulator isn't meeting it's sales potential either.

[Kairon]

It's amazing how a Nintendo game can sell 8 million worldwide and be considered a mediocre performance.

[KDR_11k]

Shattered Memories has flaws, but it is very enjoyable. Not bad for the first entry (and a re-imagining) of the very first Silent Hill game.

Hell, all Silent Hill games had major flaws and never sold much (VGChartz says Homecoming sold 400k per version).

There are millions of Wii owners ignoring this title. Is it that they don't know about it or are they just not interested in 3D platforming?

The latter. I believe NSMBW has already beaten Galaxy in some territories.

[Chozo Ghost]

It may just be me, but I think 2D games are a lot harder than modern 3D games. I don't know why, but on the old NES games they seemed hard, and even playing them now I keep dying... This is especially true in platformer games where you have to land on some tiny platform while you're being attacked by enemies and stuff. Maybe some people can do that, but I just end up getting frustrated.

Would you believe that to this day I've never been able to finish SMB1 from the NES? I can get to world 9 or whatever (thanks mainly to the cheat) but it gets insanely hard with the tiny platforms and the beetles... *shudder* But I've beaten every 3D Mario game without a problem. I've also beaten Super Mario World and SMB3, but there's just something about SMB1.... and that's weird because it is the first game I've ever played in my life.

So I can't speak for others, but I will have to disagree about 2D games being more accessible....

[Kairon]

I don't think that more accessible means it's easier by any means. I think if you give someone New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Mario Galaxy, they'd show an understanding of NSMBWii's gameplay much sooner.

[Stratos]

I didn't beat SMB1 until I got the GBC version that had a save feature. It was pretty hard.

[Peachylala]

There are millions of Wii owners ignoring this title. Is it that they don't know about it or are they just not interested in 3D platforming?

The latter. I believe NSMBW has already beaten Galaxy in some territories.

It already has, from what I read.

And on the topic of third excuse makers having the MATURITY HD preference, we have read alot of news about layoffs and bankrupty, but how much of the budget can an over the top 'AAA' game get back from sales alone?

I ask this because Bayonetta has disappeared off of Famitsu's sales charts. I wonder how well it will do in America (where I suspect it will do better).

[ThePerm]

lol, ive beaten SMB1 100s and 100s of times

[Peachylala]

lol, ive beaten SMB1 100s and 100s of times

Amazing it doesn't get old, no?

[BlackNMild2k1]

I beat SMB1 during the first time(play session) me and my cousin played it.