MadWorld was released on March 10, finishing the month at 66,000 copies sold. Meanwhile, Chinatown Wars was released on March 17 and sold 89,000 copies through month's end. The numbers for MadWorld, while disappointing, are not entirely shocking considering the game's niche genre and single-player gameplay on a console known for multiplayer excellence. Chinatown's modest numbers are very surprising, however, given the game's incredibly popular IP and the massive installed userbase of the Nintendo DS. Furthermore, while MadWorld received positive reviews, Rockstar's title is currently the highest-rated DS game on Metacritic and is widely hailed as a system showpiece.
Industry analysts have weighed in on the topic, with Cowen Group's Doug Creutz stating that "either the demographics are more challenging than we thought, or core gamers did not view the title as an essential purchase due to the nature of the platform." Creutz did mention that the title was a good experiment for Rockstar, and that over time the game would no doubt be "marginally" profitable.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of these sales results is the future apprehension that third-parties will likely have about bringing mature content to Nintendo platforms. Creutz himself provided an example of this sentiment, declaring that "[t]he disappointing first month sales reinforce our view that achieving meaningful success on Nintendo platforms remains a very difficult proposition for third party publishers."
Meanwhile, Nintendo and Sega themselves look at things in a much more positive light. Sega has described MadWorld's sales as "very encouraging," while Nintendo undoubtedly based on the "evergreen" nature of titles like Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii - believes that first-month sales of games on their systems don't always tell the whole story. On MTV's Multiplayer blog, Nintendo Vice President of Licensing Steve Singer pointed to Call of Duty 4 on the DS, which went on to sell 500,000 copies despite moving only 36,000 units in its first month. He refused to reveal what Nintendo's sales projections were for Chinatown Wars, but reiterated that many Nintendo titles have "non-traditional sales curves" that result in sales growing over time, instead of the initial spike and drop-off that most games experience.
When pressed about Nintendo's minimal advertising of Chinatown Wars when compared to Microsoft's extensive campaign for Rockstar's other recent GTA release, the Xbox Live downloadable expansion "The Lost & The Damned" for Grand Theft Auto IV, Singer responded that they worked with Rockstar on marketing, communications, and advertising, but preferred to keep the arrangement private.
Given the PSP's install base then vs. the DS's install base now, that's no achievement.
MadWorld's extremely short length deterred myself and a number of my friends from actually buying the game. I was able to get my fill with a rental and I'm sure I'm not the only one. It's an unfortunate story, but at that short of a length, you can't reasonably expect most educated gamers to buy it day 1.
I believe a price drop to $30 will do wonders for MadWorld.
With most games, I would 100% agree Nick. But with GTA, it's such a known brand that it should have been a slam-dunk out the gate. I really think that these sales numbers are more the result of people simply not being aware of its release more than a lack of demand. I can easily see people walking into stores in three months and saying, "Holy crap, there's a GTA game for DS? I didn't even know that!" and picking it up.
Did anybody see any TV commercials or magazine ads for Chinatown Wars? The only ad I ever saw was one that was sent to my email (no doubt because of my Club Nintendo membership).
With most games, I would 100% agree Nick. But with GTA, it's such a known brand that it should have been a slam-dunk out the gate. I really think that these sales numbers are more the result of people simply not being aware of its release more than a lack of demand. I can easily see people walking into stores in three months and saying, "Holy crap, there's a GTA game for DS? I didn't even know that!" and picking it up.
Did anybody see any TV commercials or magazine ads for Chinatown Wars? The only ad I ever saw was one that was sent to my email (no doubt because of my Club Nintendo membership).
With most games, I would 100% agree Nick. But with GTA, it's such a known brand that it should have been a slam-dunk out the gate. I really think that these sales numbers are more the result of people simply not being aware of its release more than a lack of demand. I can easily see people walking into stores in three months and saying, "Holy crap, there's a GTA game for DS? I didn't even know that!" and picking it up.
Did anybody see any TV commercials or magazine ads for Chinatown Wars? The only ad I ever saw was one that was sent to my email (no doubt because of my Club Nintendo membership).
Also GP, when Nintendo alerts the press that they have people that are specifically available to talk about this very issue, I'd say that's far from "non-news". Gamestop also went out of its way to specifically comment on the issue. That makes it news in my book.
Also once again I state if it is moving the goal post why wasn't a huge deal with the GTA games for PSP which went on to sell 2million plus and 1 million plus?
I thought real gamers replayed their games regardless of "length."
I'm most interested in GTA of those 3 since it's a return to the overhead style that I prefer to the sprawling 3D games.
Also once again I state if it is moving the goal post why wasn't a huge deal with the GTA games for PSP which went on to sell 2million plus and 1 million plus?
That was a big deal. I remember lots of laughing at how badly those games did on PSP and how Rockstar had to port them to PS2 to make their money back.
I have to agree with GP on this one. Just because it's not flying off the shelves doesn't mean it won't sell well over the long run. If Rockstar decides to not make any more titles for Nintendo because of the initial sales numbers, then good riddance.
The media isn't always the big, bad anti-Nintendo crusader that people think it is.
Madworld is not the sort of game that should ever be expected to sell huge numbers. It wouldn't have sold big on the other consoles either or on the PS2 last gen. It's just not that kind of big blockbuster hit kind of game.
The difference is that MadWorld is a good game (sorry to any God Hand fans).
Yeah they just create articles every day about how Wii is doomed now and that no one is buying "X" game at the moment. How the fad is ending, and how the world is going to crash down around the Wii because PS3 is outselling it by 3k in Japan. I still want an explanation how it not selling out of the gate is out of whack? That is a pretty common sales pattern for DS and Wii games, nothing really new there.
Obviously the fact that this game didn't do big numbers out of the gate indicates that something is out of whack.
The difference is that MadWorld is a good game (sorry to any God Hand fans).
No worries - I have a feeling you're not going to get many responses to that "low-blow"...
