Topic: Capcom Discusses Darkside Chronicles Sales, Looming Handheld Difficulties

[vudu]

The rigid price structure of games and the expectation of price drops really hurts the industry as a whole.  I don't hesitate to buy first-party Nintendo games or DS games when they come out because I know price drops aren't very common amongst these titles.  But I'm certainly not going to spend $50 on A Boy & His Blob or Darkside Chronicles when I know I can pick them up for $20 to $30 a couple months after they release.

[Ian Sane]

To me it just seems that third parties have poisoned the Wii and now there's no going back.  To use Capcom as an example they half-assed their initial support.  Their best effort was a port of a Gamecube game (which is already playable on the Wii).  I think Capcom's typical target demographic has just lost interest in the Wii due to Capcom never giving it that good of support to begin with.  Like Capcom?  Like Resident Evil?  If so what use is the Wii to you?  Resident Evil 5 is on the PS3 and X360.  All of Capcom's other big games like Street Fighter, Devil May Cry and Dead Rising are on those consoles and not on the Wii.

What demographics is the Wii really ideal for?  It's clearly the best choice for kids, casuals and Nintendo fans.  The VC is the best choice for classic gaming so it wins there.  And it is the console of choice for lightgun games but, really, how much of a market is there for THAT genre?

For years I complained about the Wii's poor third party support and for years I was told to just buy another console.  This was apparently the normal thing to do.  I didn't like it but I eventually gave in.  Well now the Wii is just my Nintendo machine.  I don't really pay any attention to anything else.  I'm not alone in this.  I imagine most of Capcom's target demo is in the same situation: if they own a Wii they also own at least one of the other consoles.  If you're a big Capcom fan this is a REQUIREMENT.  So why would you even remotely care about Capcom's Wii efforts when you've got a console that has Capcom's REAL games on it?

This is the situation that I think third parties have created.  For a core gamer the Wii is insufficient.  So you have to buy another console and the Wii becomes a specialized item and thus only the best exclusives (ie: Nintendo first party efforts) are really going to grab your attention.  You don't HAVE to put up with anything else so you don't bother.  The combo of consoles you have provides enough variety that one need not bother with mediocrity.

So yeah, Capcom is going to notice that their RE lightgun spin-off isn't going to sell anymore because the lousy third party support that THEY were a part of has made it so that most Wii owners that would have been the target demo for those games have now bought a second console and thus no longer need to "settle" for less.  They've got RE5 now, they don't need a lightgun game to get their RE fix.  They don't need to bother with the Wii for their Capcom fix.  The Wii is only required now for their Nintendo fix and, what a surprise, Nintendo games continue to be high sellers.

[Peachylala]

While I pretty agree with Ian that Capcom and a majority of third parties have dug their own hole and there is no way they can get themselves out of it, there is something that comes to mind: even though the established franchises are selling well on 360 and PS3, will the other games follow suit? Can these 'hardcore' keep Capcom alot with original IPs? I seriously doubt it, but I would love to be proven wrong.

[BlackNMild2k1]

But I'm certainly not going to spend $50 on A Boy & His Blob or Darkside Chronicles when I know I can pick them up for $20 to $30 a couple months after they release.

I just picked up A Boy & His Blob for $20, did you miss the sale?

[Ian Sane]

even though the established franchises are selling well on 360 and PS3, will the other games follow suit? Can these 'hardcore' keep Capcom alot with original IPs?

Dead Rising and Lost Planet were both new Capcom IP's for this generation.  How well they sold on those consoles would give you an idea.  Both games are getting sequels so I'm assuming they sold okay.

[vudu]

I just picked up A Boy & His Blob for $20, did you miss the sale?

I'm the one who told you about the sale!  And that's my point!  I didn't buy it for $50 because I knew it would drop in price within a few months.

[BlackNMild2k1]

thanks, even though I have yet to open it.

This is the situation that I think third parties have created.  For acore gamer the Wii is insufficient.  So you have to buy another consoleand the Wii becomes a specialized item and thus only the bestexclusives (ie: Nintendo first party efforts) are really going to grabyour attention.  You don't HAVE to put up with anything else so youdon't bother.  The combo of consoles you have provides enough varietythat one need not bother with mediocrity.

Well, people did say that the Wii would be everyones 2nd console, and even though that may not have been exactly accurate, it was accurate enough on the point that lots of gamers would at some point also own a Wii.

My goal for 2010 is No More compromised afterthought games "tailored" for some imaginary "focus tested" Wii audience that don't even have enough faith from the dev/publisher to earn support in the form of advertising.

[spitman]

I bought Darkside Chronicles and have several  friends that are playing it as well...  but I am the only one that purchased the game!   the hardcore players are the people that know how to hack their Wii and steal the games...   grandma does not know how to do that, therefore mainstream games that appeal to grandma are the ones that sell!   Wii fans are destroying the Wii, not the developers!

[BlackNMild2k1]

I haven't hacked my Wii* or stolen any games.

Are you saying your friends are a bunch of thieves?


*probably gonna hack it to backup save files with online sections
I game on 2 different Wiis and don't want to start over on certain games.

[Luigi Dude]

Dead Rising and Lost Planet were both new Capcom IP's for this generation.  How well they sold on those consoles would give you an idea.  Both games are getting sequels so I'm assuming they sold okay.

But Dead Rising and Lost Planet both had huge multi-million dollar marketing campaigns as well.  When these games were released you had ads all over big mainstream television spots here in the US and low and behold, both games sold very well here.  In comparison, the only marketing Capcom has done with with it's Wii games is some web banners on Gamefaqs.

Had Capcom given Zack and Wiki the same advertising budget Lost Planet got to have, the game probably would have done a hell of a lot better and we'd all be looking forward to Zack and Wiki XYZ 5 Turbo in March.

[Ian Sane]

But Dead Rising and Lost Planet both had huge multi-million dollar marketing campaigns as well.

I know.  But the question was whether or not hardcore gamers would buy new IP.  Well here's an example where they did.
 
I feel a videogame company is responsible for two things when releasing a game:
1. Making a good game
2. Making sure the target audience is aware of the game.
 
Do both of those and still fail?  Okay, now you can point your finger at the userbase.

[Chozo Ghost]

Now that the PS3 and 360 are getting their own motion control options, it will be interesting to see if they start suffering from the same curse of light-gun rail-shooters. How well do you guys think Darkside Chronicles would do on other systems?

What these types of games do is dilute the franchises they are based on and alienate the fans. It won't change anything to have it on another system.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I hope we get a game swap as soon as Sony Wand is available.
We get RE5 Alternate Edition and they can have RE:UC & DSC

then we can see who can sell late ports better.

[NWR_insanolord]

Maybe it's just me being pessimistic, but I have this sinking feeling that the Disco Stick is going to have a better lineup of first-person shooters than the Wii before the end of 2010.

[BlackNMild2k1]

No. that's called being realistic. they will.
Resistance and Killzone 2.5 are likely to happen. That alone will already **** on the Wii FPS offerings.

[NWR_insanolord]

And those along with Resident Evil 5: Controllable Edition mean I'm going to have to buy one of them. Part of me is sad that Sony may have success by blatantly copying Nintendo, while Microsoft is going to fail spectacularly while actually trying something new, as flawed as it is.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think with the disappointing news that Natal is gonna sap 1/3 of the systems processing that MS is having to re-evaluate their strategy of graphics and 4th dimensional control.

I really think Sony has it right and the only thing bad about their approach in the look of the wand itself. They will have the graphics and the control, but probably not the crown.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Plus Sony must try to sell it to existing customers, provided there isn't some hidden market for closet Motion PS3 FPS fans.

[Mop it up]

I'd bet Sony's motion controller will probably end up like the Wii Motion Plus accessory, with one good game it comes packaged with and only a couple of mediocre games available, then maybe the promise of one high-profile game with a vague release date.

[Stratos]

Has NPD even been released yet? I think we have another week for that. I want to know where they are getting their numbers because don't you think it is a little early to be calling sales for the holidays, even in other countries? Reggie said end of January and here we are just over a week into the new month and people are already calling it. I find that suspicious.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Nintendo & Sony have already spoiled NPD December by releasing #'s from the holidays, but NPD Dec. isn't till Jan. 15th

[Peachylala]

I'd bet Sony's motion controller will probably end up like the Wii Motion Plus accessory, with one good game it comes packaged with and only a couple of mediocre games available, then maybe the promise of one high-profile game with a vague release date.

Except for one thing: is it going to be as good as a WiiMote with the M+ attached to it? The Wiimote wasn't the most perfect motion controller in the beginning (Nintendo made M+ to rectify that...kind of), but is Sony's magic wand that perfect? Third parties will be jerk asses and ignore the Wii (our sad reality), but will it be good for them sales wise?

[BlackNMild2k1]

tech wise(using the Eye Toy combination), the sony wand is superior to the wiimote(3D spacial tracking and no calibration). But that is a converstaion for the disco wand thread
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=29445.0

[Peachylala]

Nintendo can't do anything about fixing third excuse maker iggnorance, but I just want them to focus on NOT RUSHING games like they did with the Gamecube.
 
And not to wait hand and toe to help third parties. Nintendo tried to help Tecmo with Fatal Frame 4, but Tecmo were ass-hats. Nintendo is better off supporting developers like Blue Tounge, Monster Games and Platinum (the last one should happen, it would be amazing).