Nintendo: GTA Chinatown Wars sales 'frustrating'

Feisty indeed

Yeah, too bad she wasn't informed enough to mention the game sold worse on PSP (and probably lost Rockstar money, when the DS low-graphics low-cost version must have made them a healthy sum of money with its all things considered good sales) showing the blame falls on Rockstar and not the DS. Then again the "journalist" asking her wasn't informed enough (or was, and just wanted to be a sensational troll) so lol @ him/her.

@Al3xand3r

Could you please back up what you are saying that porting the game over to the PSP cost more in development that it did creating it for the DS? If anything they ported it to the PSP to try and recoup some development dollars. The PSP version also released 7 months after the DS version with even less marketing than the DS iteration.

T-Mac got this one right: People don't care to play a top down GTA game anymore regardless of the platform. The full 3-D GTA's on PSP sold like straight up gangbusters so it lends credence that people aren't interested in a top down GTA.

This was a game made specifically for the DS to placate the no GTA IV love on Nintendo platforms. It was really never intended to be a PSP game considering the graphical presentation and the stylus controls.

Because on PSP it's got almost all-new and much more detailed visuals. It's the art assets that take time (and thus money) in game development when it comes to so simple games and DS titles cost next to nothing in that regard as you need less time with less time for an equal amount of lower detail, simple content. The DS version sold good and Rockstar must have made a lot of profit on it. I don't know why they'd expect GTA IV caliber sales when the game neither cost as much as GTAIV nor was it advertised as much. The PSP version flopping proves the blame is on the game. DS owners don't have lower standards than other system owners in gameplay, to try and claim GTA should sell as much because it's made specifically for DS is stupid since, specifically or not, it's not the GTA people want to play as proven by the PSP lesser sales. Perhaps you can't have a full 3D GTA on DS, but then you shouldn't expect 3D GTA sales from any game you make. Duh.

@Alex: Um, if you think the DS GTA was cheap then evidently we didn't play the same game. It's not just pretty graphics that cost money.

That game is massive, top quality, smoothly polished, and must have cost a fortune - don't get me wrong I'm sure the cost doesn't even compare to GTA4, but I'd be surprised if it isn't one of the most expensive DS titles ever developed. And for each sale they get significantly less money than a PS3/60 title.

I'd certainly assume that the PSP port was a quick (and *relatively* cheap) attempt to recoup some losses; technically porting to a much more powerful system shouldn't be that massive a challenge, and I'm sure the graphics was originally created in higher resolution than DS screen so they wouldn't be starting from scratch there.

Also I really don't think the 'buuuuuuh only kids have DS' argument washes with anyone. I bet most people here have a DS. I also bet that a good proportion of them didn't buy Chinatown Wars (and unless you're totally morally against the genre or something, shame on you, it's awesome). More importantly though, maybe there's a specific GTA demographic (mouth-breathing 18-25 males) that doesn't have DS? I dunno... seems like it should be broader than that...

Not sure what Rockstar could've done to promote it better. Was there cross-promotion with GTA4? Maybe they should've done free DLC for that (PS3/60) which happens to include ads for the DS game, or something. Other than that, can't think of much else.

Cammie's actually mad because her little boy that sends her letters about how much he loves her because he can videogames, cannot play china town wars because of the M righting.

Partly. Good game, established brand. The idea that M-rated stuff can't sell on Nintendo platforms is a falsehood.

Unless it were an issue of perspective.

BigFat = BigFail?

Yeah you keep saying it's a falsehood, but pretty much every mature or core game that comes out on wii/ds flops. At this point it's become a fact that they don't sell, and you're better off putting your efforts elsewhere.

Make a mature rated game well suited to the Wii's audience and I think it would sell - if not to the obscene degree of the likes of Wii Fit. But frankly - I couldn't enjoy The Conduit...the controls rendered it unplayable, and the hyped graphics just look like a good XBox game and Mad World, while I still want to play it, I haven't heard any rave reviews of either, plus it's not the sort of thing that would attract a huge audience without just the right advertising on any other console either. What else does that leave? Call of Duty? Don't know how that sold, though I can't imagine it was that bad being...the CoD franchise. But again - I don't even think Modern Warfare on the Wii looks, compared to the other versions played in standard def, that bad...but, while I haven't tried them, I'm kind of scared of the controls. Sure, I had trouble playing it on the 360 because I'm not used to the controls - but I could get used to them. If it's anything like Conduit...I couldn't get used to that. Though on the other hand, Metroid Prime 3's controls work really well, but still - it's a bit of a different style of game.

Yes, but just because a great many of them have flopped, does not prove that they flopped due to being mature. Other factors must be understood.

I'll support the Wii and Nintendo forever, but I agree that mature games can't sell as well on the Wii or DS.

But looking at the track record, do you incline to invest in M-game for wii or other choices, even if there is no definitive causality?

When I see a mature Wii title given the kind of marketing and development focus that HD titles get and that then flops, we can talk how mature games don't sell on the Wii.

Marketing is not the end-all. It helps, certainly, but other causes must be brought together.

I think part of what hurt The Conduit, for instance, dealt with a lack of local multiplayer. The game's multiplayer was very catchy, but without a local element to it, it just becomes an exclusive club for owners of the game, and not a way to evangelize the game.

this game is pretty damn fun. i admit that i don't have it- but my friend loaned me his copy a few months back. i think this is the most fun i've had with a GTA title since III. maybe it's more telling that the gaming world is finally growing tired of the GTA franchise, the recent GTAIV DLC hasn't been setting sales charts on fire, either. Take 2 would be wise to give this franchise a few years off... if a game of this caliber can't sell on a system(s) as ubiquitous as the DS and PSP, then i think that maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board and maybe focus on other IP's for a while.

"But looking at the track record, do you incline to invest in M-game for wii or other choices, even if there is no definitive causality?"

Track record is irrelevant here, though. Resident Evil game sales have shown that M-rated games can and do sell on the Wii.

The problem is that the Wii doesn't have enough Big (M-rated) Games, and Big Games pave the way for the Small Games.
The problem for the Wii in particular is that publishers have been trying to put Small Games out on it (IE: Dead Space Extraction) without putting the Big Games on it first (Dead Space, Dead Space 2).

Put a marquee title, brand name M-rated game on the Wii don't treat it like a red headed step child and it will be successful. It's almost a guarantee.

I don't see why it's such a big mystery that most M rated games don't sell so well on the Wii/DS. Sure, myself and a lot of like-minded folks here own a Wii/DS, but look at the demographic as a whole.

You're kidding, right? Kids love the GTA!

I came for the bitches and booze!

That doesn't explain why it sold worse on the PSP

I'm sure MANY people played the DS version. Just not legally, obviously..

Exactly. The average GTA player (and some of them only play GTA the same way some people only play Madden) does not own a DS. I thought they had to market it to that audience with an equal emphasis on the system so that core GTA fan would go buy a DS for that game. But if I'm that core demographic (GTA, M rated shooters et al) what else does the DS have for me? And I'm not spending $130 to $170 to play a "strange" version of my favorite franchise.

Did no one at Nintendo or Rockstar figure that out???

I personally love the top down GTA's - started on my DC but again, that core audience is not part of the DS user base; hence, low sales.

Sure, no one who plays GTA has a DS.
It more so stands that flashcarting is so easy. I've seen TONS of people playing China Town wars, they just didn't buy it.

Hey, remember when we did the tracker count? TWO MILLION downloads in a month?

When Nintendo Power was the best gaming magazine around, Nintendo did plenty of support for 3rd party titles. Ever since then they couldn't care less it seems.

Why is it Nintendo's responsibility to pay the advertising bills of someone else's game? Shouldn't Take-Two/Rockstar be more worried about the marketing, since it is THEIR game and THEIR money to make it?

I don't see why Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo SHOULD pay for advertising for a game simply because it appears on their platform. If they choose to, good for them.

Moneyhatting would probably help, but it shouldn't be needed. The right game will sell itself.

@BPMomega

They should because this involves them. Poor sales of GTA don't just effect Rockstar; Nintendo also has to take the hit.

Nintendo will, just as Sony and Microsoft do, help advertise and promote third party game's sales are high enough to warrant a significant ROI.
No company is going to LOSE money advertising a game for someone else. That's fucking stupid, you know? You have to spend a little to make a little, as the saying goes, but you don't spend $20 dollars if you're only going to make $10 from doing so.

Nintendo would have gladly added an extra million or so to the GTA:CW's marketing budget if they knew they would make that million back and then some.

Nintendo always advertises third party games when they know the estimated ROI is high enough. They advertised RE4. They advertised DQ IX. They helped advertise Monster Hunter 3. They've also already stated that they intend to give DQ X a huge push in Japan, Europe and North America.

you are gross

Well, I guess the down votes are justified, I don't really know if she has kids or not. Perhaps I should have used coug-tastic instead...

The Conduit got a pretty heavy marketing blitz for it's release and was easily one of the most anticipated core Wii games of 2009, and even it sold rather badly.

I know devs need to take a chance and make more mature/core Wii/DS games if they want to see sales of related games increase, but so far it just seems like releasing a mature Wii or DS exclusive is an easy way to lose a lot of sales.

Lose sales implies that they could have sold more elsewhere, which is not true in the case of most "mature" Wii games.

The Conduit had its own problems. Mostly being generic.

What I mean is from the get go, it seems like designing the game for the Wii instead of the PS3/X360/PC seems to cost a lot of mature games their sales.

I'm glad companies are still making the effort, but if this keeps up how much longer will they continue? Right now I'm just hoping Modern Warfare Wii doesn't flop hard.

I know this would be discouraging for developers to hear, but there are plenty of mature Wii games I plan on buying...once they're inevitably discounted to $15-20. I bought MadWorld, No More Heroes, RE4 and Umbrella Chronicles for around that price just by waiting a few months. I rarely pay more than $30 for a Wii game, especially third-party games. I know how important the first-week sales are, but I just can't justify paying $50 for something that will soon be $20.

"but I just can't justify paying $50 for something that will soon be $20."

Other than encouraging a company to continue its work on the system and help encourage other developers to stop babying the Wii?

...also, it depends what you mean by "soon". For a good number of people, "months" does not equal "soon".

Hey, if I had the money to spare, that'd be a noble cause. But alas, I don't.

I hear this time and time again, yet all that happens is a niche game is being developed for the console, it gets hyped by the people who will never play it, gets very little marketing or faith from the publisher, and then when it doesn't do as well as it should, everyone turns round and says "these games don't sell on Wii"

Bring an Assassin's Creed 2 level marketing to a mainstream core title, and you'll get results. Simple.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/going-gold/6850-Going-Gold-The-Self-Fulfilling-Prophecy