Here's hoping that a poor first outing for the Horseman doesn't necessarily mean Armageddon for his series.
Here's hoping that a poor first outing for the Horseman doesn't necessarily mean Armageddon for his series.
Reader Comments (91)
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 5:59PM PlatinumSkeet said
Probably they should have released the game at another time instead of the winter. You know like the summer, when there's no games to play and when even average 7.0 games do good.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:03PM (Unverified) said
If there is a sequel I wouldn't be surprised if it had at least 2 player online co-op. I was thinking it would have 4 player co-op, the other players playing the other horsemen, but for tech reasons they'd probably have to settle for just 2.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:50PM TwistedBishop said
The language of the rumor is a bit vague. "Under a million units"? God of War 2 sold under a million units at its launch too (833k), and that's considered a monstrously successful franchise.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 7:59PM EngadgetSoFunny said
0.32m on ps3 and 0.41m on xbox 360 according to vgcharts for what it's worth. In comparison, gow2 was 2.4m units. So basically 4 times the sales for GOW as darksiders. If the budgets were similar and marketting costs similar, we know who made the most profit by more than four hundred percent.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 8:37PM TwistedBishop said
You're looking at lifetime sales of God of War 2, which has been out for nearly 3 years. Comparing the two games on VGChartz, based on the same first three weeks of sales, you see Darksiders only sold 83k less than GoW2.
It's not going to be a perfect comparison, since I'm sure a high def game costs more than a PS2 era one, but I feel confident that GoW2 had a lot of money thrown at production and marketing.
Reply
It's not going to be a perfect comparison, since I'm sure a high def game costs more than a PS2 era one, but I feel confident that GoW2 had a lot of money thrown at production and marketing.
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 5:53PM boredasfook said
Maybe its because i rented it =P
Good game but I'm not buying it...
Reply
Good game but I'm not buying it...
Posted: Feb 3rd 2010 2:00PM blueskyv201 said
So, how is this whole 'not buying good games' thing working out for you?
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 5:53PM (Unverified) said
That's too bad as it was a surprisingly good game, but unfortunately not every good game can sell a million+...specially in these days when there's way too many good games on ps3/360. I wouldn't be surprised if sales were hampered by people waiting on Mass Effect 2 or some other game coming this month, which I can't say I blame them for doing so.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:03PM PlatinumSkeet said
If Lost Planet can sell a million any game can. THQ should have had a demo ready. Almost every company does for a new franchise...
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:10PM Mr Khan said
Lost Planet is an interesting case, in that it was strategically launched in January, but strategically launched in a January devoid of competitor titles. I remember January 2007 quite well, the only other games even worth mentioning were WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and Sonic 2006 PS3 version, this is the January where No More Heroes 2, Mass Effect 2, MAG, and Tatsunoko vs Capcom launched on a single day, as well as other titles
January lost its strategic edge for a fresh, but not quite top-tier, new IP.
Reply
January lost its strategic edge for a fresh, but not quite top-tier, new IP.
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:13PM I AM IRONHIDE said
I'm kind of surprised that you like this game Tmac, I thought you'd think it was a GOW rip-off.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:22PM (Unverified) said
I find it has more in common with Zelda than god of war. The only part of god of war it resembles is the combat, and the health chests.
But yeah I liked it a lot. It had an interesting story that I didn't figure out in the first couple hours, and it was a pretty lengthy game with lots of collectibles and gear/upgrades.
Reply
But yeah I liked it a lot. It had an interesting story that I didn't figure out in the first couple hours, and it was a pretty lengthy game with lots of collectibles and gear/upgrades.
Posted: Feb 3rd 2010 9:56AM MGarvey said
I agree with you tmac, that people were holding out for Mass Effect 2 or any other blockbuster game for that matter. Just after Christmas might not have been the best release date for this title. Personally, I feel that it was a bad time for me. I got 5 games for Christmas! There was no way that I could financially justify buying another game when I just got a stash of that magnitude! Because of that, I haven't checked out any of the new releases that have come out thus far, and I feel that the first game that I buy for 2010 will come in March...after I've finished my lot. This may be the case for a lot of people. It may not. No one knows.
It also didn't help that a lot of the fall releases were pushed to January/February 2010. It really didn't help that Bayonetta, essentially a similar style of game came out on the same day as Darksiders, and bested it in almost every way. The summer might have been a better time to release the game.
Reply
It also didn't help that a lot of the fall releases were pushed to January/February 2010. It really didn't help that Bayonetta, essentially a similar style of game came out on the same day as Darksiders, and bested it in almost every way. The summer might have been a better time to release the game.
Posted: Feb 3rd 2010 4:25AM BananaBoat said
Now...at some point you're probably going to take that uniform off aint cha? I'm going to give you somethin you can't take off.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 5:58PM Voshempa said
"Making matters worse is the fact that the game was discounted two weeks after its release."
I understand that from a business objective, that might be bad, but for the gamer, it is a great thing. Afterall, it is the gamer who keeps those same businesses afloat. Plus, I would call that a sale more than anything. It's still full price at a few places I've seen, so it's not like it's an all out price cut. I still have hope it'll get a sequel. And since when did THQ have such high standards?
Reply
I understand that from a business objective, that might be bad, but for the gamer, it is a great thing. Afterall, it is the gamer who keeps those same businesses afloat. Plus, I would call that a sale more than anything. It's still full price at a few places I've seen, so it's not like it's an all out price cut. I still have hope it'll get a sequel. And since when did THQ have such high standards?
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:08PM (Unverified) said
I'd read less into a rapid discount than Joystiq is. It's become the norm these days for discounts. L4D2 was down to 35 within a week of release. Nearly all new releases from Amazon are 56.99, and they drop fast.
Reply
Posted: Feb 3rd 2010 5:43AM onan said
You know what would help better than a discount, THQ?
A name for the game someone remembers.
I'm a very hardcore gamer, and even I have to fight to keep the name of this game in my memory. Those marketing dollars would have been better served licensing out American McGee's name for this just for an iota of recognition. (After Bad Day LA, it's not like it actually means anything anyway.)
"American McGee's Darksiders."
BAM, million seller.
Reply
A name for the game someone remembers.
I'm a very hardcore gamer, and even I have to fight to keep the name of this game in my memory. Those marketing dollars would have been better served licensing out American McGee's name for this just for an iota of recognition. (After Bad Day LA, it's not like it actually means anything anyway.)
"American McGee's Darksiders."
BAM, million seller.
Posted: Feb 3rd 2010 9:07AM Prox said
I actually have LESS respect for a game (and thus am less likely to buy it) when they tack on some dude's name that I don't care about. E.g. "Clive Barker's Clive Barker's Jericho by Clive Barker".
I'm not disagreeing with you on the matter of the name "Darksiders" being forgettable, because it is. I'm just saying that tacking on the "brand" of someone I've never heard of simply makes me think you're bad a marketing and have a mediocre game (I'm not saying that Darksiders is mediocre, btw).
Reply
I'm not disagreeing with you on the matter of the name "Darksiders" being forgettable, because it is. I'm just saying that tacking on the "brand" of someone I've never heard of simply makes me think you're bad a marketing and have a mediocre game (I'm not saying that Darksiders is mediocre, btw).
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 5:58PM Cap Morgan said
I thought the marketing on it was horrible and it released against some heavy hitters. People saved their money for other games.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 5:58PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said
It's a damn good game, not sure I will buy it after I finish it tomorrow but I'd think it would have sold better if it would have been marketed more....I had completely overlooked this game til some trusted gamers told me about it.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:01PM (Unverified) said
You buy games after you rent and beat them? That's...odd.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:04PM PlatinumSkeet said
I bought Fallout 3 after I rent it and same with Skate 2.... =/
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 7:03PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said
Yea if I feel like it has replayability or if it's dirt cheap...I went back and Bought Wolverine cause it was just $9
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 7:09PM DaRabidDuckie said
I know what you mean. I'd never even heard of the game until AFTER it came out; I saw all the high ratings and gave it a look. I'm glad I did.
But "heavy marketing dollars" my butt...
Reply
But "heavy marketing dollars" my butt...
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 5:59PM Petebot330 said
what's with the box office attitude? Did they really expect a brand new IP to sell that much out of the gate? I've heard a lot of good stuff about this game, but I'm just now buying stuff that came out in the middle of last year.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:22PM TheDarkWayne said
wow i didnt see any of that. I thought their entire marketing strategy was just telling people that Joe Madrueria worked on it
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 9:19PM (Unverified) said
The "marketing dollars" bit took me by surprise too. I only found out about the game after it was released.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 11:27PM Jayeffaar said
Confused about that too. Before this post, I only remember seeing one web article about the game (and I spend my life on gaming sites) and I saw the game in-store last week. Dunno what the game is about, or when it came out. They may have missed the mark a bit with that marketing budget.
So, is the game any good?
Reply
So, is the game any good?
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:11PM StormEagle said
THQ Can't catch a break. I loved this game, as many of you have seen me state. I was watching this game from Day 1 was excited the first day I read about it.
When compared to most other games out there that people pay $60 for, this one's actually worth the cash.
Reply
When compared to most other games out there that people pay $60 for, this one's actually worth the cash.
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:11PM Dr Perry Ulysses Cox said
I'll be so pissed if it doesn't get a sequel. What a great game.
Reply
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:29PM UatuTheWatcher said
Maybe the arbitrary price gouging on the game hurt sales more than expected. When I visited Toys R Us I specifically asked for the PS3 version so I didn't have to deal with tearing. They were sold out. They had stacks of 360 copies because it was $69 for no good reason. I took care to verify it wasn't some special edition.
Proof or it didn't happen:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47183141@N07/4326582604/
Reply
Proof or it didn't happen:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47183141@N07/4326582604/
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:33PM (Unverified) said
Odd...but TRU is only good for finding obscure stuff or stuff long discontinued, like Kmart.
Reply
Posted: Feb 3rd 2010 9:18AM iceKXG said
I actually don't see the release date after the holidays as a problem because gift cards are given more often than ever. I think the main reason for initial sales being "not enough" are due to other blockbuster games being released in this time frame. Think about it, we already got/going to have Mass Effect 2, Aliens vs Predator, Splinter Cell Conviction, Battlefield Bad Company 2, MAG, God of War 3...the next three months are gonna be crazy with triple A titles.
Another problem is the fact that games have recently been going on sale 2 weeks after release, sometimes even before it's out. Look at Left 4 Dead 2 and Halo ODST. Those games were so easy to find on sale, why would you pay full price for them?
All being said, though, I don't believe Darksiders has disapointing sales. Maybe initially, but overtime I think this will be a hit as it's one of those games that people will pick up over the course of the next 6 months, especially when found for around the $30 mark.
Reply
Another problem is the fact that games have recently been going on sale 2 weeks after release, sometimes even before it's out. Look at Left 4 Dead 2 and Halo ODST. Those games were so easy to find on sale, why would you pay full price for them?
All being said, though, I don't believe Darksiders has disapointing sales. Maybe initially, but overtime I think this will be a hit as it's one of those games that people will pick up over the course of the next 6 months, especially when found for around the $30 mark.
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:38PM (Unverified) said
I don't know why it didn;t do well and why it had such bad reviews.
The game was one of the best action adventure games to come out in a while not to mention the over stylized but totally kick ass Art direction.
I know a lot of people complained that it was like 8% fightan and 92% puzzles but I thought it was a good balance.
Reply
The game was one of the best action adventure games to come out in a while not to mention the over stylized but totally kick ass Art direction.
I know a lot of people complained that it was like 8% fightan and 92% puzzles but I thought it was a good balance.
Posted: Feb 2nd 2010 6:53PM Amnesiasoft said
Now I know you're exaggerating for effect, but I figure I'll drop in my own numbers. Upon completion, my statistics page said I'd spent ~25% of my playtime in combat.
And yes, it was pretty well balanced between puzzles and combat.
Reply
And yes, it was pretty well balanced between puzzles and combat.
Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.
Featured Stories
Dark Side 'Cause It Looks Cool: The Failings of Moral Choice in Games
Posted on Feb 10th 2012 7:45PM
GameStop sees majority of digital sales from cash; won't pursue used PC game sales
Posted on Feb 10th 2012 5:45PM
The most popular posts
in the last 7 days
- Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 221 comments
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 155 comments
- Blizzard taking Valve to court over 'DOTA' trademark 110 comments
- David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 107 comments
- Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
