Zelda sold well in June, Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned did not

@eat it That's why I haven't bought Shadows of the Damned yet.

@eat it Now that's a perfect way to support those developpers and encourage them to create out-of-the-box, original, artistic games.

(It actually isn't).

@Torticoli

If I'm not that interested in these games why would I spend $50+ to support the idea of them releasing more of these types of games?

I want to see more games like LA Noire so I bought that and it's online pass instead of these games.

@Torticoli
Exactly. And I'm pretty sure that a lot of folks using the "wait for it to be cheaper" excuse will just forget about it and spend the money on Batman, Battlefield, or the countless other sequels releasing in the coming months.

@Torticoli Wait a second, you said one thing and then totally discredited it below in brackets. I'm so confused right now.

(I actually understood)

@oOWallaceOo

I'm just going to buy what genuinely interests me and not buy something just to blindly support something

@Torticoli

I'm sorry, but as soon as I heard Child of Eden was a 90 minute game I was out. Times have changed, and while I don't subscribe to the "value = price/game length" formula, it's ridiculous to charge $50 for a 90 minute game with one mechanic when titles like 'Splosion Man and Braid are offering deeper and longer gameplay for $10.

@Torticoli
Is it wrong for me to be interested in a game but not want to pay the full price? Just because I want to play it doesn't mean I will immediately pay the retail price. I do not value all games the same, and I am willing to wait to buy some titles.

Launching a game at full retail price and gradually letting the price fall is how these companies try and make more money, but sometimes it backfires. People quickly forget about certain games, especially during the holiday season, and even if the price falls, they might not care anymore. The best way to combat that is experimenting with different launch prices and promotions.

@eat it

You guys are a bunch of cheap scrubs.

(says the guy who paid $20 for it after massive Amazon discounts).


It's a pretty game esp. if one appreciates those old 70's style blacklight posters.

@SuperStition
You say Batman and Battlefield like they're bad games. Or don't have uniqueness to them. Batman Arkham Assylum was one of the greatest games I've played in awhile. It was a near perfect tie up of a comic and video game. And Battlefield aside from looking gorgeous is going to add micro destruction as part of the gameplay (you can shoot bricks above someone to drop them on them for damage/kill). Shadows of the Damned I looked at and it just didn't do anything for me. I support the outside of the box ideas but that didn't seem so outside the box. It looked like another shooter with a weird quirky hook to it. I know next to nothing about Child of Eden but it looks like a rail shooter that is just REALLY flashy.

@Torticoli; I'm tired of people saying it's a bad thing to buy something used because "we need to support the developers" in every single thing they do. No, we don't. The video game industry isn't a freaking charity. I'm not going to buy every game new JUST because someone worked on it.

I WILL, however, purchase a new game if it's highly enjoyable and well crafted. If someone's going to be out of some money because they didn't produce a top quality product, then tough bunnies. That's how any viable market functions.

@Torticoli
Well, they've being trying to screw us when it comes to pre-owned (at least some, but just you wait to see if every developer won't join the bandwagon as soon as they can) so... Take it as a way of paying back.

@(Unverified)
I can only suppose that you "heard" that Justin took 90 minutes to finish the game. Finishing a game is a whole different matter than experiencing it. I "heard" (from Joystiq's very own commenters) that there's a lot to do in the game besides finishing it. I, for one, am a quasi-cheevo freak. I can see it staying a lot longer than 90 minutes on my console (as soon as I buy a Kinect, that is).

@eat it

And they're part of the problem. They can pat themselves on the back for the beast that they create.

@eat it

I'm also waiting for both games to be $20. Same with Catherine. For how polished it looks, it's still a block puzzle game with a $60 price tag. WAY too much for it. I'll get Catherine when it's also $20.

@eat it

You want to see more games made by breaking peoples backs in crunch time? Alrighty then.

@Cleric

most of us live in developed countries and get our oil from invading and exploiting weaker countries...

so yeah if a few supervisors at a game studio want to push their team to the extremes to make a game that will be remembered for a long time and sell millions upon millions of copies so that they can continue to employ people I have no problem with that

@eat it
Even if that was a joke, it's a terrible one.

@The Aquacharger

it wasn't a joke.

@eat it

I'm waiting till they're $12.99 used.

@Torticoli

Why don't we just clear our bank accounts and donate the money to the developers directly.

@SuperStition

Maybe it can have a trance vibration mode . It woould be perfect for the Sony dil...doe

@SuperStition EA... care about the used market... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

@SuperStition
No publisher cares about the used market, and no publisher ever will.

@SuperStition

I'm buying Child of Eden for Kinect as soon as I can. And Shadows of the Damned has gotten good reviews, but I'm honestly waiting until it's $20 or less.

@SuperStition
It will sell more copies after the price drops. Looks like a good game, but I have enough on my plate right now so I can wait.

@SuperStition - NO. Child of Eden's length is perfect! There's, like, infinite replay value! Gahhhhhhhh not every game needs to be 20 hours long.

@NaeemTHM

lactluster=lackluster

@NaeemTHM

I get enough dick jokes in my house when I'm not playing video games, thanks.

@NaeemTHM
i can appreciate your sentiment because i play Japanese games almost exclusively. i love the aesthetic and the style and the typical focus on solid gameplay over story. i'm an especially big fan of both Shinji Mikami and Grasshopper Manufacture. i own all of their games.

that said: Shadows of the Damned looked and played like a generic pile of poo. i don't want to play a clumsy third-person shooter that feels like it came straight out of 2005. i mean, Mikami practically re-invented the 3rd person shooter with Vanquish when it came out at the end of last year. This game felt like huge step backward. also, i'm used to interesting stories and characters and unique humor out of Suda 51 and Shadows of the Damned was too self-aware and obsessed with making dick jokes to offer any deeper meaning to it's already threadbare story.
i was so excited to see what kind of game these guys could make with a proper budget and distribution from one of the world's biggest publishers, and i feel like they let me down. the game feels like it was designed with a "western gamer" in mind and i think it sucks. i don't want them to sell out to make a buck- and Shadows of the Damned looks and feels exactly like that. I'm sorry that more people didn't share your enthusiasm for this game since you'll probably never get a sequel for it- but i decided to vote with my wallet pass on this.

@Ninjasoup

So true. When I read it had been released, I was like "really?"- hadn't heard a damn thing leading up to it. Then I saw it on the shelf, and it's festooned with some of the most godawful tacky box art ever- looks like a value title from an indie studio.

@Ninjasoup - I agree completely. With both of those games, I had no idea they were coming out ahead of time. Even Child of Eden, a game I was interested in, I didn't realize it was out until a couple of days later because there was zero marketing behind it.

@Ninjasoup I didn't even know that Shadows was coming out at ALL. I read the reviews and want to purchase it, I was just saving up some extra money for it and wanted to beat some other games to trade in for it. I think I'll hurry up w/ that.

@Ninjasoup - Yep. I had no idea Shadows of the Damned was out, so I didn't buy it. I only learned about it having been released from a podcast a week later. Excellent marketing.

@Ninjasoup
There are a hell of a lot of games slipping through the cracks. I didn't realise until yesterday that No More Heroes was already released for the PS3 in Europe almost two months ago! The game seems to have gotten zero exposure and marketing and as a result will sell poorly, just like the two games in this article.

@Thanat0s

Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way...only difference is I'm not finishing it at all. There's just nothing about it that holds my interest =/ unfortunate, but true.

@Deuce

I think the hint was that there was a free exclusive CD for registering the game. The word "Free" makes people excited. Without the CD, I don't think the sales would have been as strong. It would still have sold decent amount, but the free CD probably drove higher sales.

@Lucky48: Honestly, I have played neither game. My money's been tied up in surprise bills this month (don't you just love those?). My point remains, though. Shadows of the Damned looks interesting, if not a little bit juvenile and silly. What puzzles me is that people would rather play a dolled-up port of an old game than something that's new... even if it's just new to them (ie. something they simply haven't played before, rather than strictly being a "new release"). Ocarina of Time was a good game, but I'm certainly not out to purchase a new handheld and spend $40 or whatever 3DS games cost for a game I've played before.

In truth, I suspect the economy plays a large role: money is hard to come by and even harder to hold onto. Since people are hesitant to spend, developers are hesitant to take risks. The last risk Nintendo took was Metroid: Other M, and we all know about that.

Don't get me wrong; I understand wanting the sure thing. I just wish it didn't come at the expense of creativity.

@Torticoli
What's really scary is that CoD will probably outsell every new IP that released this year and last.
Put together.
Twice.

@Torticoli It's not really an unusual phenomena. It's why summer blockbuster movies rake in hundreds of millions of dollars each year but indie films and movies with Oscar aspirations tend to draw lower sales.

The mainstream is what it is; there's no changing the bland oatmeal that is mainstream preference. Innovation and creativity have always and always will be closer to the fringes. Early adopters, hardcore gamers, indie film fans, call them what you want. They will always be in the minority.

The real tragedy is if indie development or innovation/creativity stagnates or dies in favor of bland mainstream tastes, and that's largely in the publisher's hands.

@Torticoli
I bought Shadows of the Damned and OoT. Just because I got OoT doesn't mean I didn't get Shadows of the Damned. Now I want CoE but I have a PS3, and no move.