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[WillyFive]

I actually don't think it was a horrible idea, in terms of (jokingly) trying to get gamers to "graduate" to more "serious" racers than Mario Kart. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously - it's like those old Crash Bandicoot commercials.

The bigger problem? Mario Kart is a Wii game. Blur is a 360 / PS3 game.

So if you're a Wii owner, and you see a commercial trying to encourage you to get into more serious racing games...great! Um, just plop down $60 for the game, oh and an extra $200-$400 for a system you don't own.

If you're a 360 / PS3 owner, and even if you also own a Wii, you probably already have access to a lot of "serious" racing games, so why would a commercial making fun of Mario Kart want to make you pick up another one?

If Blur were on the Wii, I could maybe see the concept of the commercial working - getting you to try out something different on the same system. Otherwise, making fun of games on other systems only works if you've got a serious system seller, not another racing game in a genre full of them. Seems like the commercials didn't quite know or think through which audience they were targeting. Ultimately, I don't think it's to blame for the poor sales as much as oversaturation and general weakness all around for May.

That explanation only works if you consider sim racers to be superior in ways to the arcade racers. Which is not the case for many racing fans.

The same way you theorize it could work on Wii should also work in the same way if it was on the 360 or PS3, because just like the Wii has more arcade than sim racers, the HD systems have more sim than arcade racers.

The reason Blur flopped is most likely another reason in it's entirely.

So did we get any 3D Dot Heroes numbers?

This I also want to know!

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

3DS isn't coming out until 2011.
And it will be priced over $200.
And they haven't showcased anything apart from Nintendogs Redux that can bring in new gamers vs. existing gamers.

Granted, I can see 3DS being successful but at present it's initial success would appear to come at the expense of DS & console titles. Not bring in new people.

See, I figured you'd say something like this. What you've said essentially excludes everything but Kinect as the unofficial "savior to video games" despite the obvious fact that Kinect isn't doing anything via its launch games that hasn't already been done by the Wii.

According to you, we need something THIS YEAR that can resurrect the slumping gaming market and bring in New people. Why is 4 months such a massive difference? For that matter, what's wrong with the gamers the iPhone or iPad have brought in? Are we discounting these because they're not plopped in front of a console? Why no mention of Move? As I mentioned before, what new gamers will Kinect bring in that the Wii hasn't already? What games will do this and how are they so drastically different from those that they're obviously based on?

 

[lastplayed]

Poor Blur. I knew it didn't look good when there were only a few hundred people online just after release.

 

[speculawyer]

“From a business perspective, we are targeting Blur to do for racing what Call of Duty did for shooters,” Activision CEO Michael Griffith stated. “That was the goal when we originally acquired Bizarre Creations to make this game.

So much for that… PGR4 underperformed, The Club bombed, and Blur flopped. I knew Blur would sell poorly but never expected sales to be that low. Wonder what'll happen to Bizarre now.

Activision Blizzard Inc.'s debut racing game, Blur, failed to catch on, selling just 31,000 units.

Ouch. A little short of their target I guess.

I think the racer market is just over saturated.

I'm also startin to wonder if the length of this console cycle is going to hurt . . . everyone needs to compete with their old titles.

 

[evangd007]

3DS isn't coming out until 2011.

Nintendo knows better than to miss the holiday. 3DS will be available is some, but perhaps not all, regions this year. North America will be one of them. It is the most important one.

And it will be priced over $200.

They also know what a mass market price for a handheld is. If you think that Kinect is the savior of all, perhaps you are ignoring the $300 + game minimum price of entry for someone that has no xbox360 already, which seems to be the target of Kinect.

And they haven't showcased anything apart from Nintendogs Redux that can bring in new gamers vs. existing gamers.

Animal Crossing, Pilotwings Resort, and Mario Kart.

 

[charlequin]

It's not like the industry is in a tailspin.

It's not?

 

[Kai Dracon]

Ouch. A little short of their target I guess.

I think the racer market is just over saturated.

I'm also startin to wonder if the length of this console cycle is going to hurt . . . everyone needs to compete with their old titles.

The only thing that means is that devs will have to make better games, AND the release strategy (and timing) of those games has to be better.

Competing with the past was going to happen anyway once graphics reached a saturation point. Selling new games via visual bells and whistles was a practice with a built-in expiration date.

 

[A Twisty Fluken]

It's not?

We're in the first half of Deep Impact right now. The comet is just HEADED for earth.

 

[unomas]

May has always been a slow month, and obviously the economy is down, but I don't think these numbers are any cause for alarm. UFC numbers were low, Red Dead did amazing especially for launching in May. The UFC game should not be a yearly franchise, it's not a Madden type game, it should be an every 2-3 years release game, with 2 years probably being the sweetspot for it. It seems like they were trying to cash in with their success from last year by doing it again, this time the consumer said no.

 

[Rainier]

I'm also startin to wonder if the length of this console cycle is going to hurt . . . everyone needs to compete with their old titles.

This is a great point that isn't brought up very often. If you're going to have a gen lasting 8-10 years... that's a lot of titles you're competing with in the last few years.

Competing with the past was going to happen anyway once graphics reached a saturation point. Selling new games via visual bells and whistles was a practice with a built-in expiration date.

During the same generation? There isn't that huge of a difference graphically, IMO. If anything, bringing out a new system every five years is what makes games look dated.

 

[JaxJag]

It's not?

This was the 3rd best May the gaming industry as ever had.

And you think it's in a talespin? Really?

 

[InsaneZero]

This was the 3rd best May in the gameing industry.

And you think it's in a talespin? Really?

A pretty unhealthy gap between the top sellers and the rest of the list coupled with high development costs that practically force developers to sell boatloads to recoup and a large list of companies going into the red all point to the answer of "of course it is, duh"

 

[Green Mamba]

We're in the first half of Deep Impact right now. The comet is just HEADED for earth.

And then at the end Elijah Wood outruns a tidal wave on a moped?

...I'm not sure what company would be Elijah Wood in this instance.

 

[JaxJag]

A pretty unhealthy gap between the top sellers and the rest of the list coupled with high development costs that practically force developers to sell boatloads to recoup and a large list of companies going into the red all point to the answer of "of course it is, duh"

It's the publishers on fault for not spreading out the big releases like the movie industry does.

 

[charlequin]

This was the 3rd best May the gaming industry as ever had.

Revenue != profit.

 

[jgwhiteus]

A pretty unhealthy gap between the top sellers and the rest of the list coupled with high development costs that practically force developers to sell boatloads to recoup and a large list of companies going into the red all point to the answer of "of course it is, duh"

I agree - these numbers might have been "okay" in previous years and generations when you didn't have to sell as many copies to turn a profit, but just think of all the production and advertising dollars that went into a game like Blur, in comparison to how many copies were sold.

Now multiply that by the dozens of other games out there that also aren't on top of the charts.

Obviously Activision isn't going to be hurting because of a bomb, even a high-profile bomb, but other developers / publishers don't have as much wiggle room.

 

[jrricky]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-ct-games-20100702,0,3292949.story

:lol Good...

I felt insulted by that commercial...

 

[lowlylowlycook]

Obviously Activision isn't going to be hurting because of a bomb, even a high-profile bomb, but other developers / publishers don't have as much wiggle room.

True. Other developers don't have WoW.

 

[Big B]

Modnation outselling Split/Second and Blur is strange. The latter two are multiplatform and probably more visually appealing to the typical teen/college boys, so what happened? people really like track creation?

 

[Gravijah]

Modnation outselling Split/Second and Blur is strange. The latter two are multiplatform and probably more visually appealing to the typical teen/college boys, so what happened? people really like track creation?

Split/Second and Blur probably ate eachothers sales. I still confuse the games. Did Modnation outsell them combined?

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

Split/Second and Blur probably ate eachothers sales. I still confuse the games. Did Modnation outsell them combined?

We really don't know at this point.
I imagine it definitely outsold Blur as I doubt 18th spot in May would reflect less than 31,000 unit sales.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

So Blur only sold 31k? YIKES!

Does anyone know the numbers for Split Second and Mod Nation?

 

[AniHawk]

So Blur only sold 31k? YIKES!

Does anyone know the numbers for Split Second and Mod Nation?

Yes

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Yes

Well, how much did they sell?

Just curious.

 

[AniHawk]

Well, how much did they sell?

Just curious.

I meant that I'm sure there's someone who knows how much they sold.

 

[JasoNsider]

It's not?

No, it's not this isn't videogame crash of 1983. Consumers haven't lost all confidence yet and are, if anything, happier than ever to buy games. The development community is just going through a shake-down of sorts. Sometimes it takes hard lessons for the development scene to find its footing.

 

[Boney]

I meant that I'm sure there's someone who knows how much they sold.

Is MHTri below Blur?

 

[Emotions]

Nice DS,Wii & 360 sales...


Not so good for PS3..... awful for PSP

 

[duk]

LTD #s or charts? sorry didnt' see it in the thread

 

[seady]

Should break through that 9.0 barrier soon enough. Demand should be clear enough if supply is improving in the US.

Just curious. I don't think attached rate is always a positive term, it should be used relatively to a console's cycle. When the attached rate continue to rise so late into this point of the hardware cycle, isn't it also a proof that the hardware sale is in stagnant?

 

[Cipherr]

fail like a big boy

Blur will serve as an example of how not to make a television commercial.

31k for Blur, jesus. Ah well the marketing was stupid. "Lol lets make fun of one of the most popular and best selling game this generation without showing what our game is actually about!"

:lol :lol :lol I knew Blur was going to take it up the rear from GAF after the debut.

If Blur were on the Wii, I could maybe see the concept of the commercial working - getting you to try out something different on the same system. Otherwise, making fun of games on other systems only works if you've got a serious system seller, not another racing game in a genre full of them. Seems like the commercials didn't quite know or think through which audience they were targeting. Ultimately, I don't think it's to blame for the poor sales as much as oversaturation and general weakness all around for May.

This, the commercial of course had little effect on how massively this game bricked. But it was still a stupid waste of money nonetheless. It didn't even attempt to target who it needed to, and told the viewer shit about the actual game really. So damn vague, that's not a good thing when you don't have a long lineage to draw on. The game is a new IP. They could have done MUCH better with their advertising dollars with that than reminding another batch of people to go grab new copies of MKWii.

 

[magnificent83]

Didn't see numbers posted on here but

Alan Wake 145000

Split Second 86000 (I'm assuming these are combined sales)

courtesy of Joystiq

 

[fernoca]

Hmm..good to see Split/Second at least selling more than Blur.
Loved Pure, which wasn't that big of a seller anyway.. Disney was kinda dissapointed with Pure's sales and said the ywere going to work into it...yet they still managed to make the awesome Split/Second....

So, time will tell.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

The tragic irony of Blur being that putting that kind of integrated online experience onto the Wii would have been an amazing fucking selling point.

 

[VALIS]

Alan Wake 145000

Not that bad, at least not the bomb it was looking like. Sequel hope rising. And if there is a sequel, maybe MS could actually, I dunno, advertise it this time?

 

[Kusagari]

Is Alan Wake more or less than Too Human's first month?

 

[antiquegamer]

Didn't see numbers posted on here but

Alan Wake 145000

Split Second 86000 (I'm assuming these are combined sales)

courtesy of Joystiq

86k is not bad even if it's on both. Don't you guys think that PS3/360 games is pretty much split between the two HD consoles, so shouldn't it just be taken as ONE games instead of treat the sales as two separate entities? (I understand they do have to budget to make two games, but overall budget is still for one same game).

I am really sad for Blur as it is a pretty good on-line racing game.

145k is pretty decent for game like Alan Wake, I know no one on my son friend list was playing it (my son is a teen) they were either playing RDR or back to Halo, BF:BC and CoD and only 1 person on my friend list play the game and he is a fellow gaffers.

 

[supermackem]

The tragic irony of Blur being that putting that kind of integrated online experience onto the Wii would have been an amazing fucking selling point.

Its a shame aswell as blur is a really really good game.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Consering the almost extinct level of marketing for Alan Wake and the day it was released, that number isn't too bad actually.

The executive added that Red Dead Redemption "sucked the oxygen out of the room" upon its release, leaving little room in the market for anything that launched around the same time.

You don't say.

 

[perfectchaos007]

The gaming industry is not dying. The economy sucks and isn't improving so as disposable income becomes less and less, all items not related to food/water/shelter will see a decline in sales. Actually the gaming industry is doing very well compared to how other entertainment industries are doing during this recession.

 

[BrokenSymmetry]

I'm a bit scared for Bizarre Creations now. Blur never attracted me at all, but I adored the PGR games, and both PGR2 and PGR4 were masterpieces.

 

[lord pie]

It is a shame about Blur, although it has been selling a bit better in the UK - and better than Split/Second. I get the feeling it would have done better with a restricted, closed beta.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

I'm a bit scared for Bizarre Creations now. Blur never attracted me at all, but I adored the PGR games, and both PGR2 and PGR4 were masterpieces.

BC are pretty much fucked, IMO. Activision have shown in these last few years that they're not interested in carrying dead-weight. Only reason devs like Raven still exist is because they've been handed Call of Duty projects.

My guess is BC will finish up their Bond Racing game and that's it.

 

[C4Lukins]

Blur: 31,000 sales at $60 dollars. $1.86 million in revenue.
Geometry Wars: 1 million plus sales at $5 Dollars. $5 million in revenue.

Of course it is not that simplistic or accurate, but it is stll funny and sad in a way. I love you Bizarre. I hope Activision does not make you the new Tony Hawk team.

 

[HocusPocus]

Biggest mistake that Bizzare made was not staying exclusive with Microsoft. Their best games are launch games on a system when there isn't a lot of competition. Loved Geometry Wars I & II. Looking forward to another, but they need to give up on the racers for awhile with sales like this.

 

[spwolf]

Blur: 31,000 sales at $60 dollars. $1.86 million in revenue.
Geometry Wars: 1 million plus sales at $5 Dollars. $5 million in revenue.

Of course it is not that simplistic or accurate, but it is stll funny and sad in a way. I love you Bizarre. I hope Activision does not make you the new Tony Hawk team.

in reality, due to how distribution system works, they even made more money compared to blur....

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Any word on Trauma Team and MHTri?

 

[CadetMahoney]

Nice DS,Wii & 360 sales...

Not so good for PS3..... awful for PSP

I think this is what's set for the year. . . holiday sale boosts are to be expected for all concerned, I suspect lower than previous years though. That PS3 "Return of the King" thing didn't last very long.

 

[RedStep]

All the doom and gloom reports are hyperbole. The release window was jammed and everything but the big dog suffered. That's the way it goes.

Same thing would happen if they released Crank and Iron Man in the same weekend. One is going to flop, but it wouldn't if it were spaced properly. We only have so much cash to go around.

That said, I bought RDR, SMG2, Blur, PoP, and S/S new in May. I'm not part of the problem.

 

[Sadist]

Totally forgot about The Forgotten Sands. Bomba.