Early Retail Indications Point To Low Resistance 3 Sales?
Back in July, we expressed concern for the sales potential of Insomniac's Resistance 3.
At the time, we didn't question the game's potential quality; that turned out prophetic as we say the latest Resistance entry is a fantastic game. However, the sales concerns may have been justified:
When I wandered into GameStop today, I noticed they had plenty of copies of Resistance 3. After asking if the game was selling, I was told they hadn't sold more than two copies all day, and fewer than expected since the game's launch last Tuesday. This made me go home and place a few calls to other GameStop locations and although not all were willing to talk about sales, a few talkative employees said they noticed a smaller-than-expected turnout for what we assumed was a highly anticipated shooter. Furthermore, it seems the pre-owned total wasn't all that impressive, either.
Lastly, it wasn't difficult to find a whole lot of available copies at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target, which may not be a good sign. Hopefully, all those who wanted the game got it last week and Sony has resupplied retailers. Still, we're getting the sneaking suspicion that indeed, shooter fans are holding out for Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, while other gamers are simply saving their cash for the big-time fall rush. Oh, and although most critics don't place Dead Island on the same level of quality, the fact that Techland's entertaining title released on the same day as Resistance 3 could've been problematic.
But maybe we'll see some good sales numbers despite these unfortunate signs. You can't go by a handful of retailers...can you?
Related Game(s): Resistance 3
Tags: resistance 3, insomniac, resistance 3 sales, resistance sequel
9/13/2011 8:44:20 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (68 posts)
Deathb4Dishonor
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:55:30 AM
Deathb4Dishonor
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:56:27 AM
Crabba
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 6:27:58 PM
firesoul453
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:36:50 PM
Reply
onimushafantasy
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:43:44 PM
firesoul453
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:47:07 PM
PasteNuggs
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:59:06 PM
johnld
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:11:44 PM
firesoul453
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:15:22 PM
johnld
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:27:24 PM
Gabriel013
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 1:00:36 AM
I've supported plenty of causes which don't have any effect on me but I support them because of the unfair impact it will have on others. I would never take the view "it doesn't effect me so I don't care."
Deathb4Dishonor
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:57:27 AM
onimushafantasy
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:38:42 PM
Reply
though i loved resistance 2, resistance 3 was to me amazing, from beginning to end and the ending for me was much better than the second game. the final battle in R2 was kinda dissapointing for me.
sha4dowknight05
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:43:50 PM
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But don't get me wrong the game is very good, just picked a bad time to launch.
LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:51:43 PM
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R3 and the entire series seems interesting to me but I'm put off by it being a FPS and I do think there is far more variety on the PS3 so it never has caught on the way Sony hoped.
johnld
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:08:36 PM
also when the guy asked me what i thought about the first game, i told him that wkc2 comes with the first game. the guy actually bought the first game and never got around to play it and didnt know wkc2 came with a remastered version of the first game.
WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 11:46:07 PM
FM23
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 12:48:58 AM
Lawless SXE
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 2:15:58 AM
I blame it on... him being an idiot.
Last edited by Lawless SXE on 9/14/2011 2:19:09 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 9:34:54 AM
FM23
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:18:50 AM
Now the retailers part is dead on. It's a business, how do you forget to stock a game?!?...I had the same problem when I went to go get DA2 from gamestop.
PasteNuggs
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:57:44 PM
Reply
LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:58:32 PM
PasteNuggs
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:00:19 PM
johnld
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:14:04 PM
leatherface
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 12:01:57 AM
FM23
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 12:50:21 AM
BikerSaint
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:01:44 PM
Reply
johnld
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:19:12 PM
nice deal, i saw that too on cheapassgamer. however, i would pay attention to kmart deals because those are getting better and better. pretty much all of their games for ps3/360 would come with a $20 gaming coupon and maybe a little more extra. i'm hearing that theres going to be a really good deal on batman arkham city, so far a free shirt is all thats revealed. my plan is get batman, use the gaming coupon from batman to buy battlefield the following week, then use the gaming coupon from battlefield to buy uncharted 3. those game are pretty much guaranteed to have at least a $20 gaming coupon each. they had a $20 gaming coupon for both resistance and deus ex too. its why i usually get my games from kmart now.
DazeOfWar
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 11:11:57 PM
Also if you get GoW: Origins at K-Mart this week they are giving $15 in gaming cash.
johnld
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 12:27:09 AM
flamefury42
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 10:57:36 PM
Reply
DazeOfWar
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 11:13:19 PM
playSTATION
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 11:12:32 PM
Reply
WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 11:54:18 PM
Reply
LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 11:59:46 PM
Lawless SXE
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 2:18:50 AM
aaronisbla
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 12:35:17 AM
Reply
FM23
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 12:51:57 AM
Reply
Gabriel013
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 1:01:31 AM
Reply
Bloodysilence19
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 1:17:09 AM
Reply
Lawless SXE
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 2:21:50 AM
Reply
Besides that, there were a few copies missing from the shelf when I picked it up, maybe three or four. I don't think it'll be a big seller in the end.
___________
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 3:44:25 AM
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there has not exactly been much hype for the game, the lacklustre showings at E3 and such, the buggy as hell beta, the buggy as hell demo, the no demo on PSN, and the online pass have not exactly helped.
hell R3 has been out for a week now, and out of EB merrylands, JBHIFI, Kmart, target and DSE put together it has sold a record breaking 15 units!
DI on the other hand i could not find any copies today i wanted to try it on ps3 to see if it really was as buggy as people are saying but neither of the stores listed above had either the ps3, 360 or even pc version in stock!
they had a full shelf for R3 though.
O, not to mention DI released 3 days later on the friday where R3 released early on the tuesday.
apparently harvey norman broke the street date on monday so everyone else decided to sell it on tuesday.
Beamboom
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 5:56:59 AM
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I'm right at the end of the game now, and in retrospect I think the game begins good - *really* good - but then gradually degrades more and more into a fairly standard fps. Sadly.
It starts off as something truly unique, something that could have been a hell of a "road movie", two men travelling from one side of the country to the other across uncharted territory, just lovely!
But then it gradually disintegrate into this loosely chained, typical fps "theme park" experience complete with zombie maps and such nonsense.
The entire storyline changes into more or less just "excuses for action sequences".
Of course you may say that this is how things usually are, yes it is action games in a nutshell, but still... It *started* so good, so promising!
And then it turns into "just another fps". Such a shame.
Last edited by Beamboom on 9/14/2011 7:26:10 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 10:25:57 AM
FM23
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:23:04 AM
Beamboom
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:37:13 AM
And as I say, R3 *is* a good game! I thought this could become the FPS of the year for me. The frame of the story, the atmosphere and the artwork was excellent. I was sensing a slight "The Road"-ish kind of story (John Hillcoat w/Viggo Mortensen, 2009, excellent movie) and were filled to the brim with hope and excitement.
But can anyone possibly explain to me what that "zombie village" did in the middle of that story? I think it was so totally misplaced! It was like I stumbled across a "haunted house" in a fun park. I was like, "wtf did they try to do here???" - like some project manager had made a decision "we gotta have zombies, they are so popular with the kids these days" and they just had to insert it into there somewhere.
So after an excellent start and the story could begin to unfold then eventually the story started to... I dont know... lose connection with what took place on the screen? Or so it felt to me.
Last edited by Beamboom on 9/14/2011 11:51:24 AM
jimmyhandsome
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:41:24 AM
Beamboom
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:58:01 AM
But regarding the pacing you may be right but I think they could have solved that in so many other, better ways!
If there is one thing the FEAR games did right it was to allow some breathers in there, areas where not that much happened and you hardly fired a shot, before the pressure was back on again. What if we in R3 could just walk through a completely deserted village, all that was left was clear signs of struggle, fights and tragedies?
I was a bit quick when I called it "just another FPS" - please allow me to rephrase that to "just another GOOD fps". Cause it is! But it's also *so* close to elevate to the next level, up to where only a very few FPS set foot. It just stumble and fall just as it was about to take that last step, ending up being "just" a good fps - not more, but not less either.
Last edited by Beamboom on 9/14/2011 12:12:16 PM
FM23
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 10:12:29 PM
Beamboom
Thursday, September 15, 2011 @ 3:36:28 AM
Excelsior1
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 6:53:06 AM
Reply
maybe this ties in to the topic of shooter fans only caring about graphics. it seemed like gamers as a whole were unimpressed with the graphics in the demo and the beta. i also think the resistance series lost some fans becuase of r2. people did not seem to like r2 as much as the first game.
Highlander
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 10:55:27 AM
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Like many PS3 titles, perhaps R3 will end up being a slow burning hit as word of mouth begins to overcome the negative shadow of R2's coverage?
Last edited by Highlander on 9/14/2011 10:56:50 AM
Beamboom
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:29:11 AM
Strategy Informer 9/10
Game Revolution A-
gamrReview 9/10
Playstation Universe 9/10
TotalPlaystation 9/10
VideoGamer 9/10
Cheat Code Central 4.5/5
GamesRadar 9/10
GamePro 4.5/5
IGN 9/10
PlayStation LifeStyle 9/10
Metascore after 28 reviews: 85.18%!
Highlander
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 12:54:10 PM
jimmyhandsome
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 10:55:41 AM
Reply
NyTaXaTiOn
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 11:29:17 AM
Reply
Lairfan
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 8:52:29 PM
Reply
Btw, I highly doubt the online pass made this game suffer in the sales. If that was the case, and it did make the sales suffer, why didn't ME2 suffer for having the Cerberus Network code, or BF:BC2 for having the code for exclusive content, or a wide array of other games that have done it long before R3 came out?
No, I simply think its because of R2's poor reception amongst the R:FoM fans. They didn't like the new controls, despite the game being better compared to the original, and decided to bash it repeatedly till it became a "fact" that R2 sucked. Probably very similar to what blank line does constantly on this site, except on other sites people actually believed him.
Plus Sony can't seem to advertise a good amount at all, so there was zero knowledge/buzz for this game. Plus, it released next to a game with zombies in it, which is another CoD-like love affair that casuals have with the gaming industry now.
sha4dowknight05
Thursday, September 15, 2011 @ 6:56:53 PM
bentl78
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 9:53:01 PM
Reply
Resistance 3 PS3 launch sales invade top five at GameStop
Sales for Sony Corp.’s Resistance 3 for the Playstation 3 ranked in the top five this week at GameStop Corp.’s online division due to strong launch demand. (GameStop, PS3, Resistance 3, Sony)
on NG4.
bentl78
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 @ 10:13:20 PM
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Here’s the full PS3 UK sales chart for the week ending September 10:
01. Resistance 3 (Sony)
02. Dead Island (Deep Silver)
03. Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft)
04. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
05. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix)
06. Rugby World Cup 2011 (505 Games)
07. Madden NFL 12 (EA)
08. NHL 12 (EA Sport)
09. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
10. Mortal Kombat (Warner Bros. Interactive)
bobbyb
Thursday, September 22, 2011 @ 12:13:19 PM
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Resistance 3









Twistedfloyd
Reply
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 @ 9:19:04 PM
R3 deserves to be selling better than it is if what you're saying is right Ben. Best shooter I've played this year.