Top 5 Most Likely To Be Overlooked Holiday Games
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 OneWith another jam-packed holiday lineup, there are guaranteed to be several overlooked games.
Titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Assassin's Creed: Revelations have little to fear. They'll get their sales. They'll get their headlines. But what games are destined to reside in the shadows of these behemoths?
Need for Speed: The Run
The only good news for EA's racer is that there isn't much in the way of competition. Forza 4 is already out and it's an entirely different racing experience, and if someone is looking for a fast-paced, arcade-style racer, they probably have no choice. However, by the time The Run arrives in November 15, all the heavy hitters will be out; Revelations also launches that same day. Racing and sports games don't have as much overall oomph as they had back in the day; the new Need for Speed might feel the strain.
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
While there are plenty of die-hard R&C fans out there, this one has several strikes against it. As good as it might be, it has the same release date as Arkham City. That's a huge strike right there. Secondly, as the game is more of a co-op-based adventure and most everyone knows it, some long-time fans are a tad skeptical. Thirdly and lastly, this industry seems to be shifting away from the fun and cartoon-y and embracing the gritty and realistic. Exhibits A and B would be MW3 and BF3 respectively.
The Cursed Crusade
Now, maybe this one will deserve to be overlooked if it turns out like crap. But either way, it has no chance against Battlefield 3 on October 25. Also, the game has received little in the way of promotion; most gamers really don't even know what it is. It's an action/RPG - or so it seems - but it may lack polish and high production values, and the bottom line is that against the ridiculous autumn lineup of titles gamers have been anticipating all year... Yeah, don't expect super high sales.
GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
True, it's a reimagining of a timeless classic, which might be enough to entice a few veteran gamers. But November 1 is a wicked tough day; it's smack dab in the midst of all the biggest releases between mid-October and mid-November and oh yes, Uncharted 3 hits store shelves that day. Besides, as a shooter, it has no hope of standing up to MW3 or BF3; it isn't a fair comparison at all, of course, but the fans really might not care. Only the nostalgic will care and that's not enough.
Saints Row: The Third
This is the only one on the list that might break through and be considered a sales success. It has received some solid marketing and there is no Grand Theft Auto for competition. It also offers a ton of gameplay - or so we assume - and those looking for a sandbox game that doesn't involve stealth of any kind (Revelations also releases on the 15th), the third Saints Row should fit the bill. But it just feels like the odd man out in this holiday scenario; too many gamers view this as the "poor man's GTA," after all.
Tags: gaming, game sales, fall games, video games
10/12/2011 9:09:48 PM Ben Dutka
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter
Comments (55 posts)
Jdogtoocool
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:40:37 AM
3 up, 4 down
Beamboom
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:50:47 AM
3 up, 1 down
Snaaaake
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 8:16:47 AM
The game does look fun in it's own way.
4 up, 1 down
Jdogtoocool
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 12:14:19 PM
3 up, 3 down
Jalex
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 10:24:56 PM
Reply
Nothing against the rest of the games(except 'Saints Row', which started out poor and only seems to devolve), they just don't appeal to me.
8 up, 2 down
godsman
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 10:51:29 PM
Reply
3 up, 0 down
Highlander
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 12:31:04 AM
4 up, 2 down
LegendaryWolfeh
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 2:18:39 AM
1 up, 1 down
Highlander
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 9:59:39 AM
0 up, 0 down
luisliu
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 2:54:09 PM
According to 2006 financial results announced by Namco Bandai, Xenosaga Ep.III sold 343,000 units worldwide during the April to December period. Release dates for this game are July 6 and August 29 for Japan and North America respectively. My fault lies is assuming this was a lifetime sales number. But that doesn't change much. Xenosaga Ep.III was not a new IP, so the possibility of it getting a sales boost due to late exposure is negligible. A lifetime sales number of 500,000 would be very optimistic.
On the other hand WKC1 sold 484,514 for the first four weeks (805,253 lifetime) and WK3 sold 325,762 for the first 4 weeks (371,994 lifetime due to early releases in Japan and EMEAA). VGChartz has the Japan sales numbers for Xenosaga Ep.III and week by week comparison with WKC2 is consistently in favor of the latter. There's no question that WKC2 sells better than Xenosaga Ep.III.
2 up, 0 down
Highlander
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 4:08:43 PM
I wonder how the non Japan sales of WKC2 will eventually stack up? I really hope that WKC2 can pick up some sales on the basis of "word of mouth" marketing by happy gamers. Some 'professional' reviews are killing it with a lot of buyers, but that's happened before to good games. Eventually word of mouth generates a longer slow burn of sales when a game is good enough to develop a following.
1 up, 0 down
luisliu
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 4:51:53 PM
Last edited by luisliu on 10/13/2011 4:54:37 PM
0 up, 0 down
DazeOfWar
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 11:10:49 PM
Reply
4 up, 1 down
Jdogtoocool
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:37:46 AM
1 up, 0 down
DazeOfWar
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 2:06:43 PM
Last edited by DazeOfWar on 10/13/2011 2:07:34 PM
0 up, 0 down
GuyverLT
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 2:47:12 PM
Last edited by GuyverLT on 10/13/2011 2:47:43 PM
0 up, 0 down
DazeOfWar
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:25:38 PM
0 up, 0 down
Mr Bubbles IGR
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 11:12:16 PM
Reply
Last edited by Mr Bubbles IGR on 10/12/2011 11:13:19 PM
3 up, 0 down
bebestorm
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 11:18:23 PM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
Neurotoxiny
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 11:46:28 PM
Reply
I would get the GoldenEye... but it looks too much like another generic FPS :P
0 up, 2 down
556pineapple
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 11:50:49 PM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
GuyverLT
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 12:16:35 AM
Reply
2 up, 0 down
Gabriel013
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 1:09:37 AM
Reply
I have enough unfinished titles to keep me going and saving an extra £5-£10 on each game might allow me to stretch to an extra purchase.
0 up, 0 down
Killa Tequilla
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 1:20:04 AM
Reply
Last edited by Killa Tequilla on 10/13/2011 1:20:27 AM
4 up, 0 down
AshT
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 1:24:29 AM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 2:34:04 AM
Reply
To me the deal with SR3 is something neither Assassins Creed or GTA can offer: The unique coop play. SR simply is the king of Coop Hill.
The amount of content is almost at RPG level with all the mini games and side quests. Hours upon hours of fun.
Everything else will be put on hold when this game arrives. My coop buddy and I will probably spend the entire first evening in SR3 just to create our characters... :D
To quote Shogo Akuji from SR2:
"Nobility is sadly overrated".
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/13/2011 3:55:22 AM
3 up, 1 down
Crabba
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 4:08:09 AM
Reply
Even worse for those less than top 5 something titles like these ones, why try to compete with the big boys when you can't possibly win? Titles like NFS & R&C could probably have done a lot better if they were released early '12 instead...
Oh, and The Cursed Crusade?? I've never even heard of the TITLE of that game?!
0 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 6:28:51 AM
Not to say all those titles are guaranteed to be giants, but at least they have the potential of stealing the limelight the first quarter next year.
Regarding Cursed Crusade Ben did a preview article of it a while ago. Looked like a fantasy setting action rpg with coop (that's why I remember this one). He could have been kind enough to link to that article. But he isn't. ;)
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/13/2011 6:40:00 AM
0 up, 0 down
Lawless SXE
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 6:36:37 AM
2 up, 0 down
Crabba
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 5:13:57 PM
I guess what I'm trying to say is there's a whole calendar year out there, but they only use like two months of it for the biggest releases. Maybe if they didn't look blindly at those holiday sales potentials and take competition into consideration they'd still sell more copies if they spread things out a bit into other parts of the year...
0 up, 0 down
Crabba
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 5:15:15 PM
0 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Friday, October 14, 2011 @ 2:37:44 AM
I actually think Syndicate looks cool. It just isn't Syndicate the way we know it. Think of it as a new game with the same name - that's what I do. :)
Regarding the other titles, we also got BioShock Infinite but I'm not sure when it is due for release? And Twisted Metal, is Dust514 also due to early next year? There really is an insane lineup already for 2012. Totally insane.
Reagrding Cursed Crusade: Yeah I found those bad reviews late last night too. Actually I'm not surprised after I saw the game website. Too bad - there's always room for another good rpg!
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/14/2011 2:38:33 AM
1 up, 0 down
Crabba
Friday, October 14, 2011 @ 3:48:39 AM
I'm sure they have research about that, I'm just not so sure it's correct, since this is pretty much untested territory AFAIK, I mean this has been the way they do it for as long as I can remember, with a lot of good titles being completely unseen & forgotten because of a couple of big titles released at the same time stealing all the attention.
That just can't be good business for those smaller titles, that could've gotten good sales and reviews, had they been released sometime during 'slow season'...
I'm sure you're right though that there are plenty of big titles coming early next year too, but there's always a month or two after that.. There are always a number of very slow months every year...
0 up, 0 down
Lawless SXE
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 6:34:58 AM
Reply
NFS has its following, but it won't attain any real sales success and the same goes for All 4 One, though I imagine that both will sell steadily.
Goldeneye is a HD version of a Wii remake of a hallowed and much respected game. IIRC, it reviewed well as a Wii game, but it hasn't impressed me based on what I've seen of it.
Saints Row 3 is very deserving of that though. It's looking like a loony's wet dream. Should be a good game, if not to my taste thanks to the crassness of it.
My list would include the LotR game, War in the North. I doubt it'll be much good, but it's LotR damn it! Rayman would be another one. It'd be much better to release it later on down the track a bit, away from the slate of massive games, given what the title is. The same goes for Sonic, though to a lesser extent because Sonic somehow still has brand value. Wait... Postal is out this year? Bonkers, but that will probably deserve to be overlooked anyway :/
1 up, 1 down
Beamboom
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:04:04 AM
I hope you are wrong about Cursed Crusade - though I suspect you will be very right. I was just over at the game website and it looks deserted. Even the "developer diary" were empty.
0 up, 0 down
Danny007
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:26:43 AM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
NoSmokingBandit
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:51:51 AM
Reply
0 up, 1 down
Snaaaake
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 8:17:24 AM
0 up, 0 down
slugga_status
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 9:37:36 AM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
DjEezzy
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 10:10:09 AM
Reply
On a side note... Has anyone seen that new playstation commercial with all the ps3 characters? It mostly has all live characters in it. It starts off with nathan drake and pans to cole from infamous and so on... It's really cool. Check it out if you get a chance. Have a great day!!!
2 up, 0 down
slugga_status
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 10:42:30 AM
0 up, 0 down
duomaxwell007
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 10:13:05 AM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
TheOldOne
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 10:38:42 AM
Reply
Saints Row: The Third - Day 1 purchase
I already reserved both!
2 up, 0 down
poisonedsodapop
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 12:07:43 PM
Reply
1 up, 1 down
Beamboom
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 1:41:36 PM
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/13/2011 1:48:52 PM
1 up, 1 down
BikerSaint
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 7:26:00 PM
Beamboom, Thank you, thank you!
OH wait, you meant the other Saint's....
......Damn, never mind
Last edited by BikerSaint on 10/13/2011 7:27:01 PM
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Friday, October 14, 2011 @ 2:46:04 AM
1 up, 0 down
Wendell
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 2:01:02 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
DjEezzy
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 2:56:55 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
hadouken
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 5:33:41 PM
Reply
NFS has a pretty decent fan base so I don't see it getting completely lost in the holiday shuffle.
0 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Thursday, October 13, 2011 @ 8:11:35 PM
Reply
Please, please, oh please, bring me all of those games listed above!
Now St. Nick, you very well know that I've done everything in my power to be as semi-good as I could be this year.
But as a biker, sometimes it's just way, way, too damned hard to keep that nice shiny halo going 24/7 crowned upon my head, especially when you expect me to do it for a full 365 consecutive days in a frigging row.
So just for this one single solitary time, could you please kindly refrain from parking any more of those 18-wheeled coal transporter's in my driveway every freaking Christmas morn?
I mean, come on now, I love all 58 of them you've gifted me so far , but for once in your life, let's get seriously-real here, I'm just running out of %$&&%^#^$ places to store a whole fleet of tractor-trailers I've received over the long haul (BTW, pardon the pun)
And besides, by the time you get this note, I'll already have had the metal-smith hammer all the dents out of my now bent & tarnished crown, as well as having it re-plated 100% back to it's original 24K golden hue spec sheet.
And just like the old Avis ads, I'll even commit to going their "We Try Harder" route next year(Again, no pun intended).
And if you only remember one thing all this year, Nick.......
All Saint's are the blessed.
(Yes, even a lowly biker with the NICKname of "Saint" too).
0 up, 0 down
DrRockso87
Friday, October 14, 2011 @ 5:09:56 PM
Reply
Goldeneye Reloaded I think will still sell well enough. Even if it doesn't, Activision won't lose much. It's a HD remake of a Wii game. The fact that Activision is charging a full $60 for this when I can easily grab it for $17 for the Wii on Amazon is absurd.
Saints Row the Third will sell well (or at least break even). The second one attracted all of the people disappointed by Grand Theft Auto IV with its goofy, over-the-top humor so I assume this one will too with more hype.
The other two though I couldn't care less about.
Last edited by DrRockso87 on 10/14/2011 5:10:17 PM
1 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Reply
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 10:09:58 PM
Gonna invite my friends over to play, and I'll definitely not forget my Carlsberg!!