37 replies to this topic

[zencat]

Checking out the UK sales charts (couldn't find US):

Top 20 All Formats All Price - Week ending 10 December 2005
Rank Title Publisher
1 NEED FOR SPEED: MOST WANTED ELECTRONIC ARTS
2 FIFA 06 ELECTRONIC ARTS
3 CALL OF DUTY 2: BIG RED ONE ACTIVISION
4 KING KONG: OFFICIAL GAME OF THE MOVIE UBISOFT
5 HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE ELECTRONIC ARTS
6 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 5 KONAMI
7 STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT II LUCASARTS
8 NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH & WARDROBE BUENA VISTA GAMES
9 50 CENT: BULLETPROOF VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES
10 THE SIMS 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
11 GUN ACTIVISION
12 GRAND THEFT AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES TAKE 2
13 WWE SMACKDOWN! VS RAW 2006 THQ
14 SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG SEGA
15 PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE TWO THRONES UBISOFT
16 CALL OF DUTY 2 ACTIVISION
17 TRUE CRIME: NEW YORK CITY ACTIVISION
18 BUZZ! THE MUSIC QUIZ SONY COMPUTER ENT.
19 CRASH TAG TEAM RACING VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES
20 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE ELECTRONIC ARTS

http://www.elspa.com...arts/charts.asp

[Tarl_Cabot]

That's just too much competition! How amny teens can afford to buy every game out there? If those were movies in a summer Bond would get crushed ah la LTK.

[zencat]

I don't know much about videogames and the videogame market, but my understanding was that GERA was a not very good game, hence, didn't do so well. But from what I'm hearing FRWL is a darn good game. So what's the problem? Is Connery not the "draw" they thought he'd be?

I think this might be a tangible indicator that the deification of the Connery-era and FRWL as the Bond "prototype" does not extend to an audience under...30. This is the second Bond game to rely on nostalgia. Was the success of EoN due to the fact that it didn't trade on Bond's past? Is the absence of Pierce a factor? Interesting...

[K1Bond007]

That's for last week only. Most of the sales for FRWL were no doubt in November. How it performed State side will probably be released by NPD soon (if it hasn't been already)

I can already tell you that the entire industry has taken a hit the past three months (Sept - Nov). EA even stated that sales were pretty weak (not specifically of FRWL, but their entire game lineup).

[BlackFelix]

Though I fully intend to pick up a copy of FRWL, I'm sure there's the notion "why buy a game for a soon to be deleted system?"..... It's crossed my mind.

[K1Bond007]

Though I fully intend to pick up a copy of FRWL, I'm sure there's the notion "why buy a game for a soon to be deleted system?"..... It's crossed my mind.

The answer is that next-gen systems will be backward compatible. GameCube with Revolution, PS2 with PS3, and Xbox with Xbox 360 (although with this last one, it isn't compatible yet, but it will be someday).

A legitimate question though. This is generally why the video game industry takes a hit right around the introduction of new systems.

[Mak Man]

I think this game was geared more towards an older demographic. Anyone that grew up watching all the James Bond movies would enjoy this game, and appreciate it.

Kids nowaday don't care much for a good storyline... they just care about how gruesome a game looks. It's all about that headshots, and gore. James Bond was never about that... there might be a lot of mature content in the game, but there's no actual sex scenes (i.e. GTASA) or women in skimpy outfits (i.e. DOA).

In my opinion kids these days rate games base on these characteristics:

1) Blood
2) Gore (doesn't necessarily have to include blood)
3) Violence
4) Sex
5) Language

What are our youth coming to?

lol...
Mak

[TheREAL008]

I think EA producing the game may have an effect too. They've cornered the market for video games over in the US and the rep they're getting isn't really a pretty one.

And to be somewhat candid I don't think EA really know how to make a truly great Bond game anyhgow. With EON being a fluke that wont be repeated anytime soon. Gamespot and IGN have given it a rating of 7.0 which is deemed fair.

Best for EA to give Bond to another company than to produce more games that will not make for good gameplay and customer satisfaction.

[Qwerty]

It is very surprising to me. Before this game was released in the US and the UK, it seemed like it would be the best game (if not even better than) Everything or Nothing, but the REVIEWS we've collected on CBn seem to show that the game is just "ok".

[JB007YH]

Kids don't have unlimited money, Most of my friends save up a long time before getting a new system, (i'm the lucky one that my parents buy it for me). That said, 50 bucks takes a big chunk out of the 300 bucks they are saving up. you cant play a game if you dont have the system, therefore, they might buy the game after they get the system

[freemo]

I think this might be a tangible indicator that the deification of the Connery-era and FRWL as the Bond "prototype" does not extend to an audience under...30. This is the second Bond game to rely on nostalgia. Was the success of EoN due to the fact that it didn't trade on Bond's past? Is the absence of Pierce a factor? Interesting...

Honestly, I'd expect most of those games to beat Bond regardless of those factors. Look at this list, practially all of them are either new installments of popular game series' (Need for Speed, Grand Theft Auto) or games based on current movies (King Kong, Harry Potter).

[Flash1087]

I dunno, it's sold alright at work. We were out of the Xbox version for a while.

[K1Bond007]

I think EA producing the game may have an effect too. They've cornered the market for video games over in the US and the rep they're getting isn't really a pretty one.

And to be somewhat candid I don't think EA really know how to make a truly great Bond game anyhgow. With EON being a fluke that wont be repeated anytime soon. Gamespot and IGN have given it  a rating of 7.0 which is deemed fair.

Best for EA to give Bond to another company than to produce more games that will not make for good gameplay and customer satisfaction.

Up until EA published Everything or Nothing, I would have agreed. I thought all the games they released before that (relating to 007) were abysmal and or shallow rehashes of GoldenEye 007. EoN changed that though. I believe they have the ability to make a great game, but I don't think they even attempted it with FRWL - to evolve what they had. There just wasn't much effort there and I think the critics nailed them for it. Just so.

I don't think EA's rep had anything to do with the sales. They do fine with everything else.

^^^^^^^^^US SALES - NOVEMBER^^^^^^^^^^^^
1. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (Xbox)
2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (PlayStation 2)
3. Call of Duty 2 (Xbox 360)
4. Madden NFL 06 (PlayStation 2)
5. WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2 (PlayStation 2)
6. Madden NFL 06 (Xbox 360)
7. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (PlayStation 2)
8. Mario Party 7 (GameCube)
9. 50 Cent: Bulletproof (PlayStation 2)
10. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (PlayStation 2)
11. Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Xbox 360)
12. Soul Calibur III (PlayStation 2)
13. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (PlayStation 2)
14. NBA Live 06 (PlayStation 2)
15. Blitz: The League (PlayStation 2)
16. Need For Speed: Most Wanted (PlayStation 2)
17. Ratchet: Deadlocked (PlayStation 2)
18. Perfect Dark Zero: Limited Edition (Xbox 360)
19. SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals (PlayStation 2)
20. GUN (PlayStation 2)

Didn't even rank. How sad.

For the record, I also have the stats for the top 10 per system, and FRWL didn't rank on any of them either.

Edited by K1Bond007, 15 December 2005 - 05:25 AM.

[zencat]

Troubling...

Thanks for the info K1.

[DLibrasnow]

Troubling yes, but not really that surprising.

[Qwerty]

[quote name='K1Bond007' date='15 December 2005 - 00:22'][quote name='TheREAL008' date='14 December 2005 - 14:21']I think EA producing the game may have an effect too. They've cornered the market for video games over in the US and the rep they're getting isn't really a pretty one.

And to be somewhat candid I don't think EA really know how to make a truly great Bond game anyhgow. With EON being a fluke that wont be repeated anytime soon. Gamespot and IGN have given it

[Johnboy007]

There's an article on Yahoo! right now stating that video game sales on the whole are slumping rather badly.

[Carver]

50 Cent in the top 10? Yikes... I bought FRWL pretty soon after it came out, and I also rate it "ok". I'd say a 7-8 really. It's not a really great game, and I find myself playing Path of Neo or FIFA rather than FRWL. Still, it's quite worrying as the idea of bringing out a game of a classic film is a good one. It just goes to show that kids love all the new flashy stuff really, as I don't think FRWL contains enough real action to brecome a huge game.

[mccartney007]

I'm not much of a gamer at all, but maybe it has something to do with all the other Bond games post-GoldenEye aren't considered very good games. Almost everyone I've talked to who is into video games always tell me how much the most recent Bond game sucked -- including EoN. I've only played GoldenEye, TWINE, 007Racing and a bit of EoN and have only really enjoyed GoldenEye, and to a much lesser extent, EoN.

I imagine the reputation of the previous James Bond games could be a determining factor in whether or not someone goes out and buys a game.

[tdalton]

For me, the reason that I have not (nor will) purchased this game is two fold. The first being that EA couldn't make a decent Bond game if Rare sent over a couple of their GoldenEye 007 team to help them out. Second of all, I couldn't stand what they did to the storyline from the film. I felt like, if they were going to make a game out of a previous Bond film, then they should have picked one that was more suited for action, like The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, The Living Daylights or, if they felt that they had to make a "serious espionage" game out of it, then For Your Eyes Only would have worked better than FRWL since it has a few more "gameable" action sequences. FRWL is a great film, one of the best of the Bond films, but it doesn't lend itself very well to a videogame, IMO, and that's why EA has yet to get business from me on this particular game.

[Qwerty]

Anyone have the link to the US game chart where From Russia With Love didn't chart?

[K1Bond007]

Anyone have the link to the US game chart where From Russia With Love didn't chart?

I listed it above in my post. The source is NPD (NPDfunworld.com).

Overall Top 20:
1. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (Xbox)
2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (PlayStation 2)
3. Call of Duty 2 (Xbox 360)
4. Madden NFL 06 (PlayStation 2)
5. WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2 (PlayStation 2)
6. Madden NFL 06 (Xbox 360)
7. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (PlayStation 2)
8. Mario Party 7 (GameCube)
9. 50 Cent: Bulletproof (PlayStation 2)
10. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (PlayStation 2)
11. Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Xbox 360)
12. Soul Calibur III (PlayStation 2)
13. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (PlayStation 2)
14. NBA Live 06 (PlayStation 2)
15. Blitz: The League (PlayStation 2)
16. Need For Speed: Most Wanted (PlayStation 2)
17. Ratchet: Deadlocked (PlayStation 2)
18. Perfect Dark Zero: Limited Edition (Xbox 360)
19. SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals (PlayStation 2)
20. GUN (PlayStation 2)

Xbox:
1. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
2. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
3. Madden NFL 06
4. Need For Speed: Most Wanted
5. GUN
6. The Matrix: Path of Neo
7. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
8. Blitz: The League
9. 50 Cent: Bulletproof
10. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

Xbox 360:
1. Call of Duty 2
2. Madden NFL 06
3. Need For Speed: Most Wanted
4. Perfect Dark Zero: Limited Edition
5. Condemned: Criminal Origins
6. Project Gotham Racing 3
7. Perfect Dark Zero
8. Kameo: Elements of Power
9. Quake 4
10. NBA Live 06

GameCube:
1. Mario Party 7
2. Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix With Mat
3. Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness
4. Shadow The Hedgehog
5. Mario Superstar Baseball
6. Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
7. LEGO: Star Wars
8. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
9. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
10. Madden NFL 06

PlayStation 2:
1. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
2. Madden NFL 06
3. WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2
4. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
5. 50 Cent: Bulletproof
6. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
7. Soul Calibur III
8. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
9. NBA Live 06
10. Blitz: The League

Edited by K1Bond007, 16 December 2005 - 04:58 PM.

[Qwerty]

Thanks!

[cvheady007]

Simply stated, this game had no marketing platform. I saw, I believe, one commercial, and it really didn't play up the quality of the game.

Everything or Nothing was a fine game, but Rogue Agent was terrible, and it needed to be put forth to the public that this game was better than EoN while the franchise distanced itself from Rogue Agent. I don't pity EA because they failed to do that. I have purchased, beaten, played often, and given the gift of From Russia With Love, so I did my part. I did so because I knew I would enjoy the game with the promise of the return of Sir Sean Connery. Others did not buy it because they were not given the "why buy"...the "what's in it for me" after the disappointment of Rogue Agent. So the poor sales performance falls all on EA, the marketing, and the lack of public awareness.

[K1Bond007]

Simply stated, this game had no marketing platform.  I saw, I believe, one commercial, and it really didn't play up the quality of the game.

I saw a ton of commercials for it on Comedy Central in the U.S.

[dinovelvet]

I also saw commercials on Spike TV I believe. No, marketing is not the problem here. The game just didn't get The Kids excited, end of story.

[Qwerty]

I believe it is now off the UK charts.

[TheCheat]

could this make it difficult for EA when considering to do future games based on past bond films

[Qwerty]

could this make it difficult for EA when considering to do future games based on past bond films

Let's hope they get it right with Casino Royale then. It's time for another classic James Bond game.

[Gri007]

My theory of FRWL being a poor sale in the UK, is probabaly due to the advertisement of the game.

I haven't yet seen any adverts on tv or poster on billboards. or radio spots.

Could that have an effect on the sales of the game