Mature Games Failing on Wii and DS - Why?

GameStooge's Jordan Lund examines the numbers and tries to figure out why mature-rated games like MadWorld, GTA: Chinatown Wars, No More Heroes, and House of the Dead: Overkill struggle to sell in the United States.

Excerpt: "It seems like publishers of mature titles on Nintendo platforms simply cannot win for trying. People complain about Nintendo hardware heavily favoring "kids games", and yet when mature titles actually are released the reception tends to be positively frigid.

The NPD sales results for March were released the other day and among all the hardware statistics were some pretty shocking results for mature software."

[qface64]

because chinatown wars didn't sell 1 million in its first month all these articles are coming out if it was just madworld it wouldn't be such a big deal same old same old

its only been 1 month or 3 weeks i think anyways chinatown wars will sell more its not gonna reach godly numbers but its gonna do alright

same thing happened to bloom box sold 30k in 1 month people called it a flop despite the possative feedback then later on it picks up and does good just give the game some time

[JonahFalcon]

Rockstar expected 2M units in sales, not 500K.

[table]

nobody is failing. you cant expect these games to do 360 and ps3 numbers on a system(s) that is mainly bought by kids and middle aged fat chicks. If the company makes profit and people enjoy the game then there is no failure.

[STK026]

I believe that most of these articles are simply saying that the average "mature" game is selling less on the Wii/DS than on the PS2/3/X360/PC, which is mostly true.

Madworld has sold less than 100k as of now, despite being a great game. Chinatown wars is also selling rather slowly, just like no more heroes and house of the dead overkill.

The thing is, while the numbers aren't overly bad themselves, it's quite disappointing considering the install base.

Look at this, the DS has an install base of 100 milion + while the PSP had maybe a 15 milion one when a GTA was released on it, and yet it managed to sell faster on the PSP at the time.

My point is that if I were a developper, I would rather put a mature game on the PS3/X360 rather than on the Wii/DS. But then again, most publisher probably already know that the nintendo install base is mostly composed of "casual gamers" (still alot of "hardcore" ones too, but the percentage is lower than on the PS3/X360).

[pain777pas]

They may sell eventually but if I have a 3 yr old running around the house I may think twice about having a copy of Madwhatever lying around for the curious to get a hold of.

[phantomexe]

this is flame bait.No more heros done just fine.madworld and GTA will sell fine it's just not going sell a million copies in a month.Why do you people post this,it just stairs the fanboys.

[JonahFalcon]

It's not flame bait, it's analysis. Read the article.

[SinnedNogara]

Call of Duty 5. I saw a article in December that said it sold 200,000. 800,000 units later. It sold 1 million.

WII GAMES SELL SLOWLY!!! WHEN CAN THEY GET IT THROUGH THEIR SKULLS!!!!

[Gr81]

Going to ignore the M rated titles that did go platinum?

[JonahFalcon]

Like?

Pokemon?

[Mahr]

"Their new game Mad World suffered a similar fate. A high level of buzz,"

Er, I don't think 'high level of buzz' is being used in the same way here as I would have used it. I regard a 'high level' of buzz as something like GTA IV last year where you had the game being covered by mainstrream news outlets, international billboards, commercials out the ear.

The closest to mainstream dissemination MadWorld got was an article in the Daily Mail -- which isn't much considering it's the Daily Mail, which just recently published a story about a guy inhaling a seed and then growing a fir tree in his lungs. Mostly though, the only real buzz was on the internet, which has historically never had much of an impact on actual sales.

That said, after the GTA entry, this article seems to subscribe to the rather odd notion it's possible to evaluate sales numbers in some sort of vacuum. I hate to break it to everyone, but not all M-rated games are created equal.

The closest historical analogue we have to a game like MadWorld in terms of gameplay, style, genre, design, and general appeal is God Hand; the second closest maybe being the Viewtiful Joe games. And those sold how much again on the PS2 and the Gamecube? And those systems combined had *how* many times the install base of the Wii?

"Sega saw similar (but lower) numbers in February with the release of House of the Dead: Overkill selling just 45,000 units"

And by all accounts, performed substantially better in the European markets, placing on the charts for longer than similar lightgun games. This might be a reason why Sega is on record saying "House of the Dead has done very well and has absolutely met our expectations."

http://venturebeat.com/2009...

"Last year, No More Heroes was supposed to be a breakthrough title on the Wii, reaching a new level of mature gamers. The results? First months sales in the US just barely over 100,000 and a life to date top of 250,000. Globally, it has done okay at around 400,000 but it has taken a year and 3 regions to get there (Japan represents just 10% of the titles sales.)"

Did 'okay'? It kept its developer in business, made enough to justify a sequel, and encouraged its publisher across the pond to describe the situation by stating "We are weeping with delight."

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/2...

Is the idea that that's just Rising Star's way of saying "Meh"?

[silvacrest]

its been said time and time again

the wii/DS audience is clear and no, not just by 1 month sales

when you look at pokemon, POKEMON! for gods sake, selling millions and madworld can only manage a few thousand its obviouse

[qface64]

since madworld is a M rated game by the logic of everyone the game is limited to a certain crowd

also pokemon has been around for years and it already has a very huge following so of course the game is going to overshadow a new IP

[heroicjanitor]

That it is limited to people in a certain category?

[MainEventX]

Mature games sadly don't sell well on the Wii or DS. I think the reason being people would rather buy games for their PS3 and XBOX 360 because money is tight right now. Plus PS3 and XBOX 360 games have online multiplayer and better graphics

[phantomexe]

Yep flame bait.

[phantomexe]

Well look at the bright side on the GTA for the DS.It sold better in month then the one that came out on the psp did.

[STK026]

I don't usually use the vgchartz numbers, but tey're the only ones I've found (as other sources gave me the total including the PS2 sales), GTA :LCS actualy moved over 5 million units and VCS over 3 millions, with Chinatown wars not having reached 100k yet, I wouldn't say it's selling better than the ones on the PSP. Also consider the very small user bse of the PSP at the time.

[SpoonyRedMage]

Well according to Wikipedia(probably not the best source either) LBS is the best selling game on the PSP at 2.7 mil. So no it's not outselling them but it seems to be near the top of the charts everywhere I've been recently.(Sainsburys, Gamestation, HMV, WHS Smith, Morrison's) so it seems to be doing a lot better in the UK than the US.

[mshope10]

mature games might not sell the best on nintendo platforms but they are not failing!first everybody buys nintendo systems to play there games even if they had no 3rd party support they would still have there great line up.!there first party games are usually better then the 3rd party games on there systems thats why games like mario kart sold 15 million and its a core game i would like to see a casual player get gold in all the tracks in that game!now when 3rd partys make a good mature game it does sell games like tiger woods 09,08,shaun white,redsteel,starswars force unleashed,resdent evil 4,an umbrella chronicles,guitarhero 3,an world tour,call of duty 3,an w.a.w all have sold more then a million and all are 3rd party plus call of duty w.a.w has 600,000 user online and i know they are not casual users or grandparents! boomblox was call a failure and it moved 910,000 so far house of the dead 2&3 sold 960,000 and overkill sold 230,000 in 2 months and g.t.a chinatown wars moved of 300,000 in a month in 2 territories and madworld has done 160,000 in a month so lets see whats going on in six months i bet g.t.a chinatown wars does at least a million and madworld will be at 500,000!

[tiberious151]

Yes, these articles are trash. So they released 2 games total (1 for each system) what does that prove? It may be that people were low on money in March or maybe they were out enjoying the spring weather instead? I didn't buy Madworld cause it is not my cup of tea. I don't have a DS, but if I did, I sure wouldn't buy GTA because I am sick of this game in any shape or form, be it on any system. I mean did they say 360 was a failure upon releasing their first mature title for the system> So ridiculous.

[Dsnyder]

wii and ds are kiddy and only kids care about it so wii gamers wont buy many m rated games lolz.

[MasterOne]

Get a grip. No "Mature" rated game will ever do well on any Nintendo platform. The WII and DS are geared towards kids or the faint at heart. I have all in my houshold. However, I bought them for my kid. I would only (and do) buy these games to play on my PS3 or Xbox 360. Before you fanbabies cry foul, just look at the numbers.