Why are Crysis's and UT3's Sales Horrible?

[Bond]

From Kotaku:

Crysis and UT3—both hugely anticipated PC titles—didn't see much success in November. Crysis moved just 86,633 copies (admittedly topping the 68,600 that were predicted) over 18 days. Unreal Tournament 3 fared even worse, selling just 33,995 copies (way short of the 70,600 that were predicted) over 12 days.

Any ideas? The low sales for Crysis make sense because of its ridiculous system requirements, but not so for UT3...

[Angrist]

Too many shooters lately?

[DarkMaster]

I was just gonna say, probably because of the expensive computer rigs needed to run the games well.

[BreakABone]

And may be dumb but does this count like computer purchases and stuff like that?
Like through Steam or other such things?
Don't even know if both are available on Steam just curious.

[manasecret]

Since when did expensive computer rigs slow the sales of computer games?

[Bube]

Originally Posted by manasecret

Since when did expensive computer rigs slow the sales of computer games?

Since games started needing systems that are not yet available..

But it really looks like PC gaming is slowing down, with consoles getting better and better, and minimum PC specs getting higher and higher and also, the better variety of quality games on consoles..

[Null]

has nothing to do with either.


neither of those 2 games are anything fantastic. crysis only got all its attention because of its graphics.

sure UT3 looks hot too, but its the same game as its always been. and no, you do not need an expensive rig to play it. thats just silly.

theres been a lot of shooters lately and those arent the top ones.


and pc gaming isnt really slowing down... its the same really... rts's and fps's.

consoles could pull the trigger any time on pc gaming by doing a few things. but its like the refuse to try it. consoles will need to allow FULL usb mouse/keyboard support. allow users to create mods and content and download it to the system. and allow users to setup servers that the consoles can connect to, so one player doesnt have to be hosting. thats the reason right now console games cant support as many players online and such.. its because one user has to host it and home upload rates just arent enough.

when consoles finally do things like that.. theres no reason to get games on pc anymore. pcs and consoles need to work together.





as far as those two games go though... i think most people are too busy with orange box (tf2) and call of duty 4 to even bat an eye at those 2 games.

[manasecret]

Originally Posted by Bube

Since games started needing systems that are not yet available..

But it really looks like PC gaming is slowing down, with consoles getting better and better, and minimum PC specs getting higher and higher and also, the better variety of quality games on consoles..

Of course minimum PC specs get higher and higher...

Just because PC gaming has slowed down for you (or so it sounds), does not mean it has for the PC market as a whole. Consoles have always gotten better and better, and PCs have always been ahead of them in horsepower with a sacrifice in paying more for it. PC gaming has yet to die despite that fact for a couple decades.

I think Null hit it on the head -- FPS saturation. There are too many other (perhaps) better games for gamers to care about over these two games, games that don't bring much new. I'll admit I don't know much about Crysis, but Unreal Tourney 3 sounds like just more of the same thing -- fun but not particulary new multiplayer. While it's almost definitely fun, you can get more innovative multiplayer (TF2) or a game with both good multi AND single (COD4).

[KillerGremlin]

Because no one cares? Unreal has been Unreal since it was Unreal Tournament. Not much has changed since then. And no one cares about Crysis except for graphic junkies. I'll be happy when the sequel to Far Cry comes out. Right now I'm happy with the Orange Box and playing through Bioshock again.

That's not to say that Crysis isn't an awesome game, I do intend to play it at some point. Likewise with Unreal, it's a good game, just not my style with its spazzy multiplayer.

[Angrist]

Originally Posted by Null

and pc gaming isnt really slowing down... its the same really... rts's and fps's.

And mmorpgs.

Originally Posted by manasecret

I think Null hit it on the head -- FPS saturation.

Hey, I said it first.

[GameMaster]

Because no one likes the intentional misspelling of 'crisis'?

[Yoda9864]

I agree that each game was not that fantastic. I have UT3. It's a fun, solid game. But it is pretty much more of the same and if you are happy with a previous UT game, or any other FPS game there's not much reason for you to purchase UT3.

I'm still playing Supreme Commander and it's expansion pack. So I'm not too interested in getting a new game that will divide my time too much.

[Professor S]

I think the FPS genre may be at a turning point. Since Halo's success, FPS titles have flooded the market for both PC and console. I think the First Person genre has a lot more to offer, but I think the indusrty needs to look past the "S" and look more towards the "FP"

First Person in an engrossing way to play a game. You become the character. But to date its been aimed almost solely as the fast twitch player. I think their are all kinds of possiblities for strategy and role playing in first person games, and the industry needs to start exploring those areas more.

[Angrist]

That comes from the guy that hated Metroid Prime, a FP Adventure?

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Angrist

That comes from the guy that hated Metroid Prime, a FP Adventure?

Well they need to do it WELL, not just do it.