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Originally posted by Rombie
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I'll bite 
Subjectively you're correct about the userbases and normally I think thats a fair comparison for any game, but to me also a game which walks away with that many GOTY awards from almost everyone in the industry should also be pushing the numbers up on both units sold as well as new console users significantly at the same time. I still say, and I figure from the point of comparison to the low sales of DmC you mentioned you kinda agree too, that the game still undersold on seemingly it's critical potential when you're talking just about the GC edition.
RE4 was a strange beast though I guess, expectations were always of a PlayStation 2 edition when a) first announced for it and b) still after supposed GameCube "exclusivity" - the number of people who said I'm not getting a Gamecube and waiting were plentiful in 2004. But still, those who waited just for the PS2 version didn't exactly walk away with a top class edition at the time. Their loss though :p
But yeah, then I make those comments full well knowing as to why the GC version may not have had the chance to ever sell as much as the PS2.... user base, expectations of ports, franchise history with Sony etc. etc.
Oh yeah, as I said - I found the idea of comparison apt enough, both on response from a sales and critical level I guess. I mean it's a bit different coming out on two platforms at once and on formats again with bigger user bases and expectations, but I get why your comparison is there.
I really think the negative concept of this "version of Dante" and a "Western studio" has been a bigger barrier to success than Capcom (and Ninja Theory) expected. The game got great reviews, and even if they'd even made a perfect 10/10 game across the board, I think it just would have an uphill battle still. DmC has somehow proven that occassionally, unlike what Capcom has found in the past, fan support on agreeing about the content of a project sometimes does make a difference to if people will fork out the cash.
While Capcom also has traditionally been a developer who bucks the trends and releases games in Jan quite frequently, I think you can also add into the fact they released into the start of an unexpected glut of big releases for the first three months of the year, where also many were pushed back that people are waiting to spend their money on.
I personally didn't pick up DmC as a purchase because I spent money on Aliens CM for example... ACM might turn out to be a huge sack of monkey crap, but I'm more interested in Aliens than DmC. I could believe that is the same for people with interests in Dead Space, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Rising, or anything else arriving soon. I'm not saying there isn't people out there who did perhaps want to pick up DmC (I've seen plenty around and the chart placement says there was enough in the first week for top billing in the UK etc.) but perhaps due to the above issues about the content etc. not nearly as much as some of these other games.
Of course that's all prediction until I see how some of those titles later sell. For all I know the impact could be across the board and they all walk away with below average sales because people were so unsure and spread out about their purchases between Jan, Feb, and March. :p
Subjectively you're correct about the userbases and normally I think thats a fair comparison for any game, but to me also a game which walks away with that many GOTY awards from almost everyone in the industry should also be pushing the numbers up on both units sold as well as new console users significantly at the same time. I still say, and I figure from the point of comparison to the low sales of DmC you mentioned you kinda agree too, that the game still undersold on seemingly it's critical potential when you're talking just about the GC edition.
RE4 was a strange beast though I guess, expectations were always of a PlayStation 2 edition when a) first announced for it and b) still after supposed GameCube "exclusivity" - the number of people who said I'm not getting a Gamecube and waiting were plentiful in 2004. But still, those who waited just for the PS2 version didn't exactly walk away with a top class edition at the time. Their loss though :p
But yeah, then I make those comments full well knowing as to why the GC version may not have had the chance to ever sell as much as the PS2.... user base, expectations of ports, franchise history with Sony etc. etc.
Oh yeah, as I said - I found the idea of comparison apt enough, both on response from a sales and critical level I guess. I mean it's a bit different coming out on two platforms at once and on formats again with bigger user bases and expectations, but I get why your comparison is there.
I really think the negative concept of this "version of Dante" and a "Western studio" has been a bigger barrier to success than Capcom (and Ninja Theory) expected. The game got great reviews, and even if they'd even made a perfect 10/10 game across the board, I think it just would have an uphill battle still. DmC has somehow proven that occassionally, unlike what Capcom has found in the past, fan support on agreeing about the content of a project sometimes does make a difference to if people will fork out the cash.
While Capcom also has traditionally been a developer who bucks the trends and releases games in Jan quite frequently, I think you can also add into the fact they released into the start of an unexpected glut of big releases for the first three months of the year, where also many were pushed back that people are waiting to spend their money on.
I personally didn't pick up DmC as a purchase because I spent money on Aliens CM for example... ACM might turn out to be a huge sack of monkey crap, but I'm more interested in Aliens than DmC. I could believe that is the same for people with interests in Dead Space, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Rising, or anything else arriving soon. I'm not saying there isn't people out there who did perhaps want to pick up DmC (I've seen plenty around and the chart placement says there was enough in the first week for top billing in the UK etc.) but perhaps due to the above issues about the content etc. not nearly as much as some of these other games.
Of course that's all prediction until I see how some of those titles later sell. For all I know the impact could be across the board and they all walk away with below average sales because people were so unsure and spread out about their purchases between Jan, Feb, and March. :p
IMO a thing to consider here is that DMC wasn't really as big as Resident Evil nor did it have as big as a fan base.
When Capcom alienated the core fan base with RE4 (by branching out of the Survival-Horror genre and adding so many changes), the series was still able to continue thanks to the fact that it was always a more 'mainstream' title. So even if part of the fan base avoided the game, it didn't really affect its sales numbers.
And because DMC was not as popular as RE, DmC wasn't ever going to get that type of support from mainstream gamers.
So when Capcom alienated that series fanbase, DmC took a serious hit in terms of its sales. And its obvious to me that is going to have a harder time finding an audience for itself.
If it sells at all, it will be because of the good reviews and word of mouth.
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