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Forums - Sales Discussion - USA Weekly, 23rd September 2017, Software

CaptainExplosion said:
Flilix said:

Because a lot of the big Nintendo fans like the franchise. A lot of people HERE were hyping Persona 5 too, while barely anyone cares about FIFA or COD.

Wait, COD and FIFA are top-selling franchises, but barely anyone cares about them?

Here on VGChartz, they don't seem to be that popular.

Sites like this one care a lot about franchises like Metroid, but the average 3DS owner prefers Lego games.



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CaptainExplosion said:
Flilix said:

Zero Mission on GBA only did 0.84M lifetime. Prime Hunters on DS sold 0.76M. Other M on Wii sold 1.35M. Even the 3 Prime games only sold 2.82M, 1.33M and 1.79M.

Metroid simply isn't a big franchise.

But people were hyping Samus Returns like it is a big franchise.

Metroid is the type of series that's well known and loved in the core community, but not that popular with gamers at large. It's similar to how Persona 5 was hyped up to high heaven on forums (and to be fair it has so far done exceptionally well for a Persona title), but outside of forums a lot of people probably don't even know it exists.

It's possible things will change with MP4 though. The Switch is in a good position to push an IP like Metroid, it's just down to Nintendo to push it hard enough.



I'm very confused as to how people think Metroid Samus Returns didn't do well ... It had a strong first week and it looks like it could get to 800k + when all is said and done. This is a case of people hyping a product up more than Nintendo ever did. They didn't even announce it at their e3 direct, but after it. I'm not going to make excuses for the game, it sucks that the first "real" Metroid experience people got isn't going to crack 1 mil. But all of the Metroid games that released at the end of a console's life have done worse. It's amazing that Other M even got close to Prime 3 considering the reviews and the eventual death of the Wii.

I also think saying that it's a result of a "niche franchise" is a bit too short sided. It all comes down to how a company runs a franchise. If Nintendo and it's audience want to run Metroid as a niche franchise, than a niche franchise it will be. If they want to run it as something else it will be that.  People talk like Metroid's niche status is unevitable, a curse that is somehow the fault of the  IP. Even when you take into account that it's more complex than your standard action game, I really don't think this is the case. There are some franchises that are just destined to be niche, and I don't think Metroid is one of them. Samus Returns was just a "niche" title meant to be that way, it was meant to be a fun experience that hardcore fans would buy that would support a slowly dying console. It's the same as Fire Emblem, but we don't see that as dying, and we're getting closer to it no longer being "niche" either. 


http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/08/08/metroid-prime-3-the-anti-hype

As far back as 2007, Metroid's exposure has been an issue. You can't sell a game you don't want to sell. Samus Returns did fine for what Nintendo wanted it do, if it only hits 500k-800k that's fine and I won't be upset. It will probably make a profit. I only care about expanding the series forward with Prime 4 or Metroid Dread, if they fuck those up, THAT is a problem.



Flilix said:
Shikamo said:

strange.. the physical version of nba 2k18 for switch only released on October 17 and sold 14k almost 1 month before launch lol

Pokémon Gold and Silver for 3DS appeared on the UK charts. I wonder if these are just mistakes, or if they somehow managed to estimate eShop sales?

There is a physical version of it. Well, kind of; it's just a cover case with a digital code in it but it's sold at retail.



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