grand theft auto 4...Is a success or a failure???

[famousringo]

MontanaHatchet said:

famousringo said:

I think this graph does a good job of illustrating it:

http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Grand+Theft+Auto%3A+San+Andreas+-+PS2&reg2=All&game2=Grand+Theft+Auto+IV+-+PS3&reg3=All&game3=Grand+Theft+Auto+IV+-+X360&weeks=100

GTA IV on PS3 and X360 fall about 1 million short of where GTA:SA was on the PS2 at a similar point in its life. The charts look similar, except the two million units GTA:SA sold on Xbox are not shown here.

Yes, GTA IV is not quite living up to its predecessor in sales, but to me the bigger difference is that GTA:SA didn't cost $100 million to make. The series has peaked, and I don't expect investments in future GTAs to be nearly as large.

Why would you include the Xbox version? It launched much later, and if you want to include versions that launched later, you should probably include sales for the PC versions of both GTA4 and San Andreas (GTA4 hasn't launched on the PC yet, so your data wouldn't even be complete anyways). Plus, the PS360 userbase at the launch of GTA4 was 30 million, compared to about 70 million or so for the San Andreas launch. And who really cares if the budget was higher? Spiderman 3 has a ridiculous budget, but it was still a resounding success with great profits. GTA4 is likely to outdo GTA3, which was the first GTA game on the PS2 and launched with (I'm guessing) a similar userbase size. And of course the budget will be smaller. They'll be using similar engines/mechanics for the future HD GTA titles, and it will be cheaper.

As someone with a Zack & Wiki avatar, you shouldn't be so quick to call a game a flop. Legs determine everything.

 

 

1. I'm mentioning Xbox sales because it seems more fair to compare the two consoles which GTA:SA launched on to the two consoles GTA IV launched on. PC data is notoriously hard to get and unreliable, so I left it out.

2. A smaller userbase is probably one of the biggest reasons why the series has peaked. Very astute of you. Since the release of GTA IV, it's console userbase has grown by about 7.5 million units. In a similar timeframe, GTA:SA's userbase grew by about 12.5 million units. And the massive userbase expansion of releasing the game on Xbox is yet to come in that timeframe.

3. I think the publisher cares that the budget was bigger. Or maybe not. Take 2 doesn't quite seem to know how to make money. Though Ail does make a good point that reliable returns are reliable returns. Can't expect to strike gold in every mineshaft.

4. As somebody with a green nametag, you should be above putting words in other people's mouths. I never used the word 'flop.' I used the word 'peaked.' Do I have to expain to you how these words mean different things?

Legs for GTA IV have not been looking very favourable compared to GTA: SA. In many recent weeks, the PS2 version of GTA: SA has outsold the PS3 version of GTA IV in Americas. I wish the game comparison tool was flexible enough for me to get a good impression of how often this was happening, but I did notice it several weeks in a row. Throw in the more sluggish growth of GTA IV's userbase mentioned above, and I doubt it will manage to outpace GTA: SA in the long run.