Xponent on 01 December 2008
| Reasonable said: I don't think LBP 'flopped'. Nor is comparing it to Gears useful. Genre matters a lot in game sales, as does pre-knowledge of what you're getting. To be blunt, and rather sarcastic about my fellow gamers, but including myself to an extent - for the most part we demand new experiences and innovation then shun them in favour of replaying tried and tested games instead. And its because that's how most of us react to games. We like what we know and a good game (or mechanic) can be played over and over again. Consider: Gears launched as a new IP that was in fact almost totally generic, well advertised and easy to communicate - here's a great shooter with lots of violence and great graphics. It also released on a console heavily weighted towards shooters from a known developer of such titles. It had just enough refinement (I can't say innovation) to make it have enough 'new' appeal as well. It was as safe a bet as I think you can have for a 'new' IP - a new setting, some new mechanics, new content, but at its heart a well known, tried and trusted game mechanic - space marines, fearsome foes, big guns, well honed shooting and lots of blood... and of course killer MP. Super Mario Galaxy (arguably a more similar title) launched as the latest in a very known and well sold franchise on the hottest selling console and again with a perfect match of demographic to title. It too had just enough refinement (I can't say innovation) to make it have enough 'new' appeal as well. It was as safe as bet as you could have for a 'known' IP. LBP launched as a new IP, with some decent innovation on a console (extensive, completely seamless level building and level sharing/scoring), a decent 'game' portion. It was developed by a small team and thrust forward by marketing and hype (and I'd argue in reaction to critics going ga-ga over the title when it was first shown). It was, in short, far from a safe bet no matter how much the majority of the gaming press/marketplace cooed over it. Admiring something cute and new is one thing, buying it is another. Within that context I believe LBP sold pretty well. I actually doubt the beta cost it more than 10,000 or so sales. I do believe the delay hurt it more, losing it a lot of potential sales by forcing it into a timeframe alongside big shooters instead of launching in a period of relative calm before the storm. If there is a flaw it's that some (perhaps Sony themselves) developed unrealistic expectations for a new IP in a genre that has not produced amazing sales on PS3 compared to shooters and 'known' properties. The failure is not the games, but in those unrealistic expectations. Everything I have read indicates LBP was a labour of love project by a small team, that its overall development budget was probably relatively small by AAA standards and that it will comfortably deliver a profit on current/trended sales. For me its my GOTY - I haven't enjoyed a single game's whole experience more this year so far (so I'm not just going on the supplied levels, but playing user content, creating levels myself, and just 'mucking' about with friends/family as the game so readily encourages you to do. But I never expected 3 million WW LTD sales week 2 or anything like that. The game will break 1M and if it has legs (which I believe it deserves to have and has a decent chance of showing) then it will sell well for what it is - a risky new IP as opposed to a 'safe' new IP. I do sometimes wonder how it would have sold on Wii... but even though I own one I'm glad its on PS3, the HD textures and content is part of what LBP is, and I think it suits the platform very well. Just perhaps not the majority of its owners! |
Although I agree with you that some gamers (particularly the 'hardcore') prefer familiarity, the commercial success of new casual Wii and DS IP's illustrates a huge demand for innovation in the market. Nintendogs, Wii Sports and Wii Fit demonstrate that new IP's are more than capable of generating big sales.
I haven't played LBP myself, but from what I've heard and read, it targets the broader demographic found on Wii. I believe that casual gamers are less drawn to familiarity and are more open to new IP's. Rather, I think you hit the nail on the head when you implied in your final paragraph that perhaps the PS3 lacks the casual userbase to support this type of game. The Wii has the casual market all sewn up this generation.
