Part of the problem may have to do with the fairly low replay value of the game.
It was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences in 2010 so far, but the truth is the game can be finished over a weekend, even more than once.
Sure, there are plenty of hidden collectibles to add gamer score points, but what game doesn't have these? The storyline doesn't fork or lead to optional endings, so the main incentives to play through multiple times are find more items and finish the game on the hardest difficulty (which wasn't that difficult).
It almost seems as though the promise of future episodes remains one of the main reasons to hang onto the game if you're the type who frequently trades in games after finishing them.
While there's really no way of tracking how popular Alan Wake was for rentals, I don't think it's too far of a stretch to say that a lot of Xbox owners may have gone this route, which could be one way of explaining sales that while decent, don't really reflect the time and effort that went into this title.
The only other explanation I could guess is that Alan Wake just didn't resonate in a mainstream way with the Xbox audience, which seems a lot less likely.
