Castlevania, Enslaved, Split/Second, Alan Wake, Modnation Racers, Blur, NMH2, Red Steel 2, Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions, Prince of Persia: TFS and so many other games are bombing, even though they are all great games.
The userbases are much bigger, but it feels like gamers are buying less games than they did back 2007, 2008 and 2009. The only things that seem to sell well are First Person Shooters and major franchises. Console sales have been great, but it doesn't seem like anyone that's buying all these new consoles are actually willing to buy new software with them.
My crazy theory is that this generation is starting to burn out for the 'gamer' market, it's been 5 years since the launch of the 360 and maybe all those early adopters are starting fall out of their core gamer habits. It might be ok to play Oblivion for 16 hours straight when your 15, but when your 20 years old, you have other responsibilities and your hobby has to fall to the side. I've noticed now that I'm struggling to pick and choose between games I want at launch because I don't want to waste money, while in the past I used to buy nearly every game I wanted at launch. I've also dropped my gaming time significantly since last year.
The consoles that are being sold now, are being sold to the casual market. That market only identify with a few franchises such as Call of Duty, Halo, Mario, Wii series, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, Random Shooter No. 26, FIFA, Assassins Creed, Just Dance, Gears of War and Final Fantasy. They are satisfied with those franchises and aren't willing to put more money down for a few more games every year. I've always had a feeling that the core market was about 3 million gamers per platform, they are the people that buy the Fallouts, the Dragon Ages, the Red Factions, the JRPG's, the random niche game and etcetera. They are falling off, while the more casual group are growing and until the next console generation, I don't think that core market will rise up again.
Why do you think so many good quality games are bombing in 2010?
Bet with Conegamer and AussieGecko that the PS3 will have more exclusives in 2011 than the Wii or 360... or something.