Heavy Rain sells 4.5 million. (PS3, PS4)

[Madword]

VideoGameAccountant said:

Madword said:

I guess were just going to have to agree to disagree. The reason I have no worries or concerns about owning a Sony console is that they will make games that may not sell 10's of millions but are unusual and or different to what AAA developers are doing. OK Horizon is very close to a ubisoft title in terms of in game mechanics, but I wouldnt have expected a AA studio to have taken such a chance on the characters/timeframe/story of this game.

Heavy Rain is a perfect example, apparently MS turned this title down. Sony paid them for 3 games (with detroit being the 3rd). I really hope Sony continue to fund David Cages studio as they are doing things that not many companies are doing. God of War's last effort was at the end of the PS3 era, just like GT, Sony continued to support the console even though the PS4 was coming out (unlike others I may add :). The games still sold OK but were never going to do as well as the previous entries just because of timing. Credit to sony to release them on PS3 though, because while that other console gave up a year or two before, sony supported the PS3 up until the end.

Looking at the PS4 games from Sony coming out, there isnt one that I wont get, I really think they have such a good breadth of games. In fact the PS4 is quickly becoming my favourite console in terms of library. What with whats coming out this year and next, I think its definately eclipsing the PS1/2 era. Thats how good Sony have been.

If you like Sony's titles, that's fine. I'm not saying people don't like them. 4.5 million is good numbers, but for a first party developer, it's not great. If Sony is going to fund titles, it should be able to sell units (as an aside, I talk up Nintendo but they have made their fair share of mistakes in this regard too. Lets not forget Bayonetta 2).

I think the bolded part is the issue with Sony. You say they are doing something different not because the game is different but because the story is different. Story in games is generally fluff. Sure, its nice to have a world and what not, but if the game isn't fun to play then none of that matters. This is why Zelda will go on to be a bigger title despite having a lackluster story. But in terms of game play, Zelda kills it, so it will go on to sell a lot more than Horizon will despite Horizon supposedly having a different story.  

If you like these games, more power to you. I know I like a lot of crappy low sale titles. But I think most people care very little for story. Outside of Naughty Dog's games, I don't think this works well for Sony. 

4.5m IS good numbers, thats what you are missing. The aim is to make games that sell more consoles and show your console to have games that the other console look weak. Sony's release schedule looks amazing compared to MS. Now its not the only reason, but look at the sales.

I think its easy to say, well 4.5m isnt a lot, but it depends on how much that game cost to make. If HR made approx 100m, trust me thats a major success for that type of game. Anything over about 30m would have been successful.