Once again, Call of Duty sells so well because it is an amazingly well designed game. It gives the gamers exactly what they want: fast, fun, explosive action. I don't even play the game, I don't really have an interest in FPS, but that doesn't mean I'm going to lie and say that it's bad just because it's not my preference.

Yeah, they play on consoles. I must be condescending yeah.

Most "gamers" have only heard of COD, Ninty's popular titles, Assassin's Creed, Halo, Resident Evil,  sports rehashes and a few other hugely popular franchises.

Just last week, my roommate walked in on me playing Tales of Graces F. His comment "what the hell kind of game is that...some Japanese anime s@#$?" My roommate is what I'd call a "mainstream gamer"

People typically think there are two kinds of gamers: casual and hardcore but they are very wrong. There are actually 3 kinds of gamers IMO:

1. Casuals: Folks who play games but are scared of using a traditional controller. "How do I remember all the buttons?" is a statement you can expect from this crowd. They are sold on non-traditional controls i.e motion, touchscreen, etc and simplistic "quick fix" kinds of games. These folks are most of the population

2. Mainstream gamer: Most of the dudebros fit here. this goes for those who only play Halo, COD, GTA, Assassin's Creed, Typical Sports titles, Some nintendo faithful, etc. these folks are more than hardcore gamers.

3. Hardcore Gamer: These folks play anything and are passionate about gaming. The backbone of the industry. These are the kinds of people you would see spending significant time on gaming forums. If said gamer has heard of a series like "Disgaea" or "hyperdimension Neptunia", whether they have played the games or not, they're most likely hardcore. These are the fewest but most reliable customers.

Just my 2 cents...

Y'know I've got tbh, the reason X is getting absolutely no play on any sites is because there's nothing to talk about. We didn't even see a demo, we saw a trailer. Can do the same thing I do with anything else that just has a trailer, post the trailer and then move on until they decide to show something more. Hell at this point I don't even know what the battle system is like in the slightest other than that there are transformers. Not enough meat on this bone I"m afraid.

Im going to be honest with you, some of the games you mentioned as being less successful (except for uncharted) i've never even heard of. And thats part of the problem, people know about cod, fifa, GTA, because they have a strong brand value, people expect them to be good and at a certain standard.

The reason why some of these other games don't sell well is because they dont get their product across to their consumers, most consumers dont go on gaming websites to check out the latests games, they go with the information they know, or from what they've heard from others. Unknown IP's need to find a way to market themselves better. Sometimes to make money you need to spend money.

Final fantasy, pokemon, dragonquest, all these games were probably marketed quite heavily when first released, or were known to be quality titles. Now its common knowledge so less has to be spent, the hype is already there.

Hardcore = Disgaea = CoD, Halo, sports games, etc = Mainstream Gamer  = Most gamers = Casuals

The funny thing is X was extremely hyped. Especially from what I saw here. (And the YouTube Trailers get quite high hits for a new-ish RPG.)

OT: I agree. Seriously, why do mainstream games outsell niche games?! Madness!

(Many of the games listed are pretty niche. Not all, but many.)

Transformers breaks records in terms of sales while Moon is barely known outside of a handful of people.
This hype thing applies everywhere, to every aspect of the entertainment industry.

Nah, I play whatever I like and ignore the ones I don't.

Edited my original post. Didnt meam to call disgaea a "popular title" I was thinking faster than I was typing. happens all the time