Come on, its the new math ...

$20 Million to develop
+$10 million to Market
=$30 Million total costs

$30 Million gross revenue
-$5 Million licencing fees
-$10 Million Retail and Shipping costs
=$15 Million Net revenue

-$15 Million profit!

Some devs were quoted saying that you needed at least 500k to break even on a game for the PS3/360.  Consider that higher budget games would need higher sales.  Also consider that the price of games drops significiantly.  For example, Halo 3 was an MS published game, and MS promised it all MS published games sold at $50 instead of $60.  But there were places you could find Halo 3 for $30 around Christmas time.  So not all sales were at $50.

I think there (probably) are a lot of games that can break even after 500,000 unit sales, and I think it is a bad to assume that a higher profile XBox 360 game would break even (in particular if it had as large of a marketing campaign as Lost Odesy did).

I did liked Brawl but like it happened with Halo 3, I thought that it was way too overhyped. Just like Halo 3 wasn't that different from Halo 2, Brawl is not that different from Melee.

Still, I wouldn't call it a dissapointment though.

There are definately bigger disappointments than some on the list.

I can't speak to all consoles but for PS3 the following have been disappointing IMHO:

1) Lair - very bad decision with motion control only linked with poor targeting = game thats too hard to master vs easy Wii motion control games. I still love the concept, and if they release it as a platinum title I'll give it a go with the patch, but this game simply did not live up to its promise.

2) Haze - oh free radical! Why? A generic FPS with a few gleams of gold and a whole mine full of average. I'm so gutted I'm speachless.

3) Assassin's Creed - why is it a disappointment despite the sales? Because they built a great engine, got the basic mechanics finished, then released it before actually making a full game. AC is simply a very weak game when you're not just free running around jumping on people for no reason and killing them. The plot is stretched horribly - the damn thing ends just as its beginning from a plot point of view. The mechanics are meaningless. You never need anything from your investigations. It's just go to three locations, perform three horribly basic acts (many taking 10 seconds) and then listen to the cut-scene.

4) Transformers - now this is something my kids got, and while watching them play it (and shaking my head sadly in a kind of uperior dad way) it actually occured to me that funnily enough the Transformers premise would (or rather could) make a good game - sadly cheap and nasty cash ins are obviously easier to make, and I guess I wan't expecting it to be different - but isn't it dissapointing that no effort was even made to make something good?

Heavenly Sword I didn't find dissapointing at all. Did what it said on the tin, had a clear if simple little story, and looked super. The only problem I saw was that it was hyped up to be more than it was designed to be. Great voice acting and cut scenes too.

I recently got UT3 on PS3 out of curiosity and have found it great fun. Again, it may not have reached sales hoped for but the basic game is solid, polished and runs great on the HW.

DMC4 I haven't played but my eldest son was a very happy customer and from reviews/sales again I don't see why it was dissappointing. It's not like they tried to be innovative. It was always going to be more of the same with better graphics and it delivered so what's to be dissappointed about?

The 360 games like Blue Dragon and LO I haven't played but obviously if their purpose was to give 360 momentum in Japan then they dissapointed. Both reviewed pretty well though so I'd assume the games themselves were okay. I guess the harsh reality is they are on a platform that could only limit their WW potential (not technically before 360 owners go apeshit, but because 360 simply doesn't have enough clout in WW jRPG marketplace - if they were good then WW they'd probably have sold more on Wii or PS3 - or PS2 for sure).

@Epsilon yeah I meant to put that there :D just in a typing frenzy at work xD

@Reasonable I think there was quite a bit of hype on Heavenly Sword, but I personally enjoyed the hell out of that title :D I don't care if it was only 7 hours long, I've replayed it at least 6 times already xD I

It seems to me that they think Mario Kart is a disappointment because you get hit with lots of things when you are in the lead and it makes it harder for the more skilled players to win. Call me crazy but isn't that every Mario Kart ever made. Hell the first Mario Kart had it so the computer controlled players could jump over items and could shoot items at you whenever they wanted.

Blue Dragon was a dissapointment because it was bland and poor introduction for a studio that was suppossed to be the new Square. Yeah it moved 360s in Japan, who cares, it's still dead there.

DMC4 was a dissapintment for some in that its story was an awkward juggling of the mess that lead up to DMC2 and the game itself was really only half a game simply mirrored to create the later half. Gameplay is phenomenal as always, but the unique mechanics of the game (dice rolling) really just made progression awkward and the huge cut scenes at the beggining just felt like a waste in that you weren't allowed to play them. Many people I know personally never finished the game, they just got bored. There is no arguing the game had no real direction and was basically treading water.

People will tell you DMC4 was awesome, but there are people that will also tell you that LAIR is awesome. Now I'm not saying DMC4 is anywhere near the level of LAIR mind you, but when online there is no shortage of people willing to defend or attack something. But in the end just remember that graphics go a long way in whether people see a game as being good or mediocre this generation.

Assassin's Creed was a dissapointment in the eyes of many fans but not in terms of reviews or sales. It like Army of Two are prime examples of games appealing to the lowest common denominators.

MKWII was a dissapointment only in Game Reviews, other than that its been a success in every other measure and oddly enough the most fun Mario Kart I've ever played.

Okami for the Wii was a dissapointment too, at the very least in sales. Beyond that there's no reason they couldn't have included the ending or added an alternate control scheme for the Classic Controller to make this the definative version like RE4 for the Wii was. In the end they just made a compromise of a port.

Now for major dissapointments, let's try on Nights for the Wii, there's a dissapointment.

Haze, Free Radical, I thought you different from the other FPS makers... sigh...

Turok, sucked, the only real crime is that it sold as many copies as it did. The franchise has been dead since Turok 3, just let it die people.

Orange Box for the PS3 sucked, but then again many ports for the PS3 have at least one problem or another.

Unreal Tournament 3, I thought this was suppossed to be one of the greatest FPS franchises?

Halo 3, talk about the most overhyped game of all history.

Heavenly Sword... Five hours long, give me a break, a game hasn't been this misrepresented since the original Fable.

Everything? I haven't really had FUN with many game outside of a couple Wii efforts. I was most excited for BioShock last year but it plays like crap on PC -- console-styled FPS was obviously the focus. With all the trappings getting slapped onto games, and titles/franchises being made by committee, I don't end up having much fun any more. Going through my old GameFans the other day really drove this home.