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Forums - Nintendo - Disaster: Day of Crisis - Sales

Leni on 05 November 2008

http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=7701&region=All

a think it's not tracked as well!!

there's a video of it on Nintendo channel!!
Also, if it sold 13,000 in Japan at launch, it's impossible it has sold less in Europe!

even if it has sold really bad, we could still have a number, at least 500 copies or something!!

also, in the charts is states clearly:

Note that software figures are largely incomplete.



Wii console: 0595 8808 5698 2709
Super Smash Bros Brawl: 1161 1357 5188
Mario Kart Wii: 1633 4506 4319
PES 2008: 1633 5820 0347
DragonBall Z BT 3: 3823 9760 9484
Pokemon Battle Revolution: 3480 2645 9186 Feel free to add me, and sent me a pm with your Friend Code!!

 

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pimpcoop on 05 November 2008

I still feel that when Nintendo has a game that is hardcore they push it off to the side and say o well. The only people who buy it are people that actually do the research about the game. Also when you go to some video game sites that review games the users liked the game, so why don't that just get people into buying the game. I really do not know, but I do blame Nintendo for this ojne!



bardicverse on 05 November 2008
Tremble said:
@bardicverse: are u sure about the 30$ stuff? Cause i think it's way too much. taxes, shipment, translation, nintendo royalties, ads, retailers... would only count for 20$?

Yup, the end take home for the publisher is roughly 30 out of 50. Of course, the actual dev gets a smaller chunk, but the publisher is usually the one to front most, if not all of, the development costs to the developer.

@disolitude - tired or not, its just simple numbers. 400k is NOT bad for a Wii game, definitely not a bomb. 100K LT WW is the common breakeven. Anything under that is a bomb on the Wii. Anything under 500K on an HD system is a bomb. It's all relative to development cost, whether you like to hear it or not, its the cold truth of the matter. Oh, and I've been around the industry for a while, so I actually do know the average sales v. profit stats, but I assume you weren't aiming that comment at me. I know that you know better than that.



noname2200 on 05 November 2008
pimpcoop said:
I still feel that when Nintendo has a game that is hardcore they push it off to the side and say o well. The only people who buy it are people that actually do the research about the game. Also when you go to some video game sites that review games the users liked the game, so why don't that just get people into buying the game. I really do not know, but I do blame Nintendo for this ojne!

From what I've heard, this game's actually had some television advertising in Europe, and plenty of television ads in Japan. So it's not like they're completely ignoring this title, or even skimping on the advertising.

That said, it's definitely received some very odd treatment from Nintendo. The lack of any news or details until a mere week or two before launch, for instance, is simply bizzare. I'd actually like a journalist to ask Nintendo about this: why did you guys choose to take this route with this game? I know they're operating on a much more secretive basis now than ever before, but why was this game kept so tightly under wraps throughout, thus neglecting the free advertising that gaming magazines and sites could offer? I'm sure they've got their reasons, and they might even be good ones, but I'm still curious to hear what comes from the horse's mouth.



hanafuda on 05 November 2008
bardicverse said:
hanafuda said:
bardicverse said:
^^^^ at $50/copy x 400k, that's 20 mil for a game that cost 3.5 mil to make, in other words a profit of 16.5 mil. I'd call that successful. Now if its a HD game, thats a different story, as the development might cost as much as 20-30 mil. An HD game MUST break the mil mark in order to turn a profit in many cases. This is why a lot of devs like making Wii games. Easier turnaround to profitability.

 

Yeah, cuz Capcom pocket all the cash handed over to the retailers!

My bad, forgot to factor the maufacturing and retailer costs, so we're looking at 30/copy. So that's 12 mil. So in other words, it further makes HD development selling the same amount of copies unprofitable, as opposed to tripling money on a Wii development. In the end, the result is the same. Unless you are guaranteed to sell 1 mil plus copies, HD development is very risky. As of the last sales charts, the Wii and XB360 are tied with games that have topped a mil, both at 13 titles and the PS3 was at 7 or 8. By those numbers to actual games released ratio, that means that there's a lot of HD games that fell by the wayside and lost money in the development process.

 

Distribution costs, marketing costs, localization costs...

You are assuming a lot.  Development costs of HD games comes down all the time as things get easier and more streamlined.  Sure, in most cases it is probably higher than developing for systems like the PS2 or Wii, but even so, most of the rest of the costs stay the same. 

Furthermore, due to higher competition and the rather odd Wii market, I'd say developing for Wii has plenty of risks.  Try asking Bandai Namco how they feel about Pro Golfer Saru's opening week of 719 copies in Japan...

http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=28293

I think fewer devs are drinking Nintendo's, 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow' kool aid regarding Wii development.  It may have washed a year or so ago.  Not any more.

 



PSN - hanafuda

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disolitude on 05 November 2008
bardicverse said:
Tremble said:
@bardicverse: are u sure about the 30$ stuff? Cause i think it's way too much. taxes, shipment, translation, nintendo royalties, ads, retailers... would only count for 20$?

@disolitude - tired or not, its just simple numbers. 400k is NOT bad for a Wii game, definitely not a bomb. 100K LT WW is the common breakeven. Anything under that is a bomb on the Wii. Anything under 500K on an HD system is a bomb. It's all relative to development cost, whether you like to hear it or not, its the cold truth of the matter. Oh, and I've been around the industry for a while, so I actually do know the average sales v. profit stats, but I assume you weren't aiming that comment at me. I know that you know better than that.

This may have been the case in 2005...but today it just doesn't make sense. HD systems still get 2X the amout of big games (if not more) compared to the wii. And a good chunk don't sell 500K. I'm sure developers and 3rd parties don't like losing money...yet by your logic, it seems they are doing just that.

A lot of the resources are being reused these days...like Condemned 2 used a lot of the textures and dev tools from FEAR and Condemned 1. Unreal 3 engine is quite cheap to licence. Also, it really depends on individual games. There is no way something like the new Golden Axe cost 10 million or more to make. Game has worse production and visuals than a lot of wii games I have. DMC4 may look like a blockbuster title so everyone assumes something like that costs 20-30 million to make, but the entire second half of the game is the same levels backwards, it has no CGI, no big name voice actors or licenced soundtracks... I'm sure capcom raped the sales on that one cosidering it sold over 2 million and I doubt it cost over 10 mil. Games should be judged individually rather than lumping all wii games as "3 million productions" and all hd games as "15 million+".

My post wasn't a dig at you individually, but everyone posting on this site thinking they know business strategies better than giant corporations making these games. They know where the money is...



noname2200 on 05 November 2008
disolitude said:
bardicverse said:
Tremble said:

 

This may have been the case in 2005...but today it just doesn't make sense. HD systems still get 2X the amout of big games (if not more) compared to the wii. And a good chunk don't sell 500K. I'm sure developers and 3rd parties don't like losing money...yet by your logic, it seems they are doing just that.

My post wasn't a dig at you individually, but everyone posting on this site thinking they know business strategies better than giant corporations making these games. They know where the money is...

Demonstrably not, actually. From all of two months ago...

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/less-than-3-out-of-10-games-recover-costs-says-eif-boss

"My guess and analysis shows that less than 3 out of 10 games recover their development and marketing costs with boxed goods sales," said Deering. "So what's going to have to happen? Creative use of hybrid online and offline advertising revenues, online offline transactions with consumers - these business models must be explored.""

Edit: Just to add to what I just wrote:

http://www.edge-online.com/features/edges-top-20-publishers-2008


 

Keep in mind, these are the TOP TWENTY publishers. Makes you wonder how the rest of the list will turn out...

 



Lolcislaw on 05 November 2008

Well shame that Disaster did not do that well, i thought game like this is what Wii owners in Europe needed, ill plan to pick this game in about a month it looks fun and it deserves to do better.

Shame that reviews werent that good as well

not all games have to sell well



Majin-Tenshinhan on 05 November 2008
hanafuda said:
bardicverse said:
hanafuda said:
bardicverse said:
^^^^ at $50/copy x 400k, that's 20 mil for a game that cost 3.5 mil to make, in other words a profit of 16.5 mil. I'd call that successful. Now if its a HD game, thats a different story, as the development might cost as much as 20-30 mil. An HD game MUST break the mil mark in order to turn a profit in many cases. This is why a lot of devs like making Wii games. Easier turnaround to profitability.

 

Yeah, cuz Capcom pocket all the cash handed over to the retailers!

My bad, forgot to factor the maufacturing and retailer costs, so we're looking at 30/copy. So that's 12 mil. So in other words, it further makes HD development selling the same amount of copies unprofitable, as opposed to tripling money on a Wii development. In the end, the result is the same. Unless you are guaranteed to sell 1 mil plus copies, HD development is very risky. As of the last sales charts, the Wii and XB360 are tied with games that have topped a mil, both at 13 titles and the PS3 was at 7 or 8. By those numbers to actual games released ratio, that means that there's a lot of HD games that fell by the wayside and lost money in the development process.

 

Distribution costs, marketing costs, localization costs...

You are assuming a lot. Development costs of HD games comes down all the time as things get easier and more streamlined. Sure, in most cases it is probably higher than developing for systems like the PS2 or Wii, but even so, most of the rest of the costs stay the same.

Furthermore, due to higher competition and the rather odd Wii market, I'd say developing for Wii has plenty of risks. Try asking Bandai Namco how they feel about Pro Golfer Saru's opening week of 719 copies in Japan...

http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=28293

I think fewer devs are drinking Nintendo's, 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow' kool aid regarding Wii development. It may have washed a year or so ago. Not any more.

 

 

Oh yeah, I'm sure that they were really disappointed about Pro Golfer Saru. I mean, it should've sold so much better given it's amazing 12/40 review score in Famitsu ...



bardicverse on 05 November 2008
hanafuda said:
bardicverse said:
hanafuda said:
bardicverse said:
^^^^ at $50/copy x 400k, that's 20 mil for a game that cost 3.5 mil to make, in other words a profit of 16.5 mil. I'd call that successful. Now if its a HD game, thats a different story, as the development might cost as much as 20-30 mil. An HD game MUST break the mil mark in order to turn a profit in many cases. This is why a lot of devs like making Wii games. Easier turnaround to profitability.

 

Yeah, cuz Capcom pocket all the cash handed over to the retailers!

My bad, forgot to factor the maufacturing and retailer costs, so we're looking at 30/copy. So that's 12 mil. So in other words, it further makes HD development selling the same amount of copies unprofitable, as opposed to tripling money on a Wii development. In the end, the result is the same. Unless you are guaranteed to sell 1 mil plus copies, HD development is very risky. As of the last sales charts, the Wii and XB360 are tied with games that have topped a mil, both at 13 titles and the PS3 was at 7 or 8. By those numbers to actual games released ratio, that means that there's a lot of HD games that fell by the wayside and lost money in the development process.

 

Distribution costs, marketing costs, localization costs...

You are assuming a lot. Development costs of HD games comes down all the time as things get easier and more streamlined. Sure, in most cases it is probably higher than developing for systems like the PS2 or Wii, but even so, most of the rest of the costs stay the same.

Furthermore, due to higher competition and the rather odd Wii market, I'd say developing for Wii has plenty of risks. Try asking Bandai Namco how they feel about Pro Golfer Saru's opening week of 719 copies in Japan...

http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=28293

I think fewer devs are drinking Nintendo's, 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow' kool aid regarding Wii development. It may have washed a year or so ago. Not any more.

 

Localization is actually part of the development costs, tho another studio is brought on to do that. The rest sure, I can agree with, but the amount spent on marketing varies differently. For example, Disaster vs LBP. Huge diff in marketing.

On the topic of the Bandai game, look at the title itself. Put out a FPS on the Wii, Im sure you'd see a bigger turnout than the 10th Wii golfing game.

Your last point is what is the most incorrect. With Wii marketshare pushing close to the 50% mark, more developers are putting money into developing for the system. This is an obvious trend that's been proven here and other places.