Well people were hyping it to much.
I never expected it to sell as much as people were saying,I know for sure it will have legs,but it won't do as much as people were expecting,although I never expected it to do so mcuh.
It'll most likely end up selling 3-3.5 million.

It won't be a gamechanger tho.

@Reasonable

A nice honest post.

My own thoughts on why LBP didnt invade the mainstream:

- Copyright issues are taking away the best levels

- Very steep learning curve on the Create levels which is ultimately what adds hours to playtime which will be skipped by many purchasers.

- The single player levels and platforming are fine but it only lasts for a while. The real depth comes in creating levels which is too hard for the majority.

- (Probably will be my most unpopular opinion here) It was made for the PS3 and only on the PS3. Imagine its potential if the characters, story, platforming was fully fleshed out Nintendo style on the Wii/DS and integrated into Xbox Live with the New Xbox Experience. Also, this gives some insight into what the PS3 owner population looks like.

Yeah - I love the toolset for creation but it does take some effort (its hard to imagine how anything so deep could be made simpler although it is a breeze next to say Unreal engine editing tools - which I've used to build levels before).

I think the other problem is what is it?  Most say platformer but I would disagree - MM shipped it with levels that are most like a platformer but really it can be a lot more (a calculator anyone?).

I mean I still sink hours and hours into Gears 2, RFOM2, Fallout 3, etc. as much as anyone... I mainly play supposedly 'hardcore' games.  But LBP does deserve more just for what MM achieved with the tools/creation element alone.

Maybe MM should release a 'gun' pack and allow us to get shooting into the game - I rekon another 1M sales LTD if not more if it had guns.  Can you imagine duking it out with a Marcus Fenix sackboy vs a Solid Snake sackboy!

@ OP - You ask why SMG sells so much better than LBP. I can answer this honestly, without taking sides. The Mario franchise is Nintendo's oldest IP, arguable only against Donkey Kong. Are the newer Mario games better than the older ones? It is also arguable. What is undeniable is that people recognize the games, get nostalgic for the characters and so forth. I think this is the reason why I enjoy Zelda: Twilight Princess so much - it truly feels like a continuation from my favorite all time game - Ocarina of Time. It gives me the nostalgia of the old game, with updated technology and story.

Now, with LBP, for as much advertising as Sony can throw at the world, Sackboy and friends are unknowns. They are the new kid on the block. They have to earn their stripes, find their way into the hearts of gamers, and continue to grow with sequels. There's always that ONE game in a series that makes you fall in love with the characters. Not everyone was sold on Mario with Super Mario bros. Hell, it took me to the 5th official Zelda game to truly love the characters.

LBP will just have to be continued and not analyzed by sales, but grow by being ever-present and growing in personality to attract more gamers. That is on the developer and publisher combined. If they just look at sales and say "well that's a failed IP", then they have turned their backs on their beloved creations.

I know that I could never do such a thing. The world doesn't know Gaevan (pronounced Guh-vin), but I do, as he is created from my mind and lives within my heart. Someday the world shall know who he is in one of our dev team's future games. Yet, I will never dismiss him by sales numbers. I will just try harder and harder until the world accepts and loves him too. There is a difference of being a salesman and being a game designer. Let's hope that the people behind LBP are not salesmen.

the game is incredible, too good, and the online is getting fixed. Anyways shadow of the colossus didnt sell well and is amazing too, so dont get depressed

I've just had some nice red wine... and am now very chilled. I've also had the dulcet tones of Mr Fry take me through some more of the elements of making levels in LBP which helps too.

I think I've also mastered smacking other Sackboys around, which is also most amusing.

If you enjoy the game...and think it is amazing gaming experience...why do you care how the game is sold?

I will never understand this...

I loved most of the high profile Sega games for the Saturn, and when PS1 beat their noses in with sales due to greater marketting(example - 1997 advertising budget for christmas was 100 million for sony, 15 million for sega), I did not feel any worse about my gaming experiences.

After gaming for the past +30 years, I see LBP as hardcore. Why? It's a work of art. It's style, physics, aesthetics, etc. is a breath of fresh air for the platformer genre. There is a sort of depth that LBP has that's indescribable. And I don't expect every one to like platformers just like some are not into FPS. Most of the mainstream are into what's familiar and shallow. Now, I'm not calling games that have done financially well as shallow because there is a bigger picture here. You take an FPS that has depth such as deep storyline, great characters, and detailed customizations. But what's probably attracting the mainstream are naturalist graphics and familiar subject matters (such as war). The mainstream typically goes with something familiar to them as a catalyst while the non-mainstream (what I call hardcore) looks more into what a game has to offer. LBP is a great platformer. About sales, I don't know how "HUGE" it will be, but most of the games I own are not the "BIG" hyped sellers. As long as sales are good enough to support a quality sequel while continuing to keep the market with different and good idea to keep pushing the market then all is good.

I care because sales dictate whether developers risk something new or something with another number in the title.  I care because I like to see creative risk rewarded.  The sales themselves mean nothing.

More than anything the fact that too few sales contributes to why games like this, ICO, Portal, etc. are thin on the ground while the shelves are filled with generic FPS, racing games, rehashed sports games, etc. is why I care.

My experience playing LBP isn't affected.  My hopes to see innovation and risk better rewarded/encouraged are.

I think it's easy to understand.

I have the same feeling when I look at the showtimes for cinemas and find them filled with generic, low risk crap rather than something actually worth my time/money.

Or turn on TV.  Or wander a bookstore filled with generic thrillers.

Sometimes the level of mediocricy vs excellence in most forms of media/entertainment/art just gets me down.