Well, what caused Gears of War to have intial success?

Some places I heard people say because people saw it as the first real "Next Gen" game. At the time the graphics were far above anything else released.

Now I must ask, considering how Killzone 2 looks. Why can it not have the same effect?

Because the graphics aren't that far away. Even if people hype it to death as the most beautiful game ever, it can be compared to other games out there. It isn't leaps and bounds better looking. It's just comparatively better.

So was Halo 1.  At what end? Lifetime? you're not clear.

The game or franchise being unkown is not a problem, it's Marketing's job to sell this new product and if it's done as expected then it will fly off the shelves. I doubt they spent almost 4 years of development and lots of resources just to put out the game with a poor Marketing backup.

The game will have huge legs nonetheless, and will sell the most when (hopefully) the PS3 gets a price cut next year. Also, PSN-Home improvements (which will be out and very functional by then) will be key, too.

I expect the game to sell near MGS4 numbers in USA and EU (including MGS4 sales atributed to bundles) you think I'm nuts? I wouldn't worry, if you consider PS3 userbase will be substantially larger 9 months after MGS4 debut (including this holiday season) and as I said, a price cut WILL happen next year (probably before KZ2 is 3 months old).

^^^you both are wrong,,,because MS actually marketed the hell out of gears of war

This game looks amazing and over all I would say its going to kick ass. However, I think it will only have modest sells. The main reason is that the first KZ was not very good and it will pretty much be like a new IP. The second being how crappy Sony is with their advertising departments. If they got this game out there like M$ did with halo3 there is no doubt it would sell 4 or 5 million copies, but the way things sit it will probably be around 2-2.5 lifetime sales.

When do you see it plateauing?

Halo 1 was successful because it was a breakthrough among console shooters. The original Killzone was a failure so it's actually worse than a new ip: it's a sequel to an already known failed ip. Again, Killzone 2 is another shooter among a large family of shooters with huge fanbases. Killzone does not have much of a fanbase to compete with, nor does it have any stunning breakthroughs to speak of aside from good graphics that are comparable to other games.

So if you think it's going to sell like MGS4, a solid proven ip with a humongous fanbase, you're either completely and absolutely insane or fanboyish.

^ok bugrimmar, I'll save your post, and I'll hope to see you around here June 09, and....be hungry.

Gears of War was the first killer app for the 360. In November of 2006, it was the reason to own the console.

Killzone won't have the same impact if only because it's coming later in the console's life.

@bugrimmar...

Yeah, KZ1 was a failure. But does any one really remember that game? I didn't play it, I didn't even know it existed before knowing about KZ2. I don't care. And lots of people don't care either, as long as it's a great game. Was Grand Theft Auto 1 such a blockbuster?? first try right? oh, no. Was number 2 the big hit? again, no. Oh, then by your logic we should've expected Number 3 to do more o less the same right?