Patcher's a moron. Many VgChartz members offers much better analysis of the gaming industry than that guy. The so called "legs" of a title is simply word of mouth, the hollywood model is a perfect analogy megaman, especially for the hd consoles. Big name games have big opening weeks and then just sort of sink into oblivion. This isn't good because the gaming industry thrives on variety, not just the blockbusters.

This all comes down to the lack of hardcore titles on the Wii; and no, games like Madworld are NOT hardcore. Hardcore refers to the audience, and new IPs cannot be hardcore because they can't get an audience until after they come out; without an audience you can't have hardcore gamers, and without hardcore gamers you can't have a hardcore game.

Games like Super Mario Galaxy are hardcore because the Mario fanbase has been cultivated by Nintendo over the past two decades, so any major Mario game that comes out has a dedicated following even before the game hits shelves; a spin-off like Mario and Sonic isn't hardcore, because it's not a real Mario game, and doesn't automatically grab the fanbase's attention right away. Mario Kart is an exception as it has become a franchise in and of itself, and has it's own hardcore fans. Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics could also be a hardcore game, because it has the fanbase of the first Mario and Sonic to reach out to.

Hardcore games are heavily front loaded because the fanbase is waiting for the game and has been following every detail since the announcement; they'll buy the game at the first available moment, which is why almost all the sales happen in the first few weeks. Games that don't have a hardcore fanbase, build up their audience over time, and creep up in game sales; if the game has broad appeal, it will slowly build up a huge following.

tuoyo said: No matter how well those titles ended up selling it is very unlikely Madworld will follow a similar pattern.

 

Based on...

I believe i shall change my sig again. Good show.

Veder Juda said: This all comes down to the lack of hardcore titles on the Wii; and no, games like Madworld are NOT hardcore. Hardcore refers to the audience, and new IPs cannot be hardcore because they can't get an audience until after they come out; without an audience you can't have hardcore gamers, and without hardcore gamers you can't have a hardcore game. Games like Super Mario Galaxy are hardcore because the Mario fanbase has been cultivated by Nintendo over the past two decades, so any major Mario game that comes out has a dedicated following even before the game hits shelves; a spin-off like Mario and Sonic isn't hardcore, because it's not a real Mario game, and doesn't automatically grab the fanbase's attention right away. Mario Kart is an exception as it has become a franchise in and of itself, and has it's own hardcore fans. Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics could also be a hardcore game, because it has the fanbase of the first Mario and Sonic to reach out to. Hardcore games are heavily front loaded because the fanbase is waiting for the game and has been following every detail since the announcement; they'll buy the game at the first available moment, which is why almost all the sales happen in the first few weeks. Games that don't have a hardcore fanbase, build up their audience over time, and creep up in game sales; if the game has broad appeal, it will slowly build up a huge following.

Rather than trying to redefine the word "hardcore," why not just use the term "established franchise?"

 

Avalach21 said: Veder Juda said: This all comes down to the lack of hardcore titles on the Wii; and no, games like Madworld are NOT hardcore. Hardcore refers to the audience, and new IPs cannot be hardcore because they can't get an audience until after they come out; without an audience you can't have hardcore gamers, and without hardcore gamers you can't have a hardcore game. Games like Super Mario Galaxy are hardcore because the Mario fanbase has been cultivated by Nintendo over the past two decades, so any major Mario game that comes out has a dedicated following even before the game hits shelves; a spin-off like Mario and Sonic isn't hardcore, because it's not a real Mario game, and doesn't automatically grab the fanbase's attention right away. Mario Kart is an exception as it has become a franchise in and of itself, and has it's own hardcore fans. Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics could also be a hardcore game, because it has the fanbase of the first Mario and Sonic to reach out to. Hardcore games are heavily front loaded because the fanbase is waiting for the game and has been following every detail since the announcement; they'll buy the game at the first available moment, which is why almost all the sales happen in the first few weeks. Games that don't have a hardcore fanbase, build up their audience over time, and creep up in game sales; if the game has broad appeal, it will slowly build up a huge following. Rather than trying to redefine the word "hardcore," why not just use the term "established franchise?"

Because "established franchise" just means that it's an IP that already exists, it doesn't say if it has a dedicated fanbase or not.  I suppose I could've called it "games with a dedicated fanbase", but that's a mouthful.

 

Thrillhouse said: Well thought out and researched. Wii does not seem to have huge launch days (barring Ninty's own titles) but they seem to get purchased over several months, which I guess is what any publisher would prefer. Low risk initial output, and reoorders from retailers for games that all they essentailly have to do is reburn copies of. The only addition / argument to this post that anyone could realistically make is how many games have had an opening greater then 50K and become stagnant... but then again, you'd probably have to do that for every system to make a valid comparison

 

I don't think it does matter that some games burn out quickly after launch on Wii. The whole point behind the OP is that you cannot judge the long-term sales trend of a Wii game based on first-week sales. Even if you can produce a longer list of games which fizzle after launch, the point still stands that it's foolish to judge these things after just one week.

It's foolish to make similar judgments about HD games, but people get away with it more because it's much more rare for an HD game to get the longevity that these Wii games get. It's even rarer for an HD game to launch below 50k and sell a million LTD.

Excellent post, OP, and I'm glad that you've already accepted that you won't enlighten very many people with it. :)

Doesn't Nerf N Strike deserve a mention??

scottie said: Doesn't Nerf N Strike deserve a mention??

 

It has a lot of ground to cover to reach platinum. Coaster's just going for the obviously successful million-sellers. An exhaustive list would take a lot more work.

tuoyo said: No matter how well those titles ended up selling it is very unlikely Madworld will follow a similar pattern.

I disagree to an extent. I don't know if it will become a million seller as the games I listed have done. I do believe this game will be successful by selling at least 500,000. It's a new IP that caters only to the hardcore crowd and it's art style may not be for everyone or have a hard time getting people to try it. Since games aren't extremely expensive to make for the Wii in comparison to HD consoles, I'm pretty sure that 500,000 is very profitable for most games. I don't want to make this thread mostly about Mad World despite that being a main reason I made this thread. I think as some time goes by, we'll see this game turn into a big success. The same is true for many other games too that get classified by some gamers far too soon. My point is that why don't we wait a month or two before trying to judge how a game has done?