I think in spirit he is correct. The quality of the title should be the first focus, not sales. Sadly, its the sales that will determine much about future titles (be they new IP or sequels) from the same developer.

Mind you it's the same for films & books so its not like this is anything new.

This dude must've made games that bombed.

I agree to an extent.

If a game is great and there is room for a sequel, then I want it to sell enough copies so that they look into making one. Or, if a smaller Dev makes a game that is awesome, i want it to sell enough that the Developer makes enough of a profit to stick around.

So if a game I really like sells 1M-3M, then I'm happy, as that is enough sales for most games to warrant a sequel or keep smaller Devs around. But, it's not like it is a huge deal to me if it sells 8M+.

Game sales to me are more of a thing of interest, I have a similar thing in regards to Box Office numbers and Sports statistics, which is where my username came from. "Stats" was what my lacrosse teammates called me because I knew the goals/assists totals of people on the team and those around the conference and league, as well as Professional sports leagues. (especially NHL)

Hey, I care more about the statistics in the premier league than actually watching the games. Are you gonna tell me that's wrong too?

Of course I do, I want my favorite games to succeed.

Only fanboys with an agenda care about sales.

I've only seen the quote posted, but I don't think he's saying it is "wrong' to pay attention to the numbers/sales/stats.

Rather that some people can too tied to them and caught up in them on an emotional level, which I agree with. It's one thing to say "woohoo" Torres/Agbonlahor/Zaki/Berbatov/Lampard/Gerrard/Van Persie/someone else (take your pick) has a lots of goals if they're your favorite player or apart of your favorite team. But to have to change your pants when "x" game sells super well or go into a state of depression when it doesn't, to me, is a little excessive.

makes sense, if I love Civilization IV I'd be crazy if I didn't want it so succeed, thank god it was a success and I can certainly wish for a Civ V.

If you like the game and others like the game...Does it have an effect on your enjoyment of the game?  If it's a good game and you enjoy it...Why do you worry about sales?  As long as it sells 'good enough'... It doesn't matter end game.  Whether it sells 1.2 million, 800,000, 6 billion, etc is irrelevant.   As long as the company forges a profit on the game then it's all irrelevant.

Sales are secondary always to the games. But they are indeed a nice finger in the wind to see the health, future prospects and sequels/investments made in your chosen console(s) if you were one of those that cant afford the time and money for more than one.