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[A Black Falcon]

Various PC gaming luminaries, especially around the turn of the century - Grim Fandango, Planescape: Torment, System Shock 2

All three are acclaimed as three of the greatest games ever, and were critically praised on release, but sold very poorly at the time. Not sure just how successful the latter two have been with their digital distribution revivals.

Those three games are not equal. Planescape: Torment did not sell badly; it did alright, in fact. Sure, it wasn't a huge success like Baldur's Gate, but the game did not do badly. It is true that those other two's sales were disappointing, though; though Lucasarts did claim that Grim Fandango "met expectations" in the US and exceeded them worldwide, it was not exactly a hit, sadly enough, and System Shock 2 does seem to actually have sold badly (the only one of the three that was a clear failure).

 

[Barrow Roll]

No, I never bought into the "Spec Ops has shitty gameplay to prove a point!" theory.

I think Spec Ops has average to slightly above average (in my opinion) gameplay because the budget was low and it was a small team on their first real project.

I think Spec Ops: The Line would have been just fine with the graphical fidelity of Battlefield and the polish of Call of Duty.

Fair enough. I like the theory put forth on Extra Credits that Yager knew they couldn't deliver gameplay on the level of more experienced AAA budgeted shooters so they made what they could and wrapped the narrative around it. Still, just a theory.

This is just outlandish.

Absolutely not. If the act of killing in Spec Ops was as enjoyable as it was in Call of Duty (just for example), then it would have been completely at odds with the entire theme of the game.

Being fun isn't the only way that video games can be engaging as a medium of entertainment or an art form.

 

[DracoBlade]

Duke Nukem

Spoiler

srs

Also:

 

[Instro]

Xcom Enemy Unknown

Huh?

 

[The perfect Dark]

Suda-Thread?

Shadows of the damned
No more Heroes 1+2
Killer7
Killer is dead

 

[Slamtastic]

DmC

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Most of the time, I think I'm the only person who liked Spec Ops' gameplay.

Okami got a 93 on Metacritic but sold so badly that Clover was closed so I would go with that.

 

[Radec]

wait, so this thread is not really about "critically acclaimed" games that sold poorly but just about games that sold poorly?

heh..

 

[ajosephmartinez]

Psychonauts. It's like Firefly. It just feels like a cruel joke.

 

[Sorian]

Okami and Psychonauts came to mind first for me.

 

[Slamtastic]

wait, so this thread is not really about "critically acclaimed" games that sold poorly but just about games that sold poorly?

heh..

It's GAF's weekly "games that GAF loves but sold poorly" thread.

Many mainstream actual game critics didn't love these games as much as forum posters did.

 

[terrisus]

SNES RPGs
The low sales of these amazing games always shocks and upsets me.

I know I did my part though.

 

[ZQQLANDER]

Xcom Enemy Unknown

Sold quite well actually. As far as I understand its the main reason why there is a significant expansion coming out soon.

 

[Moon_frogger]

It blows my mind that butcher bay wasn't a success. It was the ultimate dude bro game and borrowed elements from all the popular genres,the graphics were top notch, it had well know Hollywood stars and was actually quite good.

 

[Platinumstorm]

 

[Atomski]

Huh?

Yeah Im confused here.. may not have sold amazing but it did decent.

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

Those three games are not equal. Planescape: Torment did not sell badly; it did alright, in fact. Sure, it wasn't a huge success like Baldur's Gate, but the game did not do badly. It is true that those other two's sales were disappointing, though; though Lucasarts did claim that Grim Fandango "met expectations" in the US and exceeded them worldwide, it was not exactly a hit, sadly enough, and System Shock 2 does seem to actually have sold badly (the only one of the three that was a clear failure).

I'm pretty sure all those games are widely considered commercial flops. Grim Fandango was such a flop - even if it supposedly met Lucasarts' expectations, that Lucasarts stopped producing adventure games afterwards. Planescape won Gamespot's "Best Game No One Played" award in 2000.

I'll add to this list Freespace 2, the game is widely considered to be the greatest space sim of all time but it sold so poorly, it killed the genre.

 

[Hystzen]

Ninja Theory thread

good reviews but shit sales

Spoiler

I not enjoyed any there games but eh thats just me

 

[Zeliard]

Those three games are not equal. Planescape: Torment did not sell badly; it did alright, in fact. Sure, it wasn't a huge success like Baldur's Gate, but the game did not do badly. It is true that those other two's sales were disappointing, though

It wasn't quite the nadir of the other two, but Torment's sales were pretty disappointing to Interplay and WotC. The game had a fairly drawn-out development cycle and had to be rushed out the door by the end. They had expectations it would do quite a bit better than it actually did, and relative to its critical reception, the game was fairly obscure until word-of-mouth started to spread and it became a cult classic.

 

[faridmon]

I would have said Suda51 games, but I rememberd the last couple of games weren't that good. :/

 

[ButchCat]

Wow people seem to forget why we waited so long to get a Mirror's Edge reboot. Resistance 3 is another one that sold poorly.

 

[Retro_]

Viewtiful Joe

Viewtiful Joe did really well for itself I thought

At least in proportion to what it cost to make.

Capcom just overdid it afterwards

 

[Shion]

Sega games: the thread

Panzer Dragoon Saga
Shenmue
Rez
Skies of Arcadia
Panzer Dragoon Orta
OutRun 2
Valkyria Chronicles

 

[Creaking]

Tomb Raider.

Does not meeting ridiculous sales expectations count as selling poorly?

 

[Shard]

Viewtiful Joe

Hmmm, yea, no, Viewtiful Joe actually sold well enough to turn into a mini-franchise for Capcom.

 

[A Black Falcon]

I'm pretty sure all those games are widely considered commercial flops. Grim Fandango was such a flop - even if it supposedly met Lucasarts' expectations, that Lucasarts stopped producing adventure games afterwards. Planescape won Gamespot's "Best Game No One Played" award in 2000.

I'll add to this list Freespace 2, the game is widely considered to be the greatest space sim of all time but it sold so poorly, it killed the genre.

Didn't Torment sell in the hundreds of thousands? That's not a flop. And it made money too, even if it wasn't nearly as much as they were hoping.

As for Grim Fandango, they didn't stop making adventure games after Grim; they made one more, Monkey Island 4 in '00. They stopped making adventure games after that. Grim's "failure" was one of the signs that the adventure genre was not the popular genre it used to be, but it wasn't a disaster sales-wise, like System Shock 2 seems to have been (95,000 US alone for Grim, 58,000 by 2000 for System Shock 2, according to Wikipedia... and Grim surely had much higher European sales. Worldwide estimate isn't known, I guess ("somewhere between 100,000 and just under 500,000").

It wasn't quite the nadir of the other two, but Torment's sales were pretty disappointing to Interplay and WotC. The game had a fairly drawn-out development cycle and had to be rushed out the door by the end. They had expectations it would do quite a bit better than it actually did, and relative to its critical reception, the game was fairly obscure until word-of-mouth started to spread and it became a cult classic.

"Cult classic" is probably fair, but didn't the game sell somewhere in the hundreds of thousands, US alone? It didn't do badly. It wasn't a hit, sure, but it did not do badly.

 

[Ashtar]

Huh?

Sold less than 1.5 million on consoles combined.
To me for a game to win multiple goty awards and sell like that Is Poor

 

[Mory Dunz]

Do Thousand Year Door and Wind Waker (compared to Twilight Princess) count?

 

[Gen X]

Does not meeting ridiculous sales expectations count as selling poorly?

that's the joke.

 

[vazel]

Most exclusive PC games released from 1999-2003.

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

This question popped up in my head and I'm trying to remember what games could apply. Embarrassingly I can't remember games that got media acclaim but ended up being financial duds.

Max Payne3, one of the best games of this generation has a meager 2+million sales across the PS3 and 360! It deserves to sell more!

 

[Instro]

Sold less than 1.5 million on consoles combined.
To me for a game to win multiple goty awards and sell like that Is Poor

Game was said to be a commercial success and is getting an expansion announced at Gamescom. I'm not sure how that could be considered bad. Also where are you getting your numbers? As far as I know nothing was ever released.

 

[KiNeSiS]

A lot of people also docked the game for having a poor multiplayer that Yager didn't even develop or want in their game. What a shame.

I'm sure you of all people would know that Spec Ops having enjoyable gameplay mechanics would undermine the entire atmostphere, narrative and theme of the game. A military shooter with good gameplay and a good story could be great, but that wouldn't have worked for Spec Ops.

The second part is the epitome of dumb.
I think it plays good actually the cover mechanc sucks randomly taking you out of cover wtf should have patched that....

 

[Megidolaon]

skies of arcadia

 

[Rubius]

I love how all female protangonist are seen from back with the head turned to the camera while all male are face down eyes up.

Eternal Darkness feel like it was undersold.

 

[SRG01]

Catherine was pretty good, but didn't sell that well either...

 

[Kabuki Waq]

A lot of people also docked the game for having a poor multiplayer that Yager didn't even develop or want in their game. What a shame.

I'm sure you of all people would know that Spec Ops having enjoyable gameplay mechanics would undermine the entire atmostphere, narrative and theme of the game. A military shooter with good gameplay and a good story could be great, but that wouldn't have worked for Spec Ops.

What in the fuck?

i mean seriously what the fuck man.

 

[DigitalDevilSummoner]

Catherine was pretty good, but didn't sell that well either...

It did fairly well

http://www.gamespot.com//news/catherine-tops-500000-units-sold-6341146?

 

[I'M FINISHED!]

Blaster Master

 

[Barrow Roll]

The second part is the epitome of dumb.
I think it plays good actually the cover mechanc sucks randomly taking you out of cover wtf should have patched that....

What in the fuck?

i mean seriously what the fuck man.

Player: "Yeah! I'm having so much fun murdering all these guys!"

Game: "You're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: A hero."

Come on guys, it's not rocket science. Those two things don't mesh on a thematic level, they completely clash. I should change "could" to "would" in the last sentence, but my feeling on Spec Ops The Line remains the same. My previous statement was pretty broad, so I should specify that I refer to actual act of killing in the game. Tighter controls or a more polished cover system would have made the game less frustrating without diminishing the theme, narrative or message, I can absolutely agree with that.

I expect a lot of similar responses, and I don't want to derail the thread, so I'll just say again that games don't have to be fun or enjoyable to play in order to be engaging. I wouldn't say that being scared or feeling tense is fun, but horror games can evoke these feelings and that can be engaging. That's just one example.

 

[benzy]

RSC2

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

A military shooter with good gameplay and a good story would be great, but I don't think that would have worked for the story and message Spec Ops was trying to tell.

No it wouldn't. If you were having fun with the gameplay the message becomes more poignant, not less. The fact that it has somewhat crappy gameplay is a coincidence, they were trying to make it good and it failed.

 

[SneakyStephan]

Blur.

Blur is great, wish they hadn't released it at the same time as that shitty split/second game, and that they didnt make it look like a gimmicky (UI) kart racer with real car skins in the marketing.


Such fun and varied handling, such good powerups, such enjoyable tracks.
Best arcade racer of the gen indeed.

 

[Barrow Roll]

No it wouldn't. If you were having fun with the gameplay the message becomes more poignant, not less. The fact that it has somewhat crappy gameplay is a coincidence, they were trying to make it good and it failed.

I'm having a hard time imagining how the message in Spec Ops would have been more poignant if I was having fun killing the people that I felt like I shouldn't be killing. Instead of feeling uneasy, I'd just be having fun the whole time while the game tries to convey a completely opposite message. Speaking specifically about Spec Ops of course.

You may be right, the devs were in all likelihood just inexperienced, but the final product as a whole worked for me. I'm still waiting for the military shooter that blends mind blowing gameplay and superb storytelling and atmosphere to create an amazing cocktail and I'm more than open to the idea.

 

[Cameron122]

MadWorld - 81
Infinite Space - 75
Bayonetta - 90/87
Vanquish - 84
Anarchy Reigns - 73
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - 80


yeah no.

Took the words right out my mouth

Spoiler

I love infinite space

 

[-Horizon-]

Skyward Sword. Got great reviews, got bad sales.

Spoiler

inb4 "lol the game was bad" posts

 

[Elija2]

You could fill a very depressing book with a list of amazing games that sold like shit.

 

[Zertez]

Psychonauts

 

[ApolloJoh]

Viewtiful Joe did really well for itself I thought

At least in proportion to what it cost to make.

Capcom just overdid it afterwards

Yeah, but I still wish it sold more than it did.

Such an awesome game that I go back to from time to time.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

Warhawk
Okami