Cursed Mountain (Classic Survival Horror)

Dr Mario Kart

Dr Mario Kart

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Trailer

gameplay @ E3

Impressions from GAF:
- Tank controls/combat
- Focus on exploration rather than puzzles
- Good variety of environments

Seems like its definitely FOR fans of the genre, but doesnt stand out enough to be for anyone else.

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This came up so quickly. I think its great its out, no reviews up yet.. is that a good or bad thing?

I will be looking at getting it very soon most likely.
 
I've been following the videos on the nintendo channel.
Will get at some point, how soon probably depends on the reviews.
 
That sucks.

I have to say that even though it sold like garbage, I bought the game and it was really good.

At worst, these developers should have an easy time securing jobs at other studios since they managed to make a solid 3rd party Wii game that wasn't shovelware.
 
[quote name='chiwii']I just bought this game a few weeks ago, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet. Too bad about the studio.[/QUOTE]

This
 
I own the game, and that's a damn shame about the studio. And its really a good game, but its one of those items I never heard any advertisement for, and bought by word of mouth through CAG. I hope the developers get jobs at another studio.
 
How much did it end up selling? I've played it about an hour so far and I'm liking it.
 
According to VG Chartz (which you should always take lightly),

Cursed Mountain sold 20,000 in North America and 70,000 in all other areas to a total of 90,000. It was not released in Japan.

That's pretty bad.
 
[quote name='4tygames']According to VG Chartz (which you should always take lightly),

Cursed Mountain sold 20,000 in North America and 70,000 in all other areas to a total of 90,000. It was not released in Japan.

That's pretty bad.[/QUOTE]

For a moment, let's pretend the VG Chartz numbers are a good estimate... in fact let's round up and say that Cursed Mountain sold 100,000. How bad is that?

I mean, how many copies would a game like this need to sell to cover costs or become profitable? How many copies do they expect to sell for a non-franchise game by a first-time developer?

Obviously everyone wants a million-seller... but can smaller numbers be good business too? I can't imagine any Atlus games selling huge numbers, but their business model seems to work out (and the games they release are often very good).
 
[quote name='ejamer']For a moment, let's pretend the VG Chartz numbers are a good estimate... in fact let's round up and say that Cursed Mountain sold 100,000. How bad is that?

I mean, how many copies would a game like this need to sell to cover costs or become profitable? How many copies do they expect to sell for a non-franchise game by a first-time developer?

Obviously everyone wants a million-seller... but can smaller numbers be good business too? I can't imagine any Atlus games selling huge numbers, but their business model seems to work out (and the games they release are often very good).[/QUOTE]

I would guess 100k is still pretty bad, with the studio getting shut down and all. My blind guess would be 250k sales, there would be no real right number unless you knew how much the game cost them to make.

Most Atlus games probably don't sell terribly well, but they only translate already made games (right? not 100% on this), so it is a bit different.
 
100k could be pretty bad depending how much time they spent making it, how much it cost to make the game and how much they put into marketing. It also depends on how many people bought it at the $50 price range versus $20.

For the record I've never seen a TV commericial for the game or magazine ads which is not very good for word of mouth. It didn't help either that there was very little to no internet marketing either. At the very least they could have flooded say Gamespot or Ign with Mass Effect type advertising and that would have helped as well. Bottom line is if you don't advertised your product how is it going to sell? Word of mouth, and I'm assuming the 100kish people (well most of the people after It's release) got it from either good word of mouth or when it dropped in price to $20 (which was quickly).

Normally I'd say 100k is probably awesome for shovelwear/game of rather low budget but if its anything higher forget it. I guess you also should factor in this game was a Wii exclusive so there was no other source of income to go by.

Also the critics were not very nice to this game despite the good word of mouth by most players.
 
20,000 in North America is very low. There may have been more advertising in other parts of the world, especially Australia. I remember seeing some advertising on IGN when it first came out. They were the annoying background ads like the Mass Effect 2 ads, but only on the Wii channel of IGN. The web archive didn't capture it, but it did capture this one on June 30, 2008 with the Cursed Mountain trailer as the head banner: http://web.archive.org/web/20080630024827/http://wii.ign.com/ .
 
Good point about Atlus doing translations and re-publishing already created games. Also it's true that Cursed Mountain (or any more serious game) probably requires more work/effort/cost than shovelware, and that sales numbers are misleading when we don't know how many sold at what price-point.

The game did have some online advertising but didn't seem to fare well. Many people seemed to feel it was something they might get to later... before promptly forgetting about the game altogether. Too bad because Cursed Mountain seems to have some great ideas and a fun story (despite reports of a few pacing issues).



I just hope the talented and hard-working people behind this game land on their feet and are able to find other projects to work on.
 
[quote name='blitz6speed']3rd party wii game bombs at retail, shock and awe ensue, also the sky is blue.[/QUOTE]

quit trolling... go back to replacing your 4th rrod 360. :booty:


This game never got the attention is should have. All 3rd parties are similarly done like that if it's not Capcom or Sega.

They simply don't have the cash to advertise, and the only reason I know of this game is CAG, and eventually Nintendo Power mag.

Otherwise nothing else is actively discussing or talking about these kind of games.

No commericals at all anymore either. It seems that if gamers aren't talking about it, it won't get talked about period.

I'll be looking for the title once it drops to $10 new at GS any week now.
 
In this case marketing doesnt matter, because its a game without a market. By all accounts, it really shouldntve been made.

Classical survival horror has been on the decline for a long time. Theres a reason Capcom moved Resident Evil to being a shooter. While a ton of survival horror has subsequently moved to the Wii to save in development costs, they neglect that no one plays those games anymore. A small developer with one shot or bust shouldnt be dabbling in struggling genres. To the extent that they are, you better be able to break even at 50-100k worldwide or dont even bother (Atlus).

Dec 07 NPD Lifetime Sales:

Obscure - 27k (PS2) 21k (XBX)
Clock Tower 3 - 81k
Fatal Frame 1 - 57k
Fatal Frame 2 - 65k
Fatal Frame 3 - 39k
Haunting Ground - 31k
RE Code Veronica (GCN) - 38k
RE Code Veronica (PS2) - 893k
RE2 (GCN) - 36k
RE3 (GCN) - 49k

As of Jan 09 NPD

Rule of Rose - 36k
Silent Hill 2 - 512k (PS2)
Silent Hill 3 - 279k (PS2)
Silent Hill 4 - 209k (PS2)
Silent Hill 5 - 73k (360), 84k (PS3)
Silent Hill Origins: 80k (PS2), 154k (PSP)
 
Dr. Mario Kart,

Do you have the numbers for this game as of Jan 09 then?

What about Silent Hill Shatterred memories? That game was excellent overall and on the wii. I had no idea about it until I read about it on CAG either however.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']Dec 07 NPD Lifetime Sales:

Obscure - 27k (PS2) 21k (XBX)
Clock Tower 3 - 81k
Fatal Frame 1 - 57k
Fatal Frame 2 - 65k
Fatal Frame 3 - 39k
Haunting Ground - 31k
RE Code Veronica (GCN) - 38k
RE Code Veronica (PS2) - 893k
RE2 (GCN) - 36k
RE3 (GCN) - 49k

As of Jan 09 NPD

Rule of Rose - 36k
Silent Hill 2 - 512k (PS2)
Silent Hill 3 - 279k (PS2)
Silent Hill 4 - 209k (PS2)
Silent Hill 5 - 73k (360), 84k (PS3)
Silent Hill Origins: 80k (PS2), 154k (PSP)[/QUOTE]

And for the most part, those are probably the biggest names in the last gen of horror. I can't imagine Obscure Aftermath, Kuon, and Cold Fear did any better.
 
So I just got into this game a couple of days ago and it is pretty interesting. It is definitely slow and very linear, but the environments and the "Third Eye" Mode are nicely designed. This game is definitely not scary (was kind of expecting some Fatal Frame-type scares) and I would categorize it more of a basic adventure game than a survival-horror game. I am stuck though and I was wondering if anyone on here could help me out. I have looked at the walkthrough posted on various sites and I am still stuck.

Note I am stuck around Chapter 5 or when you get the Fifth Prophecy.
So after you record the mantras from the friendly ghosts up the mountain slope from the monestary and return, you enter a cut scene with Thod-Pa and you have to get ready for a battle scene with an evil spirit. You are facing a deity statue and you have to rotate the Wiimote around in a circle. This gets extremely annoying and takes forever. Watching a YouTube video of the PC version, I guess you keep the rhythm? There is no indication if you are doing the motion correctly on the Wii version and it takes me about 3 - 4 minutes of rotating the damn Wiimote over and over until I finally clear it. Is there an easier way to clear this annoying part?

Once the screen gets completely dark, the battle starts immediately. This spirit has been attacking me non-stop and it is incredibly hard to catch with the Lag Pa weapon. Once I die, which takes like 20 seconds, I have to repeat the damn rhythm section again...

Thank you for the future help!
 
I need to play this one yet. Just got back from vacation... 3d dot heros, Monster Hunter Tri are both sitting opened and started...

Galaxy 2 is sitting there sealed and then this game, Boy and His Blob are sitting there as well..... then lets not get into the backlog.... MP collection, Okami, De Blob, Etc, Etc, Etc...

And to think I am considering picking up Modnation racers...
 
I just picked this up from Amazon for $12, haven't started playing it since I have a list of games to play still but I'm looking forward to playing it. It's a shame that games like this don't do well on the Wii.
 
Found this for 10 bucks at my local Wal-Mart. Didn't buy it yet, but I will sometime later this week. Not sure if it's national or just my Wal-Mart, but just a heads up for those looking to buy at an even lower price than Amazon.
 
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