Boom Blox sells 60,000 units since release.

Pretty low, but it's kind of an odd ball, niche game on a console where traditional games (outside of first party Nintendo games and a few exceptions) have generally sold shitty. So I guess it's not surprising
 
well hopefully it'll get put out on other consoles. 360 is getting a motion controller so its a possibility for them. PS3 has motion.. so it'd be nice. they'd have to tweak the game for each depending on how their motion controller works, but the game seems fun to me.
 
Price is too high + hardly any advertising = dead in the water. Okami hasn't sold well either.

I find it amazing that EA can't find the funds to advertise a game.
 
Price point and non-layman friendly concept killed it. People understand what "Carnival Games" or "Party Games" are. People have no clue what Boom Blox are.

Heck, I bet if they just spelled it "Boom Blocks" it would have sold better than it did.

Even better if it was "You throw ball, things fall down".
 
My copy arrived in the mail today from Circuit City (OOS in-store.. where there are half a dozen copies of Balloon Pop). I put in about an hour and was stuck on one of the point block puzzles for about 15 minutes and moved on. It's pretty cool so far, extremely simple but entertaining.
 
I'm interested but I cant put down 50 for a puzzle game, it's been on my GameFly queue but it's never available. Oh well, I'll wait for 20.
 
[quote name='Strell'] Okami hasn't sold well either.
[/QUOTE]

A damn shame. Sold crappy on the PS2 and now on the Wii (though I didn't expect it to do well there).

One of my favorite games of last gen.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']
Even better if it was "You throw ball, things fall down".[/QUOTE]

Woah! They made a "You Throw Ball, Things Fall Down" game?! Where can I buy it?
 
Wombat on a previous show made a good point that perhaps the price was too high for this game. There's never one bonafide answer as to why something sells or doesn't sell. Trying to sell a simple concept game on the Wii isn't going to be easy as it was in the past, because there's so much other cheaper simple concept games out for the Wii as well.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']No, it's bad.[/quote]
I'm going to disagree. It depends on how much was spent on it, which in this particular case also includes how much Spielberg gets.

[quote name='"some Atlus LTDs as of Dec 07"'] Disgaea - 135k
Etrian Odessey (DS) - 31k
Growlanser: Heritage of War - 5,708
Monster Kingdom Jewel Summoner - 9k
Odin Sphere - 101k
Ontamarama (DS) - 3k
Riviera: The Promise Land - 13k
Rule of Rose - 32k
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner - 33k
Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga - 50k
Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga 2 - 39k
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne - 54k
Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 - 71k
Shining Force (GBA) - 47k
Tactics Ogre (GBA) - 101k
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii) - 216k
Trauma Center: Under The Knife (DS) - 219k
Yggdra Union - 12k[/quote]
Now why would you build a business model on games selling like shit?
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']I'm going to disagree. It depends on how much was spent on it, which in this particular case also includes how much Spielberg gets.


Now why would you build a business model on games selling like shit?[/QUOTE]

It's bad considering that there's like... 25 million Wiis out there.
 
And there are 120-130M PS2's sold. Should we really be scaling expectations like that? What makes a successful PS2 game then?

Edit: And the 60k is NPD, which tracked Boom Blox for 3.5 weeks on a U.S. install base of about 12 M
 
Considering the lack of advertising Boom Blox got, 60,000 for the first month is not bad. Unlike "hardcore" games, puzzle games and casual games (and BB is both) don't start high and drop off quickly, but can stick around for a long time with steady sales. Assuming EA keeps new copies going to the stores, the title could easily sell 300,000+ by the end of the year on strong word-of-mouth (people recommending it to others, etc.).

For comparisons, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz debuted at 60,000 and is now over 300,000 sold. And MySims debuted at 93K in September 2007, sold over 400,000 by the end of the year, and is now getting a sequel. No reason Boom Blox can't do better, especially if EA improves their advertising.

Pretty low, but it's kind of an odd ball, niche game on a console where traditional games (outside of first party Nintendo games and a few exceptions) have generally sold shitty.
Click to expand...
So what "traditional" third-party Wii games should have sold well? I, for one, am glad the Wii audience is savvy enough to avoid turkeys like Soul Calibur Legends and Driver: Parallel Lines.

And why do people bemoan Wii third-party sales when Guitar Hero 3 is still chugging along in the top ten, and We Ski hit #12 in its debut month?

--R.J.
 
What's with the lack of advertising point people keep saying? I've seen more commercials on various channels (mostly kid channels) for Boom Blox than for almost every other 3rd party game for the Wii. Only ones I can think of with more ads are big brand ones like LEGO games (which are shown for all systems), and Carnival Games. I still don't get why that one was trying so hard when nobody else was or is.
 
[quote name='rjung']
For comparisons, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz debuted at 60,000 and is now over 300,000 sold. And MySims debuted at 93K in September 2007, sold over 400,000 by the end of the year, and is now getting a sequel.[/QUOTE]

Still, Boom Blox should be kicking SMB's ass considering it is about 10x better. I really enjoyed it and would have purchased it for sure if it was $30. It's a pretty short game. I beat it and got about 92% of the puzzles complete, nearly all at "Gold" level, in a 5-day rental. That, coupled with the puzzle-game nature of it, means it should have never been a $50 game. I think it would have sold very well at $30. My local Blockbuster still has it for sale new - if EA wises up and drops the price I'll pick it up. It makes excellent use of the Wii remote (making it a showcase game for the system IMO) and my kids would like to have it for the level editor.

To contrast, they had Blast Works for $30 at Blockbuster. I bought that based on a couple of reviews because of the price. Had it been $50 I wouldn't have considered it. (Note that cheap credit makes those prices much lower for me in terms of real $$).
 
[quote name='daroga']SMB had the launch game thing going for it though. Even lowsy games sell well at a system's launch.[/QUOTE]

True. Boom Blox would have been a HUGE seller if it was a launch title as it probably would have been the best reviewed after Zelda (as it is right now it is #11 on Metacritic). On the other hand, Boom Blox had a much higher install base to sell to when it was released (and sales are generally expected to be higher). On the third hand, SMB has had a price drop and been around forever. Hopefully, eventually, quality will win out, though, and Boom Blox will pull ahead.
 
I guess my Mum and Dad didn't go out and get a copy for their Wii then.

Honestly though how do Wii software sales compare to 360/PS3 sales?

I have about 11 Wii games and about 90 odd 360 games, I don't know many people who have more Wii games then me and I know a few who have Wii Sports/Fit/Play only.

I can't imagine the Wii attach rate is that good.
 
[quote name='rjung']
So what "traditional" third-party Wii games should have sold well? I, for one, am glad the Wii audience is savvy enough to avoid turkeys like Soul Calibur Legends and Driver: Parallel Lines.
[/QUOTE]

Touche.

The Wii is really not worth owning if you don't care for Nintendo's games or casual games as the third party support has been super lame so far.

Okami is great and sold like shit--but it sold like shit on the PS2 as well. Zak and Wiki sold fairly poorly as well--but it's a niche game and would have sold the same on any console. I can't really think of any other 3rd party games I'd be remotely interested in if I still had my Wii--so your point definitely stands.
 
[quote name='benjamouth']
I guess someone must be buying that Wii shovelware, unless Mario Kart/Brawl/Zelda have sold big numbers. I mean there's a lot of Wii's out there right ?[/QUOTE]

Yes, the first party games have sold pretty well. Mario Party, Wii Play, the ones you listed etc.

I'm sure a lot of the kid game shovelware sells as well--individual titles probably don't sell a ton, but overall a lot of it sells to parents grabbing a $10-20 game based on a cartoon their kid loved out of the bargain bin etc.
 
I'm just going to chalk it up to market saturation. There are only so many cutesy semi-puzzlers the installed base is capable of absorbing, and it doesn't matter how good the thousandth one is; people are just starting to tune them out. Sorry a good game got lost in the shuffle, but what did everyone expect at this point?

EDIT: Why isn't this in the Wii forums? Are we *hoping* this becomes just another console war thread?
 
[quote name='trq']EDIT: Why isn't this in the Wii forums? Are we *hoping* this becomes just another console war thread?[/quote]I know I am!
 
[quote name='daroga']I know I am![/QUOTE]

Actually, me too: I spend too much time on this site as-is, so a couple more threads that devolve into the usual BS might be exactly what it takes for me to wash my hands of it and start doing something productive at my job again.
 
[quote name='trq']Actually, me too: I spend too much time on this site as-is, so a couple more threads that devolve into the usual BS might be exactly what it takes for me to wash my hands of it and start doing something productive at my job again.[/QUOTE]

:lol:
 
[quote name='trq']Actually, me too: I spend too much time on this site as-is, so a couple more threads that devolve into the usual BS might be exactly what it takes for me to wash my hands of it and start doing something productive at my job again.[/QUOTE]

Any deny trolls the fungus they survive on? Surely this subject is their only life-force, as it rots beneath the dead horse into a disgusting - but chock full of vital nutrients - lichen with which their greasy hair and pimples desperately need in order to continue?

Let us not take away that empowerment, born of rehashed nonsense and covered in rhetorical slime.
 
[quote name='Strell']Price is too high + hardly any advertising = dead in the water. Okami hasn't sold well either.

I find it amazing that EA can't find the funds to advertise a game.[/quote]
I watch a lot of Boomerang and Cartoon Network and they have tons of ads for this game. I've also seen them run the commercials during other family oriented programming so to try and pretend that they didn't advertise this game is just plain silly. They ran plenty of print and TV ads and then there was the supposed "Buzz" online that the game had going for it...or so the bloggers were led to believe.
 
Price is just too damn high for what it is. I'll get it from sp00ge when he tires of it or something.

Gorilla: How well did The Dig sell?
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Come on fanboys, 60,000 copies is bad for a game with Spielberg's name attached to it. Stop trying to rationalize an excuse.[/QUOTE]

Your avatar is ugly. Just thought I would point that out.
 
[quote name='Gavin']I watch a lot of Boomerang and Cartoon Network and they have tons of ads for this game. I've also seen them run the commercials during other family oriented programming so to try and pretend that they didn't advertise this game is just plain silly. They ran plenty of print and TV ads and then there was the supposed "Buzz" online that the game had going for it...or so the bloggers were led to believe.[/QUOTE]

That's not enough. Essentially two channels for a game that should be able to pimp itself out on the Spielberg name alone.

Again - this is EA. The biggest software developer in the world. They have the pure funds to drop for advertising. It's that simple. If this were Atlus, then I could understand.
 
I'm not going to drop 50 bucks on a puzzle game. They are on crack if they think people will pay that much. I'll pick it up when it's 20 bucks.
 
[quote name='Strell']That's not enough. Essentially two channels for a game that should be able to pimp itself out on the Spielberg name alone.

Again - this is EA. The biggest software developer in the world. They have the pure funds to drop for advertising. It's that simple. If this were Atlus, then I could understand.[/quote]
I simply mentioned two channels that I thought of off the top of my head. I'm watching Batman the Animated Series on Toon Disney and they JUST ran an ad for the game. Because you haven't seen the ads doesn't mean they aren't running them..you're in denial about the amount of money EA spent on advertising for this. You can try and argue that there wasn't advertising for this game but that won't change the fact that there was and still is.
 
Problem with the ads is they seem limited to Kids channels. It's a puzzle game with Spielberg's name on it--it could sell to more than just kids/parents--they should be advertising it elsewhere.

But Nintendo is printing money by selling Wii's and software to kids, moms and non-gamers, so I guess the advertising makes since from that standpoint.

But you'd think they'd want to hit more people--but guess they don't need to when the Wii still doesn't stay on store shelves more than a day after coming in.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Problem with the ads is they seem limited to Kids channels. It's a puzzle game with Spielberg's name on it--it could sell to more than just kids/parents--they should be advertising it elsewhere.

But Nintendo is printing money by selling Wii's and software to kids, moms and non-gamers, so I guess the advertising makes since from that standpoint.

But you'd think they'd want to hit more people--but guess they don't need to when the Wii still doesn't stay on store shelves more than a day after coming in.[/QUOTE]

Well, the company who made the game is usually the one to advertise it, unless the console manufacturer is hoping the game will drive console sales, so it really has little to do with Nintendo -- advertising arguments are all about EA.
 
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