Boom Blox sells 60,000 units since release.

[quote name='The Crotch']Gorilla: How well did The Dig sell?[/quote]That's LucasArts, not Spielberg. Or am I missing the point?


Alright. Enough bickering. Moving to Wii Forum and you better keep posts from even flirting with console wars' motifs. Or I'll tell your Mom on you.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']That's LucasArts, not Spielberg. Or am I missing the point?

[/QUOTE]

The Dig was a Speilberg project.
 
[quote name='EA']... The result, he said, is to drive gamers to retail on day one such that 20 to 30 per cent of the lifetime sales of a game may result during the first week - much like the box office for films. The casual marketplace is much different, with a "much flatter, much longer curve and one with which, frankly, EA has relatively little experience in," Riccitiello remarked...[/quote]
This is very apt. I think the game will do just fine for itself in the long-term, and it's probably very financially sound that they have not done a huge marketing push like they would do for Madden.
 
[quote name='Corvin']The Dig was a Speilberg project.[/quote]
It was based on a short story he had originallly written with Amazing Stories in mind but other than that, he wasn't really actually involved with any of the games development or even publishing. The wiki seems to support that. So, technically it wasn't really a project of his. Just based on his work.
 
This game is at least $10 too high. I was planning on getting this game at release when I thought it was $40, but then the higher price tag and limited community sharing drove me away. The real travesty that no one will notice is when Blast Works, a game that nails the price point and feature set, fails at retail.

As a side note, Super Monkey Ball on Wii was great. The controls were spot on, and aside from the larger focus on platforming this time around, it was a great Monkey Ball game. If you bought it for the mini-games, then you bought it for the wrong reason.
 
[quote name='Lan_Zer0']As a side note, Super Monkey Ball on Wii was great. The controls were spot on, and aside from the larger focus on platforming this time around, it was a great Monkey Ball game. If you bought it for the mini-games, then you bought it for the wrong reason.[/QUOTE]

I haven't played it on the Wii (don't have one yet. :( ), but personally the only thing I liked in the GC versions were the mini-games. The regular game was just frustrating. I was glad we had an Action Replay to unlock all the mini-games, otherwise it would have sat on the shelf unplayed. Falling off a narrow ledge for the umpteenth time, which is what it's all about, requires an advanced form of patience and tolerance to get through that I just don't seem to have. The mini-games are cool though, especially on Super Monkey Ball 2. I'd be interested in trying it on the Wii, but I can't imagine that the Wii controls change the falling off AGAIN aspect of the game, and the fact that there is no Action Replay equivalent for the Wii (and that Nintendo seems to have it in for such tools, and the means to make sure they stop working), mean it would likely sit on the shelf.
 
I'm definitely interested in this game, but not until the $30 mark (or perhaps lower). It's the type of game that will have legs on it, though, so it should end up selling a respectable number of units.
I'm shocked that the Wii has an attach rate above 5.0. With the way it's selling, and the market it's catering to, I'd expect millions of people to own nothing more than Wii Play. Very surprising.
 
[quote name='defiance_17']I'm definitely interested in this game, but not until the $30 mark (or perhaps lower). It's the type of game that will have legs on it, though, so it should end up selling a respectable number of units.
I'm shocked that the Wii has an attach rate above 5.0. With the way it's selling, and the market it's catering to, I'd expect millions of people to own nothing more than Wii Play. Very surprising.[/quote]
This didn't surprise me so much. "casual" or "non-gamers" I know tend to buy many more games for their Wii's and DS's than most of the general gamers I know. For the Wii and DS, there is a wide range of options at very low cost to casual gamers. Traditional games come out at high price points and require a lot of time investment, so only the most hardcore gamer has the money/time for more than a few at any given time.
 
[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]

They're too damn busy paying for stupid DRM in their PC games to worry about advertising...

[quote name='mang9432']i'd buy it for 30 or even 40, it's just not in the cards at 50 i think for a lot of people[/quote]
This is exactly how I feel. $50 for any Wii game seems a little high to me, but meh. $40 is my sweet spot for Wii games, I bought Zack & Wiki at this price, would not have bought it at $50.
 
[quote name='Lan_Zer0']

As a side note, Super Monkey Ball on Wii was great. The controls were spot on, and aside from the larger focus on platforming this time around, it was a great Monkey Ball game. If you bought it for the mini-games, then you bought it for the wrong reason.[/QUOTE]

I guess this is directed at me. Well, I didn't buy it (thankfully), I rented it - right back at Wii release time. The mini games are absolutely horrid, but that wasn't the main reason I wanted it. I thought the control on the main game was terrible. Boom Blox is a much better use of the Wii remote IMO (though in different ways of course). But even things like Mercury and Kororinpa are way better "tilty" games than SMB.

[quote name='crunchewy']
I haven't played it on the Wii (don't have one yet. :( ), but personally the only thing I liked in the GC versions were the mini-games. The regular game was just frustrating. I was glad we had an Action Replay to unlock all the mini-games, otherwise it would have sat on the shelf unplayed. Falling off a narrow ledge for the umpteenth time, which is what it's all about, requires an advanced form of patience and tolerance to get through that I just don't seem to have. The mini-games are cool though, especially on Super Monkey Ball 2. I'd be interested in trying it on the Wii, but I can't imagine that the Wii controls change the falling off AGAIN aspect of the game, and the fact that there is no Action Replay equivalent for the Wii (and that Nintendo seems to have it in for such tools, and the means to make sure they stop working), mean it would likely sit on the shelf.[/quote]

Imagine that frustration from the Wii version x10 because of flaky tilt control. The Wii game would have been OK if you could use the analog stick ;). Also, they completely hosed up the minigames and some are utterly broken.
 
I almost bought this at blockbuster when they had it mismarked for 39.99, but figured if it was already at 39.99 that I would pick it up for 29.99 pretty soon.

Then my BBV store raised the price back up to 49.99. I'll still wait for 29.99. My sister said this game is a pretty fun puzzle game, but she wouldn't buy it again for 50$. She said she'd buy this and Zak and Wiki at about the same level (20-30$ range).
 
[quote name='Gavin']It was based on a short story he had originallly written with Amazing Stories in mind but other than that, he wasn't really actually involved with any of the games development or even publishing. The wiki seems to support that. So, technically it wasn't really a project of his. Just based on his work.[/quote]
Well, his name is still on the front of the case, so I'm willing to bet he figured heavily into the marketing.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Gorilla: How well did The Dig sell?[/QUOTE]

Comparing the PC market back then to the Wii's market now doesn't work.

[quote name='Lone_Prodigy']Released May 6th, one week after Mario Kart.[/QUOTE]

I know that kept me from even thinking of getting the game - I'd just spent $50, so why spend more?

One thing that seems to be overlooked: this is the kind of game that has the potential for a long life as a cheaper "value" title. EA doesn't have any problems with slashing prices once they think it's time, and I can almost guarantee that, for $20 or $30, sales are going to skyrocket. Between everyone here who passed it up at $50 (myself included) and people who buy the game because they think throwing explosives at "cute" blocky animals sounds like fun, I think it's got a future yet.
 
It's not a game I am interested in. I know it has gotten excellent reviews, but I don't care if Speilberg was involved. I'm currently trying to have time to play the games I already own.
 
[quote name='Gothic Walrus']Comparing the PC market back then to the Wii's market now doesn't work.

[/quote]
I know they're two different beasts - PC and Wii, way-too-hard-for-its-own-fucking-good adventure and "exploding jenga" - but that doesn't make a comparison between the two totally meaningless for my purposes. Though I'm too young to really say for sure, I'm pretty sure the adventure game market was still in decent shape back in '95. MarioColbert?
 
[quote name='The Crotch']I know they're two different beasts - PC and Wii, way-too-hard-for-its-own-fucking-good adventure and "exploding jenga" - but that doesn't make a comparison between the two totally meaningless for my purposes. Though I'm too young to really say for sure, I'm pretty sure the adventure game market was still in decent shape back in '95. MarioColbert?[/QUOTE]

WUSS.

WUSS.

I'm telling MarioColbert on you.
 
First you have to figure out the correct order in which to charge the five power crystals.

No, first you have to figure out how to charge the five power crystals.

No, first you have to figure out that the thing that resembles a block of salt you picked up three hours ago is a power crystal.
 
It has been said, but the price point killed it. $50? No chance. $30 should have been the starting point and even then I would have wanted to find a deal when it came out. I'll pay $25 for it, but by the time it reaches that point I may have lost interest.
 
[quote name='Strell']You're not helping your case.[/quote]Don't make me send a zombie alien turtle bomb after you. That is one thing at which I am a fucking master at.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Well, his name is still on the front of the case, so I'm willing to bet he figured heavily into the marketing.[/quote]
Yeah, well by that logic E.T. should have been one of the biggest selling games of all time. Sorry, but the argument doesn't work.
 
[quote name='Gavin']Yeah, well by that logic E.T. should have been one of the biggest selling games of all time. Sorry, but the argument doesn't work.[/quote]Which is why it's a good thing that I wasn't trying to make that argument.
 
[quote name='Gavin']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.[/QUOTE]

Stop confusing what I am saying as anecdotal evidence, which is obvious by your "you can't argue there wasn't enough advertising just because you say/think it" sentiment. The "denial" part of it is just icing on the cake.

Consider how your opinion - that the advertising has indeed been enough - is based purely on the fact that you yourself find it to be satisfactory, which is predicated purely on the fact that it has been on channels you watch.

That too is anecdotal evidence proper.

My point is not the channels its on, the number of channels its on, or how often it appears on those channels. My point is - simply - that EA has the budget and cash to throw at advertising this game, WAY more so than to be relegated to the kid-centric channels its clearly been shown on.

I've seen one commercial for it, and I happen to watch my fair share of Cartoon Network, both Adult Swim and not-Adult-Swim. Yet, I saw more commercials for Metroid Prime 3, a game largely considered to have "bombed" when you ask the wrong people with the wrong opinions about its sales figures.

However, that is venturing back into anecdotal territory.

Suffice to say, I'm not the only one saying the advertising was lackluster and minimal. If I were, then yeah - maybe I'd be the only stick in the mud. But right now I'm counting everyone else along there with me, and we could make a tiny fort, complete with a central power station with which to plan panty raids upon various sorority houses.

Crotch - you're no longer invited to my The Dig themed birthday party. The invitation would have a puzzle on it, which I fear you would be unable to solve.

And I'd be right.
 
[quote name='ZForce915']It has been said, but the price point killed it. $50? No chance. $30 should have been the starting point and even then I would have wanted to find a deal when it came out. I'll pay $25 for it, but by the time it reaches that point I may have lost interest.[/quote]
Killed it? How did this become the Boom Blox price point thread? I think EA was wise to start high and then slowly drop. This game will have a long shelf-life, and EA is trying the business model that they don't have to grab everyone's money on day one. They got $50 from suckers like me who buy anything, they'll get $40 in a few months from a batch of you. $30 in six months from another subset, and eventually pretty much everyone at $20 in a year or so and then everyone with a Wii owns the game and possibly likes it so much that the sequel gets a larger jump from the $50 group.

This isn't the kind of game that you can lose interest in really - it didn't have buzz, it doesn't warrrant buzz, it just chugs along.
 
Personally, I didn't care for the game. I rented it with Gamefly but it went back the next day. It's fun for a couple of hours but got boring very quickly. Throw ball at bricks, bricks fall down. Not much there.

And the fifty dollar asking price is ridiculous.
 
[quote name='Strell']tries to change the argument to something he things he can win by filling up a post with the same thing repeated over and over again[/quote]

Your original statement was "I find it amazing that EA can't find the funds to advertise a game."

They HAVE advertised the game. It has been aired on numerous channels aimed primarily at the family market which this game should have appealed to. You keep spinning your wheels trying to say that isn't the fact or try and deploy the old chestnut of "anecdotal evidence" which is just grasping at straws in this case. They have advertised it...they did find the funds to run commercials and print ads. That isn't anecdotal, it is fact. You have the two confused.
 
I figured it was obvious that I meant that they cannot advertise in a big way, but I can see how that didn't come across clear enough. I wasn't saying there was a complete lack of it, I was saying it was abysmally small. Bratz Ponyz Handjobz Partyz will have more advertising than this game, which is questionable since it seems like almost everyone considers it a well-made, well-thought-out title.

So miscommunication.

Seems like when you have a product you are that sure and anxious about, you'd want to throw up some dollars in more than 2-3 places. When you're the biggest third party in the world, you've got the cash for...oh I don't know....a plane doing sky-lettering, and a party with a ferris wheel.

That was my point.
 
[quote name='Strell']
Crotch - you're no longer invited to my The Dig themed birthday party. The invitation would have a puzzle on it, which I fear you would be unable to solve.

And I'd be right.[/quote]There is but one way to settle this.


killallga2.png
 
Don't lose hope, reward an original game, just wait for the price to drop (EA will surely comply soon).

@ Strell, did Metroid Prime 3 bomb, according to others (not neccesarily you)?
 
MP3 had 604k in the U.S. as of Dec 07 (NPD)
MP2 470k through Dec 04 (NPD) 770k LTD (vgcharts)
MP1 has about 1.5 million LTD (Magicbox platinum US list)

Classic series attrition.
 
[quote name='Strell']I figured it was obvious that I meant that they cannot advertise in a big way, but I can see how that didn't come across clear enough. I wasn't saying there was a complete lack of it, I was saying it was abysmally small. Bratz Ponyz Handjobz Partyz will have more advertising than this game, which is questionable since it seems like almost everyone considers it a well-made, well-thought-out title.

So miscommunication.

Seems like when you have a product you are that sure and anxious about, you'd want to throw up some dollars in more than 2-3 places. When you're the biggest third party in the world, you've got the cash for...oh I don't know....a plane doing sky-lettering, and a party with a ferris wheel.

That was my point.[/quote]
What exactly is the point again? I'm pretty sure EA's point (which I happen to agree with) is that excessive advertising would be a waste of money on a game with sustained sales. You're thinking too much like a devoted day-one gamer here.
 
I am? By suggesting that they have the ability to advertise elsewhere, and in greater capacity?

You're off your narrow minded rocker.

There's all sorts of companies who DO NOT need to advertise certain things, and yet they still do. Why can't the opposite be true, especially when it sorely is?
 
[quote name='Strell']I am? By suggesting that they have the ability to advertise elsewhere, and in greater capacity?

You're off your narrow minded rocker.

There's all sorts of companies who DO NOT need to advertise certain things, and yet they still do. Why can't the opposite be true, especially when it sorely is?[/quote]
But why would they advertise elsewhere and in greater capacity if their business model is based on an extended timeline and sustained sales due primarily to shelf presence and an install base that's not used to gaming advertisements? Have you ever hung out in the Wii section at Best Buy? Watch what the soccer moms pick up and listen to the kinds of questions they ask employees. This is the target demographic for the Wii, not you and me.

The opposite of your scenario can be true, but there's not a shred of reasoning that you've presented that would show it to be wise or necessary for this game. You seem to be suggesting that they need more advertising so that they have more advertising.
 
I'm suggesting they should have more advertising to have more sales, holy crap, do I really need to spell it out that damn directly? I'd like to think most people to come to these conclusions on their own, seeing as how they are brightly lit and currently screaming.

EA wants it to have a slow burn? That's fine. But that doesn't change the fact that having a bigger base now can help that part out too.

It's all about hitting with the most force as compactly as you can in this industry right now (and, really, in ANY section of the entertainment industry). Why bleed out X budget over 6 months, when most gamers play and forget a game within a week? Why not blow half of it up front and THEN do the gradual drain? In all reality, if the last half of the budget is going to be 100% ignored, then why not use it during the best window of opportunity?

fucking Advertisement 101 level shit here.

Is EA happy with the sales? They said they were. But are they really? And frankly, is this going to turn into another circle jerk argument where the third party says "Oh well our games don't sell" when they damn well know they shot their own feet and then lit them on fire long before Nintendo OR Nintendo's fanbase had anything to do with it? I don't want to hear them bitch about how their games are selling poorly when they are doing this one-foot-in-the-door-one-foot-out dance they've been doing for the last few years now.

The shred of reasoning is common fucking sense. These advertising people must be hacks at what they do, because they've done very little to suggest they have functioning brains at the moment. And since they'll probably send out a rep in a few weeks to talk about how "only Nintendo's games sell on their system" and other bullshit spin, it just gets a little tiresome to have to hear it shoveled out month after month.

And yeah - I've heard the questions uttered at Best Buy. I even helped one clueless mom out around launch in 2006 because the employee there was your typical mouth breathing troglodyte, just as I'd expect someone to do for any fellow human being with questions I could answer (and likewise would expect out of some people here at CAG).
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']MP3 had 604k in the U.S. as of Dec 07 (NPD)
MP2 470k through Dec 04 (NPD) 770k LTD (vgcharts)
MP1 has about 1.5 million LTD (Magicbox platinum US list)

Classic series attrition.[/quote]

Is this classic series attrition?

There is no doubt they never lived up to the first, but from MP2 to MP3 we see an increase and that game has fair potential to keep growing.

Regardless if it sold more or less than it's predecessors, is it considered a failure?

By Nintendos standards it might be spot on for its semi niche audience it now attracts.

I am really not sure what to make of it all, and how exactly it relates back to boomblox, which has wider market appeal, and probably longevity well in excess of other games.

Then again this is mostly specualtion.
 
[quote name='io']But even things like Mercury and Kororinpa are way better "tilty" games than SMB.

Imagine that frustration from the Wii version x10 because of flaky tilt control. The Wii game would have been OK if you could use the analog stick ;). Also, they completely hosed up the minigames and some are utterly broken.[/quote]

I guess that's a point we'll just have to disagree on.;)

I didn't like the controls in MMR, much less responsive than SMBBB. MMR felt more casual in controls, in that there was a bigger dead zone, response wasn't instant, and it was much safer to over compensate. But that's just me.

Minigames were hit or miss. Some were great (Monkey Wars) others were completely un-fun. I wouldn't call any of them broken though. I went through each minigame to figure out the controls, and while some of them I would call unintuitive to the point were it would seem broken to someone playing the game once or twice, the games did work.

But in the end, SMBBB a party game? No.
 
Did anyone else lose interest in this game when they said they were going to remove the head tracking Easter egg? I know I was kinda disappointed to hear that. I've wanted to test that head tracking deal but am way too lazy to mess with the Wii homebrew scene.
 
[quote name='Corvin']The Dig was a Speilberg project.[/quote]
[quote name='Gavin']It was based on a short story he had originallly written[/quote]I must be getting alzheimers, I absolutely remember nothing of spielberg having anything to do with The Dig.

[quote name='The Crotch']Though I'm too young to really say for sure, I'm pretty sure the adventure game market was still in decent shape back in '95. MarioColbert?[/quote]Decent? I suppose so. But I still remember being in ye olde Electronics Boutique and no one, not customers nor employees knowing what Monkey Island was... Adventure games have never been huge sellers in comparison with other genres. Possibly because you have to engage your brain through most of the game. Or possibly I'm just cynical...

...what was I saying ag- WHO ARE ALL YOU PEOPLE?
grumps.gif
 
[quote name='mephitical']Killed it? How did this become the Boom Blox price point thread? I think EA was wise to start high and then slowly drop. This game will have a long shelf-life, and EA is trying the business model that they don't have to grab everyone's money on day one. They got $50 from suckers like me who buy anything, they'll get $40 in a few months from a batch of you. $30 in six months from another subset, and eventually pretty much everyone at $20 in a year or so and then everyone with a Wii owns the game and possibly likes it so much that the sequel gets a larger jump from the $50 group.

This isn't the kind of game that you can lose interest in really - it didn't have buzz, it doesn't warrrant buzz, it just chugs along.[/QUOTE]

Do you really think sales are going to spike later in the year? 60k is a pretty weak showing for what sounds like a pretty cool game. The price point is a huge factor is games and my point around that is by the time it reaches $20 my interest will be on other games so there is a chance I'll never buy it.
 
Having put some serious time in, the game is fantasic, both single and multiplayer. And anyone who plays it in a party setting comes away with a strong impression.

My gripe is sharing user content. It has none of the elegance of blastworks. And, to my knowledge, no one has yet setup a central hub or master friend code to easily facilitate sharing levels. This would be a great feature and subtle advertising if you could download levels off the nintendo channel, similar to how you can download other users miis.
 
[quote name='ZForce915']Do you really think sales are going to spike later in the year? 60k is a pretty weak showing for what sounds like a pretty cool game. The price point is a huge factor is games and my point around that is by the time it reaches $20 my interest will be on other games so there is a chance I'll never buy it.[/quote]
Not spike - I never said they would spike, and EA didn't either - but remain relatively constant. 60K is weak for early sales for a game aimed at gamers, but keep in mind that you are not the target audience for this game.

Yes, you may lose interest, and EA has factored that in. Gamers are making up a smaller and smaller portion of the Wii's userbase - this game is meant to do well with those who don't follow video game release schedules, who don't have to have something right away, and who don't have a clue about games in general.

This is contrary to what the verbose and insult-heavy Strell is bullishly insisting on, but based on other comments it is apparent that he believes that every Wii owner has the same consumer patterns he does. Advertising costs money, which ultimately can equal lost revenue on a game if it's not effectively done. There are marketing strategies well beyond Advertising 101.
 
Boom Box, rented it, didn't like it, not my type of game. 60,000 sold is a very low number. Look at GTA IV. Millions of copies in the first week....humm. Fan boys of Wii, there's nothing like that success on the Wii at all, and even though I have a Wii and it's the system I use the most, there has no major success on the Wii from any 3rd party game publisher / developer. Can't count Wii Play because that's 1st Party and almost a given when you buy a Wii for $10 more for a controller.
 
I dont think a 3rd party game having legs actually happens enough that companies can PLAN for it.

Short of Monster Hunter, nothing really comes to mind.

Best case scenario is that they modeled their expectations based on the sales of the likes of MySims, Boogie and EA Playground. Legs that are creepy crawly. That is to say, way under the radar.

Games dont need millions sold on Wii. Thats the point. GTA4 dev costs are probably comparable to costs of most of the existing Wii games put together.
 
[quote name='s0undwav3'], there has no major success on the Wii from any 3rd party game publisher / developer. [/QUOTE]

Guitar Hero.

There's more successes than just Guitar Hero, but you said there's none, so I'm only providing one exception.

But you already compared BB to GTA, which is laughable in and of itself.
 
Personally it looks like a cheap PS2 game to me (snap judgment with no basis), I think most people see it and just grab a copy of Mario Kart instead.

I don't think it is Spielberg enough so to speak, for his name to matter.
 
[quote name='mephitical']Not spike - I never said they would spike, and EA didn't either - but remain relatively constant. 60K is weak for early sales for a game aimed at gamers, but keep in mind that you are not the target audience for this game.

Yes, you may lose interest, and EA has factored that in. Gamers are making up a smaller and smaller portion of the Wii's userbase - this game is meant to do well with those who don't follow video game release schedules, who don't have to have something right away, and who don't have a clue about games in general.

This is contrary to what the verbose and insult-heavy Strell is bullishly insisting on, but based on other comments it is apparent that he believes that every Wii owner has the same consumer patterns he does. Advertising costs money, which ultimately can equal lost revenue on a game if it's not effectively done. There are marketing strategies well beyond Advertising 101.[/QUOTE]

So we're going on the theory that this game doesn't have to sell early as long as it sells often? I suppose as long as EA continues to keep it out at $20 (when it hits that point) they might be able to keep selling.

I think it is fair to say that I'm not the demo they were going for, but don't you think a lower price point would also be more appealing to the causal gamer or parent buying a game for the family? Or is your argument that it doesn't matter because they'll see it eventually?
 
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