Games that sold millions, but should have flopped.

[quote name='electrictroy']Sony marketing didn't help Ico did it? The game still flopped.



Nah. I still thinkHalo would be ignored by the public as just one out of *dozens* of PS2 FPSes. ----- People would be buying Red Faction, Timesplitters, and SOCOM...

...and Halo would drop into the $10 bargain rack.

troy[/QUOTE]
One example of a failure? How do you markey Ico to the public? It's a difficult game to market as something casual gamers need to play. "You drag some girl around and beat shadow monsters with a stick? WTF?"

How about Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly, Gran Turismo? Those were marketed well and sold well as a result, so Halo would've done just fine.
 
Halo is an inefrior FPS. It would have been over-shadowed by other, better PS2 games.

Halo-ps2 would have dropped into the $10 bargain rack (like other Xbox-to-PS2 ports did).

troy
 
[quote name='electrictroy']Halo is an inefrior FPS. It would have been over-shadowed by other, better PS2 games.

Halo-ps2 would have dropped into the $10 bargain rack (like other Xbox-to-PS2 ports did).

troy[/QUOTE]

Yep, you are definetly right (Sarcasm). Halo would only flop due to the PS2 shitty controller (for fps) but other than that it would still sell millions.

No matter how you look at it. Halo still would sell millions no matter what system it's on.
 
[quote name='sying']You have had toooo much coffee...

Here is my list
Colony Wars: Vengeance
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X-2
Kingdom Hearts
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (PS2)
Goemon's Great Adventure (N64)

Hell any RPG is nerdbait and should have flopped.[/QUOTE]

Kingdom Hearts is a solid game I can't see how you can even consider it a flop.
 
[quote name='el bobo']Kingdom Hearts is a solid game I can't see how you can even consider it a flop.[/QUOTE]

Yaeh, I know I was tihnking the saming thing when reading his list. The majority of that list are great games and really shouldn't have flopped anyway. I didn't really take much note of his list.
 
[quote name='kill3r7']No matter how you look at it. Halo still would sell millions no matter what system it's on.[/QUOTE]


Nope. Halo's a mediocre game. When I got it for my Xbox, I quit after 10 hours. It was b-o-r-i-n-g.

Nowhere near as good as other FPSes. You would realize that if you owned a second console besides the Box.

troy
 
[quote name='electrictroy']Nope. Halo's a mediocre game. When I got it for my Xbox, I quit after 10 hours. It was b-o-r-i-n-g.

Nowhere near as good as other FPSes. You would realize that if you owned a second console besides the Box.

troy[/QUOTE]

He obviously does dumbass seeing as his screename is killer 7

But Halo is pretty crappy, the single player sucks.
 
Why so much Halo hate? Sure it isn't Half Life but its still a great FPS even though the sequel's length and ending sucked. Hell I would've paid $50 just for the Xbox live compatibility. Not to mention LAN parties and co-op campaign.....and I'm not a fanboy, but the PS2 controller is just crap for FPSs.
 
[quote name='crazytalkx']Why so much Halo hate? [/QUOTE] Who knows, there haven't been a lot of real reasons given other than it is boring (which could be said about any game). I haven't seen anything about gameplay, difficulty, or anything like that.
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']Most Halo haters are....

PC FPS players (which would at least be a reasonable reason for not liking the game as they prefer mouse and keyboard controls).[/QUOTE]

Ding, ding, ding! FPS games should not be made for consoles unless they provide keyboard/mouse support. The best FPS game on a console is still vastly inferior to an FPS game on a PC b/c of the controls alone.

The FPS was born on PC and that's where it should stay, IMO.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Ding, ding, ding! FPS games should not be made for consoles unless they provide keyboard/mouse support. The best FPS game on a console is still vastly inferior to an FPS game on a PC b/c of the controls alone.

The FPS was born on PC and that's where it should stay, IMO.[/QUOTE]

I prefer my FPS on PC as well but Halo is one of those that I actually like using a controller with especially with the dual-wielding of weapons now. It just feels very natural to lob that grenade with the left trigger as I blast with the right. Other than Halo, GoldenEye, and Perfect Dark I have always preferred a PC style mouse KB set-up.
 
[quote name='Leggo']I'm SHOCKED no one has yet mentioned the games in the Dynasty Warriors series. that includes all sequels, "empires" verisions, and Samurai Warriors.[/QUOTE]

They are underrated....
 
So much Halo hate....

I can understand not liking it if you only like PC controls, but for me it's fine since I know everyone else is using a controller to play as well. What I can't understand people saying is that if it were out on any other console it would not have sold well. If anything the opposite should be true, the Xbox is the only console (non-pc) with any decent FPS. Which FPS games are great (not good, great) for PS2 or GCN? For the XBox there are quite a few great FPS games (R63, RTCW). I own all 3 consoles (self-professed Nintendo fanboy at that) as well as a PC capable of playing games such as BF2 and HL2, and I have been playing Halo 2 consistently since release simply because IMO it is the best pick-up and play for 10 minutes (which usually turns into an hour anyway) FPS that I own. Clearly this isn't a case of "gee this is the only system I have to play, and this is the only good game." I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the people mentioning Halo either don't have the internet, don't have people to play with, or don't have an Xbox (fanboys). I can understand not liking the game, I just can't understand including it in the games that should have flopped category. I don't like the GTA series, but enough people I know like it, and it has consistently good review scores. Therefore I know it shouldn't be a flop.

Games that should be flops but sold well are mostly licensed games or games like Killzone where the hype was so huge that all of the average gamers bought it in spite of the bad reviews.
 
Trying not to base it on my own biases (I hate San Andreas but can see that it was still a well-made game, Halo may be boring to me but I can also see why many people would like it, etc...) as many of you are doing, hehe:

Driv3r
Enter the Matrix
 
I would like to throw in two Atari 2600 'classics.'

E.T. is almost universally called the worst game ever made. The horror stories of three million copies being buried in the desert (Joe Peschi wouldn't comment on his involvment) are only part of the truth. The game sold over a million copies in an era without EGM, IGN, Gamepro, or any reliable source of critics. In fact, many kids wanted E.T. I know I did.

Pac-Man for the Atari 2600... I personal choice for the worst game ever made. Awful, AWFUL port job... the worst port ever made without question. Sold over TWO million copies. Several million were buried in the desert, yes. But that's because Atari head Ray Kaysar thought people would buy the 2600 just to play the game. And it wasn't hardware limitations... future 2600 Pac Man games (like Ms. Pac Man) were very well produced. Nope, Pac-Man is Pac-ed full of crap.

For modern times, I have three words: Enter the Matrix. Huge seller on every platform. When you want to talk about what's wrong with the game industry these days, point to it. It should have never been released.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Ding, ding, ding! FPS games should not be made for consoles unless they provide keyboard/mouse support. The best FPS game on a console is still vastly inferior to an FPS game on a PC b/c of the controls alone.

The FPS was born on PC and that's where it should stay, IMO.[/QUOTE]

Glad I read through the entire thread before posting. Good to see that I'm not the only voice of reason here.

I'm not sure how well this sold but Auto Modellista is a game that comes to my mind. Much hype, no substance.
 
AAhhhhh then I'm fine with that response (PC FPS players hating Halo). Seeing as how I'm using a 700mhz Compaq my PC gaming options are a bit..........limited. Some people didn't seem to explain their hate (electrictroy) who seems to think it should've been overshadowed by "better PS2 games". But like I said, the single player isn't Half Life, by any means, (my PC can run it!), but that alone shouldn't be what its merits lie on.
 
[quote name='Survivor Charlie']E.T. is almost universally called the worst game ever made. In fact, many kids wanted E.T. I know I did.[/QUOTE]
I *liked* E.T. I played it many, many times and enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed Indiana Jones and Adventure. BTW, you got your stories mixed up. Atari made more E.T. carts, than total numbers of consoles (stupido). Plus lousy sales. So they dumped the excess in the desert. That's true. You were correct.



But Pac-Man was never trashed. It sold quite well, and in later years it was the "freebie" given away with all Atari 2600s from 1981-92.

Pac-Man epitomizes Atari's lack of quality-control. It was made by one man, sitting in a room, who hated the game, but loved the 1 million dollar check he took home. There was *noone* checking this man's work.

Had Pac-Man been made by a better company like Nintendo, there would have been a small team, with frequent review, to ensure the end product met quality standards, and not just a one-man hack



BTW, the best version of Pac-Man? It's not Ms.Pac-Man. Ms.Pac-Man's ghosts wander randomly. They never actually chase you. Too easy. Plus the maze doesn't match the arcade's maze.

It's Jr.Pac-Man. The maze is a near-clone of the arcade. And the gameplay/challenge is 100% accurate to the arcade's play/challenge, with ghosts that are constantly riding on your tail.

troy
 
[quote name='electrictroy'] BTW, the best version of Pac-Man? It's not Ms.Pac-Man. Ms.Pac-Man's ghosts wander randomly. They never actually chase you. Too easy. Plus the maze doesn't match the arcade's maze.

It's Jr.Pac-Man. The maze is a near-clone of the arcade. And the gameplay/challenge is 100% accurate to the arcade's play/challenge, with ghosts that are constantly riding on your tail.

troy[/QUOTE]

Jr. Pac Man was great on the 2600. I used to play it non-stop. I still prefer Ms. Pac-Man though.
 
[quote name='electrictroy']I *liked* E.T. I played it many, many times and enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed Indiana Jones and Adventure. BTW, you got your stories mixed up. Atari made more E.T. carts, than total numbers of consoles (stupido). Plus lousy sales. So they dumped the excess in the desert. That's true. You were correct.



But Pac-Man was never trashed. It sold quite well, and in later years it was the "freebie" given away with all Atari 2600s from 1981-92.

Pac-Man epitomizes Atari's lack of quality-control. It was made by one man, sitting in a room, who hated the game, but loved the 1 million dollar check he took home. There was *noone* checking this man's work.

Had Pac-Man been made by a better company like Nintendo, there would have been a small team, with frequent review, to ensure the end product met quality standards, and not just a one-man hack



BTW, the best version of Pac-Man? It's not Ms.Pac-Man. Ms.Pac-Man's ghosts wander randomly. They never actually chase you. Too easy. Plus the maze doesn't match the arcade's maze.

It's Jr.Pac-Man. The maze is a near-clone of the arcade. And the gameplay/challenge is 100% accurate to the arcade's play/challenge, with ghosts that are constantly riding on your tail.

troy[/QUOTE]

They made twelve million copies of 2600 Pac-Man. That's the official numbers straight from Atari, and straight from Todd Frye, the man who actually made it. The Atari 2600 had a 10 million wordwide user base.

E.T. had four million copies produced. One million sold. Three million came back.
Pac-Man had twelve million copies produced. Three million sold. NINE (that's NINE) million came back. For some reason, a lot of people seem to think it was ET that caused the fall of Atari. It was 2600 Pac-Man. Either way, you're wrong about Pac-Man being a sucsess. Atari's data quotes sell-through numbers. They don't quote the amount of copies that came back as defective. (they weren't, but surely SOMETHING went wrong to cause that atrocity). Pac-Man also wasn't a Pac-In game for the 2600... it was Combat, then later, Space Invaders. Sears under it's Tele-Games label did offer it as a promotional give-away, but that wasn't an Atari-sponsered thing.

Do thy research next time. Read Steven Kent's 'Ulimtate History of Video Games.' I would also like to point out that you obviously haven't looked into what happened at Atari. Almost every game you can think of was programed by one person. Adventure, Combat, Breakout, Asteroids, Pac-Man, E.T., Swordquest, etc.

One person did all the graphics, sound, concept, debuging, and coding for each game. There were no teams of programers. And the same can be said about any goldenage gaming platform. It wasn't until the NES came along (and some Colecovision games) that 'teams' were formed.
 
[quote name='Survivor Charlie']They made twelve million copies of 2600 Pac-Man. That's the official numbers straight from Atari, and straight from Todd Frye, the man who actually made it. The Atari 2600 had a 10 million wordwide user base. [/QUOTE]
2600 = 30 million consoles sold. If you got that stat wrong, I suspect your ET/Pacman stats are wrong too. Unless you can provide a link to the "Pac-man carts buried in desert" story? I searched atariage.com, and I found nothing.
3 million E.T.'s came back
No. *5* million. "Atari buried 5 million unsold copies of E.T. in the New Mexico desert" -atariage.com
There were no teams of programers [at Atari].
I never said there was. Learn to read.
Pac-Man also wasn't a Pac-In game for the 2600...
You are truly clueless. When my brother bought a 2600 for his little girls, it came with Pac-Man as the freebie. And here's some more posts referring to Pac-man as a "pack-in game":
http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=38168&st=0&p=452020&#entry452020



I think I've conclusively proved you have NOOO idea what you're talking about, in regards to the 2600.

troy
 
When they said Pac-Man was a pack in game, you should have scrolled down a little.

"It came boxed with the Sears model." Game, set, match.

Atari buried three dozen different games in the New Mexico landfill, and destroyed several dozen other games by other means.

"Atari 2600 sold 30 million".

The 30 million is WORLD WIDE sales. But Atari, before it was sold by Warner Communications to Jack Tramel focused on the US market. Four million produced for ET for the US market. One million were sold, three million sent back. This are the official Atari numbers, not just some random numbers like you seem to pull out of your arse. These are the numbers that are used in Steven Kent's book, and also in the Fall and Rise of video games book. Snopes.com reports that it was five million total carts (E.T. and Pac-Man).

http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.asp

Mostly the five million number comes from the total number of ET carts manafactured for world wide distribution. Four million of which were sent to the US. Most people that quote some numbers foolish assume that every single copy was sent back (and hence everyone assumes it's 'rare' which is laughable at best). In fact, ET for the 2600 was the top selling game of 1982. And most stores wouldn't take back opened copies of the game on the basis of it being bad.

http://webplaza.pt.lu/~yhinger/80_83.htm

Yet another link that says Pac-Man was buried in mass quanities in the desert.

"Atari released its ill-fated Pac-Man and ET cartridges. Massive shipments of both games ended up in a massive landfill in New Mexico, along with millions of other unsold and unwanted game cartridges. After incurring the wrath of angry VCS Pac-Man buyers who were disappointed by the game's poor home translation..."

And for the record, there were DOZENS of games that Atari destroyed. Some games that people would consider classics were destroyed, not because they didn't sell well, but because Manny Gerard and Ray Kaysar made to many copies of them. The great video game crash happened not because Atari had bad sales. The reason for the crash was Atari annouced they had increased earnings by 20% instead of the expected 40%. The video game crash was caused by greedy Wall-Streeters who said "holy cow, the bottom dropped out! They only increased by 20%! Quick, someone find me a high window!"

Among the games that were crushed and buried were ET, Pac-Man, Asteroids (a fine piece of software in any circumstance), Space Invaders (the most popular game for the system and an excellent port to boot), Air-Sea Battle, Swordquest Fireworld and Earthworld, Haunted House, Berzerk, Combat, Video Chess, and the poorly conceived Rubik's Cube: Video version.

Trust me man, I've done my research. I've been a writer in a book that was published on video games.

Video Game Bible: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Zh1xCIsBrw&isbn=1553697316&itm=1

By the way, I checked out your website. Nice prices, ha... Do you actually sell Atari junk for that much? Wow... I pity anyone that choses your website over goodwill or junk stores. $130 for a 2600. HAHAHAHAH... oh lord, thanks for the laugh.
 
[quote name='The Successful Dropout']every racing game....ah, look at me....im going around a track over and over again....DEFINITELY worth $50:roll:[/QUOTE]

Yeah, except you forgot one important aspect. RACING.

If you were just driving a car around a track by yourself with no other objective, it would suck. The point is trying to beat the other drivers, get there first, be the fastest, etc.

If you don't enjoy racing games, that's cool. But the concept is one of the most fundamental of all competition.
 
Also don't understand all the Gran Turismo hate. I know the more sim-like racers aren't for everyone. But GT had a solid driving engine and an unprecedented number of cars. Real, licensed cars at that. Not to mention things like upgrades, used car lots, race mods, etc.

Again, some people don't enjoy the GT games, and that's fine. But it's a quality product that actually had some love and work put into it.
 
[quote name='Survivor Charlie']By the way, I checked out your website.[/QUOTE]


Not my website. Don't make false assumptions. You just put your foot in your mouth.

troy
 
Getting back on track...

50 Cent: Bulletproof

It's just another rapper trying to make some money on his name by releasing a more-than-likely bombshell/ripoff. People are already preordering it and saying "wow i am black so i like rap and this game will be da nutz in my butt blah blah blah because of rap and 50 is so cool."

You know it's going to become a greatest hit. And all because of the name on the cover.
 
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