Ubisoft Sales climb, but originality is punished.

[hezeuschrist]

http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6087344.html


And in a humble tone, Guillemot closed by saying, "We have learned from the launches of Beyond Good and Evil and XIII, two new brands launched in a very competitive market dominated by established brands."

Prince of Persia is really the only great selling original title of any of theirs, and even then it's a known brand. Beyond Good and Evil was awesome, but sold poorly. Can't say anything about XIII other than it didn't do well either.

I'm afraid that last quote means they'll be focusing hardcore on Tom Clancy sequels and less on originality.

[spoon]

That's to bad. I really liked XIII. I haven't got a chance to play Prince Of Persia, but, I have heard a ton of great things about it.

[Flack]

I have played Ghost Recon at least once a week for the past two years now. It's an amazing game -- and those are strong words coming from someone who HATES first person shooters.

[Tritoch]

I'm afraid that last quote means they'll be focusing hardcore on Tom Clancy sequels and less on originality.

What's wrong with focusing on Clancy sequels? They're pretty original in themselves (other than common themes), and they haven't released one in years that I don't own and love. :D

[Half Japanese]

Chalk it up to the uncivilized swine known as casual gamers. It disturbs me that games like Beyond Good & Evil, PoP (it didn't sell THAT well) and some of the other lower-key releases over the past year didn't sell as well as they should have, while Madden (not just a franchise, but a verb that describes what it does to me), essentially a "roster update" over last year's game sells out.

"The public sucks." - George Carlin

[Tritoch]

I've always been under the impression that Clancy games generally don't appeal to the unwashed masses. Most of them require a good bit of military knowledge and patience to succeed in, with Rainbow Six 3 possibly excepted.

[Garry Silljo]

Any person who pays 50 bucks every year for the new madden or any new sports game needs to be shot.

1.It's the same game you already have with a new roster and maybe control over the price of hotdogs or something worthless like that.... oh and new color commentary!!!!! NOT WORTH $50.

2.If you wait just one year, any game with a date on it is worthless after said date. IN 2k5, I can pick up the 2k4 for less than $10, so why not wait and not be retarded. That's why capcom was really smart when they published street fighter 2010. That will be valuable for a LONG time. .... What?, It's already worthless? .... Um, nevermind, forget I said anything.

[Lady Jaye]

I think the reason why XIII didn't do too good is that no one in North America (except some people here in Quebec) are familiar with the original graphic novel series. I'm sure the game had a lot more success in Europe, where people are more familiar with Belgian and French comic book series.

BTW, if you want to brush up your French reading skills, I strongly remember the XIII series. You can buy the series by individual books (in color) or get them in a 4-volume anthology (unfortunately in black and white, but less expensive than the indivudual books). Here's the Amazon.ca link to the first title in the series: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/2871290008/qid%3D1075859937/702-6589827-3280836

[Ze_ro]

So does Tom Clancy just get his name on the cover, or does he actually have any creative influence over the games? Does he write original storylines for the games, or are they pulled from his books or something?

I'm not into stealth games, nor do I read Clancy's books.

--Zero

[kevincure]

I guess the sports game thing needs a sports fan perspective. I have NBA2k3, but I still want Live 2004 because a) the hype is all Lebron and 'Melo and I want to give them a run in the game and b) everyone online is playing the latest version. Sure, it's not that much different, but it turns out that a "roster update" plus a few changes really does make a difference.

As for Ubi, it's too bad that the more original franchises didn't sell well. Then again, I don't know if we should encourage them to make games like "Stupid Invaders" on the Dreamcast - perhaps they should stick to Clancy games :-)

[YoshiM]

I'll play devil's advocate :puts on horns:


Any person who pays 50 bucks every year for the new madden or any new sports game needs to be shot.

1.It's the same game you already have with a new roster and maybe control over the price of hotdogs or something worthless like that.... oh and new color commentary!!!!! NOT WORTH $50.

While it's true that each year the game looks a little bit better, the controls play tighter and some new feature or bonus is added, who are we to say that it's not worth $50? Obviously somebody out there thinks it's worth it otherwise they would have stopped buying the games years ago. Now to me I agree, it's not worth $50 but then again I'm not much of a sports guy. But to someone like my brother-in-law who is a football nut (as he played football in high school and plays flag football in league) $50 is cheap for the many hours of entertainment he gets out of the games.


2.If you wait just one year, any game with a date on it is worthless after said date. IN 2k5, I can pick up the 2k4 for less than $10, so why not wait and not be retarded. That's why capcom was really smart when they published street fighter 2010. That will be valuable for a LONG time. .... What?, It's already worthless? .... Um, nevermind, forget I said anything.

That same mentality can be used on any game for any system, date or no date. Why buy say Devil May Cry 2 when Devil May Cry is on the cheap? Then if they release a sequel or a year later you can get DMC 2 for cheap. Why buy any game on the day it's released? Because we want to play them. Now. If everyone waited for sales there would be even LESS games out there than there are now or smaller games to fit into the lower price bracket.


Typically for sports games they really only lose their value a few weeks or a few months after the release of the next version. However the sports game fan most likely has the current version already. The only people who may snag last year's game at a reduced price would be the casual sports fan who is interested in the title or someone on a budget. From the people I know they usually buy the new version as they play with/against their friends who also have the same version.

As for having people shot for their buying practices, shouldn't the rabid Mario fan be shot in the face for continuing to buy anything with Mario on the cover? I mean many of the games (Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Golf, Super Smash Bros Melee) play like their past counter parts. The GBA games (save Super Mario Bros Superstars) are carbon copies of the SNES games so buying them is a death sentence as well.

[/devil's adovocate]

[BHvrd]

Have you seen Far Cry in action? All I have to say is if that is the result of concentration on mainly Clancy games then they got me.

I'm sorry, but Prince of Persia, Beyond Good and Evill, XIII and others be damned. I prefer Rainbow Six 3, Ghost Recon, and from the looks of it, Far Cry. I mean have you actually seen Far Cry in action? Nuff said.

This is really personal preference, and I see this as a good thing since I love Clancy games. Just cause you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't original.

[BHvrd]

I think the reason why XIII didn't do too good is that no one in North America (except some people here in Quebec) are familiar with the original graphic novel series. I'm sure the game had a lot more success in Europe, where people are more familiar with Belgian and French comic book series.

BTW, if you want to brush up your French reading skills, I strongly remember the XIII series. You can buy the series by individual books (in color) or get them in a 4-volume anthology (unfortunately in black and white, but less expensive than the indivudual books). Here's the Amazon.ca link to the first title in the series: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/2871290008/qid%3D1075859937/702-6589827-3280836

The reason I didn't buy it was because it got crappy reviews. :D

[hezeuschrist]

Woah woah, I never said I didn't like the clancy games, but they're still all sequels. By definition, not original. Rainbow Six THREE, Splinter Cell TWO, Ghost Recon TWO. But it's still a Tom Clancy game and really, how much difference is there between them all? Yes, I have played Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and I even own Splinter Cell.

Far Cry does look badass, and it's an original franchise, right? I've got nothing wrong with that, and I also have nothing wrong with cashing in on your successful franchises either... but some developers ONLY do that *cough*EA*cough* It sucks to see a publisher be damned for doing something new, and doing it well.

It always sucks to see a company release a handful of great original titles and get shat on, not because they're bad games, but because they aren't widely recognized. If they had made it Tom Clancy's Beyond Good and Evil, it would have sold 10-fold what it did.

[Ichi The Killer]

FYI

Tom Clancy doesn't even write his own books...not sure what that has to do with anything...

Anyway Beyond Good & Evil is only 20 bucks at most places...

I am not sure what Ubi was thinking releaseing all their games within a 2 month window of one another. It would seem pretty obvious that they woul die a painful death at retail. They should have spaced them apart to nuture them better...

[Tritoch]

FYI

Tom Clancy doesn't even write his own books...not sure what that has to do with anything...

If you're talking about the Net Force or Power Play series, those specifically state on the cover that they aren't written by him. He's just a co-creator. Everything else (Rainbow Six, The Hunt for Red October, etc.) he writes himself.

Clancy usually has a great deal of input on each Clancy game, including approving the storyline, checking them for authenticity, etc.

[Ed Oscuro]

I blame Eyestalk Monster looking through a porthole...I'd like to, anyway :P

[Nature Boy]

They didn't adverstise BG&E nearly enough, especially releasing it during the holiday rush. How can you *not* expect a game to get buried when your competition is pushing their titles?

As good as they may be, XIII is another FPS and BG&E another adventure game. That's not being *overly* original in my books.

[Garry Silljo]

As for having people shot for their buying practices, shouldn't the rabid Mario fan be shot in the face for continuing to buy anything with Mario on the cover? I mean many of the games (Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Golf, Super Smash Bros Melee) play like their past counter parts. The GBA games (save Super Mario Bros Superstars) are carbon copies of the SNES games so buying them is a death sentence as well.


Hmm. Apparently hyberbole isn't appreciated in this forum. For the piece of mind of all, I don't own any gun that isn't a light gun, so anybody I shoot couldn't care less.

Oh, and as for the why not wait on all games philosophy, not all games go down in value quickly and some never go down at all (imagine if I waited for Panzer Dragoon Saga). Sports games on the other hand Seem to always drop down to a mere 2-5 bucks if you wait just 12 months or less.

If you ask me they should make a new title every 3 years and let people download roster updates and such to fill the gap in between and if they want to make people pay for that fine. Now in the Genny days that just wasnt possible but now I think more gamers are apt to buy a new edition with some promise it wont be obsolute by the time they get home.

oops, hyperbole again... let's here it.

[WiseSalesman]

Beyond Good and Evil was fucking brilliant. Too short, but truly a masterpiece.

Whoever it was that said Tom Clancy games aren't the ones that appeal to casual gamers.....HOW many copies of Splinter Cell sold? :hmm:

Anyway, I personally have hated every game to be realeased with Tom Clancy's name on them. Here's hoping Ubi Soft doesn't become T.C. studios any time soon.

[Oobgarm]

They didn't adverstise BG&E nearly enough, especially releasing it during the holiday rush. How can you *not* expect a game to get buried when your competition is pushing their titles?

I saw BG&E advertised in numerous publications, with multi-page ads, even. There were ads all over the major gaming sites for it. The same goes for XIII.

I don't think that a lack of advertising did the games in, I think it was because they wern't radically different, as you said.

BG&E was a superb game, yes, but it didn't push the envelope much, which is what a game in an established genre must do in order to create sales.

XIII was mediocre at best, a lack of understanding the story nonwithstanding. I'm not surprised it didn't sell well.

[Tritoch]

Whoever it was that said Tom Clancy games aren't the ones that appeal to casual gamers.....HOW many copies of Splinter Cell sold? :hmm:

Just because a game sells well doesn't automatically mean it's a casual gamers' game. I admit that the Clancy name carries with it increased sales, but that doesn't mean every Clancy game is a "mainstream" game. With Splinter Cell, it was a case of quality being rewarded by hardcore and casual gamers alike. You think Splinter Cell wasn't original?

[hezeuschrist]

Splinter Cell was original when it was released 15 months ago. I'm not talking about revolutionary gameplay, just new franchises that did what they aimed to do, did it well, and ultimately failed. I can't vouch for XIII, but it certainly did get mixed reviews. I know people who say it's the best FPS ever, and others who hated it. That aside, you can't deny the fact that a cel shaded FPS is original.

I'm not worried about original gameplay (although Prince of Persia was absolutely awesome), I'm worried about solid gameplay, graphics, storyline, and overall playability. These new pieces did poorly simply because they didn't have a name brand tagged on... Ubisoft realized this and is likely to not try it again in the near future, and that sucks.

[Nature Boy]

I saw BG&E advertised in numerous publications, with multi-page ads, even. There were ads all over the major gaming sites for it. The same goes for XIII.

My mom knows about Ratchet and Clank because it's hard *not* to know about it. *That's* the type advertising I'm talking about. I guarantee you she didn't hear about it on a gaming site. And that's the game she bought for my stepdad's PS2.

[calthaer]

XIII, while being a decent game, is not what I'd call blockbuster material. The art style is great and I enjoy it, but when it comes down to gameplay it feels like a poor man's Half Life or something. Run around, shoot bad guys, run around some more, shoot more bad guys. The plot is a premise, more or less, for this action - and isn't something that's really too compelling, IMO.

Beyond Good & Evil, on the other hand, seems extremely solid to me. I haven't played the game a ton (only the first 1 or 2 "levels"), so I don't think I can give a full opinion on it, but from what I've seen it's a solid platformer, with great graphics, a decent plot, likeable characters, fun things to do on the side (like fill up your photo album)...not sure why this one didn't do so well. Maybe naming your games after Nietzche books isn't the best idea?