LittleBigAgendas: Why didn't the mass market overlook LBP?

Frillen said:
Way to ignore Japan and Europe.

Japanese and European trends shows us that LBP is falling FAST on the charts.
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I agree that it seems that LBP is falling down on numerous of charts, and just by looking at this it looks LBP is selling less and less for each week, but how much sales numbers do we have for LBP? We have something like 215k for 4-5 days in the US, and something like around 70k (i think?) for Japan in 3 weeks, are there any more numbers known?
 
Oliver.S said:
That's typical fanboy bs. I have played the game for more than 30 hours, created two levels and still have problems with the controls (and the "squeeze deaths"..).
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Explain what's wrong with the controls ?, my 7y old and 12y old brother can control the game easily, how come they and I for that matter control the game fine but you can't ? what are you finding so problematic with them ? is this what we're blaming the supposed failure of the game on now, floaty controls ? lol.
 
Speaking of which I remember a thread long ago that had people predicting how well LPB would do, but cant seem to find it now :\
 
The dutch commercials are horrible, I cringe everytime I see them. They are trying though, a big entertainment store is covered in little big planet. But the tv commercials fail to really explain, besides from a simple ambiguous statement, that main concepts of LBP. They rely too much on the knowledge of the audience, and the presentation (vocal) sucks. It's a shame, cos this game really deserves it.
 
CowGirl said:
Whilst LittleBigPlanet has been a hit critically and with the existing fanbase, it seems to be having problems reaching the extended audience.

In simple commercial terms the game is a success for Media Molecule (a team of only 25 people), but it is failing to reach other goals set for it.

Shuhei Yoshida, Sony worldwide studio boss, said: “LittleBigPlanet is going to be the biggest title for Sony in all markets this year” and producer Eric Fong stated it was "going to be a hardware seller".

Looking at its first month's performance, it is simply not hitting these targets.

It positioned 8th in october NPD selling just ~215k copies - not terrible, but not "biggest title" of the year territory.
In Japan it has sold ~80k (still a way from getting through its initial shipment of 130k) and is already out of the top 20.
In its European homeland it crashed out of the top ten in just its second week, and has subsequently slipped further down the charts.

There is no sign that LBP has significantly contributed to hardware sales either.
PS3 sold just 190k in october NPD, way behind 360 (370K) and Wii (800k).
The PS3 is now even being outsold across Europe by the 360 (a reversal of trends here).

Whilst the title might have legs, weekly sales in Japan and Europe show no evidence of this (sales have declined substantially every week, whilst even a struggling mass market game like WiiMusic managed to go back up into the uk top ten this week). It is very unlikely it will appear in next months NPD top ten.

So what went wrong?

Potential factors:

- Sony marketing have been unable to explain the concept of this game to the masses
- People would rather be spoonfed a linear entertainment experience rather than create/search for it
- Excessive moderation and launch problems soured word of mouth
- This is really a hardcore game hiding under a cute graphical exterior
- Platformers are no longer such an appealing genre
- Appears too childish
- Demographics on PS3 are wrong for this title
- Level creation is too complex for the masses


Is this title destined to be just loved by the hardcore and overlooked by the masses? Is there any way that Sony can actually reach the mass market with this title?
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lol :lol
 
If this game came out in the summer I probably would of brought it. Just far too much has come out in the last month or so. That's probably the main reason it hasn't sold so much.
 
Digital Limit said:
The core gameplay isn't actually all that fun, despite it's amazing creative elements.
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what?

its fun. ALL THAT FUN + some more. Love it!

I think the slow start has a lot to do with the recall.
 
test_account said:
I agree that it seems that LBP is falling down on numerous of charts, and just by looking at this it looks LBP is selling less and less for each week, but how much sales numbers do we have for LBP? We have something like 215k for 4-5 days in the US, and something like around 70k (i think?) for Japan in 3 weeks, are there any more numbers known?
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we know it opened 1st or 2nd in most european countries :lol

But apperantly, it would have been better to open at 10th and move to 8th :lol
 
deadatom said:
but can you feel it? oh wait.. you have only seen it in videos... the "floatiness" is surely something YOU dont have to deal with since you seem to have never played the game...

My only qualms with the game i bought, own, and have played a bit is that i thought it would
[...]
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That's judging the game by what I'm shown versus justifying your purchase. Both approaches are flawed, yes, but I kind of have to be convinced the game is for me after all, isn't it?
Well, let's relativise things -- APPARENTLY the physics are floaty.
Conclusion: Fuck it anyway, appearance is enough for me as a customer to be turned off.
If the floatiness shows in the advertisement videos AND is repraised in just about every review, it's kind of hard to sell the game to me if I object to such a jumping mechanic.

"Me" if I had a PS3, that is. This is all hypothetical, as I've said before, just that we're clear on that. Doesn't change the validity of it all though.
 
Oliver.S said:
That's typical fanboy bs. I have played the game for more than 30 hours, created two levels and still have problems with the controls (and the "squeeze deaths"..).
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If by sqeeze deaths you mean deaths resulting from poor level editing where you get killed in spots you're not supposed to get killed, yeah I agree it's a problem with some user created levels but that has nothing to do with controls.

And jumping is a problem for you after 30 hours of playing? Do you mean Mario sidescrolling problems where you might miscalculate a jump some times or do you mean serious problems? Because if it's the second... man I'm dumbfounded. I'm probably a much much better player than you and I don't even consider myself good.
 
I actually saw the 1st very good commercial for it yesterday, maybe Sunday. Like showing how the game plays and not abstract happy fun time stuff.
 
The lack of chainsaw bayonets and tuff guys with scars and gravel voices didn't appeal to tweens and man-babies.
 
In my place, I am unable to get it yet (at normal price for an Asian copy), out of stock in many retail shops or jacked up price in those who have the item.

I'm waiting for broader availability of the item.
 
Luckyman said:
Where is this thread for Mirrors Edge? That one is what you call a real bomb
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Mirror's Edge wasn't a self proclaimed " system seller "

Nor did people expect it to sell millions.
 
Just my thoughts on LBP

1. Its a game where casuals can play but find difficult to create
2. Its a game where hardcore can create but find difficult to play because of the simple game mechanics
3. Its a game where marketing kicks in December but was shipped end of October. Almost a month+ of little to no commercial marketing
4. Its a game of critical success but modest sales
5. Its a game where Game 3.0 materializes but gamers are still in Game 2.0 mode

As much as the term 'casual' and 'mass market' is tossed around here ... this game is quite niche. It will be a success in its own right as there isn't a game like this on any other console.
 
LBP is not a bomb. It's the latest in a series of 1st party PS3 games that have been prematurely declared bombs based on first-month sales by fanboys that have actually sold quite well, such as Resistance 1 and Uncharted. LBP is on track to break a million worldwide this Christmas and for a team of less than 30 people that is not a failure.
 
spwolf said:
we know it opened 1st or 2nd in most european countries :lol

But apperantly, it would have been better to open at 10th and move to 8th :lol
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Hehe ye, but then there is a chance that the game would have increased in sales if it went from a 10th to a an 8th place ;) Seriously though, i wonder how much LBP will end up selling. So far (atleast what i know) we dont have much sales numbers from LBP, so who knows how much or little LBP has sold in total worldwide until now.
 
I bought LBP with high hopes.

I did not enjoy the jumping and it bored my silly. (also I didn't like the aliasing on the main character)

I will not buy extra copies as gifts or recommend it to any friends.


It didn't appeal to me at all when actually playing it.
 
Digital Limit said:
The core gameplay isn't actually all that fun, despite it's amazing creative elements.
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Personally, I found the game lacking feeling when it came to the platformer department. Besides this, there are too many games right now aimed at the FPS gamer, the sandbox gamer, the RPG gamer etc so that many gets their pick of an awesome title.

Also, I have not seen enough advertising for this game (here in Sweden, but I may have overlooked it) aimed at the children/female gamers sections of the market. And even if the adspace has been filled and I have missed it, the console needs a lowered price before peoples wives and kids gets their say when it comes to buying a console because of a title.
 
Azrael said:
LBP is not a bomb. It's the latest in a series of 1st party PS3 games that have been prematurely declared bombs based on first-month sales by fanboys that have actually sold quite well, such as Resistance 1 and Uncharted. LBP is on track to break a million worldwide this Christmas and for a team of less than 30 people that is not a failure.
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It's not a bomb for the devvers obviously, but for Sony and the people here thinking it would drive hardware sales through the roof, it probably is.
 
neojubei said:
Wow talk about baiting, the OP just cut and run and everyone is taking the bait.
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CowGirl is a terrible ps3 troll but there is a point to all that trolling this time. We have to ask ourselves why Sony first party games don't perform well the last few years. You disagree?
 
Regarding the controls, they aren't perfect, but they are far from unplayable. But I understand that the few problems I had when playing it, if it kept repeating over and over through my time with the game, would start to grate.

I would have liked a non-physics based platformer much more than this kind, only because its just not as fun to play as it could be.
 
Azrael said:
LBP is not a bomb. It's the latest in a series of 1st party PS3 games that have been prematurely declared bombs based on first-month sales by fanboys that have actually sold quite well, such as Resistance 1 and Uncharted. LBP is on track to break a million worldwide this Christmas and for a team of less than 30 people that is not a failure.
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Too much logic in this post.
 
Azrael said:
LBP is not a bomb. It's the latest in a series of 1st party PS3 games that have been prematurely declared bombs based on first-month sales by fanboys that have actually sold quite well, such as Resistance 1 and Uncharted. LBP is on track to break a million worldwide this Christmas and for a team of less than 30 people that is not a failure.
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Resistance 1 and Uncharted were both bundled so it's not a big suprise they sold well. And Resistance was launch title so it's only normal to see good sales.

EDIT: And you are right, LBP is not a bomb. But surely it's not huge as Sony wanted.
 
GameGamer said:
I bought LBP with high hopes.

I did not enjoy the jumping and it bored my silly. (also I didn't like the aliasing on the main character)

I will not buy extra copies as gifts or recommend it to any friends.


It didn't appeal to me at all when actually playing it.
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pretty much the case with me here. i bought it with huge expectations, really tried to get into it, but when it came down to it it was a very pretty, but fairly bland game. i think i got sucked into the GAF hype cloud :P i guess the real meat is in the editor, which i haven't really got into.
 
Who didn't expect this, apart from a few hyped up morons?

It will sell reasonably well with the core audience, and a few exceptions like tinkerers and creative folks who own a PS3 (and manage to hear about the game or are given the game).

1.) PS3 isn't a mass market console
2.) LBP isn't a mass market game
2a.) Games based on level creation have never been mass market material
2b.) Games based on user created content have never been mass market material
2c.) Games based on customization are occasionally mass market material, when they pertain to common issues like creating a house

etc.

It's not fucking rocket science.
 
Luckyman said:
Where is this thread for Mirrors Edge? That one is what you call a real bomb
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Next month - Mirror's Edge was released on Nov 11, so will only show up in the November NPD. If it bombs, there'll be a thread on that.

LBP will not be considered bombing if there's a similar sellthrough in November (doubt it). It'll 'have legs' instead.
 
CoLaN said:
People who said "LBP has poor controls" clearly didn't spend much time playing it.
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People who say this have no business being in a thread arguing about the casual appeal of LBP. If your game is hard or confusing to control, it's not gonna be a blockbuster.
 
I think LBP is doing really well for the kind of game that it is. It would have been nice if it had hit big and was a huge multi-million seller, but it would be nice if I won the lottery tomorrow, too. Even if it doesn't sport strong legs, I think it's safe to call it a success, assuring the life of the IP.
 
wmat said:
That's judging the game by what I'm shown versus justifying your purchase. Both approaches are flawed, yes, but I kind of have to be convinced the game is for me after all, isn't it?
Well, let's relativise things -- APPARENTLY the physics are floaty.
Conclusion: Fuck it anyway, appearance is enough for me as a customer to be turned off.
If the floatiness shows in the advertisement videos AND is repraised in just about every review, it's kind of hard to sell the game to me if I object to such a jumping mechanic.

"Me" if I had a PS3, that is. This is all hypothetical, as I've said before, just that we're clear on that. Doesn't change the validity of it all though.
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What the fuck are you on about?

Play the fucking game then comment, otherwise you risk looking like an arse......
 
It's the holiday season. Everything is selling more than it normally would so dropping down the sales charts still could mean high sales (unlike in the summer months).

I can't believe all the articles saying it's bombing and it's not even been out for a full month:lol . It can continue to sell well over time and I'm sure LBP will be included in various bundles for a long time as well (just like uncharted was).
 
Digital Limit said:
The core gameplay isn't actually all that fun, despite it's amazing creative elements.
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What a great start to a thread.

my 2 cents...This is a game that should be packed in with all PS3s. It's by far the most original and outstanding title on the console, but it's still relatively unknown. In order for Sony to really get the game to catch on they need to start giving it away, like Nintendo does with Wii Sports. It's family friendly, which is great for families that are buying the PS3 to play blu rays.

Anyone that hates or dislikes LBP is on a whole different gaming universe then i am, to me it's easily the goty, and possibly this generation of consoles.
 
DeaconKnowledge said:
People who say this have no business being in a thread arguing about the casual appeal of LBP. If your game is hard or confusing to control, it's not gonna be a blockbuster.
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That's the point, it's not confusing it just needs some time playing to learn it. Every game has some difficult element that you have to master, either it's creating items/spells, battle strategy, shooting that can be quite difficult to master even in the most mainstread FPSs etc. For LBP it's jumping, everything else is the typical talkig point bullshit used to discredit the game.
 
Segata Sanshiro said:
I think LBP is doing really well for the kind of game that it is. It would have been nice if it had hit big and was a huge multi-million seller, but it would be nice if I won the lottery tomorrow, too. Even if it doesn't sport strong legs, I think it's safe to call it a success, assuring the life of the IP.
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The game is driven by user generated content, less players means a less compelling game. The next NPD will show the legs the game has, but so far LBP has hardly set the world on fire.
 
IronicallyTwisted said:
The game is driven by user generated content, less players means a less compelling game. The next NPD will show the legs the game has, but so far LBP has hardly set the world on fire.
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No, it hasn't set the world on fire. Most things don't.
 
Azrael said:
LBP is not a bomb. It's the latest in a series of 1st party PS3 games that have been prematurely declared bombs based on first-month sales by fanboys that have actually sold quite well, such as Resistance 1 and Uncharted. LBP is on track to break a million worldwide this Christmas and for a team of less than 30 people that is not a failure.
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Didn't Motorstorm Pacific Rift bomb as well?

The only games that performed well were mostly pack-ins. I recall Lair and Heavenly Sword not doing that well. The only game that shattered expectations was Metal Gear Solid 4 but that was because Kojima actually delivered.

It's not good when you need to bundle every first party game in order for them to sell well. But-but Wii Sports is bundled! It wasn't in Japan and it still sold great there.
 
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