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[Zzoram]

Well deserved, Mass Effect 3 is my most anticipated game this year, only behind to Gears 3.

The Witcher 2 is more anticipated than Mass Effect 3 for me, and I didn't even finish The Witcher and beat Mass Effect 1 three times and Mass Effect 2 twice. The Witcher has much more subtle effects to choices that don't make themselves evident until hours later, and I think it's a much better way of doing a "choices" RPG. That plus I find myself preferring RPGs where I only control 1 character.

 

[PatrickLyons]

interesting to note, there were a lot fewer 360s around when ME1 came out than there were in the last year. though me1 has also had a long time to collect catalog sales at discount prices.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Where is my ME2 GOTY edition?

Isn't that basically the PS3 port?

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

No other game franchise has the atmosphere that the Mass Effect series has. Great news and I cannot wait for 3 after the amazing job Bioware did on 2.

Rosie O'Donnel is pleased

 

[sixteen-bit]

Rosie O'Donnel is pleased

I think that's supposed to be Yvonne Strahovski

 

[BackwardsSuggestions]

I got 360 version and PS3 version. I account for 2 of those 7 million!

 

[Seraphinianus]

I got 360 version and PS3 version. I account for 2 of those 7 million!

Great job agent!

 

[Appollowexx]

And I've still to play them!!!

 

[Grinchy]

I guess this is more proof that RPGs don't sell well.

 

[Wallach]

Most of BioWare's games all sell at really low prices.

This is why they keep doing ridiculous pre-order bonuses, to try and get people to buy them at a higher price point.

Pretty much. ME did most of its work at Platinum Hits price and lower.

 

[water_wendi]

I guess this is more proof that RPGs don't sell well.

Its not that they dont sell, its that they dont sell enough. What is 7million units? Day one sales of CoD? Companies are chasing that big payout without realizing they are gambling while in its pursuit.

 

[Grinchy]

Its not that they dont sell, its that they dont sell enough. What is 7million units? Day one sales of CoD? Companies are chasing that big payout without realizing they are gambling while in its pursuit.

I was going for the bad joke about how Mass Effect is not an RPG. I think 7 million is an incredible number.

 

[Ickman3400]

I guess this is more proof that RPGs don't sell well.

I'm pretty sure all of Bethesda's games this gen (oblivion+fallout 3) have broke the 5 million mark, including New Vegas. Witcher went over a million I think which isn't a lot but they also didn't spend $50 million in marketing. Two Worlds 2 last time I saw broke 2 million and they had a small budget too. It's not always about numbers sold but how much money you made. EA likes to spend stupid amounts of money on marketing which explains their $2 billion they've lost this gen.

I'd be willing to bet Witcher 2 easily passes 1 million given the hype. Wouldn't be shocked if it cruised past 2 million either, and it only had a $8-$10 million budget.

 

[MomoPufflet]

It deserves to sell 7 million more.

 

[Mooreberg]

A price breakdown would be interesting. Some 2010 Xbox 360 software sales chart had Fallout New Vegas ahead of Mass Effect 2 despite coming out nearly nine months later, to lesser critical acclaim, and being on PS3 at launch. Did it reallly sell slower than the first Mass Effect even with the added install base?

 

[Dennis]

I guess this is more proof that RPGs don't sell well.

Risen, The Witcher and Two Wrolds II have been very profitable for their developers even though they were made quite cheaply. And they looked great.

The Witcher 2 is being made on an $8 million budget.

So RPGs can make good business if you don't spend it all on CG and celebrity voice actors.

 

[water_wendi]

I was going for the bad joke about how Mass Effect is not an RPG. I think 7 million is an incredible number.

i think its a great number too.

 

[valentine71]

It deserves to sell 7 million more.

This... Won't happen unless they turn the game into a shitty online shooter...

 

[PatrickLyons]

i'm guessing both ME games were highly profitable. there's no way either mass effect could have cost a lot to make. it's one of the clumsiest and least polished shooters of this generation but with a lot of voice acting tacked on. I thought they were both fun games, but i hope for their sake bioware didn't expend a lot of resources on the actual gameplay.

 

[Trent Strong]

Well deserved. Fun-tastic games.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Great sales for an average series.

Fixed.

 

[Chairman Yang]

i'm guessing both ME games were highly profitable. there's no way either mass effect could have cost a lot to make. it's one of the clumsiest and least polished shooters of this generation but with a lot of voice acting tacked on. I thought they were both fun games, but i hope for their sake bioware didn't expend a lot of resources on the actual gameplay.

Mass Effect 1/2 (and Dragon Age: Origins) were all really big-budget games and weren't all that profitable as a result. I can't find the forum post by a Bioware guy that said that at the moment, but it's part of the reason the company is chasing megahit status rather than settling for sales that are just great.

 

[Zzoram]

Mass Effect 1/2 (and Dragon Age: Origins) were all really big-budget games and weren't all that profitable as a result. I can't find the forum post by a Bioware guy that said that at the moment, but it's part of the reason the company is chasing megahit status rather than settling for sales that are just great.

Stop paying Hollywood celebrity actors hundreds of thousands of dollars for a few spoken lines that would be better spoken by dedicated voice actors who do cartoons for a living and would work for 1/4 the price.

It's a really, really stupid trend. I'm still pissed that Blizzard replaced the Kerrigan voice actress, who was really good, with a celebrity. Her voice didn't add any sales to the game, her line delivery wasn't anywhere near as good, and she cost probably 5-10x as much.

It's the same for those animated Hollywood movies with 6+ Hollywood voice actors working for millions a piece, ballooning the cost of those movies. Hire a team of talented career voice actors for a fraction of the price, get BETTER voice acting, and lose probably none of the sales, certainly not enough to make up the cost of those celebrities. Do you really think a kid is going to see Toy Story because Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are voices in the movie? Kids don't even know or care who they are. Just pick a good voice and keep that person for the franchise. In fact, some Saturday morning cartoon voice would probably be more recognizable to kids and be a bigger draw than some expensive Hollywood actor that phones it in.

 

[coldvein]

this is good.

 

[PatrickLyons]

Mass Effect 1/2 (and Dragon Age: Origins) were all really big-budget games and weren't all that profitable as a result. I can't find the forum post by a Bioware guy that said that at the moment, but it's part of the reason the company is chasing megahit status rather than settling for sales that are just great.

I know dragon age was in development hell for most of a decade, so i didn't expect it to be profitable, but I'm surprised to hear that about the mass effects, especially the second one which was able to re-use almost all the same assets from the first game. I wonder how much it costs to do all the CGI cutscenes bioware loves.