Strike said:
Bottom line: $400+ Lackluster marketing + Bad Economy= RelativelyLackluster Sales. Personally I think 323,000 units in TWO DAYS in FEBRUARY on a system that has a entry level that is around TWO TIMES the amount of it's compeition is respectable. Granted it could've done better, but if anyone was expecting Halo 3 numbers, I would like to know what kind of meds you are taking and suggest you up your dosage.
Nobody was expecting Halo 3 numbers, since it would be stupid to expect the same sort of effect on a much smaller userbase. Killzone 2 is the biggest PS3 exclusive release to come along since MGS4 - a game that sold the majority of its LTD in its first month and a good deal of that, no doubt, on day one.
323K for this type of game is nothing short of underwhelming, regardless of what the competition is doing. For an exclusive like this, I'd have expected ~400K - 500K.
Also, stop using the economy as an excuse for the PS3's failures. It's disingenuous and ignores the fact that the audience for games like Killzone 2 are extremely price insensitive when it comes to getting what they want when they want it. Also, to use
that as an excuse in the same month that SFIV sold a combined total of ~850K units... well, I don't know what to say.
Neither the PS3 or the 360 saw significant spikes this month, so a game doesn't need to be a system seller to do well, negating the ZOMG PS3 AM $400 argument.
chubigans said:
There was hype on the internet for Killzone 2, which resulted in over 300k internet hardcore gamers to buy the game.
There was ZERO hype outside the internet. I know it, you know it, and the sales show it. If you seriously think GAF is a barometer of gaming sales, well, you'd know we'd be seeing a very different top ten list right about now.
Whether there was hype outside the net or no, I cannot say. I don't hang out with console gamers that often IRL and I don't live in the US, so I can't comment on the state of Sony's advertising.
I would question, however, how much of an effect advertising actually has on a game like this. Targeted advertising often just reaches the people who were going to buy the product anyway.