Support NeoGAF

[Infamous Chris]

It's unfortunate that dude bro gaming is taking over peoples minds...maybe R3 needed more zombies and f-bombs? Then it could've been "special".

Dudebro gaming is taking over? I understand you have a Resistance avatar, but come on now. What 6 games above R3 in the top 10 drop f bombs? What game besides DI has zombies?

There is no need to make up things just because you're frustrated. And 1.25m sans bundles seems like a long shot, and if it hits those numbers two years from now, how is that an accomplishment for an AAA game? How is that an accomplishment at ALL?

 

[test_account]

As a non-Halo player I know diddly about Halo's bad guys, but there's no way I could avoid Master Chief over the last decade; splashed across covers, commercials, and sodas.

Same here, i have actually no idea who the antagonists are in Halo. Or is the Covenent or something? It is a bit the same with Metal Gear Solid for me, although there i know about Liquid Snake from the MGS4 trailers.

It feels like PS3 owner just don't even know these great games are coming out. I still need to buy Infamous 2 and Resistance 3 but just have so much to catch up on. A year without a ton of great games coming out would be great for me.

Indeed, so many games are coming out, it is kinda hard to find time for all of them. I bought Infamous 2 on launch day, but i still havnt even inserted the game in my PS3 And i loved Infamous 1, almost got a platinum trophy as well (just missed 1 trophy, the one to get all the stunts). Hopefully i get around to play Infamous 2 some day.

 

[EagleEyes]

Well, Gears also enjoyed a marketing budget that was probably 11x larger as well (clearly hyperbole, but you get the point), in addition to having massive dude bro appeal and a bigger following. I'd wager the Gears franchise marketing budget alone would be enough to fund 3 or 4 more games at Insomniac. While sales are important, there is also a lot to be said about budget.

You know maybe just maybe Gears is actually a great series and it sells well because of it. Marketing budget helps but that cop out gets used way to much on gaming forums. Care to explain how a game like Dark Souls is more than likely to outsell Resistance also?

 

[walking fiend]

Well whatever happens, next NPD will be a bloodbath. I can see a lot of good games on this list. But how many people can seriously say they have the time or money to get more than 4 of these games.

A lot of people will probably get not even a single game.

there are, very roughly, 20m PS3, 30m 360 and 35m Wii that adds up to 85m home consoles; let's say that even half of them are consoles that share space with another, which leaves 42m home with a console (though I believe it is more, probably like 60m, one may provide more precise data);

So we have at least 42m player (again, worst case, families that only 1 person buy games) that are waiting to buy a game.

How much do you expect those titles sell? At most something around 20m, that would leave 22m without any game bought during November, let alone 4 games.

To put it in perspective, tie ration of 360 is around 9, which means 1.5 games per year. I suspect that tie ratio across PS3 and 360 will rise by around 1 from now till the end of year though, and that would be a stretch.

 

[TheOddOne]

Resistance got a pretty good marketing push, with all those live shorts show on TV.

 

[Infamous Chris]

Well, Gears also enjoyed a marketing budget that was probably 11x larger as well (clearly hyperbole, but you get the point), in addition to having massive dude bro appeal and a bigger following. I'd wager the Gears franchise marketing budget alone would be enough to fund 3 or 4 more games at Insomniac. While sales are important, there is also a lot to be said about budget.

So Gears only did better because it has a bigger marketing budget and is dudebro. Got it.

As if your avatar made you not to be taken serious, this takes the cake.

You know maybe just maybe Gears is actually a great series and it sells well because of it. Marketing budget helps but that cop out gets used way to much on gaming forums. Care to explain how a game like Dark Souls is more than likely to outsell Resistance also?

.

 

[Cruzader]

The Reach commercials consisted of little more than Spartans running through a war-torn battlefield.

Sony's new live/play commercial has an easily recognizable Solid Snake (and Kratos) sitting at the bar.

Which is not to say those games don't have iconic villains, but people will follow the franchises toward whatever adventures the hero gets into. Can the average GAFer tell you who the lead character is in KZ or Resistance?

There are fan clubs for fem-Sheperd's voice actress.

Drake has a commercial currently airing where he winks at the camera while holding a Subway cup.

Iconic characters are a huge part of brand awareness.

That's a very good point too which I don't get why the devs did that.

I think KZ1 had the characters that they could have built upon. Sadly on the second game, the main guy gets killed! Rico is turned into the shitties AI partner and an annoying loud mouth. The rest disappear.

When you get to the 3rd one, cinematics improved but somehow got fucked in the process. How you end up from point A to B doesn't make sense at all and at this point, no fuck is given to the main characters since we all hate them. GG messed up so bad they'd need a reboot possibly of the franchise.

Resistance's games never interested me. Crappy guns and bad looking game. Not sure why these guy don't get simple mechanics right instead of going out of their way to impress a few people.

 

[walking fiend]

Shooters are about community nowadays.

 

[Otheradam]

Resistance was never a big mass market franchise. The first one did good because it was the right game at the right time- the only decent shooter at PS3's launch. That's what it had going for it. The second game pretty much burned any goodwill the few hardcore Resistance lovers had for the franchise. It's popularity was always inflated in the Gaf community IMO.

 

[Huff]

Resistance got a pretty good marketing push, with all those live shorts show on TV.

It had the kevin butler commercial, but I doubt that did any good

 

[Adam Blade]

Well, I guess my predictions about R3 and Gears 3 were wrong. Whodathunk?

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Gears probably did better because Gears is a consistently better series.

Just a thought.

 

[Grecco]

It had the kevin butler commercial, but I doubt that did any good

Its past time Sony retired Kevin Butler. Im glad hes not going to sully Uncharted 3.

 

[MrPliskin]

Dudebro gaming is taking over? I understand you have a Resistance avatar, but come on now. What 6 games above R3 in the top 10 drop f bombs? What game besides DI has zombies?

There is no need to make up things just because you're frustrated. And 1.25m sans bundles seems like a long shot, and if it hits those numbers two years from now, how is that an accomplishment for an AAA game? How is that an accomplishment at ALL?

How does me having a Resistance Avatar matter (more importantly, why point it out when you have a Gears avatar?).

Dead Island is *only* successful because it has Dude Bro appeal and a brilliant trailer that didn't represent an ounce of what Dead Island had to offer. It is a mediocre title (in my opinion) not worthy of half the sales it earned. It's zombies, and it sold well.

My "dude bro" comments are regarded toward people who think Resistance 3 was "nothing special" yet somehow think that Gears is "something special". All due respect to Gears, it's a great game, but it wasn't anything massively improved over the 2nd, and isn't really hitting home runs in the innovation department (neither is R3). Folks here haven't even given R3 a shot, yet poo poo it in NPDs. For some reason it's more enjoyable to them to "LOL" at the bomba than to give it a fair shake and realize it's actually a very good game.

"Accomplishments" matter to kids trumpeting around NPD threads championing their title or console of choice. Profitability matters to publishers and developers. You should realize that

You know maybe just maybe Gears is actually a great series and it sells well because of it. Marketing budget helps but that cop out gets used way to much on gaming forums. Care to explain how a game like Dark Souls is more than likely to outsell Resistance also?

Well, I'd argue that it sells well, at this point, for 3 big reasons, and being a good game is the smallest of them (and it is a very very good game).

1) It was a break through title, visually, for the 360 in its first year, which garnered it a MASSIVE following.

2) It's got "dude bro" appeal, which matters this gen. Blood, explosions, and excessive cursing for maximum "bad ass" points.

3) The marketing budget is absurd. Everyone knows when Gears is coming out, it's everywhere. Even got premium UFC airtime on PPV, with custom commercials, etc (which also speaks to the target audience). The game's marketing budget ensures everyone knows when it's coming out, and no one misses a beat.

Resistance 3 doesn't enjoy any of those. It wasn't a breakthrough title visually (and never has been), it's pretty far from dude bro (IMO), and the marketing budget is tiny by comparison. There are people who don't even KNOW the game is out, or what happened in the first two, for that matter. They just know "the graphics aint that good, and I heard there aint much blood and stuff".

I don't think that quality of the title is reflective of sales for either Gears or Resistance, and they are both products of the same factors on opposite sides of the spectrum. Two very excellent games with two very different sales outcomes.

 

[CrankyKong]

This seems like a particularly slow month for getting the rest of the numbers.
What gives?

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

You know maybe just maybe Gears is actually a great series and it sells well because of it. Marketing budget helps but that cop out gets used way to much on gaming forums. Care to explain how a game like Dark Souls is more than likely to outsell Resistance also?

Marketing budget is a tough excuse when Dead Island outsold R3. I don't even understand the "dude bro" criticism, Resistance and Gears are about as close thematically as any two games on that list, and it's not as if shooting Alien monsters is more "hardcore" and sophisticated than shooting zombies.

If Sony is going to go forward with any FPS franchises in the west on their next console, hopefully they make it a priority to have OPEN multiplayer betas, full campaign co-op (online and offline), and a vs multi that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel with every release.

Edit: Dead Island is open world + co-op (4p) + zombies. It's getting great word of mouth, so it has remained in high demand at retailers even after marketing wrapped up. The CGI trailer isn't going to foster an active multiplayer community, come on.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I think it's fair to assume Resistance 4 is not high on the list of priorities for Sony.

 

[Relix]

My "dude bro" comments are regarded toward people who think Resistance 3 was "nothing special" yet somehow think that Gears is "something special". All due respect to Gears, it's a great game, but it wasn't anything massively improved over the 2nd, and isn't really hitting home runs in the innovation department (neither is R3). Folks here haven't even given R3 a shot, yet poo poo it in NPDs. For some reason it's more enjoyable to them to "LOL" at the bomba than to give it a fair shake and realize it's actually a very good game.

"Accomplishments" matter to kids trumpeting around NPD threads championing their title or console of choice. Profitability matters to publishers and developers. You should realize that

Damn you are still delusional....

You know why R3 didn't sell gangbusters? Because Resistance 2 was beyond atrocious and killed the franchise in many gamers minds.

Gears has consisently shown that its an amazing ride, fun, not frustrating, has easy co-op and the likes. Oh... and Xbox owners love their GeoW. Dude bro it could be, but damn Gears is fun. Ill buy R3 after it drops price... I mean I am still forcing myself to finish R2 after all this time and I am nearly at the end. Its that bad... and the MP ain't that great.

 

[Huff]

Its past time Sony retired Kevin Butler. Im glad hes not going to sully Uncharted 3.

I think he's had good commercials in the past that helped the games, but the R3 one was terrible imo. Why wouldn't he be around for UC3?

 

[MrPliskin]

Marketing budget is a tough excuse when Dead Island outsold R3. I don't even understand the "dude bro" criticism, Resistance and Gears are about as close thematically as any two games on that list, and it's not as if shooting Alien monsters is more "hardcore" and sophisticated than shooting zombies.

If Sony is going to go forward with any FPS franchises in the west on their next console, hopefully they make it a priority to have OPEN multiplayer betas, full campaign co-op (online and offline), and a vs multi that doesn't try to reinvent the wheel with every release.

Being similar thematically at a core level =/= similar. Gears focuses heavily on gore, cursing, and overall "bad assery". Resistance has always felt like a much more conservative game, by comparison.

Damn you are still delusional....

You know why R3 didn't sell gangbusters? Because Resistance 2 was beyond atrocious and killed the franchise in many gamers minds.

Gears has consisently shown that its an amazing ride, fun, not frustrating, has easy co-op and the likes. Oh... and Xbox owners love their GeoW. Dude bro it could be, but damn Gears is fun. Ill buy R3 after it drops price... I mean I am still forcing myself to finish R2 after all this time and I am nearly at the end. Its that bad... and the MP ain't that great.

I definitely agree that R2 sullied R3's sales, no doubt about it. That doesn't somehow make other points invalid.

Also a shame you're willing to pass on R3 because of R2, given the impressions from everyone that it is a complete 180 from what R2 was....

 

[chubigans]

Sorry if asked, but do those Resistance numbers also include the Sharpshooter bundle? I can't imagine that bundle selling more than 10k, but I'm just curious.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Resistance has always felt like a much more conservative game, by comparison.

Perhaps, but it is still Sony's gritty post-apocalyptic shooter.

 

[Dabanton]

Resistance was never a big mass market franchise. The first one did good because it was the right game at the right time- the only decent shooter at PS3's launch. That's what it had going for it. The second game pretty much burned any goodwill the few hardcore Resistance lovers had for the franchise. It's popularity was always inflated in the Gaf community IMO.

I think R2 was the fastest i'd seen GAF turn on what was at the time an anticipated game.

Suddenly everyone was like i'll wait for KZ2 instead.

 

[JB1981]

Resistance sold only 180k? Jesus christ .....

Sorry to say but Resistance 3, while having a good single player campaign, was not enough of an appealing package for today's market. It needed a more full-bodied release and it did NOT provide that. No separate co-op or horde mode, a nearly broken multiplayer component (that they are STILL patching to decency). From a multiplayer perspective (versus and online) it was a step back from games 1 and 2 and today's market wants a good value for their dollar. Insomniac had 3 years to develop this game and what they served up was lackluster overall. Not sure what went wrong but they reigned in their ambition too much after Resistance 2.

 

[Relix]

Also a shame you're willing to pass on R3 because of R2, given the impressions from everyone that it is a complete 180 from what R2 was....

Nah I'll buy R3, but perhaps as a punishment to Insomniac (at the end it has no consequence) I will be buying it when it reaches $30 or less.

 

[Infinite Justice]

Gears probably did better because Gears is a consistently better series.

Just a thought.

Yep.

It didn't have a second game where most people considered it fucking garbage (maybe MP ),

 

[Draft]

Being similar thematically at a core level =/= similar. Gears focuses heavily on gore, cursing, and overall "bad assery". Resistance has always felt like a much more conservative game, by comparison.

CoD has less gore, cursing and biceps than either Gears or Resistance, but it's also the dudebro poster child. I think you're trying to justify Resistance being an unpopular franchise by coming up with some scenario where it doesn't fit into the mold of every other AAA HD fps.

Resistance sits comfortably in the casual AAA HD era FPS category. Grim setting, lots of shooting, crazy monsters. It's just plain unpopular.

 

[Loudninja]

Sorry if asked, but do those Resistance numbers also include the Sharpshooter bundle? I can't imagine that bundle selling more than 10k, but I'm just curious.

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

Not sure really.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I will be buying it when it reaches $30 or less.

Might not have too long a wait.

 

[Gravijah]

Not sure really.

seems like it's saying everything but console bundles.

 

[MrPliskin]

Gears probably did better because Gears is a consistently better series.

Just a thought.

I think it's debatable as to which game is better (for the latest installment) as far as quality is concerned. I believe both are on par for being excellent titles for what they earned.

I definitely think the game didn't sell well on it's own merits, and has a lot to attribute to the factors I've listed. I can't believe anyone would think otherwise, honestly. It's a pretty game with lots of action, and a massive marketing budget. At that point game play becomes irrelevant. Hell, even Dead Island, which is a pile IMO (boring, poor animation, clunky controls) did well on the merits of marketing and premise.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I don't understand the extended talk about how or why R3 hasn't set the world on fire. There's just not a lot of air in the room and Resistance just comes across as the weakest and least-differentiated of the big $60 shooters this season.

 

[Tylahedras]

Gears probably did better because Gears is a consistently better series.

Just a thought.

.

 

[TheOddOne]

Being similar thematically at a core level =/= similar. Gears focuses heavily on gore, cursing, and overall "bad assery". Resistance has always felt like a much more conservative game, by comparison.

In theme Gears 3 and Resistance 3 have something in common, in both games its humanity's last stand. You could argue that both games have the same objective, but execute it differently. For one gore in both games are a factor (guns), cursing (during battle, but story sections are mature) and being a "bad ass" (guns, putting the enemy in their place, winning but also losing something).

About the debate that Resistance 2 soured a lot of hardcore Resistance fans, the same could be said for Gears of War 2. It was a terrible online expierence, the story was well mediocure and Epic left the whole community out to dry. Come Gears of War 3: more modes, better story, dedicated servers, a beta and trying to embrace the community (its been a hit-miss kind of thing though).

 

[Ridley327]

Not sure really.

IIRC, the Sharpshooter bundle for SOCOM 4 did not get counted towards its sales, and I believe it was mentioned by a dev or some industry type that it would have made the top 10 in April if they were combined.

 

[Takao]

I think it's fair to assume Resistance 4 is not high on the list of priorities for Sony.

They killed off a Resistance: Retribution sequel, so I suspect Burning Skies might be the last we see of the Chimera.

 

[Lonely1]

They killed off a Resistance: Retribution sequel, so I suspect Burning Skies might be the last we see of the Chimera.

What? SMH...

 

[Ridley327]

They killed off a Resistance: Retribution sequel, so I suspect Burning Skies might be the last we see of the Chimera.

And it's being made by the same guys as Playstation Move Heroes and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.

Lots of confidence there!

 

[Cheech]

I think it's debatable as to which game is better (for the latest installment) as far as quality is concerned. I believe both are on par for being excellent titles for what they earned.

God bless your enthusiasm dawg, but I've put dozens of hours into both Gears 3 and R3. Finished both campaigns, played generous amounts of multiplayer.

Gears 3 is objectively a better game. Map design, Horde mode, beast mode, graphics, fluidity of gameplay, sound, there is not a single category where R3 comes out on top.

Now, if you wanted to argue that R3 was better than one of the older CoD games, I'd have your back.

 

[TheOddOne]

I still think we might see a Resistance console title this generation or atleast 2 handheld spin-offs.

 

[Auto_aim1]

I don't think we should be comparing Gears 3 with Resistance 3. Gears has a massive fanbase compared to Resistance. It's not a question of quality either, as Resistance 3 is a fantastic game. It just isn't the sort of game people will easily spend $60 on. There is a reason why COD/Gears games are so similar. Insomniac tinkered with MP component way too much. They really should have included the 8-player co-op from Resistance 2.

I hope we see Resistance 4 on the PS4, though. Fresh new start on a new hardware can do wonders.

 

[Huff]

I still think we might see a Resistance console title this generation or atleast 2 handheld spin-offs.

This gen? Nah.

 

[Gravijah]

This gen? Nah.

if he's talking 3ds/vita/ps4/720 gen, why not?

 

[CrunchinJelly]

There is a reason why COD/Gears games are so similar.

You've never played a Gears game, have you?

 

[Apath]

Well, I'd argue that it sells well, at this point, for 3 big reasons, and being a good game is the smallest of them (and it is a very very good game).

1) It was a break through title, visually, for the 360 in its first year, which garnered it a MASSIVE following.

Actually it got such a massive following because it was the first amazing title to play on XBOX Live that didn't have Halo 2 in the name. The game felt totally unique and different compared to anything else I'd played in the past, coupled with the deep sense of team work that the multiplayer instills.

Yes the graphics were great. But visuals only go so far, and if the gameplay were flat, a second and third iterations wouldn't have any of the same hype. It was XBOX Live that made Gears of War a big series, IMO.

EDIT: Also it should be noted that the FPS genre is saturated beyond belief. Third person shooters with a cover mechanic aren't exactly anything original these days, but it's definitely a less saturated market to tap into.

 

[Auto_aim1]

You've never played a Gears game, have you?

I have, I was talking about the gameplay.

 

[TheOddOne]

This gen? Nah.

I know it sounds crazy, but I think it will happen.

 

[Apath]

I have, I was talking about the gameplay.

Er, Call of Duty and Gears of War are nothing alike, gameplay wise? I haven't been following the discussion, so maybe I'm wrong in my interpretation of the comment..

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I know it sounds crazy, but I think it will happen.

PS Vita, possible. PS3? Can't see it.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I have, I was talking about the gameplay.

Wha?! Besides the act of shooting, what's so similar about them? That's like saying LBP and Mario are the same because they both focus on lots of jumping.