I started this thread to see what you guys say about why Grim Fandango did not sell very well. I don't want arguing on this because it is true that it did NOT sell very well! So please submit your opinions!:manny: :hector: :meche:
I dont care that it didnt sell well, I loved it anyway, and I'm looking forward to when they'll put GF2 on the market if they make it!
I think it's because of the advertisement. No one, I repeat no one I've talked online (save for LucasArts freaks) knows anything about it. Just a couples of days ago I was asked if it was Finnish and for what platform.
The quality of a game or any product doesn't matter if the advertisement is done well and the product has a reputation. People buy the Gigli DVD and other ****ty movies/games/whatever because they know about them. In the case of Gigly they might do it for the laughs or -- like myself -- for the several minutes of Al Pacino, but it doesn't matter.
I think GF would have sold more if they had advertised it with "The most stupid game of the history! The acting is so terrible it will leave you rolling on the floor with laughter and trying to find any sense in the completely predictable and uninteresting plot! You will most likely end up playing music turned off because your grandmother can play a banjo to create a better atmosphere!"
There are always idiots who go for that stuff.
It's definitely down to bad marketing. Adventure games by their very nature seem to sell less brilliantly than other genres these days, and they need a really strong push to attract people. LucasArts failed to deliver this, and thus the majority of people didn't hear about the game.
What makes it such a huge shame is that very few have given it a bad review. Everybody that I've recommended it to has absolutely loved it, and pretty much every large gaming website have acknowledged it being one of the greater games to ever be created.
It really is a tragedy when gaming masterpieces like this fail, because everybody knows that the game is excellent but due to the publishers not bothering, it doesn't do well.
I've mentioned this before, but Beyond Good and Evil is a recent game which wasn't marketed well by Ubisoft (due to them pushing Farcry into everybody's faces instead), and that game also sold badly.
Just like with GF, this adventure-rpg-action hybrid of a game achieved great reviews everywhere, and very few who have played it can claim not to have been taken by its epic feel and the awesome gaming experience it delivers, and yet because the publishers were lazy, the game sold badly.
What makes it particularly bad for Beyond Good and Evil, which I must stress that you should all buy if you own a console, is that the ending was set up perfectly for a sequel. I could cry for the developers, because the sheer love and effort put into this game shines through at every moment just like with GF, and yet thanks to the people at the top couldn't be arsed it was all pretty much wasted. The game sold badly, a sequel won't happen, and those that did play it were left bitter towards the publisher. Sound familiar?
But still, what can ye do? Let's just hope that publishers start learning just how devastating to a game bad marketing can be and don't make the same mistakes again.
In an interview with Tim Schafer, he said it was because people like to play games where they can carry out their dreams. Like in Full Throttle, where you get to be part of a biker gang getting in huge fights :P. But not many people wish to be dead...
But I think it was down to bad advertising. There wasn't enough spreading of the game before it was released.
Originally posted by Thrik
The game sold badly, a sequel won't happen, and those that did play it were left bitter towards the publisher. Sound familiar?
Didn't they just announce that there will be two new Beyond Good And Evil games?
Not that I'm aware of? If you've heard this somewhere, do let me know where - I'd love a sequel!
Argh, it looks like Idle Thumbs have opposed this:
http://forums.idlethumbs.net/showthread.php?t=708)
I really do hope that they do decide to go ahead with the originally intended trilogy. The ending is set up for at least one sequel, it'd be a crime not to carry on the masterpiece.
It's like leaving Grim Fandango with a cliffhanger ending.
Damn, that's a pity. BG&E is number four on my "Games to buy" list. They better make a positive decision concerning a sequel by the time I get my hands on it.
Beyond Good & Evil? Can you get that for the PC? Or is that just for freaky Gamecube-owners ?
I saw a PC version in the shop were I usually get my games, so unless I was somehow unstable at the moment... Yes, I guess you can get it for PC. I certainly hope so since I don't own a Cube.
It's available on the xbox, gamecube, ps2 and pc, but the pc version doesn't look like it's as good as the console versions. The higher resolution makes the textures and such look a bit more washed out, and the controls aren't as brilliant.
If you *can* get it for the console, I encourage you to do so.
Hmm... The only console I have is my Ps1 and a very old Nintendo, from 100 b.C.
Buuut... Maybe it's a game I should try.
Beyond Good and Evil... I've heard very good things about it. I plan on getting it soon. It's a shame it wasn't a hit.
GF didn't make it because of marketing. It's an adventure game, which by itself practically nailed the coffin, but it wasn't advertised, and it was one of the first adventure games to venture into the 3rd dimension. When a game of a genre that isn't very popular, and ventures into fairly new territory, with a very unique and "dark" premise, isn't advertised you can't expect sales to skyrocket.
BGAE is pretty much on the same level of cult status as Grim. There's not a huge amount of people who have played it, but very few of them haven't absolutely loved it.
I can honestly say that the atmosphere and gameplay of BGAE was at a similar level to Grim's. Obviously it was of a very different style, but it had that same "wow" factor to it. It's a game you just fall in love with.
Missing this game is almost like missing Grim Fandango. It's the absolute pinnacle of its genre, which is.. well I'm not sure really. You get to fight, race, adventure, explore, talk, buy, collect, and all sorts in BGAE. It's like a combination of everything ever.
It looked good and I was about to get it, but then I finally tracked down its system reqs. I can't run it on my comp. :(
Oh well... it's on my list for next time I upgrade my comp.
I don't think it really appealed to many people! adventure games ain't as popular as they used to be. people prefer stupid first person shooters and racing games! damn them people!!!