Holiday Bliss or Blues?
Every year it's the same thing. For the first nine months we're forced to tolerate a flood of mediocre titles with just a couple of "great" ones popping up here or there. And then, WHAM! The holiday season is here and we suddenly have more quality games to play than we know what to do with.I received the November issue of GameInformer in the mail today and, upon glancing over the "new releases" page, counted a ridiculously long list of promising or "must have" titles just for that month alone. A sample of those games include Fable: The Lost Chapters (Xbox), Okami (PS2), Pac-Man World 3 (multi), Star Wars Battlefront 2 (multi), Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (PS2), Painkillers (Xbox), The Movies (PC), Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (multi), Half-Life 2 (Xbox), Mario Kart DS (DS, duh), Mega Man X Collection (multi), Shadow the Hedgehog (multi), Sonic Rush (DS), King Kong (multi), Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time (DS), SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALS (PSP), Dragon Quest VIII (PS2). . .the list might as well be endless.
And remember, those are only November releases! Notable games like Ultimate Spider-Man (multi), Shadow of the Colossus (PS2), Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS), Radiata Stories (PS2), and Fire Emblem (GC) have already been released, and December will have its treasures as well. How can anyone afford, let alone find the time to play, even half of these titles?
And then there's the Xbox 360's release on Nov. 22! Titles such as Dead or Alive 4, The Elder Scrolls IV, Kameo, Quake 4, Perfect Dark Zero, and Ridge Racer 6 will all be prominent titles vying for gamers' time and money--and they all release within mere weeks of each other (and many are launch titles). One really has to wonder why more companies don't wait until January or February to release their titles, or simply aim for a summer release - a time when there's less competition and numerous teenagers are looking for something good to play.
But this never happens. Year after year, companies hoard their best games until quarter four, expecting great holiday sales. Instead, many find their games overlooked as shoppers, with only so much money to spend, play it safe and buy only the most visible, mainstream titles. Many great games have been overlooked due to this phenomenon, including Ubisoft's fanciful Beyond Good and Evil, a captivating title that sold abysmally at retail.
In my case, I still have a stack of games from over a year ago that I need to play. What is a poor gamer to do? Until next time. . .
posted by GamerDan @ 10/21/2005 12:38:00 AM
3 Comments:
Great post GamerDan. Why else would you have people racking up on systems & games in hoards at "the most wonderful time of the year". Better titles will be hot sellers while others will see improving sells. Stores will lower prices and run bargain sales to appeal to consumers.
It's all about the money. Gaming companies know they will get more money before the Xmas rush rather than after.
SC
I realize that companies expect to sell more during the Christmas season, but this is not what always happens. The thinking is that a company should sell more titles because people are busy looking for gifts to buy their children and loved ones. The reality, however, is that buyers have a finite amount of money to spend, which means they will be forced to buy certain games over others. The games that aren't bought will then likely languish on store shelves until discounted and thrown into bargain bins. This is sad, for many of these games are just as good as the ones that did sell well.
My point is, had these overlooked titles been released at a less busy and competitive time, consumers might have purchased them (like Beyond Good and Evil). But during the holiday season, shoppers are usually too distacted by big-name releases to take notice of the smaller, but still quality, titles.
That's why I don't understand why certain companies simply don't release more games during other times of the year. Ironically, they would see better sales. Leave Christmas to the big guns (EA, Activision, Sony), I say.
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