Goozex, the game trading service, has released their list of the most requested games in 2009. The ten games across all platforms are fairly predictable, mostly being AAA titles released in 2008 or early in the year. Where things get interesting is in the nitty-gritty details, especially when it comes to Nintendo's consoles.
The most requested game on the Wii wound up being MadWorld, while the DS saw Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars topping its list. House of the Dead: Overkill made the Wii list as well at #8. In a time when developers and publishers are questioning the value of producing Mature-rated content for these platforms and using these specific games as examples of failure, this info raises some interesting questions.
Why are so many Goozex users after these games while they rot on store shelves? Does this represent the demand for the titles that was anticipated by their publishers? I'd be very interested to see some deeper user metrics to see how it relates.
Goozex lies within odd psychological territory. When you make use of it as intended, you're essentially saying, "I want to own this game, but I don't want it enough to go to a store when I've already bought these other games." It's a stronger emotional commitment than a rental but has a lesser financial one. Yet, at the same time, I've requested games totally on a lark with little to back up the impulse simply because the investment is so small.
I don't know if anything could really be derived from these results, but it's an interesting mental exercise. To check out the the all of the most requested games in 2009, both overall and broken down by console, move past the jump for the list.
[Goozex]
Overall Top 10 Most Requested Items on Goozex in 2009:
1. Left 4 Dead
2. Fallout 3
3. Killzone 2
4. Infamous
5. Resident Evil 5
6. Fable II
7. Call of Duty: World at War
8. Gears of War 2
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
10. Batman: Arkham Asylum
Top 10 Most Requested Xbox 360 Games in 2009:
1. Left 4 Dead
2. Fallout 3
3. Resident Evil 5
4. Fable II
5. Call of Duty: World at War
6. Gears of War 2
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
8. Batman: Arkham Asylum
9. Prototype
10. Halo 3
Top 10 Most Requested PS3 Games in 2009:
1. Killzone 2
2. Infamous
3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
4. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
5. LittleBigPlanet
6. Resistance 2
7. Batman: Arkham Asylum
8. Demon's Souls
9. Resident Evil 5
10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Top 10 Most Requested Wii Games in 2009:
1. MadWorld
2. Punch-Out!!
3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
5. Super Mario Galaxy
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
7. Mario Kart Wii
8. The House of the Dead: Overkill
9. No More Heroes
10. Super Paper Mario
Top 10 Most Requested DS Games in 2009:
1. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
2. New Super Mario Bros.
3. Scribblenauts
4. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
5. Chrono Trigger
6. The World Ends with You
7. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
8. Pokemon Platinum Version
9. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
10. Mario Kart DS
Top 10 Most Requested PSP Games in 2009:
1. God of War: Chains of Olympus
2. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
3. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
4. Resistance: Retribution
5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of The Lions
6. Dissidia Final Fantasy
7. Star Ocean: Second Evolution
8. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
9. Killzone: Liberation
10. Patapon
Top 10 Most Requested PC Games in 2009:
1. Fallout 3
2. The Sims 3
3. Dragon Age: Origins
4. Borderlands
5. Crysis
6. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7. Call of Duty: World at War
8. Mass Effect
9. Gears of War
10. Far Cry 2
Contest:
7:00 AM on 01.05.2010
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Could this PROOF POSITIVE?!?!
But still I just think there's a lack of value for these titles and I'd have a hard time recommending my friends purchase them.
No More Heroes was a highly stylized game and worth experiencing for that but the core gameplay was nothing to write home about and came off as shallow. I know a lot of people will hate me for saying that but strip away the style... And you're not left with much. While some of us may play just for the style a majority of the audience won't.
Madworld was again full of style and I personally loved the game but at 5-6 hours with a lot of repetition it didn't appeal to the mass market.
Dead Space Extraction... A $60 on rail shooter, clocking in at a few hours in length, that served as a prequel for a game not even on the system. Not saying it's a bad game but it's not exactly an appealing purchase and I think gamers clearly voted with their wallets at 9,000 sold first week (Or was it month?).
I could go on but really just look at The Conduit. It looked terrible from day 1 yet there was nothing else to compete with it. Starved Wii fans hyped it desperate for anything. I didn't even know how to respond to people who thought it was going to be amazing.
So yeah at this point I don't think it's fair to blame the Wii market for games that would have sold poorly regardless of the console they were on. A lot of them are what I'd classify as single play through renters or bargain bin purchases. They simply aren't worth forking over full price. I mean do I get Dead Space Extraction for Wii or Bayonetta for 360? I think it's an easy call.
Halo 3 was only about 3 hours, but well worth the cash because of the intense/robust online features. For reference's sake I should also note that I purchased my Wii along with House of the Dead 2 & 3 and No More Heroes.
Also, is this (pardon the conceit) fat-chick-ism? You want to play MadWorld, but you don't want your bro's finding out that you do, so you goozex?
Gamefly FTW. Just buying games FTWer.
It's not a mental block, it's just a lot of gamers consider it a kid's console. Same goes for some older gamers who did the same for the Game Cube and are now 19, 20 years old.
What I think this proves is that hardcore gamers are pretty much the only ones who want MadWorld, Overkill, etc. I'm not saying casual gamers don't use Goozex, but the overwhelming majority doesn't. So of course we will see these games at the top, because that's the target market for MadWorld. I just don't understand why they can't just buy it, because it's $30 new, which even for me takes no time to save (And I'm poor). Give the money to the developers. Also, for some reason, no matter how much I think I don't want it anymore, I always find myself wanting all my games. I couldn't part with my games the way Goozex users do.
"It’s been slow burn. That’s the other thing you find out about the Wii. It’s not necessarily first 3 weeks like most titles. And DS. It’s a longer burn, actually."
Madworld: 400k sold
No More Heroes: 470k sold
House of the Dead: Overkill: 520k sold.
The Conduit: 360k sold.
Chinatown Wars DS: 900k sold.
These are great sales numbers, especially for the first two games which were both niche by nature. This guy even mentions that they're going to hit their quotas, but he seems to be bitching about the fact that it takes a long time to sell games, which is kind of a bizarre thing to complain about.
The games sold. There's no reason to be sad. Given time, Dead Space will probably sell also. It would be interesting to see why it's a slow burn on Wii and DS, but we're arguing about handing out blame to something that isn't even happening, e.g. poor sales.
Besides that, it does suck because it's almost impossible to get new games. I was in line for Overlord 2 since launch and it still took like 4 months.
After all, there are plenty of games on top lists for plenty of systems that I own that would cost me less than $9 on amazon.
It isn't that no one wants to play them- it's that incentive to buy them is extremely low.
Everybody interested in it looks at MadWorld and says "10 hours. $20. 2/hour... or $5 total, $0.50/hour."
It's unfortunate, but I think that if hardcore games are to sell, they need to be created with smaller budgets, and sold inexpensively or digitally.
Or they have to be the best thing in that genre. Because if they aren't, we've already played better.
Hard world out there, devs. Apologies.
But you're competing with everything ever made, which is cheap as hell now.
Just saying.