Following the lower-than-expected sales performance of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, analysts and other professional guessers are clucking about the potential for mature-rated titles on the Nintendo DS, questioning whether or not it's worth even putting them out there. EEDAR analyst Jesse Divinch is one such person, claiming that Chinatown Wars is an "important benchmark for the industry."
"It appears the industry may have been over-zealous with initial expectations on how GTA: Chinatown Wars would perform based upon the news it had received one of the highest quality scores for a Nintendo DS title," he explains. "It is important to note that there have been many other titles that achieved a quality score above 90 on the Nintendo DS and have failed to sell > 300k units within 3-months in North America (irrespective of ESRB rating).
"The results from Chinatown are an important benchmark for the industry as it will be the best performing mature-rated title on the Nintendo DS to date coupled with one of the strongest mature-rated game brands."
There's no doubt that the sales performance of Chinatown surprised a few people, but there are other factors to consider outside of the age rating. Remember, Grand Theft Auto never became a true cultural phenomenom until it became 3D, and fans who started the series with GTA III might be put off by the new look of the game. Since GTA is a mainstream title and therefore a game with "casual" appeal, it's also possible that some GTA fans don't even know Chinatown Wars exists.
There's no denying that the DS is definitely more recognizable for its cute platformers, old school RPGs and mainstream puzzle games, but does that mean mature titles don't have a home there? Possibly so, although Chinatown Wars never quite got the hype and marketing that GTA IV did, nor did it generate as much controversy, despite the drug dealing minigame. We also can't exactly call Chinatown Wars a "flop." It did still chart in the UK and likely made money for Rockstar. I think the issue isn't as cut-and-dry as some think, although it's certainly an interesting discussion.
Contest:
11:40 AM on 04.14.2009
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does that say anything about the audience for each machine
However that's just the people I know.
I agree that a lot of GTA fans probably don't know it exists. I haven't seen any advertisements for it (though I live in the arctic tundra of Canada) and after seeing GTA IV, it looks quite lackluster. I think people just feel it isn't that same GTA experience and may perceive this title as more similar to the original GTA titles, when in fact, it is more like the 3D GTA titles than it is like the top-down GTA titles of the 90's, which also may turn people off.
Personally, I love Chinatown Wars and it is probably my favorite DS game. I really hope that they continue to make mature titles on the system.
Do you follow the same logic for all genres, or only for GTA? I know that for myself, 3D has no true impact on quality of the game, even visually. A game can be 3D but that doesn't necessarily make it a quality release for me. This came into full reality for me when I played the DS versions of the old Final Fantasies. I felt as though the 3D they put into the game was pure crap. Especially when compared to the remakes on the PSP.
I think Phoenix Gamma had a good point with pirating. Most game communities I hear of someone mentioning DS games to play, there's always a good 10% or more that indicate someone should pirate the copy rather than buy it.
Most people you know who have a DS are interested in children? I laughed when I saw it, but I don't think you meant it that way =)
This is just another example of the industry covering their ears and claiming Nintendo is for kids, despite the sales saying otherwise. I love my DS, and I have a shit ton of titles on it, many of which I would NOT let a kid play, even the ones rated E10 and T (that's another rant for another day on the ESRB's rating system) because the story matter is dark. Games don't need violence to be adult, but I digress.
But back on topic, between this and Sony's bitching about the DSi, when is the industry going to wake up and realize Nintendo is not just for kids, but for everyone, and that yes more adult titles CAN sell on a Nintendo platform, even if not as well as Mario and Zelda?
haha, whoops, didn't mean it like that...
EVERYONE WHO HAS A DS IS A PEDOPHILE CONFIRMED!
It also came out in a period filled with other good titles (Pokemon, Hatsworth, Valkyrie Profile, Avalon Code, Suikoden ...), which would harm sales too.
If they released Chinatown Wars for the PS3 or 360, I would have bought it.
GTA started life as a top-down game, and GTA I, II, and London were all awesome. I was actually pleased that CW took GTA back to its roots somewhat. It seemed like a good compromise between the grittier recent GTA style and the older gameplay.
@Taosd/Dennen:
If playing DS make you a pedophile, I should probably change my name to Michael Jackson.
Even the kids playing the DS are pedophiles *nod*
I wish I was an analyst so I could get paid big bucks to tell people what they already know.
Yeah. Nobody knows it exists, except this little bitch who walks into my store looking for the latest Digimon games.
perhaps virtually murdering old ladies isn't something people want to do when in view of common folk...
Bwahahahahaha.
I loved the PSP GTA's and if there were more mature games on the DS I'd probably get an "i" and I'd certainly get China Town Wars, but I won't because 99% of the games are aimed at kids and girls.
If I liked it in the arse I'd probably get Animal Crossing. But I don't and I won't.
Oh yeah and GTA San Andreas Stories for the PSP - What happened there? That would have been awesome! Oh well, back to Monster Hunter.