Sad koala! Boom Blox debuts to low sales numbers

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4:07 PM on 06.18.2008, Chad Concelmo

75 comments | 8451 views

Sad koala! Boom Blox debuts to low sales numbers photo

#Electronic Arts #Puzzle Games #wii

In the most depressing news of the day, according to the latest NPD data, Steven Spielberg’s amazing Wii exclusive Boom Blox only sold 60,000 copies in its first month of release. Putting that number in perspective, that is only 0.6% of all Wii owners.

While a lot of third parties are having trouble releasing hits on Nintendo’s popular console, this news comes as an extra shock since Boom Blox is easily one of the best games on the Wii. The puzzle mechanics are exceptional and the unique motion controls are used in a truly revolutionary, intuitive way. And, oh yeah, it was created by Steven freakin’ Spielberg.

Despite the low sales, EA remains confident the game will sell better and says it has already met the giant company’s expectations. And, honestly, 60,000 isn't terrible ... it’s just a bit disappointing. To ensure better sales, though, I am making a plea to the other 99.4% of Wii owners: If you like puppies, buy Boom Blox!

What do you think? If you own a Wii and haven't bought this incredible game ... why not?

[Via Shack News]

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next 50 comments

75 comments | showing # 1 to 50

njsykora

I haven't bought it because I haven't had the money. That is the full and complete story as far as I'm concerned.

Dead Movie Star

Dammit, Chad! You have to understand us simple beings cannot handle such amazing! Are you trying to kill us?

digtastik

I'm buying it after my b-day. My wife cuts me off a month or 2 in advance because I'm hard to get gifts for.

ParaParaKing

I'm sorry, but I really don't like BoomBlox. I tried it and it just didn't work for me.

Dexter345

All it really takes is for people to show it to their friends. You got Aerox and me to buy it, and we got Kyle and naia to want it now.

I really think sales will go up with time, because word of mouth is going to get this game into peoples' hands.

teach4food

The game is really fun and has a lot more depth than I imagined. Each world introduces a different style, technique, and challenge. Multiplayer is pretty cool too!

vonrichter

Someone buy me a Wii, and I promise to buy this sweet-looking game. :-P

king3vbo

That... poor Koala... *sniff*

nilcam

I haven't bought Boom Blox because it doesn't appeal to me in any way, shape or form. I've been putting in lots of time with Blast Works, Castle of Shikigami 3 and DBZ: BT3, in an attempt to reach some level of skill with a modern 3D fighter.

And I don't like puppies.

Chad Concelmo

Damn you and your puppy-hating ways, nilcam!

I was actually the same way -- I was not that excited about the game as well -- but once you play it you come to realize how amazing it truly is. :)

thinkfreemind

Between GTA4, MGS4 and a bunch of Atlus games, I haven't had the money yet. I played it for a bit in GameStop and I thought it was fun, so it is definitely on my radar for future purchases. However, this isn't a game that I felt needed to be a day one buy.

I hate how just because a game didn't sell very well for the first few weeks, everyone thinks it's a failure. What ever happened to shelf life? Let's not forget this is a game for the Wii. Wii owners (typically more casual gamers than say 360 or PS3) aren't the type of people who run out to buy a new game as soon as it releases. Instead, they don't mind sitting back and waiting until the next time they are in a game store (or Target, Walmart, etc..) to choose a new game they would want to play.

I say, give it some time to shine and grow as a retail success. I'll buy a copy eventually and I am sure that this will be just the type of game the casual Wii owning gamers out there will buy eventually also.

Spectreman

* U$50 is expensive for a puzzle.

Spartacus

I'LL BUY IT I PROMISE I JUST HAVEN'T GOTTEN AROUND TO IT

deaddays

Bought it. LOVE IT. You do the same!

Chad Concelmo

@thinkfreemind,
I actually agree with you. While the numbers are low when compared to a title like GTAIV, I think this game has the potential to pull in solid sales for a long period of time.

PappaDukes

$$$

There are just simply SOOOO many "must-buys" that I had to make a priority list. With my income, this didn't even make it in the top 2. (MGS IV, Alone in the Dark)

ian_esq

Really,I bought elebits because I thought it was going to be the bomb, But it sucked and I think I'd get bored of play virtual jenga after 5 mins

Knives

For some reason I didn't knew it was out until I saw it last weekend, sadly I didn't have enough money at the time to get it.

entrager

I haven't gotten it yet because I know I will be able to get it new in a few months for $20.

wwjd4bbque

I'm afraid that Boom Blox would cut in to my quality time with Link and all his virtual console brethren.

Is it wrong that I'd rather play ROMs?

Also, puppies are great, but I'm partial to kittens.
Blasphemy, I know. Sorry Mr. Concelmo.

Benny

This is why we can't have nice things.

casualweaponry

Sorry, it just doesn't appeal to me.

Please forgive me Chad :)

ghets

Im gonna pick this up eventually but when it came out i think there were 4 or 5 other games that had priority. I know that when the time is right, it will still be there waiting for me.

Swizzler121

probably because Stephen Spielberg stole the idea, suckers feeling karma and I hope it HURTS!

wanna see the real game? check it out:
Real Game: Toblo, made by a group of Junior dev's at Digipen is the actual spawn of Boom Blox. Spielberg probably saw the game and thought he would drop a buck in the game industry by swiping others ideas.

Project website:
http://www.digipen.edu/main/Gallery_Games_2005#Toblo

Danmartigan

I literally had Mario Kart and this game in either hand this weekend, trying to decide between the two. And alas... mario wins again. CURSE YOU MERRYO!!

Dexter345

To everybody who says it doesn't appeal to you: I urge you to actually try it. I wasn't excited about it, but when I played it I understood.

It is NOT just "virtual Jenga." There is more to it than that.

GuitarAtomik

Honestly, I think they're just marketing it wrong. Supposedly you can't go more than 5 minutes without seeing a commercial for it during kids programming but I've yet to see one on TV during anything I watch (and I watch a LOT of Cartoon Network).

I guarantee no one in the mainstream above the age of 12 has ever heard of this game and THAT'S who really needs to be aware of it.

Rockvillian

Boom Blox

Zack&Wiki

It's the name and box art. I'd have called it STEVEN SPIELBURG'S Boom Blox or Steven Spielburg MADE A FREAKING GAME or The Best Part About Playing with Blocks When You Were A Kid by the Guy Who Did Jurassic Park

tincow

I always hate these, games are not like movies. It will still be there 1 month or 12 months from now and still be just as fun, why do we care about the first month's sales?

I have still got Zack and Wiki half-played and No More Heroes with the shrink wrap on it here, give me some time! I have a job and a 15 dollar a month MMORPG habit to support, I can't play games as soon as they come out.

DaedHead8

I'm moving into a new apartment and all my monies are tied up in that. Fear not though, for Boom Blox is on my list.

ace of knaves

Yeesh, sorry Chad, I'm going to pick it up eventually. It looks good, it's just not a priority game for me. At least I got Zack & Wiki, and bought it as a gift for a friend's birthday, thus inspiring a third person to buy it. So yes, I'm responsible for roughly 40% of Zack & Wiki's overall sales.

Also, I hate puppies. They're just so damn smug.

Hoodie

I love this game and so do all of my (gaming AND non-gaming) friends. I squeal like a little girl every time a particularly huge chunk of blocks comes crashing down in slow-motion, but they still play it with me. Hopefully it will have a long shelf-life and good word of mouth. We need a sequel with Blast Works style content sharing. That would be unstoppably awesome.

Itchy

I think it's because people are being drowned in typically bad colourful games that don't have "Mario" on them.

When someone sees a title that reads "Boom Blox" they're going to add it to the list of atrocious games.

Another factor is the high price. This game will have steady sales for a long time though, as others have stated.

KyleGamgee

We bought this last night.

There were plenty of copies in the store (Target)...

F Whipple

I just got a speeding ticket...so yeah I'm not going to be able to buy it.

BlackSunEmpire

I like puppies. I own Boom Blox.

Chad world makes sense.

shmelo

Because I prefer games with depth. These simple casual games may be entertaining for two seconds, but I'm glad I saved my purchase for Metal Gear Solid 4. It doesn't look bad, but I can't get games willy nilly so I need to choose the right games for me that would last longer. Metal Gear Solid 4 > Boom Blox.

-PL-

Two seconds? Come on, let's be realistic. Two hours.

BenHaskett

What do you think? If you own a Wii and haven't bought this incredible game ... why not?

This game came out right around the time that both Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit did. I bought those instead, thinking that Boom Blox probably wouldn't be that good anyways. I was kinda shocked to see the reviews it was getting. The D-Toid review was actually the first one I'd read of the game... I wouldn't have even clicked to check the score but the review didn't pull any punches and started out pretty positive.

And then, a few days later, EGM shows up and Boom Blox is the game of the month. Totally didn't see it coming.

So, yeah, I'll be picking it up here soon.

Spitfire

It reminded me of The Incredible Machine - awesome concept and execution but the constant puzzling got old.

I rented this game for a couple of days. Yeah its neat, the physics and controls are cool, but I just couldnt get into it. Then again I only played the tutorials and didnt play much of the "story" mode. I just got burned out I guess.

If I ever have a hankering for it I'll just rent it again and get tired of in within the 3 days rental. Hell I'll be amazed if I get through all of Toki Tori.

Aerox

Interesting. When I went to buy it originally my Best Buy was totally sold out, and they're almost never sold out of anything (I got a 80gb MGS4 PS3 there even).

It's the best game on the Wii. If you don't have it, you need to get it.

Wedge

Shoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooocking

Seriously, this isn't going to appeal to a lot of the hardcore holdouts with a Wii based on aesthetics, and it's not something that's going to appeal to the mass of Wii Sports players on face value. It's got to be pretty tough to sell ANYTHING on the system if you aren't Nintendo, sadly.

Paroxysm

I was so excited for it but then they pulled out the IR head tracking (which was only an easter egg but I was excited to try ti so it took a bit of the shine off the title) then it came out at a price point generally reserved for epic first party titles. Since I have to import (US wii in Australia) it just didn't seem worth it to me any more. I'll probably still get it but either when I feel like wasting money or the price comes down a tad.

Dan CiTi

A physics engine with simple graphics is not something that should sell well. But since it's on the Wii, it should.

Lithium

I didnt buy it because I knew I would only play with it for a few hours then never pick it up again and my friends are all "hardcore gamers" (not really, they just think they are) and are immediately predujiced towards "casual" games whihc rules it out as a party game.

Professor Pew

To me, the game looked like one of the most unappealing games when it came out. I was surprised by how much fun it really was, pretty much every type of gamer has loved playing it since.

Netrat33

I'm sick of the wii and all the gimmics. Thinking about getting rid of it. I don't even care about the nintendo brand games. Blame all the shovelware.

Top that with a title called Boom Blox it sounds like another shovelware title. Probably isnt. But just calling it as it is.

naia-the-gamer

Zero and I bought it on sunday, the day after we played it at Kyle's.

I blame poor marketing for not actually showing what the game can do.

Also for what it's worth, I'm paying it forward by trying to get my sister, who also has a Wii to try this game too.

animateria

Boom Blox had no proper marketing done for itself. I'm not surprised if the general public doesn't know about this game.

If I had a Wii, I'd probably pick it up, the not so appealing looks aside it seemed to be a interesting puzzle game.

If I ever get a Wii, Zack & Wiki and Boom Blox are up on the list with various other first party Nintendo titles.

CareBear LG

hey hey hey hey, relax! I will buy it, okey? =) I love my Wii, I only think that Nintendo should be more considerate of their fans.. =) (hardcore fans that is)

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