Articles

Psychonauts - ouch 30 Jun, 2005 / Comments: 13

By Remi


Looks like Psychonauts isn't doing all too well saleswise. According to GameSpot Majesco shares fell by 15% due to "lackluster sales of Psychonauts and Advent Rising," which they apparently spent "millions" on promoting.

Too bad, but that's how it goes I guess.
13

13 Comments

  • jp-30 on 30 Jun, 2005, 16:42…
    I'd love to buy Psychonauts, but it's still not available in New Zealand.
  • Duncan on 01 Jul, 2005, 18:53…
    It actually is. The PC version, at least. Seriously. No lie. Check Gamesman, that's where I got my copy, like three weeks ago. It was released with absolutely zero promotion or announcement, but it's there. I posted this on the Idle Thumbs forums back when I got it, only absolutely no one was interested.
  • itchythesamurai on 30 Jun, 2005, 15:22…
    Hopefully the rest of the world will buy more Psychonauts. Seems right at home in the Japanese game market, lots of weird and quirky stuff there.
  • Gabez on 30 Jun, 2005, 15:51…
    Yeah, and Europe is possibly more interested in characters and using your brain (especially judging from what Germany likes - adventure games and micro-managment RTS games) and France will probably like the quirkiness, and the British and Irish will probably go for the humour, and Scandinavia will like it because Razputin wears goggles and they have to wear goggles when they go skiing which they do all the time, and the old Soviet East will like it because it's different and it's from America, and the Meditaranian's will probably buy it too because it's cool but end up spending all day on the beach eating olives instead.
  • trOmme on 30 Jun, 2005, 13:35…
    Personnaly I've been disapointed by psychonauts... But it still a great game.

    The general public is crap... everyone is hypnotised... look at pop music... everything is ridiculous... out of balance....

    koyaanisqatsi
  • Thrik on 30 Jun, 2005, 17:23…
    Are you masochistic? I hope you are, for posting that here!
  • Thrik on 30 Jun, 2005, 13:22…
    I guess nobody can honestly say they're surprised about this, though. I mean, Advent Rising is a pretty shit game from what I've heard, whilst Psychonauts is just too out there for the general public to take a risk on -- even if it is the best game released in a ridiculously long time. Does anyone have any exact numbers on what the two titles have sold thus far?

    Hopefully it made *enough* to keep Double Fine nicely looked after to keep developing games. In the future, once this current FPS craze is saturated just like the RTS craze was, games from studios such as Double Fine will get more of a chance as gamers will crave something more original.

    Sadly, now is not the ideal time to be releasing such games, since no matter how well they're marketed and no matter how good they are, the general public is just too into the constant race for realism. Sad, and I could write an entire article about this subject, but I'll stop now before I upset myself.
  • Twilo on 01 Jul, 2005, 09:52…
    Since when was Psychonauts "out there"?
    It's not exactly Katamari Damacy or Super Monkey Ball (and look at how much they sold)
  • Remi O on 01 Jul, 2005, 11:46…
    Running inside somebody's head thinking there's a milkman holding the key to all conspiracy theories? I'd say that's out there.

    I wasn't aware that Katamari Damacy sold that well. They're making a sequel, so I guess it made a profit at least, but then again who knows if Psychonauts will end up doing the same for Majesco or not. Microsoft paid a chuck (a large one I assume) of the development cost after all, so I guess it isn't impossible.
  • Udvarnoky on 30 Jun, 2005, 13:48…
    I guess if they're hiring they'd be working on a new project, but apparently Majesco['s investors] are not happy and Tim did say that he'd hoped the relationship with Majesco would be a lasting one. I have to wonder what kind of position Double Fine is going to be in the future. The PS2 version didn't come out that long ago and there's still the international releases so hopefully there's still some time for the game to perform well. What pisses me off most is that the blame can truly be shifted more to the gaming public this time around as Majesco did their part in advertising.

    And write an article! Content, bitter or no, is always good.
  • Udvarnoky on 30 Jun, 2005, 12:03…
    I hate video games.
  • Gabez on 30 Jun, 2005, 11:45…
    Well, you know, they did have a "dramatic turnaround" previously so it's not that suprising that their shares will have dropped... but still, it's a real shame Psychonauts isn't selling shitloads like it deserves to. It may be too much to read into the word lackluster, but it does suggest that at least the sales aren't catastrophic...
  • Twilo on 30 Jun, 2005, 11:31…
    Pity they didn't put as much effort into actually making Advent Rising into a good game.