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GTA: Chinatown Wars Sales Disappoint
Take-Two’s DS exclusive Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars sold just 88,704 copies in the States during March, according to Silicon Alley Insider sources.
Analysts from EEDAR and Wedbush Morgan had expected the title, which has garnered a Metascore of 94, the highest ever for a DS game, to sell between 200,000 and 450,000 copies between its March 17 US debut and the end of the month.
Publisher Take-Two told Silicon Alley Insider that it remains confident in the game’s long-term success, but the low sales figure certainly raises the question of whether M-rated titles can be profitable on Nintendo’s handheld.
In the UK Chinatown Wars made its chart debut in sixth place, with opening week sales only around half of the launch week total achieved by the previous handheld GTA title, Vice City Stories on PSP. Three weeks on, the game sits at 19 in the latest software rankings.
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England and Wales company registration number 2008885
To be honest I think initiate slow sales was always on the cards, mainly due to the DS demographic and while I'm sure they have lost a fair amount to R4 I don't think this it has had that much impact,
I have been a big fan of the DS and have enjoyed GTA on various formats but at this moment in time I'm not gonna spend over £25 to play it on the small screen no matter how interactive it is.. to me the DS is there for plane journeys and when i want a light break from reading on the beach so hopefully when I'm next at the airport and my Girlfriend is checking out the perfume I will be checking out China Wars in Dixons
And it's also a strange fact, that "Non-Nintendo"-games have a very hard stance on the Nintendo platforms. That's a fact on the DS, as well as on the Wii.
But just don't ask me why...
Don't think it can all be excused with "piracy". The DS userbase is huge (34 millions in the US!!) and that only 88000 people buy it, seems to hint, that the game is not being well received at all. Just strange because it was being so hyped and there is a lot of advertisement everywhere.
Saying the reason for the failure is piracy, would mean that 99,9% of the people are using R4, which I simply can't believe.
Is it possible that the reason for the failure is that it is difficult to get? Heard that some big stores didn't want to sell it.
If the game had come out on the PSP it would probably have sold at least three times better with a much smaller userbase. And the PSP is well known for it's piracy problem. By the way Custom Firmwares rule and DarkAlex is a god! Am playing in the moment FFVIII on the PSP and thinking: Thank you DarkAlex!
I think you're right. I think the DS userbase just isn't into this type of game. Of course, children won't be exposed to the game for the most part. And the large adult DS-owning population would rather have true MATURE games (Hotel Dusk, Brain Training, etc) as opposed to M-rated, immature games (GTA:CW).
Even still, I think Rockstar is building that audience on the DS by releasing a GTA - it provides that lure for the young adult market who gets off on hiring hookers and car-jacking peds in a videogame.
"And the large adult DS-owning population would rather have true MATURE games (Hotel Dusk, Brain Training, etc) as opposed to M-rated, immature games (GTA:CW)."
Yep you are right right.
Quite funny that there are all these classifications before 18th (12+. 7+, 3+, etc..) and then are considered all the same.
"Young adults" are still teenagers basically sooofr example to immedesimate in some hero/antihero for them is much more important for them that for people of 40 years old.
And this "real" adults could less justify teen approach a la God of War, Gears or GTA while would consider more game mechanics and "fun" factor that immedisimation in some stupid cliched stories.
Seems like i'm not the only one who thinks that this "mature" demographic is actually pirating the game than buying it.
Well enjoy your GTA on DS because it will be the last one.
The problem is a lot of "core" gamers steal DS games and will ruin it for the rest of us who are honest.
The numbers are dissapointing as this game truly is excellent and has given me new reason to turn on my DS. I have surprised myself into sitting in my room for hours with my 360 turne off, sitting on my bed with my DS, drug-running all over Liberty City.
Those who are put off by GTA4, this game is truly the exact opposite-- excellent, wreckless gameplay and stupid, unintelligent storyline. It is sad to see the story suffer after such excellent writing in GTA4, but the gameplay is so excellent and so pick-up-and-play that it more than makes up for it.
I for one am truly excited to finally see a mature game (mature as in grown up, not as in M-rated) head to the DS and to well implement the touch screen. I truly hope it sells well so other publishers aren't afraid to follow Take Two onto the DS
Do you think that there might be a link between the type of people that enjoy Grand Theft Auto and the people that might own Nintendo DS Flash Cards? I wonder whether the poor sales of 'mature' games, which some might argue are tailored to this demographic, are linked to piracy?
That's an interesting question. I've been reading across the net that the number of R4 cart downloads for this game more than double the amount it sold at retail. Dunno how reliable that is, but...
DS owners hate GTA confirmed!
I'm just not remotely interested in buying this game for my DS. I looks like I'm not alone. Not sure what it is but there is just something quite off-putting about this game that I can't put my finger on... maybe it's because I got bored silly with GTA IV about half the way through... Not sure I could cope with the hours of carpel tunnel inducing DS gameplay this offers...
Well it's your loss and it's no more "carpel tunnel inducing" than any other game on any other system but an ignorant gamer just means you lose out.
This is one of the best GTA games out there. If people rather steal it than buy it then they'll just guarentee we won't get another. So hopefully those downloading it will die of ball cancer.
grand theft ds