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Brütal Legend, DJ Hero Ring Up Disappointing Sales

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Brütal Legend, DJ Hero Ring Up Disappointing Sales

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Despite high hopes and lots of hype, Brütal Legend and DJ Hero, two of October's most anticipated releases, failed to make much of a splash on the sales charts.

There haven't been many videogame advertising campaigns as pervasive or, one would think, as expensive as the one for Brütal Legend. Ads for the game seemed to pop up everywhere on television and online, while Jack Black himself made numerous promotional appearances on shows ranging from Jimmy Fallon to the MTV Video Awards, usually at least partially in character. In spite of all that, however, and the high hopes of Tim Schafer fans and middle-aged metalhead gamers everywhere, Brütal Legend didn't exactly come roaring out of the gates in October. It failed to break into the NPD Group's top ten sales chart, putting out a combined 215,000 units on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, a respectable but hardly Earth-shaking number.

It's still considerably better than what Activision racked up with DJ Hero, however. The latest addition to the Hero franchise, including both the regular and Renegade Edition releases, managed combined sales of only 122,300 units on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and PS2. To be fair, DJ Hero was only released on October 27, but sales still fell well short of analysts expectations.

How did they fare in relation to the month's more successful releases? The NDP's top ten videogame sales list is as follows:

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PlayStation 3) - 537,000 units sold
2. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) - 441,000
3. Borderlands (Xbox 360) - 418,000
4. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - 314,000
5. NBA 2K10 (Xbox 360) - 311,000
6. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360) - 271,000
7. NBA 2K10 (PlayStation 3) - 213,000
8. Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360) - 175,000
9. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Nintendo DS) - 169,000
10. FIFA Soccer 10 (Xbox 360) - 156,000

Brütal Legend and DJ Hero, by comparison:

Brütal Legend (360) - 150,000 units
Brütal Legend (PS3) - 66,000 units
DJ Hero (360) - 62,000 units
DJ Hero (PS3) - 39,000 units
DJ Hero (Wii) - 19,000 units
DJ Hero (PS2) - 3,300 units

The slow start isn't a death knell for either title; with the holiday season upon us, sales for both could experience a significant jump over the next 60 days. Activision also made a point last month of predicting that DJ Hero would be a "slow starter" that would build an audience over time and eventually become an important part of Activision's lineup. Still, I can't help but be a little disappointed about Brütal Legend; as someone who appreciates both Tim Schafer's creativity and violently thrashing my head around in time with K.K. Downing's melodious strumming, I was really hoping for bigger and better things.

Sources: GameSpot, Gamasutra

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Show of hands, who here knew DJ Hero was going to fail?

/handup

The Great JT:
Show of hands, who here knew DJ Hero was going to fail?

/handup

Indeed, it just doesn't have the same appeal as Guitar Hero and Rock Band does to most people. I mean, the concept doesn't even make any sense, DJing isn't about scratching, but blending music together for people to dance to (In the case of club DJ's, and doing that in your living room with fake decks, well...), or to give people the music they want to listen to in the car/at work etc.

I'm sorry for not purchasing Brütal Legend, Tim. :( I promise that I'll buy it soon, I've just been incredibly poor lately!

I can honestly say i've played both games and have enjoyed them greatly. While DJ Hero may not the mass appeal i actually find it much enjoyable as i have more to do with my hands then i would with the Guitar Hero and/or Rock Band. Brutal Legend i had great fun with as well just didnt like the RTS stage battle with every boss element

I'm glad I didn't buy Brutal Legend.

This way I can save my impuse purchase for something else.

Got to say it, but I'm not that surprised about DJ Hero. The idea seemed pretty wierd (but I know I'm not the intended audience, so...)

Brutal Legend, on the other hand: I seriously considered getting it, until I heard it was basically an RTS. That put me off...

Psychosocial:
I'm sorry for not purchasing Brütal Legend, Tim. :( I promise that I'll buy it soon, I've just been incredibly poor lately!

same here really....

Sad for a game as original as Brutal Legend (note: still need to buy it).

But all I'm saying to DJ Hero is "HA! Fuck you Activision, I told you this would happen!"

I think Tim Schafer made a serious miscalculation with Brutal Legend by making it a Pseudo RTS, that immediately made me not interested in buying it, even after the Demo had pretty much clinched me as a purchaser.

The Great JT:
Show of hands, who here knew DJ Hero was going to fail?

/handup

/three hands up

Well, Brutal Legend IS a Tim Schafer title. I wasn't expecting it to sell as many copies as, say, Call of Duty 4, but I'm still saddened to see it didn't do that well. More games need to be as awesome as Brutal Legend was.

As for DJ Hero, all I've heard of it is snippets of various reviews, and from what I've heard, it's got a hell of a difficulty curve regarding the controls, and it just didn't manage to achieve the same kind of quality its 'parent' Guitar Hero did. So I guess I'm not that surprised regarding that game either.

All I'm going to say is this:

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA for DJ Hero
That sucks for Brutal Legend
STOP BUYING WII FIT AND GO FOR A JOG!
Those sales for ODST just go to show anything with "Halo," on it will sell like hotcakes. If Halo Wars was called Army Men RTS it wouldn't have half the sales. Pretty sad how games today sell on labels and something original like Brutal Legend doesn't sell at all.

Sad seeing original games like Brütal Legend sell bad :(

Happy that DJ Hero tanks though. Everything that can put Activison in an early developer grave is good IMO.

The Great JT:
Show of hands, who here knew DJ Hero was going to fail?

/handup

/handup

But what sucks is that I wanted Brütal Legend but no, lets go with the consoles only. PC gamers like me would have expanded your market.

I rented Brutal Legend. I don't care for RTS games so, even though it was amazing and epically awesome, I don't think I'll be buying it. I did love the single-person battle system though as well as the imagination that went into making it.

DJ Hero was bound to fail. We all knew it was a retarded plan. We play Rock Band/Guitar Hero to imagine ourselves as rock stars. We have multiple instrument so we can play with friends. DJ Hero was targetting a very very very small demographic.

The Great JT:
Show of hands, who here knew DJ Hero was going to fail?

/handup

Hand up Sadly
DJ hero is a great game, people are just way to jaded or closed minded to want to play it. I understand people are into different things but come on, people whine about music games being the same thing every year and once we get not one but to games that mix things up noone buys them, that's just sad.
I'm also to blame about Brutal Legends weak sells, don't worry Tim I bought Psychonauts and I will get Brutal Legends, count on it!

This was posted on the Double fine blog. Can't help but think that it partly explains why the game wasn't a big hit with the typical HD console owner.

I'll buy it when it's on PC.
Brutal Legend, that is. [BLEEP] that DJ Hero noise.

As much as I love Tim, Brutal Legend has noone but itself to blame. I bought it and I played it and I loved the music and the atmosphere and the writing, but the gameplay is just bad with unresponsive combat and an RTS component that only works on a "group everything we have and send it forward" mechanic and even fails at that by making you stand next to the units in order for them to get the command, and on top of that once the fight starts it's nigh-impossible to make out what's going on. It's a great concept for the game, but you will not succeed if the actual part where we get to press buttons and pull sticks is not fun at all.

Brutal legend suffers from narrowing itself in appeal to people who like rts/rpg hybrids in a purely heavy metal setting; & DJ Hero suffers from not being Guitar Hero. No surprises either failed to make amazing sales, not least considering many who have to save for games was probably waiting for Modern Warfare 2. Doesn't mean either will be ultimate commercial failures though. Even Cleopatra made its money back eventually.

Also: I fear I am one of the few who think the DJ Hero game looks intriguing. Turntables & decks certainly interest me more from a gameplay POV then a plastic banjo or coloured pressure pads; & I'd probably have more fun surfing the coloured lines to Chase & Status than Nirvana...if Activision ever support DJ Hero seriously & don't leave it with such a criminally small music catalog.

Maybe this will discourage people from making shlock similar to Brutal Legend again.

I'd say that for DJ Hero, too, but we KNOW games like it won't be stopped.

I never have really gotten into music/rythm games. Personally cause they cost too much and also because if I really wanna pretend to be a rock star I go over to a friends house and bum his second controller lol and yeah I bought Brutal legend. I thought it was pretty fun but it was not what I expected it to be gameplay wise. I didnt think it was going to be such an RTS. but thats what I get for basing my buy off the demo alone right?

In fact I may sale it back to gamestop. is that a good idea or do you think I may wont to go back and play it again?

More Fun To Compute:
This was posted on the Double fine blog. Can't help but think that it partly explains why the game wasn't a big hit with the typical HD console owner.

thirty seconds into that video and he annoyed me more than fred lol

Well, I for one would actually like to buy both. Theya re both on my will eventually buy list, but with Xmas just around the corner, I myself must save a little cash to buy presenst for family and friends.

It also doesn't help that there seems to be so many AAA titles for the Xbox and PS3 as of late, it's really hard to choose on what to spend on. How many people put aside their cash for MW2 or AC2 and Drake's Fortune 2. At $60 a pop, I really have to be choosy on what to drop money on. And with DJ Hero costing a minimum of $120, what do these companies expect at this time of year?

Most people these days have lower disposable income that they did 1 to 2 years ago. I dunno, maybe if the games out of the gate were priced at $49.99 for base games and DJ Hero starting at $79.99 or $89.99, I'd be more apt to buy them.

Lastly there's been some good DLC and indie games on XBLA lately that get my impulse of $10-15 like Panzer General and Shadow Complex.

More Fun To Compute:
This was posted on the Double fine blog. Can't help but think that it partly explains why the game wasn't a big hit with the typical HD console owner.

I had to pause this video 30 times because this kid is annoying... (I wish I could say something nicer).

He got one point. There's other games that were more hyped than Brütal Legend.

A few things tickled me about him though...

- I never got the "Because Jack Black is voicing the main character" argument. I'm not an Ozzy Osbourne fan, yet I don't take the game down. It's a voice and a few jokes from him. That's it.
- I guess this kid never learned "To don't judge a book by its cover". It works with video games too.
-Guitars that summons lightning is awesome. On the other hand, I'll quote an employee from Bungie...IT'S A FUCKING VIDEO GAME.
- Those glasses............

The Great JT:
Show of hands, who here knew DJ Hero was going to fail?

/handup

*puts hand up higher*

It was pretty inevitable for both of the games - DJ Hero just looks bad, while Brutal Legend had a lot of bad reviews.

More Fun To Compute:
snip

Oh, man that's hilarious. I do hope that kid wasn't joking and that's serious. It's like a satire of what trolls are like.

I enjoyed Brütal Legend, until it got all RTSy. I stopped playing at that point as I just wasn't enjoying myself. I bought the game expecting a Psychonauts type game, not some half-baked RTS.

I knew DJ Hero wasn't going to set anything on fire. It's a total niche. I was actually relieved when Activision walked expectations back a bit.

I'm actually contrarian enough to sometimes find comfort in not being on a bandwagon. Sales figures neither prevent the game from playing, nor prevent me from enjoying it. I'm simply reigning in my expectations for a sequel or a complete deluge of add-on content.

I thought the hype around Brutal Legend was more shrill and intense. By promising to fly higher, I feel that BL fell farther.

I think the release date of DJ Hero is awkward for such an expensive buy. It's hard to rationalise spending that much on impulse, and with christmas so close there will be many who are prepared/compelled to wait. I am going to buy it at some point, it looks like a really fun game (which is all I ask for).

As unpopular as Activision are, I'd rather they didn't fail on this one. DJ Hero is atleast a different take on the rhythm game. Just incase you didn't notice, Activision have also recently released a derivative sequel that has set sales records.

i don't see how it did so bad considering the #10 only sold 6k more units, it just wasn't in the 10 is all

tho i do think the RTS aspects of it made it not sell as much

More Fun To Compute:
This was posted on the Double fine blog. Can't help but think that it partly explains why the game wasn't a big hit with the typical HD console owner.

you rage you lose, i lost in 30 seconds...i have a pretty good temper though

still watching it...oh god the pain...pain...why...must..kill 360 owners please it why children need to die...ok its over now sorry about that

i'd edit the above but its as close to a reaction video as im willing to get

BaldursBananaSoap:
All I'm going to say is this:

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA for DJ Hero
That sucks for Brutal Legend
STOP BUYING WII FIT AND GO FOR A JOG!
Those sales for ODST just go to show anything with "Halo," on it will sell like hotcakes. If Halo Wars was called Army Men RTS it wouldn't have half the sales. Pretty sad how games today sell on labels and something original like Brutal Legend doesn't sell at all.

Brand names are important to consumers.

That's why McDonald's is successful, you know what you're getting from the experience before you get it before hand. It's the same reason people purchase name brand cleaning products or name brand food products. It's the same reason people line up for hours to see the new Twilight or Harry Potter movie. People just don't want to get ripped off. After looking at Brutal Legend and DJ Hero closely, I'm glad I didn't buy them.

I guess it is kind of sad, but it has nothing to do with games today. In fact it's always happened in video game history. Super Mario Bros. 2 is just one example. This has been going on for years. Yeah, it might be sad, but it has nothing to do with today's marketplace.... This has been going on for as long as there have been brand names.

Well I can honestly say that while I hoped the best for Brütal Legend, I'm glad I rented it instead of buying it. It was a pretty enjoyable game, but I completed it in five days after renting it. And two of those days I didn't play it at all. Sure I didn't 100% all of the song-gets, but I got all of the solos and finished the game. Not much replay after that, no sidequests aside from the hunter, and the story-line seemed pretty rushed. Fun game while it lasted, but it didn't have the endearing quality of Psychonauts, and for a Schafer game the story was pretty dumbed down. Better luck next time Tim.

It didn't really help that I don't like Jack Black.

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