Disappointing HL2 sales figures

[Black Mesa corp]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=57302

Well, what can I say. Should we be disappointed about HL2s sales? Well to be honest its all down to how many people have bought it on steam. What do you think?

 

[Headwires]

"the impact of direct online sales over the Steam service still to be measured."
that from ur link....

 

[`unreal]

too many noobs out there who buy the sims and dont explore for great games out there that dont approach consoles..... of corse nfsu2 is a great game, but people should really have a wider mind.

as headwires said, it hasnt counted steam sales

 

[AJ Rimmer]

"the impact of direct online sales over the Steam service still to be measured."
that from ur link....

That means they haven't taken the sales over steam into count yet? Coz if that's the case those figures really don't mean that much.

 

[Sharrd]

They should've boomed out the fact that CS:S came with HL2 more than they did.

 

[Fishlore]

too many noobs out there who buy the sims and dont explore for great games out there that dont approach consoles..... of corse nfsu2 is a great game, but people should really have a wider mind.

LOL. Wider mind, like respecting the fact that not everyone likes the same games. You don't like the Sims just like the Sims people don't like FPS games. Or do you mean only the Sims people need to have a wider mind? HL2 fans can continue to be close minded fanboys, right?

 

[chimpmunk]

Maybe it's because of the all the bad review people gave on the internet, or maybe people are not tired yet of half life 1? I sure am not.

 

[Sharrd]

too many noobs out there who buy the sims and dont explore for great games out there that dont approach consoles..... of corse nfsu2 is a great game, but people should really have a wider mind.

LOL. Wider mind, like respecting the fact that not everyone likes the same games. You don't like the Sims just like the Sims people don't like FPS games. Or do you mean only the Sims people need to have a wider mind? HL2 fans can continue to be close minded fanboys, right?

He/she doesn't play just Half-Life 2, I think that's quite obvious. What Unreal means is that the mainstream "casual gamers" don't give Half-Life 2 and alot of other good games a try. Sims games and EA's sports games are commonly known as being mainstream.

 

[Warlock]

Maybe it's because of the all the bad review people gave on the internet, or maybe people are not tired yet of half life 1? I sure am not.

'All the bad reviews on the internet'? All I've seen are reviews over 90%, many around the 95%, which is very, very good. Heck, games rated 80% are good, and 70% aren't bad.

While I am just a touch concerned about that, I'm not particually worrying too much. A very great number of people ordered over Steam, and then there are some of the more casual gamers who probably don't want to use money to upgrade their PCs for HL2 when they'll need that same money for the holidays.

That, or a lot of people just don't know what they're missing out on.

(Metroid Prime 2 debuted at 33? Those poor misguided souls.)

 

[Ruefus]

This is really to be expected.

I don't care how many they sell as long as they support it and help the community with mods and perpetuating the franchise.

Face it - Steam is a bitter pill for many and the first time a game of this magnitude has been presented in such a way. It's unconventional and unproven (in a number of ways). New delivery method, verification method....new, new, new.

I'd have been amazed if it were a runaway seller.

 

[Acert93]

Things to consider:

1. No Steam numbers were counted.

2. Valve had a lot of pre-November 16th HL2 Steam sales that would not be calculated in the week to week sales. Normal pre-orders are counted the first week; but with HL2 people were playing part of the product before release and could not get a refund, therefore it was a final sale. Note the many people playing CS:S weeks before HL2 was released.

3. HL2 is being compared to console games; console systems have a significantly larger install base for game playing; therefore consoles games almost always sell much better than PC games. A 1million seller on the PC is normally a massively large success; a 1million seller on an established console (i.e. 3rd year or later) is often only a mild success. This is simplistic because how much time/money invested in the game is important, but overall it holds true.

4. These are UK numbers only; regional tastes and preferences need to be considered.

5. How big is the PC enthusiest/cutting edge gaming community in the UK? HL2 does require a decent video card from the last 3 years. E.g. My brother has an integrated Radeon 320IGP; he can play BF1942, DX7 game, but it wont play HL2. Unlike games like the Sims, that have low hardware requirements (comparatively), HL2 does require a GPU with solid DX7 performance. This does affect sales, and it also affects where the game will be popular. HL2 wont sell well in Japan because gaming PCs are not very popular.

There are other things to consider... but the fact HL2 is in the top 10 competing against console game sales I think is a positive.

 

[koopa]

5. How big is the PC enthusiest/cutting edge gaming community in the UK? HL2 does require a decent video card from the last 3 years. E.g. My brother has an integrated Radeon 320IGP; he can play BF1942, DX7 game, but it wont play HL2. Unlike games like the Sims, that have low hardware requirements (comparatively)

Doom 3 sold well though, and I'd say that needs more of a killer rig. Perhaps that was pre-release hype. Your other points are excellent though.

 

[mortiz]

Too many charve gamers masturbating over the cars in NFS:Underground 2 !! Plus most of the people who play Sims 2 on a regular basis probably haven't played any games other than The Sims 2 .

 

[cH0WyUNf4T]

but, I mean, c'mon this is regarding british sales, they don't really count do they. j/k you limeys

 

[Cons Himself]

you get grannys playing the Sims 2 so of course its going to have high sales figure

simple fact is:

console games sell well for short period of time...
pc games, especially hl2 sell less well but over a LONG period of time

 

[Dead-Inside]

No pissing on NFSU2, please. It's awesome with a (ED: Force Feedback..) wheel. And no, I didn't support EA... I'm dirty. VALVe got my money

 

[the_stalker]

too many noobs out there who buy the sims and dont explore for great games out there that dont approach consoles..... of corse nfsu2 is a great game, but people should really have a wider mind.

as headwires said, it hasnt counted steam sales

it doesnt help that every other game has advertisement where ever you go mass retail conscription :dozey:

 

[StainlessJ-FPGA]

A lot of people still aren't buying HL2 because of steam.

 

[Heppyruk]

I really agree with the_stalker. I have hardly seen Half-Life 2 advertised anywhere here in the UK so unless you read gaming websites, magazines etc then it's less likely you'll buy the game. The one advert i did seen on TV was of a pulsing HL2 logo and if i didn't know about Half-Life 1 or 2 then i'd probably think WTF and just ignore it.

Has any1 seen it advertised properly elsewhere?

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

The general gaming public are suckers for advertising. You have to remember that, if you go on a forum like this, you are now in a serious minority of the gaming population...

Most people just don't have the information and what can I say, the public on a whole are idiots. Just look at who's in control of America these days only because he thinks gay people shouldn't be married and that an unborn ball of cells should be allowed to ruin everyone's lives rather than being terminated...

*runs and hides*

 

[jet jaguar]

Lots of good points made, especially the one where people without top of the line machines being wary of buying HL2 because of performance issues. I don't think the retail sales figures will matter that much. Since Steam gives Valve profits 3x what they'd get through retail, selling 500,000 copies via Steam is like selling 1,500,000 retail. There was never any chance of HL2 having as big an impact on sales as a console game like Halo 2 or a mainstream game like Sims 2.

 

[KoreBolteR]

i used to like the sims, until BETTER games came out

 

[Ennui]

sales are fine, it's being lauded as the greatest PC game of all time and it'll keep selling for long after nfsu2 is forgotten.

I have five or six friends planning to get HL2 when they have the money.

 

[cereal]

If steam sales werent counted, that means nothing to me

 

[Guus345]

HL2 is the kind of game that will keep selling after a long time, that is because as technology grows, poeple's pc will also because they will be getting cheap, now a days, you can buy a 2 ghz, 512 and other specs for about 500-800 $, all you need now is a good Gfx card, the Radeon 9600xt is 200$ and there is always a 50$ rebate, after a few months that card wil bel 150 and there will probably a 50$ rebate so you are buying a good gfx for 100$ and with those specs managined before, you are able to run hl2 pretty well, that is not even including the mods that will be coming out, hl2 will sell pretty well over time

 

[Guus345]

that is the UK one, does anybody know the American version, i wounder how that looks?

 

[azz0r]

Steam sales wont be above, say....8000 max.

 

[Ennui]

probably fairly similar.

Steam sales were extremely high, so I don't trust that at all

 

[`unreal]

I really agree with the_stalker. I have hardly seen Half-Life 2 advertised anywhere here in the UK so unless you read gaming websites, magazines etc then it's less likely you'll buy the game. The one advert i did seen on TV was of a pulsing HL2 logo and if i didn't know about Half-Life 1 or 2 then i'd probably think WTF and just ignore it.

Has any1 seen it advertised properly elsewhere?

haha i agree - my friend saw the HL2 advert, and he is a HL2 mad guy. alot of dialogue with some friends lately goes like this
'omg the best game ever has just come out...'
'o yea? what games that?'
'half life 2'
'Huh, wtf. never heard of it :hmph: '

but i invited a ps2-only fanboy around and he was converted to this new religion :naughty:


considering fishlores comment, i am aware of that, but i dont try to neglect games that 'dont appeal to my specific taste'. what i am saying, is that sometimes people should not be ignorant *i have met some who are* and be a bit different, try a differnt game. if they dont like it, ok, you dont have to

also the hardware thing is a biggy too. most people i know have relatively low-end computers, so they havent bought it. saying that, i believe hl2 will do better in the long run, bringing steady revenue as technology races on, and the prices of today fall as it waves along too.

 

[CookieCuttah]

too many noobs out there who buy the sims and dont explore for great games out there that dont approach consoles..... of corse nfsu2 is a great game, but people should really have a wider mind.

as headwires said, it hasnt counted steam sales

I dont play console and im not a noob...I simply have only enough money for 1 system. And to be honest im quite content with the PC.

 

[Musey]

was talking to some people today - they were talking about 'the game'. Naturally I was intruiged so i asked. GTA: SA.

Now I'm not going to knock SA, but these dumb ******** hadn't even heard of the Half-Life franchise. The fact that it's a pc game for starters means it sure ain't mainstream. People are too obsessed with their crappy consoles, and thats partly why gaming isn't respected. If they were to see some of the top quality pc titles then they would understand. Kind of a generic problem.