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18 awesome games that died at retail

gamesradar.com — Reviewers loved them, but that didn’t stop them from selling like crap

Who dugg this? Made popular 30 days ago

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  • festizian, on 10/22/2009, -5/+1695 pages? Really?
  • hibbie, on 10/22/2009, -3/+149********SPOILER*************Save yourself the time clicking through their annoying 5 pages

    1) Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (2003) Average Metacritic score: 82

    2) Beyond Good & Evil (2003) Average Metacritic score: 86

    3) Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS, 2009) Average Metacritic score: 93

    4) Psychonauts (2005) Average Metacritic score: 87

    5) Jet Grind Radio (2000) Average Metacritic score: 94

    6) Metal Storm (1991) Average Metacritic score: N/A

    7) Shenmue II (2002) Average Metacritic score: 80

    8) Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath (2005) Average Metacritic score: 88

    9) Armed and Dangerous (2003) Average Metacritic score: 79

    10) Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (2004) Average Metacritic score: 79

    11) Space Station Silicon Valley (1998) Average Metacritic score: 83

    12) Panzer Dragoon Orta (2003) Average Metacritic score: 90

    13) The Last Express (1997) Average Metacritic score: 82

    14) Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) Average Metacritic score: 84

    15) Jet Set Radio Future (2002) Average Metacritic score: 88

    16) Grim Fandango (1998) Average Metacritic score: 94

    17) The Neverhood (1996) Average Metacritic score: N/A

    18) Okami (2006) Average Metacritic score: 92



  • MarkMontoya, on 10/21/2009, -2/+131Beyond Good and Evil deserved so much more...
  • gvoakes, on 10/21/2009, -6/+101Jet Set Radio Future was an awesome game
  • thesoapnuts, on 10/21/2009, -2/+58Grim Fandango had some rad theme music!
  • twiztidsinz, on 10/22/2009, -1/+52Dugg for Psychonauts!
  • lovemorgul, on 10/21/2009, -1/+49The best, most creative and ingenious game I have ever played! I have played a lot of games and none reach Okami's standards.
  • somedevil13, on 10/22/2009, -2/+36Oh man, this is great: for years I've been trying to remember this "Space Station Silicon Valley" game from my very fond, if scattered, recollections with fruitless results and then, out of nowhere, this random thumbnail sends a torrent of memory flooding back. I remember it as the single most entertaining 64 game I've ever played... and I didn't even own it (a rental) or beat it (it was ***** hard!). The problem solving, humor, and radical gameplay have stuck in my mind through the years, even if its rather terrible title did not. It feels awesome to be reconnected with this part of my gaming past, thanks digg!

  • twiztidsinz, on 10/22/2009, -1/+31How the hell did you not hear about games like Beyond Good and Evil, GTA: Chinatown Wars, Jet Grind Radio, Psychonauts, Pazer Dragoon Orta, Jet Set Radio Future, Grim ***** Fandango or Okami?

    Never played, I could understand... Never HEARD of? I have to call *****.
  • juicedigital, on 10/22/2009, -1/+31Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.
  • StevieJanowski, on 10/21/2009, -5/+32GTA was great but I think people may not like killing cops when they are in public on a DS, its more fun when you can laugh at it in your living room.
  • MizuhoChan, on 10/22/2009, -1/+24Ask me about Grim Fandango.
  • Ilfirimain, on 10/22/2009, -1/+23Dugg for Okami.
  • CLShortFuse, on 10/22/2009, -3/+23Ico
  • RyanCoke, on 10/22/2009, -1/+20I still have Grim Fandango on my computer. I play around this time every year.

    I thought it was far more successful than it was (apparently...).

    Weird how many games on this list that I own and enjoyed. Apparently I am very susceptible to reviews. And peer pressure.
  • Nitrodist88, on 10/22/2009, -0/+19"Only" 700,000 copies sold. And only 1.5 million copies for the sequel.

    It died so hard at retail that they made a sequel!

    </s>
  • SirLowKey, on 10/22/2009, -0/+15Sequel was announced some months ago, was the trailer not on Digg?

    Piggy sleeping on a dusty road, wagon with a broken axe, flies...
  • TFindlay, on 10/22/2009, -1/+16What about FreeSpace 2? That series was awesome.
  • shininia, on 10/22/2009, -0/+15It's a greatest hits game for ps2, which means it sold well.
  • chaosblade77, on 10/22/2009, -0/+14I'm pretty sure that game didn't die at retail. It got off to a slow start, but word of mouth really pushed that game. It sold better than Sega expected it too, around March or so, it was almost impossible to find so they had to start another print run.

    Great game though, probably my favorite PS3 game so far.
  • Gizza, on 10/22/2009, -0/+14I think it's too late for more mature games on the Wii. It's reputation has been built up so much around crappy party games and Nintendo first party titles that anyone looking to play something else already has another console or PC to do so.

    It's kind of a catch 22. Hardcore gamers don't buy Wiis because there are no hardcore games, and no hardcore games are made for the Wii because there's no hardcore gamers to buy them. So when they actually are released no one's really interested.
  • jdenzer, on 10/22/2009, -1/+14Then you are not a true gamer.
  • Urrelles, on 10/22/2009, -1/+14A couple of runner ups:

    Vagrant Story
    (Square decided it would be best to compete with itself for some odd reason, then on top of that when Vagrant failed they fired half the staff.)

    Guardian Heroes
    (Saturn's best game ever. Street fighter style gameplay with magic spells and RPG stats plus a 6 player multiplayer arena. It's kinda like Bleach on the DS)

    Zone of Enders 2
    (The first game gave this one a bad rap)

    Kingdom Under Fire for X-Box
    ( the PC version was some lame Korean copy of Warcraft. But the XBox game was pure golden. Dynasty Warriors style fighting WHILE you command armies of troops around a battle field.)
  • chaosblade77, on 10/22/2009, -0/+13Apparently the game wasn't even greenlit when that trailer was shown. Ubisoft has said they don't know if it will get released, and I think it's on hold right now. Might be canceled.
  • Taddare, on 10/22/2009, -0/+12Okami was Zelda game play. If you can't stand 40 hours in Zelda them you won't get into Okami. That being said I loved this game, the combat was enjoyable, especially trying to wring the most fangs out of each monster with taunts and then special brush kills. The art made me enjoy the fetch quests. Beads made checking out each inch of the land rewarding. The characters and story were amusing and different. I own this for both the wii and the PS2, and hope we can see more games stepping out of the norm.
  • TheRealDj, on 10/22/2009, -2/+13Pretty much any mature game that's sold on Wii. Dead Space Extraction now joins it only selling 9k in september and is expected to only sell 20k in october...
    http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3176590
  • sebastienk, on 10/22/2009, -2/+13Valkyria Chronicles is missing!
  • milesmparker, on 10/21/2009, -1/+11that's a great list. it's a bummer those games never caught on, because a majority of them really rock.
  • airwalke, on 10/22/2009, -2/+12Chinatown Wars is an excellent game, it's a shame no one has realized that yet. I had lukewarm memories of the old GTAs on the PC, but the overhead view works exceedingly well for the DS.
  • treedude, on 10/22/2009, -1/+11Shenmue 2 is awesome. I sold it along with my Xbox a while back and rebought it last year for $5 at FYE since I now have a 360. They need to finish that damn series.
  • samboussek, on 10/22/2009, -0/+10I'd rather ask you about Loom.
  • LoveWidescreen, on 10/22/2009, -0/+10It's available at Good Old games (gog.com) for $10 and it's DRM free. I've wanted to play this game for a while, so I jumped at the chance when I found out that GOG sells it.

    Fabulous game!
  • bakatrinh, on 10/22/2009, -0/+9BG&E is in my top 5 favorite game of all time. I can't wait for the sequel
  • snipe123, on 10/21/2009, -1/+10Yes but it might have been a good game but it had a serious lack of marketing competing against Prince of Persia who had this idea :)
  • RishiAD, on 10/22/2009, -1/+10Grim Fandango.... god I loved that game! Fond memories that remind me of a simpler time as a gamer...
  • kestermatsumoto, on 10/22/2009, -1/+10Did 'Shadow of the Colossus' (ワンダーと胸像) sell well? I love that game but suspect it didn't sell as well as it should have.
  • Dundaman, on 10/22/2009, -2/+11I bought it, but could not get into it. I didn't play much, what made you love it?
  • onederboy, on 10/22/2009, -0/+9Hey MizuhoChan, how about Grim Fandango?
  • Redmo0n, on 10/22/2009, -0/+8Actually everyone I know with a DS has a R4/DSTT/Other and a lot of them have China Town Wars.
  • acid_jazz, on 10/22/2009, -0/+8ワンダーと胸像 sold well.
  • chaosblade77, on 10/22/2009, -0/+8The Madworld comment applies to a lot of "test" games and mature Wii games.

    Deadly Creatures was also niche, that was THQ's experiment on Wii to see if "real" games would sell. On-rails shooters are niche, and we'll see that with Sin and Punishment as well I'm sure despite being a quality first party title.

    Then there's The Conduit, which was average at best regardless of platform.
  • IHaveIssues, on 10/22/2009, -1/+9Firefox with AdBlockPlus
  • HMMcKamikaze, on 10/22/2009, -0/+7sold relatively well, actually. The projected number is around 700,000 worldwide. But considering it's my favorite game I do wish it sold better.
  • stubear, on 10/22/2009, -0/+7I'd love to see this game make it to XBOX Live! Marketplace. I missed the chance to play BG&E on my XBOX and after reading so much about it I'd love to try it. Luckily they released Psychonauts on XBL! and I loved it.
  • V3n0M, on 10/22/2009, -1/+8Endless Ocean for the Wii should have been on here!
  • Elranzer, on 10/22/2009, -1/+8Even Nintendo was moved by Okami. It's a little obvious that the wolf aspects of Twilight Princess were inspired by the game.
  • MasterInsan0, on 10/22/2009, -0/+7They have to make their ad revenue somehow. Stretching tiny bits of content over a lot of pages increases the ad exposure and potential ad clicks.

    That said, buried for lameness.
  • Lyght, on 10/22/2009, -1/+8No TRON 2.0?
  • Systembomber, on 10/22/2009, -0/+7It is such a brilliant game! I remember playing this as a kid and it was also a rental! We just kept renting and renting it out. Damn, time for emulator i think!
  • leonidas333, on 10/22/2009, -2/+9Yeah.
    WHAT THE ***** MUTHER *****!!!!>
    Whyethe ***** do we want to load 5frigging pages with 2 games each?
    Was barely a interesting article and that just ruined it.
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