- 2 days ago
HOW did these games not sell?!
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00:00A little while ago, we made a list of 10 amazing games that barely anybody bought,
00:04and you guys rushed to the comments to tell us a couple of things.
00:07The first of which were the games on the list that you loved that you did actually buy,
00:11and the second was more games that deserved to be on the list.
00:14And so, as is tradition, we've thrown together a whole new list with your picks for incredible
00:18video games that deserve to be played and purchased by far more people than they were.
00:23Some of these games are relative unknowns, while others are huge names that were still
00:27considered commercial failures due to the expectations of their developers and publishers.
00:32Be sure to let us know down in that comment section which of these are your favorites,
00:35or hey, maybe mine the list for a few new favorites that you might never have considered playing.
00:40I'm Jess from WhatCulture, and here are the 9 best video games nobody bought, commenter edition.
00:45Number 9. PsyOps, The Mindgate Conspiracy
00:482004 action-adventure from Midway Games, PsyOps, The Mindgate Conspiracy,
00:52had everything going for it except timing.
00:55You'll alternate between traditional third-person shooter gameplay and utilizing your suite of
01:00psychic powers as protagonist Nick Skryer. Skryer is the soldier who's been recruited by the Mindgate
01:05Corporation and needs to unravel a sinister plot, driven by the baddies who are an organization
01:10called The Movement. Despite reviewing surprisingly well, including scoring GameSpot's award for
01:15Best PlayStation 2 Game of June 2004 and getting plenty of nods for Game of the Year categories,
01:21the game was a commercial disappointment for Midway. Only shifting around 400,000 copies in
01:26its first year of release, PsyOps struggled to compete with the heavy hitters like Fable,
01:31Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, and Half-Life 2, which all launched around the same time.
01:36The game has since garnered a well-deserved cult following, but unfortunately, because of its
01:40commercial failings, any hope for the series to continue has been dashed. Even though the game
01:46does end with a big to-be-continued splash screen that flashes up during the credits,
01:50which certainly stings a little for the fans who did pick this one up.
01:53Number 8. Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth
01:56Another cult hit that didn't receive anywhere near the amount of attention that it certainly deserved,
02:01Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth was a survival horror game that came out in 2005.
02:06Praised for its faithfulness to the Lovecraft source material, its tense and affecting atmosphere,
02:11and compelling psychological horror themes, the game just couldn't get off the ground commercially.
02:16Reports indicate the critically acclaimed game only sold about 60,000 units across all platforms
02:22in its first year of release, resulting in it being branded a commercial failure by developer
02:26Head First Productions. Hold on though, because it gets worse. When Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of
02:31the Earth was taking its six years in development, two other titles in the Call of Cthulhu series were
02:37being optimistically developed. Unfortunately, when Dark Corners of the Earth returned,
02:41disappointing sales figures, both of these games were cancelled, when Head First was unable to
02:46secure a publisher for them in 2006. This led to the company declaring bankruptcy and subsequently
02:52liquidating, which is a pretty sad legacy for a cult hit video game.
02:55Number 7. Nier
02:57Now we've got to be clear when we're talking about Nier, as this entry refers to not the sequel
03:02Nier Automata or the remake Replicant version 1.2247 etc, but the original game, titled both
03:09Nier Replicant and Nier Gestalt, or simply Nier depending on your region. We are not even into
03:14how complicated the story and mechanics of this game are and I think I've already lost about half of
03:19you, but let's keep going. Nier originally released in 2010 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and was created by
03:25Yoko Taro. Despite receiving mounting praise for its soundtrack, voice acting, memorable characters
03:30and fascinating themes, the game didn't make any special waves commercially. Speaking after the
03:35fact, Taro clarified that they weren't in the red, but the game was hardly a success. The game shifted
03:41134,000 copies within its first year of release, but even now, 13 years on, it's estimated that the
03:48game has only sold about 500,000 copies worldwide. To put that in perspective, the sequel Nier Automata has
03:54shifted over 6 million units between its 2017 release and March of 2021.
04:006. Muramasa The Demon Blade
04:03Trying to get an action-adventure hack-and-slash game to rise above the already well-saturated genre
04:08in 2009 is already a feat, but putting said game on the Wii certainly didn't make things any easier.
04:14Such was the case for Muramasa The Demon Blade, created for the Wii by Vanillaware. The game was a
04:20hit with critics who adored the beautiful art style, tight, fast-paced combat, and Japanese
04:24folklore-inspired storyline, ultimately scoring the game an 81 out of 100 on Metacritic. Despite
04:30dazzling critics pretty much across the board, the game didn't manage to knock it out of the park
04:35with sales in either Japan or North America. Though at the time, the NPD group reported that the game
04:41sold 35,000 units during its first month on sale, and this sat within expectations, this would later
04:47be revised by the game's publisher, saying sales were low across Japan, North America, and Europe.
04:53This was considered to be in large part due to the fact that at this point the Wii was falling out
04:57of vogue, and the untraditional nature of the game made it trickier to market. Despite returning some
05:02less-than-impressive sales numbers, the game is beloved by its fans, and even scored a re-release
05:07in 2013 for the PlayStation Vita called Muramasa Rebirth.
05:115. El Shaddai – Ascension of the Metatron
05:14Ignition Tokyo released the 2011 action game El Shaddai – Ascension of the Metatron for
05:19the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. The single-player adventure that was inspired by the Book of
05:24Enoch was praised for its interesting art style, compelling combat system, and curious and
05:29mysterious story that blended fantasy and science fiction. Despite impressing critics across the
05:35board, it's believed that the game didn't sell particularly well. Shifting only 58,000 units
05:40in Japan at launch and 220,000 units worldwide that classed El Shaddai as a commercial disappointment
05:46for publisher Ignition Entertainment. This extended to the publisher being hit with a round of layoffs
05:51due to a series of commercial failures. Fortunately, there's a bit of a happy ending for this one,
05:56as the game's cult following helped along a spiritual successor called The Lost Child.
06:01The game was neither a commercial success, nor did it achieve the same critical acclaim as its
06:06predecessor, but it was a nice treat for fans of the original.
06:104. Gladius
06:11Tactical role-playing game Gladius was published and developed by LucasArts in 2003. The game lets
06:16you create a school of gladiators and square up against opposing schools from different regions
06:21all over the game world. In keeping with our list, the game was actually rated as one of the
06:25quote, best Xbox games most people never played by the official Xbox magazine. Even though the game
06:31impressed critics with its engaging tactical combat, satisfying progression and character
06:35development systems, and strong narrative throughline in its campaign, it fell far beneath
06:40sales expectations. Reports indicated the game sold less than 100,000 copies in its first month
06:46of release in North America, deeming it a commercial failure for the studio even in the face of its
06:51impressive review scores. Though it may not have struck enough of a chord to invite a continuation of
06:56the series, Gladius is still a cult hit among fans.
06:593. Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
07:02Although just about every RPG and Vampire Meter enthusiast has tried their hand at Vampire the
07:07Masquerade Bloodlines by now, the game massively fell under the radar when it first came out in 2004.
07:13Suffering from exactly the same steep competition that caused PSYOPs to struggle in the very same
07:18release window, there was simply no competing with Half-Life 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater,
07:24Halo 2, and Fable for the spotlight. Even though Bloodlines impressed critics with its fascinating
07:29game world, mature themes, supernatural powers, and intriguing story, not enough people gave it
07:34a shot when it first came out. This was in some part due to the game's technical issues and bugs,
07:39but it's sort of just accepted that the end of 2004 was just not kind to non-AAA games.
07:45The initial release stood at a modest 72,000 copies in its first three months on sale,
07:50firmly solidifying what would become the cult classic RPG as a commercial disappointment.
07:56Dedicated fans ensured the game would not fade out of the spotlight though,
07:59as it has stayed firmly in the gaming zeitgeist and is still considered a must-play for RPG fans.
08:04The game even established a legacy where it's been cited as one of the major
08:08influences contributing to the resurgence of vampire-themed stories across all mediums.
08:13The fan-created patches that address technical issues and missing content from the original also
08:18helped the game from fading into obsolescence. Game director Leonard Boyarski even voiced his
08:24appreciation for the patches, saying while they'd hoped the game would be more successful at launch,
08:28it felt more worthwhile to see how it stood the test of time and continues to inspire modders and fans.
08:342. Darksiders 2 This will seem like a weird one,
08:37since Darksiders 2 is far and away the highest selling game on this list.
08:41The action-adventure sequel was reviewed very well, impressing critics with its compelling story that
08:46followed the journey of death and its genuinely fun combat mechanics. Even so,
08:51publisher THQ had to file for bankruptcy just a few months after the game released.
08:56Of course, this wasn't all due to the commercial failure of Darksiders 2,
08:59but THQ did state that the game didn't perform to their expectations. Even though,
09:04at 247,000 units sold in its release month, it stood as the best-selling game in August of 2012.
09:11The game quickly lost steam, and the eventual 1.5 million units moved that year wasn't enough to
09:16keep the flailing company above water. Developer Vigil Games also went under as part of the company
09:22disbanding. In happier news, though, the game was eventually remastered into the
09:27Deathinitive edition by Nordic Games, who purchased the IP when THQ's assets were sold off.
09:341. Odyssey to the West Another perfect example of a game that both fans and
09:39critics loved, but inexplicably sold very little, is 2010's enslaved Odyssey to the West.
09:45Developed by Ninja Theory and published by Namco Bandai Games, it was no surprise when the action
09:50adventure turned out to be a slam dunk. Unfortunately, it was a slam dunk that nobody bought.
09:55Loosely based on the book Journey to the West, the game was praised for its interesting post-apocalyptic
10:01story and emphasis on narrative and character development. You take a stroll in the shoes of
10:05protagonist Monkey, who fights using a staff and must solve puzzles, explore the environment,
10:10and complete platforming challenges. The graphics were deemed to be stunning,
10:14the cutscenes understated and narratively impressive, and the soundtrack was described
10:18as elevating the gameplay experience even further. Despite scoring 8s and 9s out of 10 pretty much
10:24across the board, very few people picked it up. Though Namco had hoped that sales would pass 1
10:29million copies, after 4 months they'd only managed to sell 460,000, and then after a full year they'd
10:35only hit 730,000 copies sold. These figures were deemed too lacklustre to justify the continuation
10:42of the franchise or the planned sequel, which was ultimately abandoned. Namco later blamed the game's
10:47busy release window for its commercial failure. Game director Tamim Montaniades later reflected,
10:53I'm not sure if the fantasy elements were a turn off, the gameplay mix, or the lack of visibility.
10:58It was probably a mix of all three. That's the end of our list, but let me know down in that
11:01comment section if you can think of any other great video games nobody bought that deserved to be on
11:06this list. As always I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for hanging out with me.
11:11If you liked it you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account where I'm at JessMcDonnell,
11:15but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great gaming lists.
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