News GTA: Chinatown Wars sales are "disappointing"

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2009/04/17/gta-chinatown-wars-sales-are-disappointing/1

Sales of the first Grand Theft Auto game to hit the DS have been nothing short of awful according to analysts.

 

If this was on the PC they'd be crying about piracy right about now, whats the official excuse? demographics. Hands up any one on here with a DS. Is it a perceived thing or does no one over the age of 15 have a DS? Or is just a rubbish game.

 

It is called global crisis. Food/housing/etc is much more important this moment then playing a game.

 

So what about european numbers?
I bought the game even though i could have pirated it, just because i would like to get some more mature games on the ds instead the next big puzzle game. I loved every second in the game, finally a good reason to get my ds running again. Hopefully other publishers wont be stopped because of these numbers to try and get some good games on the ds going.

 

Doubt it people are still willing to pay for entertainment e.g cinema.

Its the type of people who owna DS hardly surprising tbh, I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole or any hand held console tbh. I play them for 5 mintues think its the best thing since sliced bread then never gets played again.

 

I think it has something more to do with most people that play gta also have an xbox/ps/pc and in case of pc of xbox only just got gta4 or the expansion and arent (yet) interested in a handheld gta.

 

Obiwan say's the truth. No one can expect these tays, that everyone is running to buy good-for-nothing things...

 

Games on the DS desgined for people too young to know how to/want to pirate games sell well. Games on the DS designed for people old enough to pirate probably don't. The games actually awesome too (played a bit on a mate's DS).

 

Pirating the game? Nintendo sells millions of copies of games on the system. The problem is that the DS is just a kiddy system. I would bet that there are 10 people who haven't yet graduated from high school owning a DS for every one that has graduated.

 

Mostly kids age 5 to 12 have the DS. (not counting my girlfriend who likes to play bomberman in between work shifts) And these kids do not have money to buy games, they are depending on their parents. Most people here seems to forget that kids do not earn money.

 

I plan on buying the game. It has very good reviews and looks great. The problem is kinda weird, if the game was $30 (CAN) I would buy it right away, but since it is $40+ (CAN) I seem to have a little harder time justifying it. I guess it's just the price "eww" factor. I will buy the game eventually, just watching the pennies a little more right now.

 

We'll theres the fact the parents are paying could also be the rating of the game, given the age of the kids and like you say kids 5-12 own the DS and there not allowed to play it.

Not saying they won't play it I mean I was playing Duke Nukem just after it came out but the kind of people or kids who own a DS this won't be made for them.

 

and as you said before, people are paying less for media so that they have enough to eat.

 

I put this onto my amazon order, then realised I couldn't afford it yet this month and took it off. Maybe I ought to buy it just so they make another one, on the other hand maybe I should spend that money on indie games, Rockstar have a big enough money hat already surely?

I was going to say I don't know any kids with a DS, but then I realised, I don't know any kids, several of my mid/late 20s mates have one though, males and females alike.

 

by all accounts this is actually a great game, they've just hit the wrong console.

i think to dismiss DS owners as kids is a bit silly, but those that own a DS are - generally - those that play 'casual games', by which i mean the original type of casual games as all sorts is marketed as this now.

brain training and GTA don't really mix

 

I would buy it if it wasn't for the fact that GTA4 was one of the worst games I have played in ages! I don't hold strong hopes for a DS version.

Oh and I know plenty of adults who own a DS, although thinking about it, they wouldn't want to play GTA!

 

That's still an over-generalisation in saying that everyone over the age of 15 is in the target demographic- my grandparents are certainly not teenagers anymore, own a Wii and yet wouldn't be seen buying anything close to GTA. Problem is, the DS isn't the ideal platform for it as it serves a larger but less intense gaming demographic. The title itself has got some very good reviews thus far and I'd personally count myself among the 89,000 to buy it if I could afford a DS.

 

Yeah both my parents have DS's but neither of them would be buying GTA, they like the quick and easy games and brain training things, I have actually bought GTA china town as Amazon seemed to be offloading stock and dropped the price to £15 one day after release, so I guess preorders didn't go as expected. still haven't played it yet though, need a long trip to go on

 

...never even heared of it, maybe that has something to do with it, Rockstar?