It seems as though almost everybody is disappointed with the first month sales of Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. We reported earlier this week that the game managed to shift a tame 88,000 units in the month of March, significantly lower than the first month sales of its older brothers. Many expected the game to shift at least 200,00 units in its first month, but sadly, that didn't happen.
When questioned about the sales of the game, Nintendo of America's Vice President of corporate affairs, Denise Kaigler, replied by saying:
Remember that many games for Nintendo DS have a non-traditional sales pattern. The trend is toward ‘evergreen’ games that sell well over an extended period of time instead of in a one-month spike. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Nintendo DS is a good example. In its first month (November 2007), it sold only 36,000. To date, it has sold through nearly 500,000. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a great game that has received tremendous reviews. We expect that with continued backing, it will follow the same long-tail/evergreen sales route that other top sellers have taken.”
Let's hope those glowing reviews combine with Take Two's sustained support to give Chinatown Wars the sales it deserves.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 18
this game deserves the sales....seriously. Pls buy, and do not emulate, this game, so we can have a sequel.
I said what she said. She's copying me!
I bought it! I never played or owned a GTA game in my life. I haven't received it yet so I don't know if I like yet, but if this didn't come out on the ds I most likely never would of purchased it. So I think they are doing much better than they realize.
I think this probably makes sense. PSP has a more "hardcore" market, and by this I mean more people who are really watching release dates for games and will by a game when it is released. Hopefully enough DS owners are adults and would buy a GTA title, but just aren't going to rush out to the store and buy it right away. I would totally buy this, and I could afford a DS, but it's just not on my top priorities right now spending money wise. If I did get one, I'd definitely want this game, but I probably would buy things like new super mario bros. or pokemon first. Right now I don't want to buy a DS, b/c I want to see how DSiware shapes up. I want to make sure it's good (or that there will be a VC). Otherwise I'd rather get a lite with a gba slot. People dropping all their money on DSi this month probably haven't helped either.
Meh, maybe later though Yahtzee's review pointed out flaws that do seem pretty awful.
KDR, yes GTA for the DS has flaws, but they aren't big.
The AI is dumb, yes, but it doesn't make the game less fun.
The never being able to see a cop thing... well yes that's annoying, but it's SOOOOO easy to get rid of one star.
It's a good game regardless. Not perfect, but good. It'll get more sales.
This is the first GTA title I've owned, and I wasn't interested until I saw that it's more similar to the early ones (which I tried on PC ages ago). Anyway, I appreciate games with open ended worlds where you can roam and do what you want, advancing at your leisure, and not many of those types are released now. The "theme" is not one I really enjoy, but it's ok until someone releases a game like Elite or Frontier on the DS/Wii
I'll probably get this now. I wasn't planning on it before, but I need to vote with my wallet to get more similar games.
gta ds has floors """!!NO WERE NEAR AS MANY AS EVERY HOME CONSOLE VERSION!!!!"""
POP UP
GLITCHES
TERRIBLE ANALOG CONTROLS
TERRIBLE CAM
GLITCHES,FREEZES,GRAPHICS TEARING ETC
LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG LOAD TIMES (I WOULD NEVER OWN A NON NINTENDO SYSTEM FOR THIS REASON ALONE)
GTA DS IN TERMS OF POLISH AND RUNNING IS BY FAR THE BEST VERSION
no pop up no loading waits no freezes no tearing no crashes
the gameplay is sweet but i agree with BLAZE its a jack of all trades game thats overrated IV NEVER LIKED IT ON PS2 ETC it was laggy clunky sluggish and the analog was terrible longgggggggg loadtimes and horrible pop up....and its open world thing i never liked GIVE ME A GOAL GIVE ME INNOVATION dont just thro me in a open world were it all becomes boring and stale after 10 minutes WALKING ABOUT RANDAMLY SMASHING THINGS IS A 5 MINUTE BUZZ ONLY FOR ANYONE OVER THE AGE OF 5
UNLESS YOU GOT ADHD OR SOMING
HAS IT NOT YET SUNK IN DS OWNERS ARE BROAD RANGE OF FOLKS AND THE CORE IS NINTENDO CORE GAMERS
BOTH GROUPS FINF GTA """""""""""""""CHILDISH AND CHAV""""""""
ITS A REFLECTION OF THE SONY BASE BEING IMATURE TEENAGERS AND THE NINTENDO BASE IS NOT IMATURE KIDS
WHO CALLS NINTENDO KIDDY
KIDS UNDER 16 OWNING A PS2 PS3 IT AINT ADULTS SAYING IT ITS GTA FANBOY
CHILDREN...........................
lets all remember this is USA ALONE its in all western europe top ten charts like uk holland france etc SO THOSE SAYING IT BOMBED ARE SONY FANS TALKING CRAP
its selling constantly globally and like nintendo stated and i my self stated in the other thread DS SOFTWARE TENDS TO BE """"""STAYER""""""""" OR NINTENDOS NAME FOR IT """""""""""EVERGREEN""""""""""""
MARIO KART DS AND WII ARE EVERGREEN
BRAIN TRAINING ARE EVERGREEN
WIIFIT EVERGREEN
MARIO AND SONIC AT THE OLYMPICS EVERGREEN
NOT SO EVERGREN BUT STILL CONSISTANT SELLERS FOR SAY A YEAR PLUS
METROID
ZELDA
MARIO PARTY GAMES
I BET GTA CHINA TOWN WARS IS STILL SELLING GLOBALLY COME CHRISTMAS 2009
USE UR HEADS SERIOUSLY
Got stuck on the capslock Wiiboy?
Let's hope it will have a steady salesflow, this game deserves it. I enjoyed this game way more than GTA4.
wow, wiiboy calm down lol.
@wiiboy: Gaah! Wiiboy, you again?! I thought you weren't posting anymore, since many people couldn't make heads or tails from your comments on GoNintendo...
I'm pretty sure it'll sell wel and I hope for the Wii users that this urges Take-Two to release a good GTA title for the console, but it's just not my type of game.
@wiiboy,
Yeesh calm down. Jorenmartijn is right I cant make heads nor tails of your comment.
Back on topic, I played a little of this at my local play-n-trade. I didnt like it very much but I could see where others would
last GTA game I played was Vice City, it's a decent series of games, but not one that makes me rush out & buy the latest copy. I got Pokemon Platinum & Zelda Phantom Hourglass this mth, & next on my radar is Fire Emblem & Dragon Quest 5. I might eventually get GTA but it's gonna be after I get every other game on my list of wants that rank higher (which is a lot).
I blame that it came out in the wonderful month of march. There were several good RPG's, an obscure platformer that pleased many and the impending DSi launch.
If and when I get a DSi this will be the first game I get.
@Wiiboy. Jeez. Did you forget to take your meds this morning? lol
These sales don't sound right at all. I hear nothing but good things about this game, and it's GTA, so it should sell a lot more than 20,000 units. Maybe people don't want to give handheld GTA a chance? No way this will sell as much as GTA IV, but hopefully the sales will increase somewhat.
This game looks totally awesome, and it's definitely gonna be the next DS game I buy!
If I could play as that angry Asian girl with the sword, I'd buy it right away.
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