Activision Moves Singularity Out Of Modern Warfare 2’s Way

Singularity looks like a really good and original game. I will be getting that.

I will be skipping Call of n00bs 6: Even MOAR Modern Grenades: Now with n00bs 2.0

Joe Lengerich

Well, they have a guaranteed sale to this gamer. I never pre-order games, but as soon as it hit store shelves I'll be there.

Raven always make awesome games. And the vids I have seen so far, make Singularity look very nice.

Actually I'll probably end up trading MW2 in FOR Singularity. Since I'm not into MP, and CoD / MW games don't have much lasting appeal in the SP department.

Karma

@MattB: Well to me Demon's Souls cost like a normal retail game, even a little less in fact, but then again I bought it on Ebay.

I really have no idea what to do this fall, too many games, too many sequels, same as last year, I'll just have to pick 3 games I want and be done with it.
I'm going for Uncharted 2, MW2 and maaayyyybeee Assassin's Creed 2, even though I got sick of the 1st.
Good thing I didnt wait with demon's souls for the american release ah?

I hope more developers will follow Activision's example, you can't release a relatively unknown game (new franchise) next to a heavily anticipated franchise and then wonder why your game didn't sell so well.

PS. I still hate you Activision, and your still not getting my monies.

Grind_Axis

@n00b_pwner: Dead Space had some truly genuine scares. But, at it's heart, it's an action/horror game. Once your weapons get upgraded to a certain point, you no longer fear the enemies.

Except for those guys that break apart into individual creatures. They fucking scared me every time.

-[[CHoZO]]-

@MDX: Be patient, be patient...

@Mr. Mattican (Puts on Monicle): Yeah, but with Modern Warfare on 3 platforms, it will easily be able to stand up to the sales of a game on only 1 platform.

SacGamer

@SacGamer: Pretty much. I want singularity to do well. I've always liked Raven, and Singularity does look pretty cool.

stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > flaming hunter ([k])

Release some games NOW I'm fucking bored.

MDX

@SacGamer: If you like Halo 3 you have an Xbox.
The same does not apply to any console about Modern Warfare.

So why can't the apply this to the GH series???? Metallica, Smash Hits, and GH5 are all within 6 months of each other, gimme a break.

iFOREIGNi

@mzo:
You mean how EA is already releasing Dante's Inferno, Army of Two: The 40th Day, Mass Effect 2, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in that quarter?

Cypher19

hopefully this id just the first move towards a year long release cycle. Other companies have hinted at it, and I am sick of having a packed fall than a barren rest of the year.

@(Zombie) Kermad: Ten bucks tells me Schafer is going to end Brutal Legend the same way he ended Psychonauts - setting it up for a sequel.

And of course, Schafer will never have any intention of doing a sequel. I'd hate the man if I didn't love him.

@KanSer: I feel like all my most anticipated games are 2010 releases myself =/. God of War 3, FFXIII, FFXIV, ect...

SacGamer

@Mr. Mattican (Puts on Monicle): Modern Warfare: Available on 2 consoles and PC

Halo 3: Available on one console.

SacGamer

@-[[CHoZO]]-: Dead Space should have been more scary though. It was about as tame as The Suffering or something. I would like to know of a game which is piss your pants scary.

All I could think of that does that is Muscle March, and for the wrong reasons.

@tommyscomics: More like Modern Warfare 2 is gonna sell no matter what and they don't want Singularity to sell like crap.

SacGamer

God, I'm going to be pre-ordering an awful lots of games this fall...

KanSer

@Jmontilla2786: Activision's basing those numbers on the lack of brand awareness.
It will sell more then 11 million.

@KEELr: I think it will be close, but everybody has to remember that these 2 games are as different as you get while still being a FPS
Halo: Aliens MW: Terroists
Halo: Melee and Vehicles MW: Knife and calling in airstrikes
Halo: Purple and green MW:Brown and Gray
etc. etc.

@chimp_o_death: It really says something about the industry when DLC can be more popular then a full game.

EA + Brütal Legend + Oct = ?

fahrenheit

@Kanji08: My friend lent me his import of Demon Souls and it's SO good.
You die but it's fair
after about 5 hours into it I knew I had gotten better at it, usually something I only feel when I start a new genre on a new system.

"So we're calling selling an estimated 11 million copies of your game dominating the holiday season now?"

Activision: Ummm.....yeah?

Ehh, what I saw in E3 really didn't impress. But, then again, I still haven't even begun Cryostasis yet.

brainboy77

@KEELr: That's a bad thing how? The way I see it, ODST is Halo 3 with "different" weapons and less health. MW2 is COD4. Cod4 >> Halo 3. MW2 >> ODST.

brainboy77

@The Red Comet: I'm planning to pick up both too. Demon Souls was an expensive import, but I'll definitely grab Atlus' release. Brutal Legend wasn't selling itself to me at first, but the more I've seen the more it's become a day one purchase.

I'm one of those who had a pre-order in for Valkyria Chronicles about four months prior to it's release. One of my favorite games too.

@(Zombie) Kermad:
You know, I actually think MW2 (360) will outsell ODST.

@jamosthefifth:
It's good that Activision has learned something at least.

Hell, I'm still working my way through games I bought last year and there's one or two titles from 2007 sitting on my shelves waiting to be played.

Bioshock did extremely well by being released outside of the normal holiday window and I think most new IPs should be done in a similar fashion because seriously, what's the point of having 50 games come out at the same time and having everyone focus on 3 of them?

I'd have thought the best time to release a game would be mid-year, there's basically no other hyped games to compete with but are still available during the huge holiday sales rush. Not to mention it gives them a little time to establish the IP by having some word of mouth spread about it.

TrjnRabbit

@jamosthefifth: I agree. EA in particular really botched that last year.

@Kanji08:

As of right now, I'd pick Demon Souls over a majority of the titles coming out in the fall. I usually choose new IPs over already established one because...well, they're gonna sell since they're already established franchises. But you do make a good point with Uncharted 2...hmmm.

I'll just buy both :D

And I was one of those people who bought Valkyria Chronicles when it first came out. har har

It'll give them some extra time to put some extra polish on it..

Stormgazer

@LegendofMyth: Oh, I know it's a bit hypocritical of me to say I want them to do well, but might not pick them up myself. However, a large part of the fun in something like Modern Warfare is playing the game online. I know a lot of people will be picking it up day 1, and it's just not as fun 4-5 months down the road when everyone's already played the crap out of it or you're behind the curve trying to play catch up.

And while I'm pretty sure I'll pick up Demon's Souls Day 1 (I'm a masochist who enjoys the original NTSC DMC3 on Dante Must Die mode), I'm not so sure my budget will afford Brutal Legend as well, especially considering I'm a massive fan of both Uncharted and the Ratchet & Clank series. I know they'll be around for me to pick up later on down the road. I just dunno if I'll be able to hold back my Lombax cravings 'til I get around to it. =P

Kanji08

@jamosthefifth:

actually Singularity was a non-factor with me (not that it'll be a bad game, mind). and i'll STILL be bombarded: Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2, Conviction, Assassin's Creed 2, Bioshock 2 and others.

@Archaotic: Tim Schafer doesn't do franchise. Tim Schafer is too awesome for franchise.

if only EA were this clever.

mzo

@poorleno: Halo ODST will definately sell more than Modern Warfare on 360

Don't fear it, release it!

@poorleno: I don't know. Halo games always cause a fellatio fest.

@WoundedBum: I loved Dead Space.

That's all.

-[[CHoZO]]-

@tommyscomics: It's called not competing with your own products... Take GM for example.

Dayvan Cowboy

@Archaotic: Good to know, thanks. I'm hoping they have a demo before it comes out.

Pizookie

I agree MW2 will own any and everything this year.

poorleno

@Kanji08: Maybe it's just the cynic in me, but I don't see Demon's Souls selling too well, despite the fact that it looks amazing. Especially given that it's a niche title. Brutal Legend may fare better, but I just don't either really making a dent into the machines that are Modern Warfare 2/Halo ODST/Bioshock 2/Mass Effect 2/etc. While people who may come to Kotaku and similar sites are excited (and even here it's hard to say we're a majority), in the general scheme of things we are a fraction of the audience that will buy the aforementioned games.

Don't get me wrong, Demon's Souls is an absolute day one purchase for me, and I'm encouraging everyone I know who may be interested in that type of game to go out and buy it, but there's no way either DS or BL can compete. They'll probably do alright sales wise, but I'd lean towards the release window having a more negative than neutral sales impact.

Sir-Lucius has no pictchar!

Translation: "Oh shit! People are exicted about Singularity! But then we can't sell 5 zillion copies of Modern Warfare 2!!! Move...uhhh... Raven's game back!"

tommyscomics

Welp, Guess I won't be buying an Activision-published FPS this Fall.

But isn't it now in range of the first DLC pack for Modern Warfare 2?

chimp_o_death

@Pizookie: It's VERY hard, but extremely fair. If you die, without question, you did something wrong. It's a game where you learn and get better as you learn, rather than one where you die repeatedly because of bad design or cheap attacks.

Did they expect it to slip under the radar at E3?

Oh wow guys, some people are actually kinda interested in this title, who'da thunk it?

FunkyMunxy

@Archaotic: Yeah, I can hold off on MW2. I'm still having fun with MW1. Screw it, I'll just buy everything and worry about the consequences later.

I'm still on the fence with Demon's Souls though. I hear it's a really good game but difficult to master. I'd just like to know how difficult is difficult? If it's like Uncharted Crushing, then I need to stock up on sedatives.

Pizookie

Well Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 2 coming out this Holiday season, it's going to be amazing.

@LegendofMyth: Exactly. Games like Modern Warfare 2 and the like will be on shelves for months, if not years. However, if we don't support new ideas like Demon's Souls or Brutal Legend when they first appear, we'll never see them blossom into full-on franchises, and soon there'll be NOTHING left but big-budget sequels.

The industry needs gamers to support new ideas, not just buy the same thing year after year after year.

@Kanji08: Well Valkyria Chronicles' Sales surged during April of this year. So at least SOME good happened. I do hope Demon's Souls gets a lot of sales though.

@Kanji08:

Demon's Souls is the BEST game I have played all year...don't let it go unnoticed to the likes of MW2 (not saying its a bad game...its just that DS is something new). The decisions YOU make this fall will determine whether or not games like Brutal Legend will get lost...

Which kinda makes your whole post hypocritical...lol...saying you HOPE they don't get lost, but even you might look past them for the games you hoped wouldn't drown them in the first place...wow...my head hurts

It's good that they're keeping Modern Warefare 2 out of Halo: ODST's way. There would only be one winner there, and it would be the one with the recon.

Good move! New IPs deserve a fighting chance, and this holiday is looking pretty dog-eat-dog already. Hopefully it'll get some good attention in Q1 when gamers are recovering from the holiday cluster-fudge.

Andrew Testerman

Funny how titles rarely get moved UP...

Madgame

I just hope Demon's Souls and Brutal Legend don't get lost in this year's holiday rush. They're setting themselves up to be the Dead Space and Valkria Chronicles of '09. I'm really looking forward to Demon's Souls, but even I dunno if I'll pick it up over the likes of Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, and the rest of the must-have titles coming out this fall.

Kanji08

Good job Activision!

This will most certainly help gamers and the Devs...more time to polish, and not so many games coming out in the same 3 months.

Great move tbh... @jamosthefifth: truth

dsectric

I think I'd rather have Singularity than another Activision published sequel.

Smart move. Plus it'll give the devs some time to really polish up the game. I've got high hopes for this one, and it would be a shame to see this game get absolutely killed because it went up against competition like MW2

Good choice Activision. I'd hate to see another Dead Space situation with it crowded by better known IPs aka sequels.

Sounds like a good move. After last holiday season its about time that some execs learned not to bombard us with too many titles at once.

@TrjnRabbit: As a video game retailer, a gamer, and a man who is completely aware of just how incredibly broke I am going to be from September through December EVERY YEAR, I have been in favor of this move for a long time.
Watching both Dead Space and Mirror's Edge get basically ignored last year, despite my best efforts to point customers in their direction, was rough.

God of War II: March 13
Guitar Hero II: April 3
Bioshock: August 21
Mario Kart Wii: April 10
GTA IV: April 29

Very short list, but illustrative. Games can sell perfectly well outside of the 'Holiday-Buying-Season'. Some may even sell better because, as this article shows: Big fish in a little pond > Small fish drowning under a deluge of titles

JoeyGeko