Nintendo's new IP bombs spectacularly in the U.S.!

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Tonight the NPD sales were leaked on Neogaf.

It was revealed that Nintendo's newest IP Code Name S.T.E.A.M (3DS) bombed spectacularly, despite a decent marketing campaign, pre order bonus and Amiibo functionality in the U.S. (biggest video game market).

How spectacularly did it bomb.....? It did worse than The Wonderful 101 (Wii U) which had bare minimum marketing and no preorder bonus.

It did ~31k at retail in the U.S. doing slightly worse than The Wonderful 101, which did ~35k in it's first few weeks.

What is Code Name S.T.E.A.M.?

It is Nintendo's and Intelligent System's (makers of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars) newest IP!

It is a turn based strategy, that keeps movements tied to a grid.
You are part of the newly created S.T.E.A.M. group by President Lincoln and Queen Victoria to protect earth from the invading aliens by using weapons and steam powered gear.
The game is set in during the Victorian area, with a large part of it in London.
It uses a Steampunk comic book art style for the graphics.
It has professional voice acting.

-- Gameplay---

The gameplay is turn based with your attacks, counter attacks, and movement based on how much steam your character has stored up. If you have enough steam left at the end of your turn, you can counter attack an attacking alien.

Coins are collected and used as currency in the game.
Coins are also used to rank up and unlock new weapons (if you collect enough).
Gears are used to unlock new boiler plates, which improve character stats and steam amount (3 gears in each map to collect).
The fire emblem Smash Amiibos unlock said character in the game, though you need to tap the Amiibo again if the character dies in battle.
Though the game is very tough!
It also has guns too!

Oh there is online battling against others...!

--- Characters---

The game features such characters and Henry Fleming (from The Red Badge of Characters), John Henry (From American folk lore), Lion (from Wizard of Oz after he gets courage), etc...
Most characters are from American history and literature, while some are from British history and literature.

---Marketing---

It received decent campaign over all communication channels, including in store and social media.
It received a twitter backlash when Will Wheaton was announced as the voice of Abraham Lincoln and others.
There was also the Majora's Mask pin preorder bonus as well in the U.S.
There was a demo, which most didn't like because it was too hard!


----

If you like Advance Wars and/or Fire Emblem, you'd like this game.

Anyone else besides me buy this game?

I haven't played much yet, but I bought it and I love it. Pisses me off to no end that so many people b***h about how Nintendo "needs new IPs" but never bother to give the new IPs a chance...Codename STEAM is awesome, and I can't wait to play Splatoon. That's 2 new IPs already just this year, plus the 2 new StreetPass Plaza games and Boxboy! which are also great new games from Nintendo....

Yeah, I'm awaiting Splatoon as well. A shooter that's actually UNIQUE and does new things? WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!? What I've seen of it (though that isnt much) looks quite interesting (went and looked into it a bunch recently).

Yes, that's really a thing with Nintendo.
People are always complaining about the lack of third party support on WiiU, but even when good games come people don't give them a chance. Bayonetta 2 is another example of this. It's sad that somehow, since its launch, Wii U have been almost completely dependent on the main Nintendo games to have good sales.
Haven't played this one yet, but I'll try it when I can and Splatoon I'll surely play!

I haven't even played the demo yet.

Too busy working

In this case, the elements that turned Americans off to this game were:

The graphical art style
The Victorian setting
Steampunk
Voice actors
Genre
Gameplay
Difficulty
Story
Characters
.... Pick the poison

That list is not American friendly.
The game should do better in the EU.

Actually very few 3rd party games on Wii U are worth buying do to:

Lacking content
No DLC
Inferior performance to even the Xbox 360 version
Launching 6 months after the other versions at full price
No marketing behind the 3rd party games
Very few copies shipped to retail for consumers to buy (many 3rd party games were vastly under shipped and never restocked)
Bad reviews even from mainstream outlets.

This list held true for most 3rd party games released on Wii U, consumers also don't live in a vacuum.

Third party games worth buying on Wii U:
Lego games (normally the best selling version is on Nintendo systems)
Just dance games
Scribblenauts
Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing: Transformed (out performed the other console versions, sold over 400k+ on Wii U alone being the best selling version)
Sonic Lost World (good solid platformer despite mixed reviews, sold almost 300k+ in the U.S.)
The critically panned ZombiU (though you need to install the first patch to enjoy the game, sold over 200k+ in the U.S.)
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (it bombed as bad the 360 version)
Injustice (it lacks many of the DLC characters)
Resident Evil: Revelations
The Need for Speed game (it lacks DLC)
Call of Duties (they lack DLC and patches)
Skylanders
Disney Infinity
The first two Assassin Creed games (lacks DLC)
FIFA 2013 (it lacks DLC and loads of other content and modes, though has exclusive modes)

Guitar Hero reboot launches this year on Wii U as well
Project Treasure comes out hopefully this year too.


Bayonetta 2 is actually a first party title, which Nintendo owns and helped Platinum develop.
Bayonetta 2 has passed the 200k+ mark in the U.S., being a slow burner.

Remember Bayonetta 1 bombed as well and most of its sales took place at sub $20 clearance prices.

Really? The Victorian setting and steampunk turned Americans off? What is this? I remember playing FF6, which had both of those things, and it was fun!

FF6 was in 2D, this game is in 3D.
The industry has changed a lot since 1995.

One of the biggest complaints about the game is how ugly it looks!
The other is the "boring" setting...

Even The Order 1886 didn't do well on PS4 in the U.S. either.

Yyyyep. That's pretty much how it is. It's not a shooter with a billion guns and is also not drowning in HYPER REALISM (AKA, everything isnt brown or gray, or a sort of brown-gray), so there ya go. And of course, it apparently has challenge to it. CANT HAVE THAT, nope. Ugh.

FF6 and such really were from a very different era, werent they? Bloody depressing, really.

I might have a look at the game myself though.

So, to put it in American vernacular, it's too hard, it looks gay, and it sucks.

That could be true for Canada, Australia, UK, and the other white English speaking countries.
Those countries mirror the U.S. in gaming purchases.

My opinion from when it was revealed is that it looks like it is trying too hard to appeal to America by having famous historical figures that it actually alienates itself. And its gameplay trailers ran the risk of having it compared to games on higher software. I think that the marketing kind of failed to express that it Nintendo creating a new IP, which should meet the standards of their games, but be something fresh with interesting game mechanics. It does not look like true Nintendo game so they should have tried to get the game reviewed by as many of the right game reviewers as possible to get the message sent.

I don't think that it is out in Australia yet, but I like what I hear from the channel I watch on YouTube that follows a lot of Nintendo and I am waiting for a review from a reliable review show that I watch.

I'm going to be honest, I had never even heard of this game until I clicked on this thread.

Funny enough the game was made that way to educate Asians and Europeans about British-American literature and history.

The game is built by IS, which wanted to create a new strategy based IP, which they did.
They also decided to make it more mature looking to help it appeal to the West after they were repeatedly dogged for having "kiddy" graphics in Fire Emblem series and Advance Wars.
Even Fire Emblem: Awakening was dogged in the West for being too "kiddy" looking, despite it being a dark story and challenging game (It was also the best selling Fire Emblem in the West!).

The game received polarizing reviews from the media and gamers a like.
Either you love the game or hated it.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/3ds/code-name-steam

....they thought that Fire Emblem game was "kiddy"? What? I dont play the series, but I've seen that one, and it just... I cant even.... what.

Just... arrrrrgh.

You know what, I hate gaming culture in the West (or whatever it should be called). Hate it all. So much...