Genre doesn't matter. Trying to make genre comparisons game to game with AAA titles to determine what will sell in the holiday season is fucking ridiculous. Nor does the hours played in games matter to most people.
Genre doesn't matter? Interesting. I guess Arkham City represents as much competition to MW3 as BF3 does... oh wait, no, it doesn't because it's in a completely different genre. Genre very obviously matters for what I thought were logical reasons. People who enjoy a game in a specific genre tend to enjoy other games in said genre. If two new games come out in the same genre but the player can only afford one, those two titles must directly compete for the player's money because the player will likely have an interest in both. Conversely, if a different game in a different genre is released, it is not competing directly with those titles. It may not even be competing at all if the player has no interest in that genre. Therefore, if you're going to release a game, it makes more sense to release it during a month where there are no other new releases in the same genre.
And yes, length does matter. People have a finite amount of time to play games. If they know a game is going to take a long time to complete (as open-world games are known to do), they are less likely to buy other games around the same time period because they know they'll be spending all their time with one game. That's why most people only play one MMO at a time. That's also why releasing an open-world action game in the same month as Skyrim is retarded. If I know I'm going to put 100+ hours into Skyrim, why would I buy anything else in the same month? Why would I buy a 40 hour game like Arkham City, no less?
I'm sorry, I forgot we weren't having a discussion that involves opinions, but we are actually on the Jerykk show where he dictates what matters to whom.
This isn't about opinion. It's about common sense. The debate is about whether or not November provides more competition for Arkham City than October. The answer is yes, it does, because there are several, high-profile open-world action games being released in November. This isn't an opinion, it's a logical conclusion.
SS3 is set to be released on the same day Arkham City is (was) being released, and HOMM the week before. They may not be what you consider major players, but the fact remains they are (were) in direct competition for gamers dollars and time. Some people prefer strategy games over TPS action or shooters. Others will spend $35 on Serious Sam over $50 or $60 on Batman.
Oh please. You seriously need to reevaluate your definition of "direct competition." A relatively obscure, PC-exclusive, old-school shooter and a relatively-obscure, PC-exclusive, turn-based strategy game aren't even directly competing with one another, let alone Arkham City. If you're honestly trying to argue that the majority of Arkham City's audience has even heard of Serious Sam or HOMM, you're pretty delusional. It's significantly more likely that they've heard of
and have an interest in Skyrim, Saints Row 3 and AssCreed Revelations, given that they are all big-budget, console-centric, open-world action games.
This comment was edited on Sep 21, 2011, 04:26.