Excitebots Slips During Debut Fortnight

By Jorge Ba-oh 15.05.2009 17

Excitebots Slips During Debut Fortnight on Nintendo gaming news, videos and discussion

Nintendo's second take on the Wii Excite racing franchise has had a slow start during its April launch.

The Wii-exclusive Excitebots: Trick Racing has so far received positive reviews from press/gamers, averaging out an 82 on MetaCritic, however has not done as well in sales numbers in its opening fortnight.

The game sold just 13,000 in the first 12-or-so days at retail (April 20 to May 2nd) according to reports from the NPD group. Despite coming out after the 1/2 way mark, Excitebots failed to slip into the top 100 games by unit sales for the month.

With a little bit more promotion and push hopefully Excitebots will truly take off for Nintendo and Monster Games.

Box art for Excitebots: Trick Racing
Developer

Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Genre

Driving

Players

4

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  n/a

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date TBA   North America release date TBA   Japan release date TBA   Australian release date TBA   

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erv is offline. erv 15.05.2009#1

I said it before, that field of vision is way out of whack. I am not buying.

 
PMD is offline. PMD 15.05.2009#2

I would buy this game if it was half the price. I will probably rent it.

 
jb is offline. jb 15.05.2009#3

Owch, not terribly good - it's been out for just under a month so here's hoping it picks up over time.

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JoshSL is offline. JoshSL 15.05.2009#4

Don\'t understand it personally.

-Wii fans want hardcore games
-ExciteTruck was awesome and this is apparantly better
-Online

What more do they want? I\'d expect it to sell more than Truck...

erv: I said it before, that\'s a stupid reason to disregard a game completely.

( Edited 15.05.2009 22:37 by SuperLink )

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WP-Final is offline. WP-Final 16.05.2009#5

The box art for the game makes it look like one of those tacky games that are best left alone.

Hopefully the sales pick up as the game deserves them.

 
Jump_button is offline. Jump_button 16.05.2009#6

Smilie I think this is more about only knowing the coming and in 3 week later it come out in usa

My ART Gallery la la la la!
 
meeto_0 is offline. meeto_0 16.05.2009#7

One thing about this argument: The hardcore want hardcore games so why dont they buy it.

The Answer could be many things: They dont like racing games, or they like racing games but only like simulations like GT, they don't like motion controls for racing so on... .

I dont like motion controls for racing. Its too loose. Its one genre that I dont think has proven it needs motion controls. Mario kart would have been horrendous if it didnt include classic controls.

 
JoshSL is offline. JoshSL 16.05.2009#8

I always thought ExciteTruck was pretty popular. The install base for that should add on to sales for this, so why are they so low? Unless ExciteTruck was really low too...

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meeto_0 is offline. meeto_0 16.05.2009#9

They might be purists some of the install base. They might not like that it has become insects (I liked it personally) They might not have liked how the original played.
I think the main reason is the install base itself. You have to advertise to them in specific ways and offer them specific things. Wii fit is a the most perfect example: it offers something for the expanded audience (women in this case) probably featured in heat and grazia (they didnt check it out on cubed3 or IGN) and it offered them a fun way to loose weight (an interest of theirs).

 
Green28 is offline. Green28 16.05.2009#10

I love this game. I haven\'t played any other Wii game since it came out. If more people knew about it the sales would probably be better. The only advertisement I have seen is in Nintendo Power. They really need to get some commercials on the telly for this gem.

On a side note, could someone add this to the WiFi hub. I would really like to play some of you that may have it.

( Edited 16.05.2009 00:23 by Green28 )

 
Andrezao is offline. Andrezao 16.05.2009#11

SuperLink said:
I always thought ExciteTruck was pretty popular. The install base for that should add on to sales for this, so why are they so low? Unless ExciteTruck was really low too...

Problem is SuperLink that 0 advertisement doesn't help unfortunately... Apparently in the US there was little to no advertisement. Maybe that install base doesn't go online to check site reviews etc, and they need to notified on TV or mags. What disappoints me about Nintendo is that they could have their hardcore games selling a ton, making as much money as their casual but they don't advertise enough, they don't create hype for it.

For a game like this that was announced like 3 months ago? They need to reach out for people, let them aware of what's coming. There were people on Kotaku that didn't even know about this game, that is terrible for both sides. If Nintendo advertised all the games they make, and major games from 3rd party, they would make a lot more sales, help out 3rd party establish and show that there is hardcore games on the system.

I think it would be wise to do a retrospective advertisement. Like, make TV ads of existing games on the platform like a sort of "have you played??" program. Showing people playing games that are already out to help increase sales and the userbase of those franchises. Heck, with that they could push Zack and Wiki sales, Okami sales, RE: UC, RE4, etc. I think this could really work and I can already see the ads, Nintendo has an absurd amount of money, and this will only help them more while also showing 3rd Party that ads can help thei game sell.

 
Sonic_13 is offline. Sonic_13 16.05.2009#12

meeto_0 said:
Its one genre that I dont think has proven it needs motion controls. Mario kart would have been horrendous if it didnt include classic controls.

I strongly disagree. I feel that racing and FPS are the two genres that have most benefited from motion controls.

After placing Excite Truck (and especially Mario Kart) with motion controls, I find it hard switching back to a traditional controller for racing games. Motion controls are just so much better.

 
Marzeee is offline. Marzeee 16.05.2009#13

I would have thought a lot of people might be put off by the look of the game. Many hardcore Wii owners will probably think it looks childish and won't buy it for that reason. It looks really over-the-top as well, which might put people off it.

I will probably get it if it comes down in price, I loved Excite Truck.

 
Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 16.05.2009#14

One thing about this argument: The hardcore want hardcore games so why dont they buy it.

The Answer could be

..theres no such thing as hardcore games, because everyone defines hardcore more or less as
\"what I like and dont get enough of\"


Many hardcore Wii owners will probably think it looks childish and won\'t buy it for that reason.

You see, me personaly, I wouldnt call those fans hardcore gamers.


( Edited 16.05.2009 13:11 by Darkflame )

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JoshSL is offline. JoshSL 16.05.2009#15

That's true. Anyone who didn't buy Wind Waker because it looked childish was deluded and doesn't deserve to be called "hardcore". That's a good example.

The problem with the idea of "hardcore" games is that even though they're demanded, people just don't buy them when they come out. Personally I didn't want Madworld, and it seems a lot of people just don't want this.

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meeto_0 is offline. meeto_0 16.05.2009#16

Darkflame said:
One thing about this argument: The hardcore want hardcore games so why dont they buy it.

The Answer could be

..theres no such thing as hardcore games, because everyone defines hardcore more or less as
\"what I like and dont get enough of\"

Many hardcore Wii owners will probably think it looks childish and won\'t buy it for that reason.

You see, me personaly, I wouldnt call those fans hardcore gamers.


No thats not the case at all. A term be it hardcore or typical gamer is needed to distinguish the divided audience that exist on all current consoles. Its not helpful to argue that two markets dont exist by rubbishing such terms. GTA on DS seems to be proof of this. The new audiences are not drawn to a wide range of games.

Well with the wii most childish and light hearted games (which there are a lot) happen to be of poor quality. So the two end up being associated with one another. They also tend to be uncomplicated and not challenging

THe PS3 has very few but when you have a game like little big planet it keeps such connections really seperate.

SO perhaps these gamers when they see this on wii see it as another cheap cash in trying to reach a large audience. Perhaps if it was on the PS3 graphics aside they know what experience they are purchasing.

( Edited 16.05.2009 13:59 by meeto_0 )

 
J Tangle is offline. J Tangle 16.05.2009#17

My main reasons for not purchasing this game are lack of Wii speak, no SD music, and the Beast Wars TransMetal(Animals/Bugs with vehicle properties) route they chose to take with the vehicles.

As for who's hardcore or not, the only gamers I think shouldn't be given that title are the fanboys/girls that blindly follow companies and try to push their convoluted thoughts on other people. When in all it only comes down to the players preference.

 

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