SH4 Unseats The Sims 2 as North Americas' Top Selling PC Game

[Onkel Neal]

SH4 Unseats The Sims 2 as North Americas' Top Selling PC Game (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13221)

The Silent Hunter series sequel Wolves of the Pacific snatches away the top PC sales spot from The Sims 2: Seasons in a surprise upset this week, while S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl also debuts to impressive sales numbers in the U.S. and the UK. Amazon additionally reports a steep rise in preorder interest for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Shivering Isles and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, both of which will see release in the UK and the United States early next week.

[Mud]

Can some Mod merge the Sims and SH4 please, I always like to wear a party dress at sea :rock:

Mud

[stabiz]

I am shocked.:up:

[Frenssen]

Maybe the good sales will make Ubisoft see there is a demand for expansions, after all $$$ talks.

[ReM]

An upset for sure!

I'm baffled...:o

[Respenus]

You know what that means!

DESTROYER COMMAND!!!

[guynoir]

Are you kidding me??? Is it April 1st already?? I... I feel so warm and fuzzy inside. :D

[Onkel Neal]

Maybe the good sales will make Ubisoft see there is a demand for expansions, after all $$$ talks.
Yeah, and maybe the sales will convince Ubi to stop trying to kill the franchise with early releases. :) If they keep enough of the devs on SH4 and patch it up (finish it), I won't have any complaints.

Meanwhile, the ONLY thing that will ensure another Silent Hunter game is good sales, so this is welcome news. :yep: Anytime a simulation can reach the #1 spot in sales, it is a great day. People in the industry will notice this.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Maybe the good sales will make Ubisoft see there is a demand for expansions, after all $$$ talks.
Yeah, and maybe the sales will convince Ubi to stop trying to kill the franchise with early releases. :) If they keep enough of the devs on SH4 and patch it up (finish it), I won't have any complaints.

Meanwhile, the ONLY thing that will ensure another Silent Hunter game is good sales, so this is welcome news. :yep: Anytime a simulation can reach the #1 spot in sales, it is a great day. People in the industry will notice this.

Bingo. Just hope the awful state of SH4 doesn't turn a lot of these people off from buying a future release.

[Spaxspore]

Maybe the good sales will make Ubisoft see there is a demand for expansions, after all $$$ talks.
Yeah, and maybe the sales will convince Ubi to stop trying to kill the franchise with early releases. :) If they keep enough of the devs on SH4 and patch it up (finish it), I won't have any complaints.

Meanwhile, the ONLY thing that will ensure another Silent Hunter game is good sales, so this is welcome news. :yep: Anytime a simulation can reach the #1 spot in sales, it is a great day. People in the industry will notice this.
Yea, it looks like ubisoft is the only big game publisher that is releasing any type of quality sim- IE IL2 series, SH3/4

Hopefully other quality publishers will get the idea thats sims sell rather well, and get some healthy competition.

[hova311]

I'm not a bubble head I just play 1 on PC but Destroyer Command 2 plz. for all us ex-sailors that get paid better in the civilian world but miss sailing the seas on the surface :up:

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Maybe the good sales will make Ubisoft see there is a demand for expansions, after all $$$ talks.
Yeah, and maybe the sales will convince Ubi to stop trying to kill the franchise with early releases. :) If they keep enough of the devs on SH4 and patch it up (finish it), I won't have any complaints.

Meanwhile, the ONLY thing that will ensure another Silent Hunter game is good sales, so this is welcome news. :yep: Anytime a simulation can reach the #1 spot in sales, it is a great day. People in the industry will notice this.
Yea, it looks like ubisoft is the only big game publisher that is releasing any type of quality sim- IE IL2 series, SH3/4



Pretty sure the SimHQ folks would disagree there, but it's moot.

[DJSatane]

Hopefully this means UBI will allow for the developers to release more patches than with Silent Hunter 3. I truly hope so.

[difool2]

Very surprising. I thought this series was very much a niche series of titles. Well if they
stay at or near the top for the next month then I'll be really impressed.

[Mud]

SH4 is a quality game, even with the bugs.
I never saw so many detail in any sim I've played and I'm having a blast with it.
Unfinished yes but we must treasure this kind of simulations 'cos there aren't much around these days and I'm affraid that in the future the consoles games win and simulations become really rare.

Mud

[Spaxspore]

SH4 is a quality game, even with the bugs.
I never saw so many detail in any sim I've played and I'm having a blast with it.
Unfinished yes but we must treasure this kind of simulations 'cos there aren't much around these days and I'm affraid that in the future the consoles games win and simulations become really rare.

Mud

agreed, they put a lot of detail into the game, alot of bugs/fixes were corrected with the 1.1 patch, hopefully 2nd will finish it off. And lets not forget the modding protential. Something i wish they would let the modders do in IL2 (cant mod jack in that game except add skins)

[Front Runner]

SH4 Unseats The Sims 2 as North Americas' Top Selling PC Game (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13221)

The Silent Hunter series sequel Wolves of the Pacific snatches away the top PC sales spot from The Sims 2: Seasons in a surprise upset this week, while S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl also debuts to impressive sales numbers in the U.S. and the UK. Amazon additionally reports a steep rise in preorder interest for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Shivering Isles and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, both of which will see release in the UK and the United States early next week.

I received SH4 on Friday, Patched it on Saturday, became aware, sadly, that SH4 does not live up to the expectations I had for it.

I have been playing Sub Sims since Red Storm Rising on my Commodore 64 even though this is only my third post on the Radio Room.

I have had a lifelong interest in submarines and submarine warfare stemming from the WW2 movies my brothers and I watched back in the 50's and the sea stories my Uncle Fred would tell about his experiences in the South Pacific.

SH4 has been released as a beta product and is closer to an Arcade Game in immersion factor than a Submarine Sim.

I realize that the Dev team is working on making the product better, but shouldn't that have been done before release?

The fact that SH4 has beaten the Sims in sales this week shows that there are a lot of gamers out there who are interested in the American Submarine's role in WW2 in the Pacific Theater. I am confident that these buyers of the game, many of whom have probably not discovered Sub Sim yet, will be dissapointed overall with this release.

I hope that Ubisoft will realize that there is a great interest in this genre of gaming software and continue to develop the product after it's release to at least the point it should have been at for release..

Please see my thread "Dissapointed !" for further discussion.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

SH4 is a quality game, even with the bugs.
I never saw so many detail in any sim I've played and I'm having a blast with it.
Unfinished yes but we must treasure this kind of simulations 'cos there aren't much around these days and I'm affraid that in the future the consoles games win and simulations become really rare.

Mud
agreed, they put a lot of detail into the game, alot of bugs/fixes were corrected with the 1.1 patch, hopefully 2nd will finish it off. And lets not forget the modding protential. Something i wish they would let the modders do in IL2 (cant mod jack in that game except add skins)

There's so many new issues, some technical and some gameplay, popping up daily that I expect we'll see a good 4 patches.

[hova311]

I'm a long time naval warfare game player and I got to say SH4 is a GREAT game. Yes it has bug's but at least not for me on my machine it's very playable and enjoyable at least for me. I loved SH3 I was blown away by it infact. This game is very respectable in the tradition of SH3 and yes I wish there were no bugs but hell I think they will fix all these bug's in time. If you really don't like this game I guess you should look forward to Sea Knights that PT game coming out soon.

I

[stabiz]

Maybe the good sales will make Ubisoft see there is a demand for expansions, after all $$$ talks.
Yeah, and maybe the sales will convince Ubi to stop trying to kill the franchise with early releases. :) If they keep enough of the devs on SH4 and patch it up (finish it), I won't have any complaints.

Meanwhile, the ONLY thing that will ensure another Silent Hunter game is good sales, so this is welcome news. :yep: Anytime a simulation can reach the #1 spot in sales, it is a great day. People in the industry will notice this.
Yea, it looks like ubisoft is the only big game publisher that is releasing any type of quality sim- IE IL2 series, SH3/4

Hopefully other quality publishers will get the idea thats sims sell rather well, and get some healthy competition.

Dont forget Bohemia! Operation Flashpoint and the recent Armed Assault are titans.

[Schunken]

...the game have light and the game have shadows....

The detail of the ships is amazing.... but I really not get into crew-managment and repairs.... actually I only have 2 conditions:

Condition 1: Nothing to repair...

Condition 2: Dead...

..anyway, I enjoy to play it and when they fix some things I love it...

By the way: The sims 2 I enjoy also :oops:

Andreas

[Cakewalk]

w00t! Go SH4! :rock:

[It762]

The delivered quality is according to the forums really sub-par. I also do not think that this is the "yelling" crowd. Bugs with the crew management and the CTD's that several people experiencing are show stoppers for me.

I am sure that a lot of people will bring the game back or throw it in the corner.

[SteamWake]

The delivered quality is according to the forums really sub-par. I also do not think that this is the "yelling" crowd. Bugs with the crew management and the CTD's that several people experiencing are show stoppers for me.

I am sure that a lot of people will bring the game back or throw it in the corner.

Unh huh... consider the source.

[1mPHUNit0]

And IGN 8.8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Folks Folks only Folks

[Sailor Steve]

:rock:

That is good news!

[Linavitch]

It certanly is a great result for such 'niche' game. Probably helped by the lack of competition in the genre. Congratulations to the Dev team for a number 1 hit. (wish my band could score one)

[guynoir]

As much as I'm loving SH4 right now, it really does have some ridiculous bugs/unfinished features... For a subsim to have very unfinished sonar/radar/hydrophone stations, a nonexistent chronometer, and for some people, a CTDing range finder.... how exactly are we supposed to sink ships when our subs have no teeth for it.

I really can't believe that the game is getting such good reviews with it being in such a state. I know that I'm supposed to be the cheerleader and hope that it does really well, but I always thought that official reviewers were supposed to destroy an unfinished/severely buggy game no matter how good it was on the inside...

Oh well, I guess I can't complain since I do in fact want SH4 to do really well. :D

[mookiemookie]

Great news. I hope this means that Ubi will give this game the post-release support it deserves and polish this thing up into something great.

[OneTinSoldier]

Good new indeed! :)

Great news. I hope this means that Ubi will give this game the post-release support it deserves and polish this thing up into something great.

I agree!

[Platapus]

Very surprising. I thought this series was very much a niche series of titles. Well if they
stay at or near the top for the next month then I'll be really impressed.

My thoughts also.

I really thought that subsims had a pretty narrow posse of fanatics. It has been my experience that subsims don't attract the "vulgar masses" of the gaming world (sure I confess I am a sim snob).

I am very happy that SH4 is at the top of the list. Maybe the age of the subsims is raising again!!

[Onkel Neal]

As much as I'm loving SH4 right now, it really does have some ridiculous bugs/unfinished features... For a subsim to have very unfinished sonar/radar/hydrophone stations, a nonexistent chronometer, and for some people, a CTDing range finder.... how exactly are we supposed to sink ships when our subs have no teeth for it.

I really can't believe that the game is getting such good reviews with it being in such a state. I know that I'm supposed to be the cheerleader and hope that it does really well, but I always thought that official reviewers were supposed to destroy an unfinished/severely buggy game no matter how good it was on the inside...

Oh well, I guess I can't complain since I do in fact want SH4 to do really well. :D


There's no getting around that the game was released too early and it has a number of minor and a few major bugs. There has been only one review published as far as I know, IGN. You are right, though, I imagine SH4 will get pretty beat up in reviews.

[AVGWarhawk]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:

[guynoir]

Rereading my post, I didn't mean to sound so negative... Coming from Silent Service on up, Silent Hunter I has always been my favorite out of any sub sim. From what I've played of SHIV so far, it looks like it's definitely going to go to the top of my list.

Fortunately for me, I have no problem looking past the flaws and soldiering on; I know that they'll patch it up and modders'll take care of the rest and more. So really, I am hoping that the game'll get great reviews and keep selling well enough that our tiny genre of sub sims can carry on.

My uncle also loves WWII sub/plane sims but hasn't been able to get SHIV yet, so I put together this page of screenshots and stories to get him fired up for it: :D

http://artserv.art.msstate.edu/~wnm1/sub/ (http://artserv.art.msstate.edu/%7Ewnm1/sub/)

[Sulikate]

:o I'm shoked.:o

[Snowman999]

SH4 Unseats The Sims 2 as North Americas' Top Selling PC Game (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13221)

The Silent Hunter series sequel Wolves of the Pacific snatches away the top PC sales spot from The Sims 2: Seasons in a surprise upset this week, while S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl also debuts to impressive sales numbers in the U.S. and the UK. Amazon additionally reports a steep rise in preorder interest for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Shivering Isles and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, both of which will see release in the UK and the United States early next week.

I simply don't believe this report. I looked at the site and am unable to determiine the data source(s).

Monday morning, 3/26, Wal-Mart reports on-line only, no product in stores. Target.com reports the same, with still no box art or specs on the Web listing. No in-store availability system-wide. BestBuy.com has no listing for the game, no availability, not in Coming Soon section.

I checked 2 Targets on Saturday, 1 Wal-Mart, 1 BestBuy--no stock. Without these three giants I don't believe SH4 sales exceeded WOW-Burning Crusade and several other titles.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:

And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?

[AJ!]

:o

How can a game that only a tiny part of the game community has even heard about become on of the best selling games in america :hmm:

[dean_acheson]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:

And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?

such optimism. maybe with a bit more support the PC Sim market would not have collapsed.

[Onkel Neal]

:o

How can a game that only a tiny part of the game community has even heard about become on of the best selling games in america :hmm:

Hmmm... maybe it'a the 42,000 copies I bought to help the dev team's morale...? :doh:

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:
And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?
such optimism. maybe with a bit more support the PC Sim market would not have collapsed.
The PC sim market collapsed namely because a large number of sims started to come out half baked. Most people have neither the time nor patience to spend modding and tinkering with their games, something that's often overlooked.

I loved SH3, and I still play it now, but I'd not have given it more than a 7/10 on release just due to all the bugs, missing or half implemented options that did nothing - e.g. the utterly broken type XXI.

Whilst I think SH4 has more all round potential, and I prefer the change in setting to the Pacific, the vanilla version of 4 is worse than 3. And I'd not be surprised to see the out-of-the-box version given under 70% if they want to be really brutal about it.

[dean_acheson]

http://www.goenglish.com/GoEnglish_com_BeatADeadHorse.gif

[AVGWarhawk]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:
And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?

The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold. Furthermore, most gamers know games come with holes in them. Some more than others. Does not keep them from not purchasing the game. I believe the PPF is awesome and some others on this forum have stated they like it as well.

[mookiemookie]

http://www.goenglish.com/GoEnglish_com_BeatADeadHorse.gif

I always was kind of partial to this one:

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k205/zipwad/beating-a-dead-horse.gif

I doubt that it'll be able to hold on to the top spot. The Elder Scrolls and C&C are two very tough franchises with widespread appeal. But the fact that it sold well enough to beat out the Sims and Stalker should be enough for Ubi take notice. I mean with a largish user base, they'll most likely be feeling a lot of pressure to keep those patches coming. I think most people are used to the patch system by now and are well aware...actually, they'll be EXPECTING them. When was the last time you bought a game that was perfect at version 1.0?

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

http://www.goenglish.com/GoEnglish_com_BeatADeadHorse.gif

I prefer to flog mine.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:
And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?
The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold. Furthermore, most gamers know games come with holes in them. Some more than others. Does not keep them from not purchasing the game. I believe the PPF is awesome and some others on this forum have stated they like it as well.

A fortnight's worth of sales aren't necessarily going to lead to a great overall profit, I'd be looking at steady sales over a period of months.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

When was the last time you bought a game that was perfect at version 1.0?

Good question. However the release versions of most non-Ubi published games are superior, but then going into Ubi's reputation would indeed be once again flogging another poor deceased horse.

[John Channing]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:
And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?
The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold. Furthermore, most gamers know games come with holes in them. Some more than others. Does not keep them from not purchasing the game. I believe the PPF is awesome and some others on this forum have stated they like it as well.

A fortnight's worth of sales aren't necessarily going to lead to a great overall profit, I'd be looking at steady sales over a period of months.


Good point.

About a month after release somebody put it out there that Silent Hunter 3 had only sold around 24-28,000 copies. Instantly, as if by magic, the place was full of people running around yelling "SEE... IT WAS BUGGY MESS AND IT DIDN'T SELL! SEE... SEE... SEE..."

Turns out SH3 sold somewhere in excess of 300,000 copies.

There's a lesson in there somewhere, but I'm too tired to go looking for it.

JCC

[Snowman999]

The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold.


Baloney. The site the OP listed doesn't say what figures they're quoting. A "sale" is scanner-through-the-register to the end-user. With the game being released late last week in the US, and scanner data being sourced through syndicated data firms, there is no feasible way that a Web author could have an article up Monday morning, across a weekend, and have used real scanner sales data. And without scanner data from big-box stores there is no way this title could have outsold full-distribution titles like WOW simply on the basis of a few drop-ship stores like EB and Gamestop.

So what is he using? I don't know but I'd speculate he's using warehouse withdrawl data from Ubi itself, or perhaps even flat ships from the packing sub-contractor to distributors--way, WAAAY up the supply chain from retail sales. In an industry that sells to retailers on a consignment basis it is lunacy to call that volume "sales." But if one did it's very possible SH4 shipped more boxes into the supply chain than titles like WOW and Stalker. Why? Because their snake is already full out to the shelf in store, while SH4 is MIA in big-box as yet.

Figures lie and liars figure. As of 90 minutes ago Target does not have any SH4 in store.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Figures lie and liars figure.
Benjamin Disraeli would have something to say about that.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:
And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?
The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold. Furthermore, most gamers know games come with holes in them. Some more than others. Does not keep them from not purchasing the game. I believe the PPF is awesome and some others on this forum have stated they like it as well.
A fortnight's worth of sales aren't necessarily going to lead to a great overall profit, I'd be looking at steady sales over a period of months.

Good point.

About a month after release somebody put it out there that Silent Hunter 3 had only sold around 24-28,000 copies. Instantly, as if by magic, the place was full of people running around yelling "SEE... IT WAS BUGGY MESS AND IT DIDN'T SELL! SEE... SEE... SEE..."

Turns out SH3 sold somewhere in excess of 300,000 copies.

There's a lesson in there somewhere, but I'm too tired to go looking for it.

JCC

The fact it did sell so well consistently over a period of 6+ months is probably why Ubi thought they could get away with dumping it before they published their quaterly accounts. For the sake of the franchise I hope it pays off, whilst giving them a simoultaneous moment of pause to think otherwise in future.

[AVGWarhawk]

The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold.

Baloney. The site the OP listed doesn't say what figures they're quoting. A "sale" is scanner-through-the-register to the end-user. With the game being released late last week in the US, and scanner data being sourced through syndicated data firms, there is no feasible way that a Web author could have an article up Monday morning, across a weekend, and have used real scanner sales data. And without scanner data from big-box stores there is no way this title could have outsold full-distribution titles like WOW simply on the basis of a few drop-ship stores like EB and Gamestop.

So what is he using? I don't know but I'd speculate he's using warehouse withdrawl data from Ubi itself, or perhaps even flat ships from the packing sub-contractor to distributors--way, WAAAY up the supply chain from retail sales. In an industry that sells to retailers on a consignment basis it is lunacy to call that volume "sales." But if one did it's very possible SH4 shipped more boxes into the supply chain than titles like WOW and Stalker. Why? Because their snake is already full out to the shelf in store, while SH4 is MIA in big-box as yet.

Figures lie and liars figure. As of 90 minutes ago Target does not have any SH4 in store.


Seemed to have forgotten the pre-orders, money down and paid for games. Also, is there no EB Games around your way? I ordered mine last Tuesday and received it last Thursday. Two days:hmm:. Just food for thought for you. Targets big market is not video games therefore they might have it, they may not. Possible they will never have it. Try a store that lives and dies by game sales:yep:

[kiwi_2005]

Australian PC magazine PCPOWERPLAY gave SHIV a very good review i am told, im heading into town today to buy the mag so i can read up about it. My son who is not a Sub gamer but im slowly seeing hes got a big interest in WW2 US subs alhough he was disapointed when i told him you cannot command the japs subs. :rotfl:

Our conversations kinda go like this:

Early 2006
Dad: The Uboats son were the greywolves of the Atlantic, these were brave men who voluntary i repeat Voluntared to join the Uboat service for Germany during WW2, not only that but! They....

Son walks out of room.

March 2007
Dad: During WW2 the US subs son, oh boy sit down i got some great stories to tell you about the US subs.
Son: Were you their dad?
Dad: No i wasn't their dont get smart "slap" Anyway the US subs known as the 'Wolves of the Pacific'
Son: How do you know they're called Wolves of the Pacific?
Dad: Cause thats what the latest SH game is called! Now will you let me finish.
Son: yawns.
Dad: Anyway by the end of the war they had total control of the seas where some captains would wait outside enemy ports for ships cause japanese shipping was no where to be seen. Here let me show you a picture of the Gato.... Look at that isn't she a beauty.
Son: Takes notice moves chair closer to monitor to have a better look. Hey they are bigger than those uboats why are they larger than uboats.
Dad: Cause they're american and americans like everything big!:lol: Also the US subs patroled the pacific as you know shes a big ocean son.
Son: I kinda like the look of US subs
Dad: Nearly falls of chair. Yeah well your gonna love the game then, not only can we do the usual patrol to grid, but we will also have missions of picking up down pilots, sneaking into enemy ports and doing recon missions and having a go at taking on the Yamato class battleship. Speaking of battleships did you know son that the Yamato was the largest battleship during WW2.
Son: Wow, when this game arrives i'll have a go. *Dad chokes on coffee*
Dad: Really? Okay then maybe your be interest in a multiplay lan game.
Son: Sure that be cool
Dad: Falls of chair...

then a few days later he tells me to buy the latest PCPowerplay mag to read up on the SHIV review.

I think hes hooked.:D

[THE_MASK]

Every day without SH4 finished (patched with no bugs) is a day ..........Oh whats the point .

[Spaxspore]

Australian PC magazine PCPOWERPLAY gave SHIV a very good review i am told, im heading into town today to buy the mag so i can read up about it. My son who is not a Sub gamer but im slowly seeing hes got a big interest in WW2 US subs alhough he was disapointed when i told him you cannot command the japs subs. :rotfl:

Our conversations kinda go like this:

Early 2006
Dad: The Uboats son were the greywolves of the Atlantic, these were brave men who voluntary i repeat Voluntared to join the Uboat service for Germany during WW2, not only that but! They....

Son walks out of room.

March 2007
Dad: During WW2 the US subs son, oh boy sit down i got some great stories to tell you about the US subs.
Son: Were you their dad?
Dad: No i wasn't their dont get smart "slap" Anyway the US subs known as the 'Wolves of the Pacific'
Son: How do you know they're called Wolves of the Pacific?
Dad: cause thats what the latest SH game is called! Now will you let me finish.
Son: yawns.
Dad: Anyway by the end of the war they had total control of the seas where some captains would wait outside enemy ports for ships cause japanese shipping was no where to be seen. Here let me show you a picture of the Gato.... Look at that isn't she a beauty.
Son: Takes notice moves chair closer to monitor to have a better look. Hey they are bigger than those uboats why are they larger than uboats.
Dad: Cause they're american and americans like everything big!:lol: Also the US subs patroled the pacific as you know shes a big ocean son.
Son: I kinda like the look of US subs
Dad: Nearly falls of chair. Yeah well your gonna love the game then, not only can we do the usual patrol to grid, but we will also have missions of picking up down pilots, sneaking into enemy ports and doing recon missions and having a go at taking on the Yamato class battelship. Speaking of battleships did you know son that the Yamato was the largest batteship during WW2.
Son: Wow, when this game arrives ive have a go. *Dad chokes on coffee*
Dad: Really? Okay then maybe your be interest in a multiplay lan game.
Son: Sure that be cool
Dad: Falls of chair...

then a few days later he tells me to buy the latest PCPowerplay mag to read up on the SHIV review.

I think hes hooked.:D
Dang, how old is your son?, am 21, my father is in his late 50s and he has been telling me about fleet boats since i was ... well since i was.... anyhow he always talked to me about fleet boats, then when i got older i would educate him about german Uboats. I'am a little history buff in my own right... we played a lan game awhile back in SH3 days, and he was in a type 21, i was in a type 7. , Well he got trigger happy when he saw the convoy... lets just say he forgot i was in front of him and running @ flank, and he forgot he had acustic torpedos rdy to go... hmmm it wasnt pretty.

[AVGWarhawk]

Every day without SH4 finished (patched with no bugs) is a day ..........Oh whats the point .


Good one :rotfl::rotfl:

[kiwi_2005]

Australian PC magazine PCPOWERPLAY gave SHIV a very good review i am told, im heading into town today to buy the mag so i can read up about it. My son who is not a Sub gamer but im slowly seeing hes got a big interest in WW2 US subs alhough he was disapointed when i told him you cannot command the japs subs. :rotfl:

Our conversations kinda go like this:

Early 2006
Dad: The Uboats son were the greywolves of the Atlantic, these were brave men who voluntary i repeat Voluntared to join the Uboat service for Germany during WW2, not only that but! They....

Son walks out of room.

March 2007
Dad: During WW2 the US subs son, oh boy sit down i got some great stories to tell you about the US subs.
Son: Were you their dad?
Dad: No i wasn't their dont get smart "slap" Anyway the US subs known as the 'Wolves of the Pacific'
Son: How do you know they're called Wolves of the Pacific?
Dad: cause thats what the latest SH game is called! Now will you let me finish.
Son: yawns.
Dad: Anyway by the end of the war they had total control of the seas where some captains would wait outside enemy ports for ships cause japanese shipping was no where to be seen. Here let me show you a picture of the Gato.... Look at that isn't she a beauty.
Son: Takes notice moves chair closer to monitor to have a better look. Hey they are bigger than those uboats why are they larger than uboats.
Dad: Cause they're american and americans like everything big!:lol: Also the US subs patroled the pacific as you know shes a big ocean son.
Son: I kinda like the look of US subs
Dad: Nearly falls of chair. Yeah well your gonna love the game then, not only can we do the usual patrol to grid, but we will also have missions of picking up down pilots, sneaking into enemy ports and doing recon missions and having a go at taking on the Yamato class battelship. Speaking of battleships did you know son that the Yamato was the largest batteship during WW2.
Son: Wow, when this game arrives ive have a go. *Dad chokes on coffee*
Dad: Really? Okay then maybe your be interest in a multiplay lan game.
Son: Sure that be cool
Dad: Falls of chair...

then a few days later he tells me to buy the latest PCPowerplay mag to read up on the SHIV review.

I think hes hooked.:D
Dang, how old his your son?, am 21, my father is in his late 50s and he has been telling me about fleet boats since i was ... well since i was.... anyhow he always talked to me about fleet boats, then when i got older i would educate him about german Uboats. I'am a little history buff in my own right... we played a lan game awhile back in SH3 days, and he was in a type 21, i was in a type 7. , Well he got trigger happy when he saw the convoy... lets just say he forgot i was in front of him and running @ flank, and he forgot he had acustic torpedos rdy to go... hmmm it wasnt pretty.

Youngest is 15, hes more interested in girls his age at the moment than sub games, but hes taken a liking to SHIV. My eldest son use to play mulitplayer with me with Silent Hunter II & Destroyer command, he likes ships so naturally he went the Destroyer, we use to have alot of fun in the heavy fog maps, at times we would pass each other and didn't even know it :rotfl:

[StandingCow]

Very good news, not only will they be interested in an expansion, but future Silent hunter games. :up:

[Elenkis]

This article is a bit misleading. It's the top selling games at the Amazon.com website only. Still great news to see SH4 up there, but it's not nearly enough information to suggest that it's the "top selling PC game in North America".

[Snowman999]

Seemed to have forgotten the pre-orders, money down and paid for games.

These would not be reported in syndicated data yet either. Not until ship. Neither do I think pre-orders amount to enough volume--in four days--to unseat AAA games already at retail.

Also, is there no EB Games around your way? I ordered mine last Tuesday and received it last Thursday. Two days

I don't go to malls. The last time I was in an EB Games at teh Mall of America they didn't have enough PC game titles to bother. Nor are their prices good.

Target etc. may have it someday, but that's not the point. The point is BB, Wal-Mart and Target don't have it, and without them you aren't going to be #1 in the U S.

I was all set to play this game this past weekend, but I see the problem reporting accelerating after the patch, not decreasing. I'm going to wait weeks/months now. I just started a new game of WITP; ought to take me 6 months or so.

[Faamecanic]

This is wonderful news and SH4 should be at the top. The post processing filter this game was created around is just beautiful. Ubi took a gamble with it and it has paid off. Not all like the PPF. I sure do love it.:rock:


I foresee some more patches after this news:yep:
And if a number of reviews rightly torpedo it for being full of holes, be such a great gamble if the sales start to plummet?
The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold. Furthermore, most gamers know games come with holes in them. Some more than others. Does not keep them from not purchasing the game. I believe the PPF is awesome and some others on this forum have stated they like it as well.

A fortnight's worth of sales aren't necessarily going to lead to a great overall profit, I'd be looking at steady sales over a period of months.


And as poor of a release as this is how many NEW simmers, that are NOt FAMILIAR with the wonderful work the sH3 modders have done, will buy/stick with SH4. Given its buggy as hell, and the graphics look like arse.

I know these will probably be fixed... but people are fickle. And word spreads like wild-fire when a game release is buggy. Think of the STEADY sales Ubi could have had if they had not rushed this game to market, and how many sales are they loosing.

I just spoke to two of my simming friends that both bought SH3...they are in no hurry to buy sh4. They are "waiting to see if the UBI patches SH4 better than they did SH3". Thier words...not mine.

[cappy70]

Hi

I've been playing now for a while and SH4 is "rough" in the edges, a kind of SH3 bugs deja-vu, a typical example of a game a little bit to fast out through the "doors" and I guess time was right according to sales figures, but it doesn't help the game state. The game has potential as SH3 had and as SH3 was given through the fantastic GWX mod(s).
I can run the game at max and it is really enjoyable, looking beyond the rough edges, but as I said, waaaaaaaay to fast to shelves and it would have been better to have us whine in here for another couple of months and then release, who knows,,.

Why not give the SH4 Romanian team some "modding" status as well and let them help all the other fantastic modders out there:D :up: , looking beyond a pressed release date and budget..........

[Lannes]

The sales are already there and done. The rest is gravy. It shot to the top which means X amount of units have already sold.


Baloney. The site the OP listed doesn't say what figures they're quoting. A "sale" is scanner-through-the-register to the end-user. With the game being released late last week in the US, and scanner data being sourced through syndicated data firms, there is no feasible way that a Web author could have an article up Monday morning, across a weekend, and have used real scanner sales data. And without scanner data from big-box stores there is no way this title could have outsold full-distribution titles like WOW simply on the basis of a few drop-ship stores like EB and Gamestop.

So what is he using? I don't know but I'd speculate he's using warehouse withdrawl data from Ubi itself, or perhaps even flat ships from the packing sub-contractor to distributors--way, WAAAY up the supply chain from retail sales. In an industry that sells to retailers on a consignment basis it is lunacy to call that volume "sales." But if one did it's very possible SH4 shipped more boxes into the supply chain than titles like WOW and Stalker. Why? Because their snake is already full out to the shelf in store, while SH4 is MIA in big-box as yet.

Figures lie and liars figure. As of 90 minutes ago Target does not have any SH4 in store.

Guys, I game in several different genres and there is no way on God's Green Earth that more people walked out of stores last week with SH4 than STALKER.:nope:

In fact, I don't believe there are more copies of SH4 in the supply chain than STALKER, seeing how every FPS gamer worth his salt has been hyper to play STALKER for a long time...Just my .02...

[JackChen]

:up:Lots of pre-orders I guess that helps to boost the numbers.

Looks like I didn't make the wrong choice in choosing the deluxe edition. Would have save lots of money if I had just gone with a simple collector's edition.

Anyway, money's spent. Happy Hunting Captains! :arrgh!:

[RDDR]

Quite amusing isn't it:)

[zzodr]

I don't believe these "sales stats"

STALKER is way more popular than SH4. i own them both.
I'm playing STALKER while they fix the bugs with SH4.

STALKER will out-sell SH4. It has way less bugs to start with.

[It762]

The delivered quality is according to the forums really sub-par. I also do not think that this is the "yelling" crowd. Bugs with the crew management and the CTD's that several people experiencing are show stoppers for me.

I am sure that a lot of people will bring the game back or throw it in the corner.
Unh huh... consider the source.


:) What's that supposed to mean -- Anyway I yesterday unpacked my SH4 so I will be able to check it out finally myself. I hope I won't throw it into the corner.

[OddjobXL]

Actually, guys, even on Amazon SH4 is by far outselling STALKER (which also looks like a cool game but, come on, lets toast a sim doing well shall we?). However on the Amazon charts SH4 is coming in at 6th place behind Lord of The Rings Online, Sim 2 Seasons Expansion Pack, Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles and two versions of Command and Conquer 3.

So if that's just one fragment of the puzzle it wouldn't surprise me if the numbers on absolute sales are correct. The top seller is a preorder and most of the others aren't games but addons.

I also checked out some reviews of STALKER at metacritic.com (which collects them from everywhere and sticks them in one place). The biggest knocks seem to be STALKER's unpolished gameplay and "peculiarities." Which, oddly, sounds alot like what we've got on our hands with SH4.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3dfxfm

[Elenkis]

As I said, that list IS just coming from Amazon's sales ranks for that week.

FWIW SH3 also hit the number 1 position on Amazon for a short time when released, as did Falcon 4.0: Allied Force. It doesn't mean they went on to be nation wide best sellers in the brick and mortar stores, though it's an encouraging sign.

[zzodr]

I also checked out some reviews of STALKER at metacritic.com (which collects them from everywhere and sticks them in one place). The biggest knocks seem to be STALKER's unpolished gameplay and "peculiarities." Which, oddly, sounds alot like what we've got on our hands with SH4.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3dfxfm

Yes, true, there are some "peculiarities" but no showstoppers,
have not come across any CTDs yet, and all weapons work as advertised.
It's a very immersive game. More than I can say for SH4 at the moment, but hey, we'll get there...

[stabiz]

Actually, i have STALKER too, and its just not any good. I should have known so, but this is way to arcady for me. It looks like Half Life 2 without FSAA, minus the great story. Physics are non-existant, enemy respawns out of nowhere, very bad voice acting, and endless gathering of different items. The large area is not real either, because of the portals.

Bah, Armed Assault and SH4 for the win!

[zzodr]

Actually, i have STALKER too, and its just not any good. I should have known so, but this is way to arcady for me. It looks like Half Life 2 without FSAA, minus the great story. Physics are non-existant, enemy respawns out of nowhere, very bad voice acting, and endless gathering of different items. The large area is not real either, because of the portals.

Bah, Armed Assault and SH4 for the win!

Errr, well I respectfully disagree.
At least STALKER does not fake it's resolution about 1024x768, and it supports FSAA.
Saying the physics are non-existent is a bit naive, I have seen barrels roll down hills,
you can bounce grenades off walls, use different ammo to hit enemies behind cover, and the ragdoll physics of enemies getting shot is well modelled.

The AI is probably up there with the best of any FPS at the moment. Enemies work together to pin you down and flank you.

The voice acting is quite good in STALKER, it is way better than SH4. Are you telling me it is worse than the faint voices in SH4 and the squeaky kid calling out airborne contacts on the watch deck?

The large area of the Zone had to get segmented for technical reasons, otherwise
it would choke the memory requirements of below-recommended spec systems, (the devs wanted in playable for a wide audience) and it still looks good, even if you turn down all the graphic options to low.

Oh yeah, it does not have any "press a key" CTDs after applying a patch!

[NefariousKoel]

Actually, guys, even on Amazon SH4 is by far outselling STALKER (which also looks like a cool game but, come on, lets toast a sim doing well shall we?). However on the Amazon charts SH4 is coming in at 6th place behind Lord of The Rings Online, Sim 2 Seasons Expansion Pack, Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles and two versions of Command and Conquer 3.

So if that's just one fragment of the puzzle it wouldn't surprise me if the numbers on absolute sales are correct. The top seller is a preorder and most of the others aren't games but addons.

I also checked out some reviews of STALKER at metacritic.com (which collects them from everywhere and sticks them in one place). The biggest knocks seem to be STALKER's unpolished gameplay and "peculiarities." Which, oddly, sounds alot like what we've got on our hands with SH4.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3dfxfm
FWIW.. I've been testing in closed beta for LOTRO.

It's surprisingly pretty smooth and the likely reason people are pre-ordering it is because if you do, you can start in open beta a week early & keep your characters. Biggest of all, they will only charge you $9.99 a month as opposed to $14.99 a month. They're really going out of their way to get it started well.

Notably, Amazon is their best know place to pre-order. They will certainly have a majority of LOTRO pre-orders there compared to other companies since there are only a few companies who will give you an open beta key and a download link for it before it's on the shelves.

Just FYI.

[-Pv-]

"...Given its buggy as hell, and the graphics look like arse..."

The GRAPHICS? You're kidding.

Playing the game on 512 meg RAM 700Mhz CPU with a 10 year old card?

Ok so you don't like sub sims. You like FPS. Fine.
-Pv-

[zzodr]

"...Given its buggy as hell, and the graphics look like arse..."

The GRAPHICS? You're kidding.

Playing the game on 512 meg RAM 700Mhz CPU with a 10 year old card?

Ok so you don't like sub sims. You like FPS. Fine.
-Pv-

Yeah I think he is referring to the jaggies because of no FSAA and the fact that
it does not scale past 1024x768.. only the dials change.

We got duped by the pre-release screenies.

[OS3 Slickvic]

SH4 Unseats The Sims 2 as North Americas' Top Selling PC Game (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13221)

The Silent Hunter series sequel Wolves of the Pacific snatches away the top PC sales spot from The Sims 2: Seasons in a surprise upset this week, while S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl also debuts to impressive sales numbers in the U.S. and the UK. Amazon additionally reports a steep rise in preorder interest for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Shivering Isles and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, both of which will see release in the UK and the United States early next week.

I simply don't believe this report. I looked at the site and am unable to determiine the data source(s).

Monday morning, 3/26, Wal-Mart reports on-line only, no product in stores. Target.com reports the same, with still no box art or specs on the Web listing. No in-store availability system-wide. BestBuy.com has no listing for the game, no availability, not in Coming Soon section.

I checked 2 Targets on Saturday, 1 Wal-Mart, 1 BestBuy--no stock. Without these three giants I don't believe SH4 sales exceeded WOW-Burning Crusade and several other titles.

Yeah same here. I went driving around town like a moron and finally found the last copy at EB Games. (they had 4 boxes in stock just the day before) I never shop at EB Games because they always extort you for full retail, but i just had to have it. I must have looked like a salivating vampire after I left the store. :p

[AVGWarhawk]

I don't believe these "sales stats"

STALKER is way more popular than SH4. i own them both.
I'm playing STALKER while they fix the bugs with SH4.

STALKER will out-sell SH4. It has way less bugs to start with.


Interesting:hmm: STALKER has bugs:o. I thought only SH4 had bugs. I heard STALKER was not that great. How is it?

[zzodr]

I don't believe these "sales stats"

STALKER is way more popular than SH4. i own them both.
I'm playing STALKER while they fix the bugs with SH4.

STALKER will out-sell SH4. It has way less bugs to start with.

Interesting:hmm: STALKER has bugs:o. I thought only SH4 had bugs. I heard STALKER was not that great. How is it?

yes, STALKER has a few bugs mainly in MP, but so far for me, they don't really cause much of an issue. A patch has also been released for it.
I quite like it. Like SH4, once it is tweaked & modded, it will be awesome.
But is definitely more playable out-of-the-box than SH4.

[DrJester]

And for our happiness SHIV is doing really great in game.co.uk!

http://www.game.co.uk/browse.aspx?cat=10

Even managed to beat WOW!


1-S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=11142&mid=321225) (PC)RRP £29.99 £24.99
2-Football Manager 2007 (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=10393&mid=328850) (PC) £19.99
3-The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=11337&mid=330083) (PC)RRP £19.99 £16.99
4-Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=10343&mid=330100) (PC)RRP £29.99 £24.99
5-World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=11144&mid=328038) (PC)RRP £19.99 £17.99
6-World of Warcraft (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=10332&mid=270980) (PC)RRP £14.99 £9.99
7-The Sims 2 (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=10404&mid=321219) (PC) £29.99
8-The Sims 2 University (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=10404&mid=325266) (PC) £19.99
9-The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=11337&mid=329126) (PC)RRP £19.99 £16.99
10-The Complete Collection of The Sims (http://www.game.co.uk/ViewProduct.aspx?cat=10404&mid=325918) (PC)

[SurfnSea]

Neal Stevens wrote:
Yeah, and maybe the sales will convince Ubi to stop trying to kill the franchise with early releases. :) If they keep enough of the devs on SH4 and patch it up (finish it), I won't have any complaints.

Meanwhile, the ONLY thing that will ensure another Silent Hunter game is good sales, so this is welcome news. :yep: Anytime a simulation can reach the #1 spot in sales, it is a great day. People in the industry will notice this.



Well Neal, there's a saying from the american advertising industry (1950s-1960s I believe) that says the best way to kill a bad product is with good advertising. I'm sure the sales numbers ("There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics" -Benjamin Disraeli) will be touted by UBI. I'm not saying the sales numbers are outright lies, I'm saying I would not be surprised if we disected the figures they used and found them a tad misleading. I can't help thinking, though, that there are quite a few people out there now who bought SH4 and are probably not all that impressed with it. So, what are the chances they'll be willing to part with $50+ American, and perhaps more for upgrades, for the next SH, should there be one? And how about those people who havn't bought yet and are reading up on SH4 here (I'm not talking about the baloney hype of Gamespot et. all)? Of course I'm talking about those buyers who are not hard core sub simmers, and this is the first impression they get of a UBI/SH game? Ugh.

I've never been a fan of UBI but the SH developers deserve credit. I'm a hard core sub simmer and I was waiting to buy SH4 because $50 is not that easy to come by ( I say this knowing full well that I'm lucky just to be able afford a computer and have SH3, but there are priorities so PC games are lower on the list). It also seems I'd have to upgrade a couple of things too. At the moment I'm glad I waited.