|
Originally Posted by XanderF
I think one only has to look at the sales of 'Harpoon 3' (abominable), the '688i'/'Sub Command'/'Dangerous Waters' series (good enough for 3 games, but not to keep the company in the genre), and the 'Silent Hunter' series (actually pretty good, sustaining a still-running series) to see the only real answer to that question.
From that set, we have (respectively) naval warfare with strict 2d interface (PERIOD, no "3d graphics" at all), primitive 3d graphics, and cutting-edge 3d graphics.
Granted, differences in era, but I think from discussions with coworkers (et al) the point stands. SubSims can be fun, but virtually nobody is going to play a game that looks outright bad by contemporary standards. The hardcore crowd will, of course, but...well...put it this way.
If you identify a given demographic (for example, one most companies target - male, 20 through 30) that you want to sell to. You figure how many of them could be inclined to buy your product of this genre, and decide you need about 20% of that group to buy it for you to break even.
Now, the die-hard, hardcore, subsessed simulation nut will be EVERYTHING that comes out. Doesn't matter what, if it's sub-related, he'll own it. He's also (generously) 1% of your market.
Which makes the economics of the situation clear.
|