GT Interactive: Success through race sims

: [link lost in import] 211,000 copies of Driver sold in, what, about a month and a half? Think back to that article about the top ten games that never sold. 12,000 copies of SBK. 25,000 copies of F1RS. And now we hear GPL sold about 36,000 copies. How did GT interactive do it? Marketing? A dead-on concept? whatever it was, congratulations to them. It's more money in the pot to ressurect Trans-Am. Stephen

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>: [link lost in import] >211,000 copies of Driver sold in, what, about a month and a half? Think >back to that article about the top ten games that never sold. 12,000 >copies of SBK. 25,000 copies of F1RS. And now we hear GPL sold about >36,000 copies. How did GT interactive do it? Marketing? A dead-on >concept?

I think that it may have been due (at least in part) to the extensive TV marketing blitz during sporting events and high-rated TV programs. During a one hour "wrestling" show last night, there were two ads alone, showing cool replay sequences. I have yet to see a TV adverti***t for a racing sim. Chris

Play Station game. :) And arcade to the hilt. :) Don't know that you will see much more than an arcade or simish arcade game from a future TAR product.

Don't those numbers teach you anything. Sims *don't* sell. If you can find a recent racing sim that has done good numbers on initial ship then I'll send you a prize* of some sort... Trans-Am was canned because it was a marginal title and these days the shell out from completion of the game to the time sales reciepts come in is as large or larger than the cost of developing the game. M *Offer probably only applicable within 25 metres of my house (I may change my mind, I'm like that)

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> Don't those numbers teach you anything. Sims *don't* sell. If you can find > a recent racing sim that has done good numbers on initial ship then I'll > send you a prize* of some sort... > Trans-Am was canned because it was a marginal title and these days the > shell out from completion of the game to the time sales reciepts come in is > as large or larger than the cost of developing the game.

Wasn't GP2 a sim? That sold over 1,000,000 copies, according to the sticker on the box. It's probably true that most people aren't particularly interested in the finer points of setups, but I'm sure they would at least like to think that the Formula 1 simulator they were running was pretty true-to-life in terms of driving skill compared to the real cars. Whether they could actually hack it if it really was realistic is another matter, of couse! ;-) I guess GP2 shows that to be successful a good sim has to have good gameplay as well, with a range of driving aids to suit all abilities.

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> *Offer probably only applicable within 25 metres of my house (I may change > my mind, I'm like that) > >211,000 copies of Driver sold in, what, about a month and a half? Think > >back to that article about the top ten games that never sold. 12,000 > >copies of SBK. 25,000 copies of F1RS. And now we hear GPL sold about > >36,000 copies. How did GT interactive do it? Marketing? A dead-on > >concept? > >whatever it was, congratulations to them. It's more money in the pot to > >ressurect Trans-Am. > >Stephen

Well Nascar Racing : 1999 Edition, recent title since it's not even a year old, has been near the top of the PC charts for a quite long period. It was a very successful product, even if they never patched it unfortunately -- -- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> -- May the Downforce be with you... "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."