Sales Are In

[Shorty11857]

From Vgchartz North American Sales are
Wii:
Lego Rock Band: 16,069
Band Hero: 27,581

360:
Lego Rock Band: 17,895
Band Hero: 19,782

PS3
Lego Rock Band: 11920
Band Hero: 16,224


Total
Lego Rock Band: 45884
Band Hero: 63587

Pretty bad sales for both

[A New Pyro Fool]

Activision, IMO, has lost out more on profit because they must've spent quite a lot of money to advertise Band Hero on all major network stations while Lego: Rock Band received virtually no advertisements at all.

[Gryffindor]

I haven't seen a single TV ad for LRB at all. There hasn't been much buzz about either game really.

I did catch a few minutes of the national news on our local PBS station this evening and the reporter was commenting about video games as a whole being down about 30% this year.

The recession has really cut into sales. It's a running joke over at Joystiq about how many games have been pushed back to Q1 2010 due to the economy. I think many developers/distributors have given up on Christmas and are hoping that tax returns will help with sales.

[Shorty11857]

I haven't seen a single TV ad for LRB at all. There hasn't been much buzz about either game really.

I did catch a few minutes of the national news on our local PBS station this evening and the reporter was commenting about video games as a whole being down about 30% this year.

The recession has really cut into sales. It's a running joke over at Joystiq about how many games have been pushed back to Q1 2010 due to the economy. I think many developers/distributors have given up on Christmas and are hoping that tax returns will help with sales.

Well Modern Warfare 2 sold 7 million in one day, so it's not like there's no money to buy games out there. I think the music genre is slowly disappearing sadly...

[wcarnation]

I imagine it would be disappearing a lot slower if Activision didn't vomit all over it continually.

Yes, I know, you're going to chime in about how some people like both and whatnot, but having +10 games a year is hurting the genre, especially when those games crib 50% of their setlist off Rock Band's lists, and insist on copious amounts of pack-ins.

[Gryffindor]

There's definitely oversaturation in the market in regards to music based games but couldn't the same thing be said about FPS's?

Both of my kids have said that GH & RB are so 2007.:(

The only game that I'm anxiously awaiting to be released is Bioshock 2.

[Lawdog1521]

Well Modern Warfare 2 sold 7 million in one day, so it's not like there's no money to buy games out there. I think the music genre is slowly disappearing sadly...

MW2 is considerably different though. It’s an anticipated sequel 2 years in the making. Of course it’s going to sell.

[HauntingYourKids]

Kinda interesting how Band Hero Wii outsold everything by quite a margin. I guess it goes to show how youth oriented both really are.

[jaygrady]

There's definitely oversaturation in the market in regards to music based games but couldn't the same thing be said about FPS's?

Both of my kids have said that GH & RB are so 2007.:(

The only game that I'm anxiously awaiting to be released is Bioshock 2.

I also am waiting for Bioshock 2!
While your kids may think that, I'm still buying and still playing.

[Lawdog1521]

Let's not forget BH goes for the full "tween" crowd, so for that market, which has been generally passed over by both GH and RB, it's going to sell.

[GodKilla666]

I still love seeing Taylor Swift in those commercials. She can join my band any day!

[nightsx2]

LOL - Taylor Swift looks great in Band Hero. Gwen Stefani, on the other hand, looks horrid. But then again...maybe that's just how she looks. But I'm not surprised she's suing Activision ;)

[master2uall]

well modern warfare 2 made 310 million bucks in 24 hours, so that should help out for this month, before they start moaning again next month that they only made 200 million bucks, sheesh, how much money is enough?

[dragonflyr]

BH has the marketing and better set list and caters to it's core audience a little better (imo, of course).

Lego seems to be "straddling" a variety of potential buyers ... little kids, adults, teens. It tries to cover a lot of ground.

BH seems to be targeted straight to a top40 crowd. It is a little more focused.

I'm not trashing LRB at all ... I just think it tries to cover too many bases.

[ryanco64]

L:RB failed on the Wii when they couldn't play their DLC nor export.
Lily_mu actually wants a 360 now because of that. O_O

[obladerek]

From Vgchartz North American Sales are

Total
Lego Rock Band: 45884
Band Hero: 63587

Pretty bad sales for both

I looked up the sales numbers on vgchartz from the first week of TB:RB & GH5 and these are embarrassingly low. I wouldn't expect them to be nearly as high but 10x-15x lower is a shock!

Total (week 1)
The Beatles Rock Band: 706,913
Guitar Hero 5: 581,476

[T-Hybrid]

Well Modern Warfare 2 sold 7 million in one day, so it's not like there's no money to buy games out there.
There's money for games, there's just no money for games as frequently as Activision pumps them out.

Think about it...

Guitar Hero Metallica
Guitar Hero Smash Hits
Guitar Hero 5
DJ Hero
Band Hero
Guitar Hero Van Halen

...That's all this year, and those last four and all within a THREE MONTH PERIOD.

And all of those games are full $60 titles (with DJ Hero checking in at nearly double that).

[ksama1]

Activision, IMO, has lost out more on profit because they must've spent quite a lot of money to advertise Band Hero on all major network stations while Lego: Rock Band received virtually no advertisements at all.
Actually they lost out on the 360 and ps3 because they were stupidly not putting the new drums in the kit. They only let the Wii get the new drums unless you bought the European version. It would have been a complete blow out had they let all platforms get the new drums. I didnt buy band hero specifically for that reason. When and if they release an updated kit with the newer drums on the 360 I will get it.

[jasonrosenbaum]

I still enjoy the game, so I'm happy. LRB didn't really have any advertisements to speak of, so it's not surprising that the sales are low.

[T-Hybrid]

It would have been a complete blow out had they let all platforms get the new drums.
Is there anything actually "new" about the drums aside from "The cymbals are round instead of triangles?"

[drgnrbrn316]

On the bright side, it seems to be getting some advertising now, on a variety of stations. Not sure why they'd wait for two weeks after the release, but hey, it's there now.

[davidshek]

Is there anything actually "new" about the drums aside from "The cymbals are round instead of triangles?"

A few things, but nothing major. There was a slight redesign of the drum pads, so they're a bit quieter and bouncier, and the controller box clips on and off the drum kit. That's about it though.

[Bullseye]

Not too surprising. Both LRB and BH are both pretty much glorified track packs. And they are marketed towards such a small part of the market. I don't see tweens and younger being the main buyers of video games and the setlists on both are very much geared towards younger audiences. Activision has completely over saturated it's GH genre (to the point that they sacrificed GHVH as a freebie for buying GH5). And LRB is suffering from the September release of TB:RB, which is clearly the game of choice for the casual RB crowd. Well, the good news is this might prevent both companies from making more watered down (although BH is pretty much a full featured game, just a watered down setlist) music games.

[MooTrain]

Also not overly surprised. Most people I know who are into Rock Band didn't know about Lego Rock Band. When they saw the track list they were like - 'that's it?'

A number of things led to the low sales numbers - none of which are to be blamed on the "recession".

1. An oversaturation of music games available on the marketplace. Thanks to there being about 10 guitar hero / rock band releases this year, a few of them are bound to fail. It also means that savvy consumers realize they'll be able to get the games for cheaper - if they wait six months most of these games will be found on sale. It also reduces the desireability since there is definitely a 'been there done that' feel to it.

2. A bad time to release a game. If you're a hardcore gamer like me, you know that in November, each week at least one A+++ title is being released: Dragon Age, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left for Dead 2, Assassin's Creed 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii... There's far too much to keep up with, so you look for reasons to wait on a title rather than jump in right away. I think LRB would have been wise to release in Q1 2010, since it's partially been lost in a sea of releases. On top of the swarm of games I want, I also have to put aside money for christmas gifts, which makes it impossible to buy most of the titles I'm interested in until after Christmas.

3. LRB is not amazing. Yes, it's very very good. There are some amazing moments when you play it (pretty much every specialized stage is awesome to play on - watching a video of the Ghostbusters stage is what sold me on the title). But there are some serious design oversights that a lot of people who did buy have legitimate gripes about. When you look at the track list - which is short in comparison to other mixed-band music games released in the past year (RB2, GH4&5, Band Hero) - it's just not that inspiring.

4. Lack of word of mouth. On other video game forums I visit, one of which has a thousand+ page post about Rock Band DLC, the Lego Rock Band thread is under 100 posts - and only a handful of gamers on that site purchased the game. The forum effect tends to sell titles - one of the top reasons people buy games, in my experience, is because they can share that experience with others.

5. Lack of Advertising. Probably related to #4.

6. Poorly reviewed. I can't believe we live in a world where 75% is considered a bad review - it's like 3 of 4 stars; that's what it would be if it was a movie - but in the video game industry, anything less than 90% is often considered a poor review by the general public (or raving lunatic fanboys), and a lot of games that meta in the 75% range end up being mostly ignored. Reviews do tend to drive sales to a degree.

At least things aren't as bad as Rock Revolution. I suspect Lego Rock Band will have a decent number of sales leading through the holiday season and not be a front-heavy sales game.

[Quaszar]

). And LRB is suffering from the September release of TB:RB, which is clearly the game of choice for the casual RB crowd. .

Rockband is not a "kids" game even though that is the market they were going after with LRB which is why the sales aren't very good. On the other hand TBRB sales aren't where Harmonix wants them to be either. A classic rock station DJ recently said that TBRB will be LUCKY to break even by the end of the year. Even with upcoming DLC they won't be making money on TBRB by Jan 1st. Just how much did it cost to make TBRB? Was the license fee that HIGH? Did they underestimate how many people would buy TBRB? Not here to bash the Beatles but I find it very hard to believe that The Beatles were RB's 1st choice for a stand alone music game. I know of only 1 person (friend of a friend) that bought TBRB and I am told he hardly plays it now. Big picture- RB has only scratched the surface of bands (new or old) to be available for DLC/stand alone game and with new music always coming out the future is pretty bright even with the misses (LRB)....

[Rock_Starman]

Activision, IMO, has lost out more on profit because they must've spent quite a lot of money to advertise Band Hero on all major network stations while Lego: Rock Band received virtually no advertisements at all.

I doubt it. Having played BH I would estimate development cost was fairly low. They had to pay the celeb guests and lisence the songs and that might've been pricy but it couldn't have cost much to make the actual game.

[T-Hybrid]

Both LRB and BH are both pretty much glorified track packs...
You...haven't actually played LEGO have you?

[MooTrain]

You...haven't actually played LEGO have you?

Unfortunately, the 'glorified track pack' is a part of the perception of the general public when it comes to Lego Rock Band. The general public sees it as just another rock band game with lego skins tacked on. Additionally, anyone who has tried to play the game and found that 50% of their DLC does not work - who you personally have told to 'just put in Rock Band 2' - see this as pretty much that.

It goes back to the word of mouth point I have as #4 in my list above. Discussion about L:RB off of these forums is ... well - ranging from Quiet to Non-Existent.

For example: Over on gamingtrend, which is a pretty popular general console gaming forum
http://www.gamingtrend.com/forums/index.php?topic=32754.40

Only about fifteen posts regarding the game since it was released - most of them negative, hitting up the same three tired points that are mentioned here. (Why is 50% of my DLC missing; Why are the Queen songs in the DLC not available to play; Can't delete songs from the export; The songlist is too small; The export costs more money?!?) There's definitely a community there that plays Rock Band (the thread about DLC news is 2,240 posts) but they most certainly don't have an interest in Lego Rock Band.

Sadly, gamers are fickle. Makes sense - there's only so much free time in the day. So why invest time in a less than stellar game? When you take options away from gamers, all you're doing is causing players to focus on the negatives, and it hurts the end product as a result.

[kingtonyx]

Like I said, LEGO would be better (I assume, I mean I'm enjoying it?) but Band Hero would be the better seller.

Although I did expect better sales overall for both.

[XacharyCross]

Yeah, Lego RB wasn't really advertised a lot, and if you tell someone it exists, they usually get the "HuH?" response that went with most of the early rumors on here.

Add in a low track count (though I'd say that's more that RB2 and the newer GH's have kind of overblown that thing, remember the first GH had what, 15 songs of which 14 were covers, or so) and it's gonna be more of an afterthought, especially with all the video game competition this time of year and even moreso, the general economic state and christmas pressure on folks budgets.

[Cliphead]

Not here to bash the Beatles but I find it very hard to believe that The Beatles were RB's 1st choice for a stand alone music game. I know of only 1 person (friend of a friend) that bought TBRB and I am told he hardly plays it now
They must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel to get the most popular band in history, and as of September, the second best-selling artist of this decade. Who would want to buy a game based on them?

[General Lein979]

Lets face these aren't first day games because they are supposed to be genre openers for new target audience and the instruments cost money causing them to be X-mas gifts. Especially lego, which had no or little advertisement and didn't even make it in the big electronic store adds like best buy.

[Cliphead]

I'm going to throw this out there: for a game that's supposed to expand the audience, they kind of shot themselves in the foot by not including instruments. As it is, the only way to play it is to already have the instruments, meaning you'd have to already be a fan of Rock Band before buying it.

[kingtonyx]

Yeah, Lego RB wasn't really advertised a lot, and if you tell someone it exists, they usually get the "HuH?" response that went with most of the early rumors on here.

Add in a low track count (though I'd say that's more that RB2 and the newer GH's have kind of overblown that thing, remember the first GH had what, 15 songs of which 14 were covers, or so) and it's gonna be more of an afterthought, especially with all the video game competition this time of year and even moreso, the general economic state and christmas pressure on folks budgets.

Actually the first Guitar Hero had more songs than LEGO: RB has! It had 47 tracks, only 17 master tracks though but no one cared about that back then :p.

[Sargehalo51]

MW2 is considerably different though. It’s an anticipated sequel 2 years in the making. Of course it’s going to sell.

Yep, it sold...and I bought myself a copy, only to find out that they wasted those two years on a game only marginally better than the original CoD4 MW and much less enjoyable than CoD WaW (which is the best of the series imo).

Waste of my money.

[Dark Church]

COD WAW was pure garbage. Also the lack of instruments is a very good point. You can't get new fans when they can't play the game.

[kingtonyx]

I can't believe they missed out on the chance to make a LEGO-ized guitar

[Quaszar]

They must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel to get the most popular band in history, and as of September, the second best-selling artist of this decade. Who would want to buy a game based on them?

And like I said I am not bashing the Beatles, their music/success of the 60's speaks for itself. Just that their MUSIC doesn't transcend very well to RB in 2009. For some its the lack of a real challenge, for others (like myself) just not a big enough fan to shell out the $$ for TBRB. I would have bought some of the songs if it were just DLC. U2 declined to be in RB ( even though they are interested now after seeing how much $$ the Beatles made off of it) was that before or after the Beatles were asked? Most popular for people over 50, I will agree with you, under 50 I will debate you on that till the cows come home. Sorry the under 50 crowd did NOT have TBRB near the top of their lists to play on RB and the sales (or lack thereof) support me on this....

[captainsamus]

I'm still enjoying the game, so I really don't mind that it doesn't have awesome sales. Sure, I would really like a LRB2, but just the fact that this game exists was a miracle in the first place.

The only Lego game I would be more interested in would be Lego Metal Gear Solid....I can wish.

[CPT BJ]

Modern warfare 2 has probably taken most of the sales tbh and im still wating for LRB to come over here in the UK at the end of the month

[XacharyCross]

Modern warfare 2 has probably taken most of the sales tbh and im still wating for LRB to come over here in the UK at the end of the month

That'll probably help too, since the soundtrack's very British (Traveller's Tales being UK, I guess)

[Behonkiss]

That'll probably help too, since the soundtrack's very British (Traveller's Tales being UK, I guess)

No, it probably won't. RB is so unpopular in the UK that even Beatles bombed over there.

[lanky316]

No, it probably won't. RB is so unpopular in the UK that even Beatles bombed over there.

It was however the most successful UK release (competing with Dirt2 and Batman as well as GH5), no doubt due to being the only one they've ran adverts for. That said they reverted to form since.nothing for lego. Meanwhile "The gaming event of the year" Band Hero is in all magazines getting plenty of publicity and a fortnight head start due to scattered release dates.

[Shorty11857]

Week 2 Sales

360
Lego 10756
Band Hero 9872
PS3
Lego 7192
Band Hero 9904
Wii
Lego 9991
Band Hero 24025

But in good news

TBRB - Wii: 47412 (highest since week 3), PS3: 10865 (Best since week 5), 360: 17663 (Best since week 4)

[CyanFunk]

The Wii sales are unsurprising considering how shanked we got with LEGO

[Shorty11857]

That would probably even them out... more sales / less profit. Hopefully it picks up around Christmas for both, this is kind of painful.

Beatles and GH5 sales were weak too, despite Beatles being higher than GH5, both were still incredibly low compared to past games (WT, RB2, etc.) Hopefully this isn't a bad sign. Times are tough but... are people just losing interest?

On Wii, The Beatles might be the biggest seller of the rock band franchise

RB 1 - 1.34 million
RB 2 - 0.74 million
TBRB - 0.73 million (60,000+ sales last week)

On the other consoles though...it might barely make half of RB2's sales on the 360

[wrldindstries302]

I find it interesting that this thread has gotten this far and no one has pointed out that VGChartz is being used as the source here. A site that basically guesses the sales numbers. I'm not saying the relative numbers are wrong, but the specifics should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Also, I expect that more people will find out that Lego Rock Band exists because someone must have paid off Spike to include it in the nominations for "Music Game Of The Year" at the VGAs.

[Chaosraiden]

No, it probably won't. RB is so unpopular in the UK that even Beatles bombed over there.

Number copies of Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Beatles Rock Band in Currys and Comet = 0
Many copies of GHWT, GH5, DJ Hero Band Hero.


Even I import from US...

[kiggidykev]

That's lower than I expected, but I see the Lego games are being more of a long-term seller. I still regularly see people buying Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman new.

[Jet Blank]

No, it probably won't. RB is so unpopular in the UK that even Beatles bombed over there.

Rock Band is unpopular in the UK for a reason, at least with gamers. Not surprising considering Rock Band 2 on Wii has only just come out over here, and yet Guitar Hero is everywhere.

[Rock_Starman]

Also, I expect that more people will find out that Lego Rock Band exists because someone must have paid off Spike to include it in the nominations for "Music Game Of The Year" at the VGAs.

They didn't have to have to. The same company owns Spike,Gametrailers and MTV thus MTV Games/HMX/Rock Band.