Bionic Commando Bombs At Retail
Capcom and GRIN lick their wounds as another game tanks.Published 16/06/2009 at 11:00 by nofi
Capcom Cull Western Devs On New IP [7]
Bionic Commando Rearmed Patch Update [14]
Bionic Commando: New Screenshots [5]
When your inexpensive 2D remake sells 130,000 in its first week, surely you’re confident that the 3D retail sequel sells just as well, if not better, right? Well, Capcom and GRIN must be licking their wounds today as it has been confirmed that Bionic Commando sold just 27,000 copies in the US in its first week (across all formats). Swedish developers GRIN, behind both releases mentioned above and, more recently, Terminal Salvation, has apparently laid off a considerable number of staff in recent weeks.
Whilst we don’t know the split between the PS3 and 360 versions of Bionic Commando, it doesn’t really matter – at 27,000 sold this is a disaster for Capcom normally used to enjoying the sales figures of popular franchise titles like Resident Evil. More troubling is where this leaves GRIN. We’ve not played Bionic Commando (a story seemingly true of most of our readers too, going off those kinds of figures) but it appeared to have considerable potential, despite quietly flopping onto a AAA-filled retail shelf when it launched back in May.
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
hannes_truce | 16/06/2009 11:08
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Got this on my lovefilm as a rental *checks* yes it was dispatched today. I’ll let you know if the flop is just.
DarthSharkey | 16/06/2009 11:10
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LoL, great minds think alike.
DarthSharkey | 16/06/2009 11:09
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I’ve added it to my LoveFilm list on low priority. I didn’t think it was worth a purchase to be honest.
weegi | 16/06/2009 11:11
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I picked it up for £17.99 yesterday via Zavvi’s Monday deals, no idea why it has bombed so badly as the reviews of it weren’t that poor.
Anyway, I’ll play then trade it hopefully but you never know, it might actually be a decent game, will soon see
billygoat | 16/06/2009 11:13
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718 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Its a shame for a fairly high profile game to flop like this. It really looks quite fun, although reviews said it was a bit too linear.
Nathan-I | 16/06/2009 11:15
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Should’ve had Heather Mills as the main character Capcom! LOL
Br0ken | 16/06/2009 11:23
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I don’t get it
Paragonknight | 16/06/2009 11:43
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Apparently Heather Mills wanted to help promote the game for Capcom if they let her appear in the game, I think.
Knowing how bad it did I think they should have accepted her offer…
Paragonknight | 16/06/2009 11:40
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lol!
Shrui | 16/06/2009 11:18
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Broad range of reviews varying from crap to very good so its not like its getting a universal panning.
I wonder if it’s just timing and lack of decent marketing.
Other games are getting more attention from where I’m sitting atm, Sims, Prototype, inFamous, Red Faction:G, everything at E3 etc. I had forgotten about it frankly since the rearmed game was released.
Some ads with the swinging gameplay (it is Swedish) might have enticed more in.
Triggerhappytel | 16/06/2009 15:19
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“I wonder if it’s just timing and lack of decent marketing.”
Yeah, I think that’s it exactly. It’s a busy time of year with a lot of big releases out, and Bionic Commando isn’t really well-known outside of the hardcore – had Capcom put more effort into marketing it, like they did with Resi 5, it probably would have done reasonably well for itself.
As it stands, bringing out a ‘merely’ decent game without much profile at the moment was kind of commericial suicide.
YOURMUMANDME | 16/06/2009 11:20
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Maybe they should’ve released a demo , I’m not gonna buy a game I know virtually nothing about . A company like capcom should know better , even more so that it’s been delayed for like a year .
BioEye | 16/06/2009 11:24
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Yeah. A demo could have, and still could, get this game a higher profile. The gameplay doesn’t look half bad, along with the graphics. But in a time when lots of people are buying other games, a ‘try before you pay £40′ shouldn’t be too out of the question, surely?
Watchful | 16/06/2009 12:21
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There was a demo on the 360, but that got panned for just dropping people in a multiplayer game, with no explanation of the controls. Hence it was fairly universally disliked, if not hated.
YOURMUMANDME | 16/06/2009 14:56
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still , something rather that nothing wouldve been nice . I might buy it just because it’s making me feel sad
BryOnRye | 16/06/2009 11:21
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Was interested when I heard Mike Patton did the voice acting, but the couple of reviews I read weren’t exactly glowing, combined with the other games coming out at the same time meant it was a no go.
cc_star | 16/06/2009 11:28
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The franchise isn’t that strong… this may have been a case that making it a console exclusive (either way) would have created greater hype around the fanboy websites and as such may have sold better
djdustb | 16/06/2009 11:29
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It never really jumped out at me at all to be honest, and hasn’t even maded my rental list. To be honest anyone losing jobs is bad news but if Grin made a decent game now and again they wouldn’t have this issue.
deepmenace | 16/06/2009 11:30
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i saw one video review that completely killed it for me.
it showed the game being extremely linear and suffering from “invisible wall” where you get penalised for straying from the path – this includes going up too high! see a good vantage point over there? if it’s too high you’ll start to lose energy if u try to reach it.
re: the poor sales, its always a danger resurecting an old IP. Us geeks have heard of BC but has Joe Average? no way. was it big-marketed enough or did it offer anything to him? nope.
Kevling | 16/06/2009 11:31
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I have no nostalgia-fueled interest in this franchise. It seems the only people who do are US NES fans. And these figures indicate there may only 27,000 of them.
double-o-dave | 16/06/2009 11:43
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Reminds me a bit of Spiderman crossed with Infamous or Prototype from the trailer I just watched but not quite as good and I don’t like any of those games so I’m not gonna be buying it.
shields_t | 16/06/2009 11:52
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I loved the NES version and relived my memories with Rearmed, but I didn’t even know that the new game had been released until Zavvi sent me an email ysterday saying it was being pumped out for 18 quid, it must be worth that!
theshockwave | 16/06/2009 11:59
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Those screenies look pretty nice actually, but maybe the rest of the game just isn’t like that?