Brutal Legend And DJ Hero Fail To Crack Top Ten In Sales

20 Comments Posted November 13, 2009 - By Stephen Johnson

DJ Hero

I hate to be a bringer of bad news, but I'm going to bring you some anyway: Neither DJ Hero nor Brutal Legend even cracked the top ten in terms of software sales in October, although DJ Hero came out late in the month, and Brutal Legend came out on the 13th.

In October, Brutal Legend sold about 216,000 units while DJ Hero wracked up about 123,000 in sales, according to figures released by industry analysts at the NPD group. The hipster DJs and metal heads who make up each games' cast were beaten out by Kingdom Hearts for the DS, Wii Sports Resort and sleeper hit Borderlands in terms of sales on individual consoles.

DJ Hero's NPD numbers represent only a week's worth of sales, but I'm going to make some predictions about the future sales of this game. I don't think it's going to do that well. That game had "low sales" written on it at the concept level for a couple reasons. First: Not many people like or care about the kind of music it features (IE "mash-ups). Secondly, and more importantly: DJ Hero is a game where you pretend to be a guy who is playing records. Think about that for a second. You're not pretending to be a person who is doing something exciting--you're not playing fake music or putting out a fake fire--you're pretending to be a person who is playing a recording made by another person. It's as if Activision decided to capitalize on the popularity of Guitar Hero by putting out Guitar Hero Hero, where you use a hand-shaped controller to control the fingers of an on-screen avatar who is playing Guitar Hero. Also: You can buy an actual turntable for around the same price of a DJ Hero game, and actually play records, right out of the box. I don't foresee big sales for the game, but, hey, maybe November's NPD numbers will prove me wrong... do I look like a psychic to you?

Brutal Legend's lackluster sales are a little harder to understand, but, whether you love or loathe it, Legend was a tough game to market. While diehard gamers didn't need much more to buy the game than the fact that is was made by Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer, outside of that tiny wedge of the population, that Schafer was behind the game means nothing. I'm going to estimate that less than three percent of the general population of the country recognize Schafer's name. So why feature "Schafer!" so prominently in the marketing and cover art?

It's obvious that there was a lot of money spent on marketing this game; A lot of people were made aware that there was a game coming out called Brutal Legend. The problem: Pre-launch, there was no further information.

A reasonable person might have asked: "What kind of game is this Brutal Legend?" and the answer was something like, "Well, it's about heavy metal and it has Jack Black in it and it has action and cool music and a setting influenced by 1980s record covers." There was no real knowledge of what the game was like because no one wanted to say that it's basically a real-time strategy game with some action elements. Trumpeting BL as a real-time strategy game would probably not have increased sales or anything -- not many people like those kinds of games -- but at least it would have been honest.

Plus, there's the whole "HEAVY METAL!" aggro-ness to the game. That just doesn't appeal to me. Like most people, I wasn't a metal head in high school; I didn't hang out with the metal heads or admire them in any way, so why would I want to play a game about them?

It's a shame that these two original titles disappointed in sales, because it feeds into the conventional wisdom that says gamers want sequels and reject originality. Maybe that's true, but it's a depressing thought. Luckily, the out-of-nowhere success of Borderlands counters this.

Anyway: Here are the raw sales numbers...

Brutal Legend (360) - 150,000 units
Brutal Legend (PS3) - 66,000 units
DJ Hero (360) - 62,000 units
DJ Hero (PS3) - 39,000 units
DJ Hero (Wii) - 19,000 units
DJ Hero (PS2) - 3,300 units

...Feel free to parse them in our comment section.

Tags: Music, PlayStation 3, Videogames, Xbox 360

Comments

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Displaying 1–20 of 20

meh_siah

Looks like all the inflated review scores didnt have the effect on sales that so many insiders had hoped they would,(IMO). Look, Tim Schafer and Psychonauts aside, the game was good, not great. I have no regrets purchasing it, but I could have done without the pre-order and immediate purchase. However, in the end, its sales numbers will be more than respectable.

Posted: November 13, 2009 3:28 PM | Reply | Report

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JohnnyBuku

I rented Brutal Legend from Gamefly fully intending to buy it, but i lost interest around the 3rd stage battle. I'm just not into RTS and that wasn't even that good of an RTS. I spent way more time exploring the world which was way cool. But in the end not a 'buy' for me :(

Posted: November 13, 2009 3:50 PM | Reply | Report

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shssqd01

maybe no one bought DJ Hero because they were all waiting for Scratch: the Ultimate DJ

Posted: November 13, 2009 3:59 PM | Reply | Report

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MacPhisto

You're oversimplifying things quite a bit when it comes to DJ Hero. Do you really think being a DJ is about nothing more than playing a record? It's about mixing and combining loops and samples and beats from established recordings to create something new and different. But yes, in the end, not a whole lot of people understand or like that kind of style of music. So the game was obviously aimed at a more niche crowd from the start, and it shouldn't be any big surprise that it didn't sell huge like more broad-reaching music rhythm games like the Guitar Hero series.

Brutal Legend also went more for a niche crowd by being based on heavy metal music and its style. But the bigger problem it had was the whole bait-and-switch they did with the gameplay. It seemed like they were almost trying to hide the RTS elements in the media and especially since it was nowhere to be found in the demo gameplay at all. I love the game and I think Tim's writing and characters in it are hilarious and colorful as always, but I'm sure it would have been more popular if it were more focused on the action/adventure style of gameplay instead of having RTS (as you said, not a very popular genre at all) in there too.

Posted: November 13, 2009 4:05 PM | Reply | Report

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gamerguy727

There was no doubt that Brutal Legend was not going to make the Top 10. DJ Hero I'm a little shocked but not for Brutal Legend.

Posted: November 13, 2009 4:06 PM | Reply | Report

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Tmidiman

Band battles, winning over fans, awesome guitar shredding, all add up and make this game great in it's execution. Better than Psychonauts. I'm loving it, but then again I don't care for boarderlands or COD.

Posted: November 13, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply | Report

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Wozman23

I agree with meh_siah. Brutal Legend had a great premise, was funny, and looked one of a kind. But not being a fan of RTS, I didn't care for the gameplay. I picked it up as the third game in a buy 2 get one free deal so it was great for a free game. For Mr. Schafer's sake, I wanted to see the game sell bajillions, but I think it sold pretty well. Just wished it could have made a bigger splash to show Activision what they missed out on.

DJ Hero, on the other hand, I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. (See my previous statement about Activision.)

Posted: November 13, 2009 5:52 PM | Reply | Report

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DaTruth521

In Brutal Legend case Uncharted had a monoply over it for playstation 3 & I was going to buy it but i'm happy I didn't. And I believe people don't have 200 for another nusic game.

Posted: November 13, 2009 8:21 PM | Reply | Report

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sukTHEfacc

i'm very happy that this happened.

1. Altho Brutal Legend was funny and the gameplay was tight, the game was repetitive, RTS gameplay was flat, and it's a very short game! not to mention the Multiplayer is crap IMO. This was an overhyped game that needs to be rented, but not bought.

2. Finally, Activision finally learns that they cant jsut put out the same premise as all the 5 guitar heroes out there, except for just making a new accessory. People dont want to keep buying accessories people! This was a well deserved slap in the face to Activision, who has been stealing money GH after GH, when there should have been simple DLC.

Posted: November 13, 2009 8:22 PM | Reply | Report

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darkuest

I think Dj Hero was for a certain kind of audience specifically for people who didnt want to rock out all the time. This game was for people who didnt want GH or RB. They wanted something different so im happy they came out with DJ Hero its a great game and again who cares for they company, cause no matter what the who dont like the company still buy there games even if its not GH there's others you bought from them.

Posted: November 13, 2009 10:43 PM | Reply | Report

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SyN_H3LLR41SER

dj hero honestly sucks its hard and too hard to learn how to pay it's controller is too weighted down

Posted: November 14, 2009 12:52 PM | Reply | Report

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TreFacTor

Both of those games stink so whose really surprised they sold like crap?

Posted: November 14, 2009 7:48 PM | Reply | Report

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komradkyle

I will buy brutal legend when its 20-30 bucks maybe 35 If I'm bored that is when i buy games now used and cheap, because I still am catching up to last years, Except for COD and MWF2 I just can't afford to but these games brand new and then watch them fall in price so fast it just doesn't make sense.

Posted: November 15, 2009 9:50 AM | Reply | Report

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komradkyle

oops I meant mass effect 2

Posted: November 15, 2009 9:51 AM | Reply | Report

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Aerindel_Prime

Tim Schafer and Psychonauts? who or what are these things? Why should I care?

Posted: November 16, 2009 3:02 AM | Reply | Report

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Timbo_D

You really think DJ Hero is an original and not a sequel? Gamers respect good games and good ideas. i.e. Assassin's Creed, etc.... How do you think there come to be sequels? They are good games and good IPs to start with.

Posted: November 16, 2009 7:02 AM | Reply | Report

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Timbo_D

I guess I'm sayin an original concept is not enough. It has to have the game play to back it up. Pre-orders come from sequels because gamers already have trust in the idea or the developer, what have you. I'm not going to blow 60$ at a time when a lot of my friends can't find jobs etc. unless I know the game is good. I'll buy it soon after either from a good demo, a rent, good reviews, a borrow... I'll pre-order a new IP when I start pullin down 6 figures... or when my parents start buying my games again.

Posted: November 16, 2009 7:13 AM | Reply | Report

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Timbo_D

You forget that every game was originally a new IP. Brutal Legend is a very original game, but it doesn't have the game play to sell well. It's not a good COMPLETE game. Gamers don't hate originality like you make it sound. We respect good experiences. I know you guys like Schafer, but it seems like he didn't have the team behind him that he needed.

Posted: November 16, 2009 7:19 AM | Reply | Report

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BertSaxby

I think you hit the nail on the head with Brutal Legend, I know the name well, and I know Jack Black has something to do with it, but absolutely no clue as to what kind of game it was supposed to be.

FWIW, I like turn based strategy games, but you don't see many of them these days. I'd really like to see some remakes of classic Avalon Hill games done in HD, a remake of Axis and Allies would be cool. I've been gaming it lately, but it has some infuriating AI. Johnny Shiloh would be an excellent title for remake as well.

DJ Hero? I thought 'DJs' were over and done with by now...actually couldn't believe they made this game.

Posted: November 16, 2009 10:21 AM | Reply | Report

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poker909

Mr Johnson-
As a DJ/electronic music producer with 15+ years professional experience, hou were spot on with your description of DJ hero. If you want to be a DJ, all you need is the ambition to play music, which most of us have a collection of already. There has beed DJ software for your laptop for over a decade now, so DJ hero fulfills no need whatsoever. ...and NO ONE likes mash-ups. I like Queen. I like chemical Brothers, but not in the same mix. It can be amusing when you are wasted at 3am for like 30 seconds before it becomes annoying.

Posted: November 17, 2009 2:48 PM | Reply | Report

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