Take Two, Nintendo & Gamestop comment on Chinatown Wars sales

While on paper the low sales of Chinatown Wars spell all sorts of troubles, Nintendo and Take 2 dont seem fazed.

The internet and gaming industry was abuzz at yesterdays NPD sales report, while it wasn’t what was on top that caused the most concern, it was the titles not on the charts- mainly Chinatown Wars and Madworld. So do Chinatown Wars low sales spell doom for core focused games on the DS? Will Take 2 and Rockstar bother with the platform again? Seems not. Both Take Two and Nintendo believe that the game will have an evergreen sales path. Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America’s vice president of corporate affairs says that “Remember that many games for Nintendo DS have a nontraditional sales pattern. The trend is toward ‘evergreen’ games that sell well over an extended period of time instead of in a one-month spike. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Nintendo DS is a good example. In its first month (November 2007), it sold only 36,000. To date, it has sold through nearly 500,000. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a great game that has received tremendous reviews. We expect that with continued backing, it will follow the same long-tail/evergreen sales route that other top sellers have taken.” While “We have and we will continue to support the platform. We think the mature segment of the DS market is growing.” Says Alan Lewis, vice president of corporate communications for Take-Two. Also putting their hat into the discussion with GameStop spokesman Chris Olivera even suggesting that the lower sales could be due to people waiting for the Nintendo DSi. “‘GTA: Chinatown Wars’ is exceeding our expectations and illustrating the power of the franchise on a new platform. We’ve seen a solid lift in sales of ‘Chinatown Wars’ following the launch of the DSi and believe that the product will continue to enjoy a long life at our stores as the buzz around the new handheld gaming experience continues to grow.” So far it seems pretty obviously DS titles aren’t as frontloaded with sales as other consoles. We just wish there was the same kind of reassurance for Wii titles as GTA has been getting. Sources: 1, 2.