Renegade Kid’s Son of the Dragon canceled due to hardcore Wii sales
October 22nd, 2009 Posted in DS, News, Wii, Written by ValayCompany representatives have said in the past that the sales of hardcore Wii games would influence their decision to publish similar content for the platform. Today, we’re seeing a firsthand example of that. According to Jools Watsham, owner and game director for Renegade Kid, Son of the Dragon was canceled as a result of the poor sales some hardcore Wii titles have been receiving.
“The original project was slatted [sic] as a Wii / DS combo, but due to the sales of ‘hardcore’ games on the Wii it was cancelled by the publisher.”
Presumably, SouthPeak Interactive would have published the game. The company took a chance with now-acquired GameCock’s Mushroom Men in 2008, but apparently didn’t feel that Son of the Dragon would soak in similar commercial success. We also now know that there were two games in the works – One for Wii and one for DS.
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14 Responses to “Renegade Kid’s Son of the Dragon canceled due to hardcore Wii sales”
By bob on Oct 22, 2009
um……….WHAT?!
By Gigantorama on Oct 22, 2009
That’s some of the saddest news I’ve heard. I obviously don’t know if Son of the Dragon was actually going to be a good game, but I quite enjoyed Mushroom Men. I didn’t realize that didn’t sell very well on Wii. And what’s worse, it was also going to be slated on DS! Bad bad news.
http://gaminggoodies.blogspot.com/
By Captain Falcon on Oct 22, 2009
If they mean games like Dead Space – Extraction and many others with “hardcore”… Yeah… It was obvious games like that didn’t sale well…
Seriously, there’s a difference between “hardcore” and “mature”. I don’t know what kind of game Son of the Dragon would have been, but the game sounds VERY interessting…
Just take a look at other games (not only mature ones):
Little Kings Story didn’t sell too well, but not, because it’s a bad game (it isn’t), but the artstyle (Don’t know if this word exists in the english language. XD) was just bad… Really bad.
No More Heroes didn’t sell too well because the game wasn’t advertised (maybe I’m wrong on that one)
Also, many sport games don’t sell too well on the Wii, because the userbase of sport games ist REALLY small.
If Son of the Dragon would have been bad in gameplay, artstyle or wouldn’t have been advertised, if would sell as bad as many other games.
Game Developer only need to look at a few things:
1.: Is there a userbase for that genre on that console?
2.: Is the game hardcore? (NOT MATURE!)
3.: Is the gameplay good?
4.: Is the style good? (It’s NOT that important how good the graphics itself is, the STYLE has to be good!)
5.: Am I willing to advertise the game?
If it comes to RPGs, characters and story are very important as well, but those 5 points are ESSENTIAL for a good selling game.
By Valay on Oct 22, 2009
@ Captain Falcon – No More Heroes actually performed fairly well in North America. Different story in Japan, though.
By Captain Falcon on Oct 22, 2009
Like I said, maybe I was wrong on that one. But as far as I know, No More Heroes didn’t even sell half a million worldwide. About 250k in NA, 150k in Europe and 50k or something in Japan.
Of course, compared to the about 120k or 130k of Little King’s Story, it’s great.
By Jason Tanner on Oct 22, 2009
Based on what? Mushroom Men sales? Well, had mushroom men actually been a title worth owning it would’ve had better sales. I don’t understand these Dev’s nowadays. They think they can put forth a half-assed effort or even a decent one, and when the game doesn’t sell, then it’s the “Wii’s” fault!! WTF!! Great games do sell on the Wii, the sales data proves it, just make a great game to begin with!
Also, how am I to give a shit about a cancelled game that no one has ever even seen a screenshot of to begin with? I saw one pic which was a potential cover art piece and that’s it. Details of the title were so scarce that it makes this post completely irrelevant, just a “Pity-party” for Renegade Kid.
So my question is this: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it hit the ground, does it make a sound?
By opiumx on Oct 22, 2009
It makes a sound if the future of hardcore gaming on wii is at stake, dont be an ass!
By Taffy on Oct 22, 2009
This has already happened before, remember that game by N-Space, Winter I think it was called. That couldn’t get a publisher because they believed that there wasn’t a user base on the Wii for it. As for Mushroom Men I have that game and although the art style and music are great, the game was pretty bland and didn’t receive that much praise from the gaming press. For me the one game that should have done better in sales was Deadly Creatures, that was a good game.
By Jason on Oct 22, 2009
@ Taffy,
I completely agree with you about Deadly Creatures. I thought it was definitely a game worth owning at it’s oringinal retail price of 39.99, at it’s current price of 19.99 it’s a steal!!
Winter, yeah that game looked like it had a lot of potential, then it’s developer N-Space did the port of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 to the Wii. If that was any indication to the quality of their work, then I’ll pass on Winter altogether. Besides, lets fac it, that game is NEVER getting made, regardless of how many signature that petition received.
@opiumx,
I don’t know if it’s your nature to insult people you don’t know and have never met before, but I wouldn’t reccomend that you continue doing it.
If you think the “future of hardcore gaming” is at stake on the Wii, just because a title that no one has seen or heard about is cancelled, then you need not leave a comment. Also, don’t confuse “hardcore” with “mature”.
By opiumx on Oct 22, 2009
I guess what I meant to say, is dont dismiss a game that was cancelled. I love the wii and I dont want to see more and more games get cancelled while shovelware and sports games rule the wii.
I think everyone should be sad when a game like this gets cancelled, as it can make developers and publishers think twice about getting involved with mature/hardcore games on the wii.
Better?
By Valay on Oct 22, 2009
Agreed, opiumx!
By Wii Games on Oct 23, 2009
Mushroom Men was a mediocre game. I think Son of Dragon would be a same. Really a miss?
By the way, there are many successfull “mature” games for the Wii.
By Clickme on Oct 23, 2009
Who knows,we probably dodged a bullet!