civ3 in april top 20

[MarkG]

Civ3 stays in the monthly top 20 for one more time, in the 19th position. Meanwhile rumors that the expansion pack will be renamed to Civilization 3: Sim the World to confuse people into thinking that it's one more Sims expansion have not been confirmed
Best-selling PC games for the month of April 2002:
Rank This Month / Rank Last Month / Title / Publisher / Average Price
1 / 1 / The Sims: Vacation / Electronic Arts / $30
2 / 8 / Dungeon Siege / Microsoft / $41
3 / 2 / The Sims / Electronic Arts / $43
4 / 4 / Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast / LucasArts / $48
5 / 3 / Medal of Honor: Allied Assault / Electronic Arts / $46
6 / 5 / The Sims: Hot Date / Electronic Arts / $30
7 / 6 / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone / Electronic Arts / $28
8 / 10 / The Sims: Livin' Large / Electronic Arts / $28
9 / 13 / Heroes of Might and Magic IV / 3DO / $43
10 / 9 / RollerCoaster Tycoon / Infogrames / $21
11 / * / The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind / Bethesda / $46
12 / 12 / Starcraft: Battle Chest / Vivendi Universal / $21
13 / 11 / Zoo Tycoon / Microsoft / $27
14 / * / Freedom Force / Electronic Arts and Crave / $39
15 / 16 / Diablo II: Lord of Destruction / Vivendi Universal / $31
16 / 14 / The Sims: House Party / Electronic Arts / $29
17 / * / SimTheme Park / Electronic Arts / $17
18 / * / Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert Siege / Ubi Soft / $20
19 / 18 / Civilization III / Infogrames / $47
20 / * / Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings / Microsoft / $30

Source: Gamespot

[Dr. Stiby]

Re: civ3 in april top 20

Originally posted by MarkG
Meanwhile rumors that the expansion pack will be renamed to Civilization 3: Sim the World to confuse people into thinking that it's one more Sims expansion have not been confirmed

That would be incredibly fun. Imagine Monyezuma kissing Elizabeth which would piss off her lover Jean of Arc, who decides to **** Shaka Zulu instead!

[Solver]

Hehe, LOL. But I'm not too happy with 19th place... I don't think it's all it could be. Hope PtW really adds to sells.

I continue to curse at The Sims.

[Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS]

A grand total of 7 months in the top 20. I can assure you we're completely thrilled!

Jeff

[MarkG]

Jeff, perhaps it's time to drop the price a little bit in order to stay there?

[Deornwulf]

Jeff, how does the current ranking track of Civ3 compare to the track of the other civ games? Wasn't Civ2 in the Top 10 longer?

[Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS]

Hell, we're top 10 in dollars (those are units sold through). Not having to lower the price even once in 7 months is pretty outragous.

Not sure about Civ2 since I wasn't watching it as closely. I think a lot of their sales were at a pretty low price point (so, more units than dollars), but I'm not certain. Staying on the top 20 for even one month is incredibly hard to (I'd say 95% of the games released can't manage that) so we're pretty happy, compared to any game.

Jeff

[MarkG]

Staying on the top 20 for even one month is incredibly hard

should i make a comparison with the sims?

/Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS plans to have civ3 and it's three expansion packs in the top 20 after 2 years

[Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS]

What? The best selling game of all time? Be my guest.

Jeff

[MarkG]

hehehehehehe....

everyone, please notice how jeff avoided to comment on the exposure of the secret firaxian plan


i'll do another comparison: games that entered(or possibly re-entered) in the top20 in the same month as civ3(october 2001)
- Dark Age of Camelot : 1 month in the top20
- Command & Conquer Yuri's Revenge : 1 month
- Asheron's Call Dark Majesty : 1 monh
- SimCity 3000 Unlimited : 1 month
- Flight Simulator 2002 : 1 month
- Zoo Tycoon: 7 months (price $27)
- Stronghold : 1 month
- Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 : 1 month
- Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor : 1 month

on November, new entries(at full >40$ prices) were
- Empire Earth : 5 months(last one March)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer`s Stone : 6 months(continuing in april)
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein : 4 months(last: february)
- Tom Clancy`s Ghost Recon : 3 months(with gaps, last: april)
- Thomas Playset : 1 month

for those interested, here are two links with all the related news items

http://apolyton.net/news/search.php?Category=All&LookFor=both&Find1=npd&AndOr=and&Find2=top20&select1=.

http://apolyton.net/news/search.php?Category=All&LookFor=both&Find1=npd&AndOr=and&Find2=top+20&select1=.

[Immortal Wombat]

I saw Civ3 for £20 today resisted the temptation to buy it.

[Panag]

Originally posted by MarkG
Jeff, perhaps it's time to drop the price a little bit in order to stay there?

hi ,

in France and belgium the price is around 35 USD in some shop's , .......in others its more like 60 , ............

Jeff , could this be cause of some distribution "error" , or the way that infogrames looks at different people / store , .....in short , could it be that infogrames sell's the game at a small chainstore at lets say 40 usd , and at a large cash and carry for 30 , at a music / game store for 45 , .......etc , .......

there are problems with the helpdesk from local infogrames , problems that are sometimes huge , .....we tested this with some people , and on monday we called 20 times to the helpdesk in the Netherlands , jsut kept saying the games chrash , ....

18 times the told us that it was because our ghraphics card was not good enough , 6 times ; that we should not play the game , just go out for a refund and buy an other game , , ...

only 2 times was the Q asked , what version , .....ones , only ones it was told to get the upgrade from their site , only ones , ...........

and then people wonder why some players give up , ...........

thanks in advance .

have a nice day

[Coracle]

Originally posted by Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS
A grand total of 7 months in the top 20. I can assure you we're completely thrilled!

Jeff

This entire effusive thread should be considered ADVERTISING for Firaxis.

Instead of Firaxians coming into it to slap themselves on the back they ought to address all the problems with the game that have been discussed on the forums for many months, or perhaps they are too busy trying to figure out what next to SELL us that should have come with their original beta buggy disk.

And why did the game sell? They paid Sid for use of his name, and his bullbleep interview in that crummy Strategy Guide, to cash in on the cachet of the great Civ 2. Firxaxis clearly is also expert at marketing; a lot better at that than game development. Firaxis got its Industry flacks to give the game GLOWING reviews after the flawed Civ 3 first came out, reviews that we all know were not deserved then, and may not even be deserved now after 1.21. You also dumbed down the game, instead of increasing its complexity, to appeal to a wider audience.

So congratulations on your MARKETING expertise. I concede at that you are expert.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Coracle


This entire effusive thread should be considered ADVERTISING for Firaxis.

Instead of Firaxians coming into it to slap themselves on the back they ought to address all the problems with the game that have been discussed on the forums for many months, or perhaps they are too busy trying to figure out what next to SELL us that should have come with their original beta buggy disk.

And why did the game sell? They paid Sid for use of his name, and his bullbleep interview in that crummy Strategy Guide, to cash in on the cachet of the great Civ 2. Firxaxis clearly is also expert at marketing; a lot better at that than game development. Firaxis got its Industry flacks to give the game GLOWING reviews after the flawed Civ 3 first came out, reviews that we all know were not deserved then, and may not even be deserved now after 1.21. You also dumbed down the game, instead of increasing its complexity, to appeal to a wider audience.

So congratulations on your MARKETING expertise. I concede at that you are expert.

Don't you ever get tired of whining about this game?

Most of us like it. There has never been a game that everybody has liked. If you don't like it, play something you do like. Civ 2 maybe?

Congrats Jeff.

[MarkG]

apparently coracle, lots of lots of people disagree with you. "beta buggy disks" dont sell so much for so long...

i think i ought to bring a recent sig of mine....