So, what stopped Skyward Sword selling so well?

[CM30]

Current figures for the games sales seem to be about 3 million, and people are saying the game's success was very front loaded (aka it sold much better around launch day). But 3 million is kind of low compared to past games, barring Four Swords Adventures, Spirit Tracks and Minish Cap, that's the lowest a main series Zelda game has sold yet or something.

So what hurt it's sales?

Was it something bad in terms of the gameplay?

Was it the style of the game not being like Ocarina/Twilight Princess/The Wind Waker but a mix of both?

Was it the heavy competition (keep in mind as well as Skyrim, I think Arkham City launched about then, as did both Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7)?

Was it something I haven't mentioned?

Because with some people declaring the apocalypse and acting as if the franchise is in trouble, we might as well figure out what caused Skyward Sword to sell as it did.

 

[Link 70222]

I think it might have something to do with it requiring Motion Plus.

 

[spymoft]

Its either what Link said or the fact that many people who once had a Wii sold it and didn't bother buying another Wii just to play Skyward Sword. Or both.

 

[TheUltimateKoopa]

So you're saying it's too late?

 

[MrLuigi Sees You]

I blame Xbox and PS fanboys. Heck, slap on the 90s fanboys.

 

[kunino-sagiri]

I'd say it's a combination of four things:
1)It's late in the Wii's life cycle, and many core gamers (the sort who would actually want to play Zelda) may have gotten rid of their Wii by now.
2)It requires Wii Motion Plus, which would put off some who don't want extra expense.
3)It came out at the same time as loads of other big-name games, so it got pushed into the shadows a bit by them.
4)Related to all of the above - the financial climate at the moment; people have less disposable income, so have to be picky about what they buy.

 

[HDeity]

I'd have to say all of the above. Even I was'nt too thrilled about Skyward Sword at the time I heard of it. Mainly because of the Wii and its "controlers" and mixing Twilight Princess with Wind Waker graphics was a bit off-putting to a lot of fans (including myself, and ignorantly got flamed for stating it... damn fanboys...) Plus the fact that it MAY have attracted a new, much more annoying fanbase... "Love-struck teenagers"...

IMO... that is all.

 

[Karen208]

In my case as much as I love Zelda games and would have loved to get it when it came out and get a gold WiiMote ideally. I didn't even realize it was coming out. I didn't know about it till just this last week and then went and got it. I had to get another Wiimote anyway. So maybe the advertising wasn't good enough either. I actually bought the Wii when Twilight Princess came out. I can't believe I missed this one.

 

[CM30]

So, you didn't see any advertisements for it? Well, that would partly explain a lack of sales.