July Brewed - Coffees Consumed, Games Played, & Site Notes

Coffee Beans
     July was crazy busy, as I thought it would be.  If you missed the post, Mrs. Coffee and I were blessed with a new son on July 4, and then Mrs. Coffee and I had our wedding anniversary a few days later.
     July has 31 days in it, and we had family visiting us for 15 of those days, and were out of the house for 2 of those days with the new guy being born.

     So, with a new baby, wedding anniversary, family visiting, and normal work, I'm surprised I played as many games as I did and kind of surprised I didn't consume more coffee toward the end of the month.
     What games did I play in July, and what coffees did I consume?  Let's take a look!

Coffees Consumed in July

How Much Have the Carnival Games Been Played?

Quick Brew Info:
Carnival Games was released on August 27, 2007 with a MSRP of $39.99.
Carnival Games MiniGolf was released on October 20, 2008, also with a MSRP of $39.99.
Both games featured multiplayer, for up to four players.

The play-time data shown below represents approximately 1,058 days of reporting for Carnival Games, and 638 days of reporting for Carnival Games MiniGolf; since the release dates of both games.
Carnival Games, not including Carnival Games MiniGolf, has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, but do those millions of sales translate into game-play hours?  Let's take a look...

(click image to enlarge)

Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data:
Carnival Games has 437,503 players reporting their play-time data, on the Wii's Nintendo Channel.
Carnival Games MiniGolf has 73,852 players reporting play-time data.

"Total" Game-Play Hours & Average Hours Played Reported:
Carnival Games has 4,546,371 Total Hours reported, with an average of 10 Hours 24 Minutes play-time per person.
According to the numbers, each play session lasts roughly 1 Hour 16 Minutes(if my math was right).

Carnival Games MiniGolf has 726,361 Total Hours reported, with an average of 9 Hours 50 Minutes play-time reporting per person.
Each play session for Carnival Games MiniGolf lasts approximately 1 Hour 33 Minutes.

Amazon.com Sale Rank & Advertised Price:
Carnival Games' Amazon.com sale rank is #139 and it's currently on sale for $19.73.
Carnival Games MiniGolf's Amazon.com sale rank is #1,186 and its current selling price is $19.27.

Review Score Averages:
Carnival Games' current GameRankings.com review score average is 59.23%, based on 22 reviews.
Carnival Games MiniGolf's GameRankings.com review score average is 44.89%, based on 9 reviews.

While the "professional" game reviewers did not seem to enjoy the game all that much, the Amazon.com user reviews show a different side, at least in one case I believe.

Carnival Games' Amazon.com "customer reviews" would put the game at about an 80%, based on 304 customer reviews.
Carnival Games MiniGolf's Amazon.com "customer reviews" would put the game at about a 70%, based on 50 customer reviews.
The customer reviews average puts both games review scores about 20% higher, than "professional" review scores.

Thoughts:
At Nintendo's E3 press conference this year, they showed a trailer for a sequel to the original Carnival Games.  The sequel is named New Carnival Games, and as of now has a release date for September 21, 2010 with a MSRP of $39.99.
New Carnival Games will also be compatible with the Wii MotionPlus controller accessory.

I think it is interesting seeing a sequel being released a full three years after the original game.  Perhaps it is because the original Carnival Games is still selling so well, because most of the "party" based games on the Wii seem to have sequels released yearly, back-to-back.

I have not played either Carnival Games or Carnival Games MiniGolf, but I am glad to see New Carnival Games using Wii MotionPlus, and releasing with a MSRP of just $39.99, instead of $49.99.

If you are not familiar with Carnival Games or Carnival Games MiniGolf, you can watch trailers for both the games here:


Questions:
If you have played either Carnival Games or Carnival Games MiniGolf, do you agree more with the "professional" reviews or the customer reviews?
Would you recommend(or not recommend) either Carnival Games or Carnival Games MiniGolf to other Wii owners?


If you are interested in any of the Carnival Games, you can prices for them on Amazon.com below:
  

Is the Wii's Pudding Tainted!

 

 "What does, "The proof is in the pudding", even mean?"  I'm glad you asked!

According to The Word Detective, “The proof is in the pudding” is a popular figure of speech meaning “the quality, effectiveness or truth of something can only be judged by putting it into action or to its intended use” and when applied to food, according to The Word Detective, "A dish may have been made from a good recipe with fresh ingredients and look delicious, but you can really only judge it by putting it in your mouth. The actual taste is the only true criterion of success."

"The proof is in the pudding", isn't the original phrase, and The Word Detective says, "But the key to the mystery lies in the fact that “the proof is in the pudding” is actually a mangled form of the original phrase, which was “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

I've applied the statement, "the proof is in the pudding" to the gaming world, particularly, the idea that Wii games sell well, despite being reviewed poorly.
Analyzing what analyst Michael Pachter said, "A well positioned game with an interesting concept can sell well on the Wii regardless of review scores..."
For the sake of this example, "pudding" would be poor review scores for games, and  "proof" would be how well those games sold.

Is Michael Pachter correct?  Are there Wii games that have sold millions of copies that were reviewed poorly, or "regardless of review scores"?

Absolutely!  The "proof" is Wii games like Carnival Games and Deca Sports that have reportedly sold a million copies or more, and the "pudding" is that Carnival Games has a MetaCritic average score of 56 out of 100, while Deca Sports has a MetaCritic average score of 50 out of 100.

While some may think those games are poor examples to use, let's take a look at several games that have only been out a few weeks.

A picture says a thousand words, so here you go:

(click photo to enlarge)

What do you think of the information displayed in the photo?

I find it very interesting that Tony Hawk: RIDE is outselling both, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex] and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.  All three games come from established franchises, but Tony Hawk: RIDE is also more than double the price of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex]!

How is it that Tony Hawk: RIDE on the Wii has a higher sales rank than does Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex]?

A couple of reasons I think could explain it:

1)  Tony Hawk: RIDE isn't rated "Mature" like the other two

2) The Wii's "casual" crowd that "...wouldn't know Metacritic if it fell on them.", is buying the game because they are used to Wii games selling with peripherals, and they want to try something new.

Tony Hawk: RIDE is another example right now of a game that is reviewing poorly, but selling better on Amazon.com than other games that have reviewed better than it.

What do you think of the Wii's game market and the way seemingly "bad" games, sell well.

*The prices, sales rank, and Metacritic.com score averages were gathered on Sunday, November 29, between 4p.m. and 5p.m.

A couple of links you may find interesting based around this topic: 

MetaCritic scores not important, but genre and franchise continuations are.

Predicting review scores.

Pachter says MetaCritic scores aren't important.

Wii software doesn't review well.

THQ, high review scores bring in high sales.

The pressure of MetaCritic scores.

Critics Speak, We Listen, Why?

Do Game Journalist Lack Morals?

Eidos asked low scores held back.