Analysts predict Christmas flops

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 24th November 2008

Among the predicted flops for Christmas 2008 were Need for Speed: Undercover and Web of Shadows.

In another effort to prove their worth industry analysts have offered predictions on what games will do little more than flop this Christmas.

Gamasutra asked some of the leading industry analysts to try and guess which games will earn a fail award this Christmas, with predictions ranging from Need for Speed: Undercover right through to the unproven Spiderman: Web of Shadows.

The list included all platforms and genres and many analysts claimed that it was bound to be the casual, unfamiliar games which might flop most this Christmas as casual buyers try to prune expenses as a result of the credit crunch.

"If any cuts are made out of a gamer's holiday budget, it will be those titles that they could do without: games like Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe," said EEDAR's Jesse Divinch - who isn't likely to be Midway's best friend now, given the company's unfortunate economic position.

"[MK vs DC Universe] is an awesome game with great branding qualities. However, it simply does not stack up against the large list of AAA titles this holiday season, continued Jesse.

"Others include: Need for Speed Undercover (which has become a stale brand as of late), Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, and any other title that squeaks by with quality scores below 80 percent. As consumers become more judicious with their discretionary income this holiday season, quality scores will likely have a bigger weight on a gamer's purchasing decision than in previous holidays."

Other predictions from the analysts included Tomb Raider: Underworld, which Michael Pachter thinks is failing to get a foothold in the minds of many gamers this year, and Animal Crossing: City Folk. Let us know your thoughts in the forums.