Money Worthy of Tony Montana
Apparently that Scarface game solid a few copies.
Published: November 28, 2006
It's not unusual for companies to pat themselves a little on the back when they sell a decent number of copies, but we're, frankly, a little floored by the sales of Scarface. The game freakin' cleaned up last month. No, seriously, it sold like crazy, to the tune of a million copies. Now granted, some games do that on the PS2 alone, but outside of the world of Grand Theft Auto, this isn't something that happens all that often.
Okay, fine, so we're talking about one title across three platforms, and only two of them are actually the free-roaming GTA-like experience that Vivendi Games has been pimping for what seems like ages now (the third, the PSP game, is more of a strategy-oriented affair). Nevertheless, we were foolish to underestimate the selling power of Tony Montana...'s likeness with a voice actor that sounds a lot like Pacino.
"We are very appreciative of the outstanding retail and gaming community support in North America, Europe and Australia," wept Pascal Brochier, president of global retail at Vivendi Games. "This support pushed the game to #1 in North America while exceeding our expectations in Europe and beyond."
"We are thrilled with the fantastic response to Scarface: The World Is Yours," added Bill Kispert, VP Interactive, Universal Studios Consumer Product Group before taking a huge breath. "We know that the character, the mythos, and the brand of Scarface is one that fans are extremely passionate about. The teams at Sierra Entertainment and Radical Entertainment took that to heart -- showing immense respect for both the nuances and the explosive elements of the source material, while also adding to the license's mythology. This is a great example of how interactive entertainment can extend a franchise, and we love that fans feel the game has done Tony proud."
It probably pleases Pacino, who has historically avoided video games, and paints an unusually strong argument for licensing Hollywood properties and turning them into successful video games. If anything, we're guessing this is probably just fuel for the licensed crap machine to continue on unabated, but the October numbers as collected by NPD don't lie:
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 Game in America
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 Console Game in America
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 PlayStation®2 Game in America
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 Xbox® Game in America
Scarface: Money. Power. Respect. was the #1 PSP Game in America
So, um, yeah, that's some crazy money. Now prepare yourself for 6,827,094 crap licensed games. This is all your fault, Radical Entertainment, why'd you have to make a game that the mass market apparently loves?
Okay, fine, so we're talking about one title across three platforms, and only two of them are actually the free-roaming GTA-like experience that Vivendi Games has been pimping for what seems like ages now (the third, the PSP game, is more of a strategy-oriented affair). Nevertheless, we were foolish to underestimate the selling power of Tony Montana...'s likeness with a voice actor that sounds a lot like Pacino.
"We are very appreciative of the outstanding retail and gaming community support in North America, Europe and Australia," wept Pascal Brochier, president of global retail at Vivendi Games. "This support pushed the game to #1 in North America while exceeding our expectations in Europe and beyond."
"We are thrilled with the fantastic response to Scarface: The World Is Yours," added Bill Kispert, VP Interactive, Universal Studios Consumer Product Group before taking a huge breath. "We know that the character, the mythos, and the brand of Scarface is one that fans are extremely passionate about. The teams at Sierra Entertainment and Radical Entertainment took that to heart -- showing immense respect for both the nuances and the explosive elements of the source material, while also adding to the license's mythology. This is a great example of how interactive entertainment can extend a franchise, and we love that fans feel the game has done Tony proud."
It probably pleases Pacino, who has historically avoided video games, and paints an unusually strong argument for licensing Hollywood properties and turning them into successful video games. If anything, we're guessing this is probably just fuel for the licensed crap machine to continue on unabated, but the October numbers as collected by NPD don't lie:
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 Game in America
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 Console Game in America
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 PlayStation®2 Game in America
Scarface: The World Is Yours was the #1 Xbox® Game in America
Scarface: Money. Power. Respect. was the #1 PSP Game in America
So, um, yeah, that's some crazy money. Now prepare yourself for 6,827,094 crap licensed games. This is all your fault, Radical Entertainment, why'd you have to make a game that the mass market apparently loves?