Over on Game Matters, Scott Miller has started a good thread discussing why Ico didn’t sell, despite it being considered a work of wonder by everyone whose tried it. Idlenews has a similar thread about Psychonauts, a game that appears to be doing abysmal numbers despite being beloved by anyone that’s tried it. The latter was closer to my heart — I only dabbled in Ico, but I’m now nearly done with Psychonauts, and I’m loving every minute of it (well, up until I get jumping-puzzled out for the night). Both threads are good, albeit depressing, reads.

Still, Scott’s posting actually is more interesting, because of the sheer number of people that have missed Scott’s points. For example, Scott posted that Ico was percieved as being a kids game, so the adults stayed away in droves. This prompted a ton of responses along the lines of “Ico is not a kid’s game! It’s one of the most beautiful and transcendent experiences that any grown-up can appreciate!” All good and well, but the game is still percieved by those looking at the box as a kid’s game.

Psychonauts has the same thing going on. The humor and tone are both marvelous, and most adults are sure to love it (it is, after all, a Tim Schafer game), but when the hero of a game on the cover of the box is 10 years old, I’m sure Joe Gamer doesn’t even bother to pick it up. Psychonauts also drastically mis-spent their marketing dollars. Apparently, most of their ads talked about the next game from the mind of Tim Schafer. If you know who he is, the game was probably already preordered on ebgames.

Who knows. Maybe everyone’s getting sick of jumping puzzles.

Original comments thread is here.