10 More Great Video Games That Sold Poorly

[@Webhead123]

As if any of us needed to be reminded, sales clearly are not directly proportionate to quality. I played most of these back in their day and loved every minute of them. Unfortunate that some never got the love they deserved.

[@Marc_Araujo]

Well said! I'd say 3/4 of this list are games that are certified classics in their genres.

[@Dustemikkel_Rev]

With the exeptions of Jet Set Radio and Brutal Legend, I own all these games. Tim Schafer is a legend, and I'm so happy he made these games. He has given (ok, technically sold!) me a lot of great things, and I am forever grateful this man makes games. Psychonauts (both of them) are brilliant fun, and Grim Fandango made me laugh out loud on several occasions.

[@mattblom3990]

I remember playing Conker's Bad Fur Day and my brother yelling to my mom to get me in trouble: "Mom Matt's jumping on a flower's boobs!" That took explaination.

[@Effekt1155]

Lmao

[@PeterCleff]

Brütal Legend is still a personal favorite. Yes, it's probably mostly the awesome intro and the esthetics and soundtrack that have me all nostalgic, but I that game is an absolute classic. And even though the RTS elements aren't the main reason I remember the game fondly, I remember not hating it. I would kill for a sequel. Good video!

[@prestonwilford3911]

I remember buying brutal legend the day it came out, it's awesome, it's still 1 of my favorite games:)

[@andyb1653]

I remember it fondly, but was disappointed by how short the story was.

[@antonioenrico]

I keep wishing the success of Psychonauts 2 would lead DF to make a Brutal Legend 2

[@andyb1653]

@@antonioenrico Amen brother

[@GreyMatterShades]

I bought a PS3 specifically so I could play Brutal Legend. Really loved the open world mechanics and guitar solo spellcasting. I even enjoyed the RTS parts, though I do wish there were more traditional action-adventure levels. Still, fantastic game!

[@Jangocat]

Brutal Legend was a fantastic game. Lemmy, Ozzy and Rob Halford actually appear in it and it has over 100 classic metal songs for the games music. The game play was fun and the story was both funny and cleaver.

[@masterbspace]

Eternal darkness is one of my fav games of all time. So ahead of it’s time with it’s sanity mechanic and sheer scope!

[@SECONDQUEST]

PSI OPS was really awesome. I had the demo which got me really excited. Second Sight was also a really fun game with similar themes.

[@etowngti]

I've been searching for a CIB copy of Eternal Darkness for months...one of my favorite games ever and one of the best survival horror games from the golden age of the genre!

[@tristancampbell4941]

If only Brütal Legend stayed with the *OG* formula

[@codigoceropokemmo]

Which was?

[@tristancampbell4941]

@@codigoceropokemmo It was going to be like a God of War game mixed with Rock Band

[@codigoceropokemmo]

@@tristancampbell4941 I like more the way it came, thanks

[@tristancampbell4941]

@@codigoceropokemmo As long as you (The Consumer) enjoys it, that's all that matters.

[@mattalan6618]

@@tristancampbell4941 i admit that playing a a God of War meets Rock Band type game would be cool

[@somebodynowhere]

Psychonauts was the first game I bought on steam. That purchase was entirely because of the very early Zero Punctuation video and I regret nothing (except maybe for a bit during the meat circus)

[@colingznetworkplus4618]

I mean, Chinatown wars also came out on the PSP but still, releasing in the DS as well didn’t help things

[@martincoburn6522]

Oh Psi-Ops, to this day I would love a remake/sequel to this game. I remember it being a great experience back in the day.

[@MCWFanatic]

I loved Psi Ops and Second Sight when they both came out, but always thought that Psi Ops was better and could have been the next franchise to spawn many sequels. That and Freedom Fighters.

[@sirekumasutra7022]

You could definitely make a list of Tim Schaefer games. Also loved Costume Quest.

[@Classiqmusic910]

I freaking love costume quest....I wish it was a bit longer mainly because I just loved the animation and story

[@maryyram5039]

Costume Quest is brilliant!

[@CalTheHogNosedBat]

Watching someone from England, struggle with pronouncing the Irish Cliffs of Moher (Moe-er, like lawn mower) is exactly what I needed this St. Patrick's Day.

[@andrewhurst1445]

Folklore is a game I'd like to see get a remaster, and I would love a remake or sequel to brutal legend, loved those games.

[@jeannecaelum5167]

I want to pick up Vanquish actually and Grim Fandango is a fantastic game, the story and characters really pulled me in. Yall should try it.

[@cozzy4447]

Vanquish is awesome the gameplay is so good and the futuristic setting is pretty cool the only downside is that it’s quite short overall but it’s got decent replay value.

[@andrewhurst1445]

You should buy the Vanquish/Bayonetta bundle, both are great games.

[@GreyMatterShades]

@@Gatorade69 There's a modern remaster of Grim Fandango that shouldn't have any compatibility issues, and is enhanced in a number of ways. It definitely holds up, imo. One of my favourite games of all time.

[@GreyMatterShades]

Great list, I highly agree with every game included that I played (which is most of them). One thing of note is that Grim Fandango actually sold well enough to make a profit. Tim Schafer has said in past interviews that he got royalty checks from sales of Grim, so it did better than break even. Still didn't sell as well as it should have though, so I wouldn't say it's a mistake to include it on the list.

[@Sheeps856]

As others have said, psi-ops played second fiddle to second sight, and I still remember second sight fondly. Using TK to pick people up and then throwing them around with the C-stick was an innovative blast at the time. Also, second sight's Telepathic Time Travel Plot was just... more cool than a regular conspiracy plot.

[@Marc_Araujo]

Brutal Legend rocked so hard. I picked up my copy for PS3 at its launch...no regerts!!

[@chraketcm8608]

I'm proud of myself for owning and playing a lot of these, folklore was one of my favourites on the PS3 growing up.

[@andrewhurst1445]

I would love to see folklore get a remaster, I really enjoyed the setting of that game.

[@KobatheASMRbiker]

With every good game that sold poorly, that only means that people at that time just didn't give it a chance which is kinda sad. But over time, that means that it makes it a true hidden gem!

[@Risperdali]

Chinatown Wars is one of my favourite games of all time! I bought it twice on the DS, once on the PSP and once on Vita.

[@thochaos13]

Folklore was pretty cool. I never finished it for some reason, but I remember being pretty interested in the storyline.

[@jamesgravil9162]

Sanity's Requiem was a classic. It's a shame we never got a sequel.

[@MichaelLeroi]

It's weird how we've all retroactively decided that N64 was synonymous with kids games. I suppose it's because Mario, Banjo and Zelda stood the test of time more than other games? But I remember playing Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Quake 2, The Turok series, Doom 64, Shadow Man, Body Harvest, Hybrid Heaven, Mortal Kombat 4, that awful Carmageddon port and of course Conkers Bad Furr Day. Never saw it as a kid's machine back then, more a system for everyone

[@wjr4700]

I cant state enough how absolutely amaizing game Brutal Legends is. So damn unique and interesting. I WISH they had made a sequel and expanded on it. The world is so bad ass and charming. The story is SO cool. Highly recommend if you love metal!

[@GnatWasJulian]

Grim Fandango is my most favourite game of all time, the 1998 pre-rendered looping backgrounds send chills down my spine every time I replay it (and I've beaten it six times in the span of the last few years!)

[@Ty-douken]

So many games I really enjoyed on this list, Brutal Legend & Psi-Ops specifically.

[@maximillionroivas3893]

My favorite part of Psi-Ops was playing as Mortal Kombat's Scorpion 👍

[@maximillionroivas3893]

@@Gatorade69 Yeah but unfortunately the game only had Scorpion 🤷

[@mattalan6618]

@@Gatorade69 why was Scorpion even in the game?

[@mattalan6618]

@@Gatorade69 ah kinda like how MK characters showed up in NBA JAM

[@joshbanks6367]

Wow, I own 5 of these games! Vanquish is my favourite, it harked back to the SEGA arcade games of old.

[@justboschma5047]

I have an mint condition conkers bad fur day for the n64. What an amazing game was that to play

[@Dustemikkel_Rev]

You gotta love a N64 game STARTING with a reference to A Clockwork Orange. 😍

[@justboschma5047]

@@Dustemikkel_Rev i do have an complete PAL N64 collection, i love that system in general lol

[@Dustemikkel_Rev]

@@justboschma5047 It had one of the most creative libraries ever. Not a huge library, but there weren't a lot of truly bad games or shovelware. It was quality over quantity in general.

[@justboschma5047]

@@Dustemikkel_Rev true and it has some of the best multiplayer (local) games for a console there was. Like i still play Mario party 3 with my friends. Since i have an working N64 that is an orginel one and 4 orginel controllers in 4 different colours

[@TheBT]

Psi ops also had one other problem when it came out, Second Sight. A game that came out around the same time (before Psi Ops in Europe) that was the same basic premise

[@alexbenton6306]

Conkers Bad Fur Day wasn’t rated AO. It got a normal M rating. An AO rating would have killed its profits even more because most stores wouldn’t even have carried it

[@energydragon1147]

I'm a simple man, I see Brutal Legend I like the video. 👍

[@user-vx4vr8rb7i]

I didn't know Vanquish sold poorly

[@mattuw82]

Something worth mentioning: many of these games have weird titles. "Jet Set Radio" for example tells you nothing about what the game is. If it were called "Graffiti Skate Battle" people would at least have some idea what it was.

[@christianmotionless8303]

The only people who said brutal legend sucked where the people who never took the time to get good at it it to this day is still my most favorite video game ever and I wish they would put on ps now

[@PhriekshoTV]

Taking chances on random titles are how I found some of my favorites of all time. Demoncrawl is a minesweeper rogue like. I wouldn't have expected to be addicted to it.

[@Skip2TheEnd]

Vanquish did release in the same week as Fallout New Vegas, so I’m guessing that’s why it didn’t sell well? Fantastic game though. Also, go play Grim Fandango, Psychonauts and Psi Ops people!

[@frankbrodie5168]

The pattern I see with these games, is that they all have that little 'meh' factor after you've played them for say an hour or so. For a game to sell stupidly well, it has to have that quality that if your mate owns it, and you play it for a while at their house, you want to immediately rush off and buy it once you leave. All of the games on this list are "This is BRILLIANT!" after 15-30 minutes. But "Meh.. it's actually a bit weird.." after an hour. By which time you've finished playing at your mates house, and don't want to shell out for it.

[@bemasaberwyn55]

2 lists, not 1 menton of a the SNES Mascot platformer from the UK, called Plok. With a soundtrack so good Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto allegedly asked composers Tim and Geoff Follin if the SNES they were playing the music on was modded. Released a few months after the first Bubsy was released, it never got it's due as a surprisingly good platformer (despite being just this side of SMB 2 Japan for difficulty....as in the deaths are less cheap)

[@mudcrabmenace8534]

Jade Empire is another one, don’t think it sold too well but IGN gave it like a 9.9!

[@mattalan6618]

the reason it didnt sell well was it came out at the time where everyone was looking forward to the 360. had Bioware waited till the 360 came out and then released it, it probably would have sold well and maybe went on to have a few sequels

[@randomretroplays3123]

Another great video guys, absolutely love watching all your videos 👍💯⭐

[@liamfarranree4433]

I used this video as a shopping guide only to discover I have a surprising number of these games in my games ibrary already. It makes me think a good idea for a future video might be -"10 Great Games You Bought But Never Bothered Playing"

[@misterblakk3690]

I still maintain that Psi Ops has the best telekinesis of any video game.

[@Apanblod]

Jet set radio is a fun, original and charming game, but frustrating beyond belief at times. I don't think I've ever come up with so many expletives while playing a game as with JSR. I outright screamed in agony at my TV, basically turning into the angry video game nerd a couple of times every session.

[@mattalan6618]

@Grima the Fell Dragon i feel that if the DC controller had a right thumbstick then a lot of its games probably would have played better then they did

[@jackfrostingtonerly1891]

I loved everything about Brutal Legend... until the oddly placed rts parts, which is the reason I never finished the game. Folklore was great, except for the forced motion controls. The motion controls worked well enough, but it seemed more gimmick than a necessary/wanted thing, and if you didn't have a perfectly working PS3 controller you couldn't even play the game (Which is what happened to me. I got my first PS3 after the PS4 was already out a year or so. It was brand new, and within a month or two my controller joystick already had a slight drift, which made it impossible to play Folklore. Luckily my brother had moved onto the PS4 and left me his PS3 stuff including a working controller.) Eternal Darkness is one of the very few horror games I ever finished. It was so interesting and unique compared to others that I had tried over the years, I didn't want it to end.

[@marukuanfuni]

Ive destroyed five ps3 controllers or more, their shit quality was the thing i hated most of the ps3 amongst all other problems

[@jackfrostingtonerly1891]

@@marukuanfuni Yeah, compared to the Xbox 360 controllers (I still use my original controller I got with my original console, and it still works perfectly), Sony controllers since the PS3 (no idea about PS5 yet) have been junk in my experience. Maybe they're just too focused on adding extra, unnecessary stuff into the controllers that they don't care if the quality falls short.

[@TayRich93]

Yeah “04 was wild man I didn’t know fable came along too I love that series

[@SPFLDAngler]

I appreciate you, Ben.

[@TheDeath138]

I've played all but 2 of these and they were indeed great games. In fact this video made me want to play a little Brutal Legend again.

[@jacobburk7005]

This list is some of my favorite games, I got them all super cheap and they were all great.

[@Chigen_Atomic]

Honestly, Conker's release window was probably intentional. Better to curb sales of a game that doesn't reflect Nintendo's image than maybe rebuild it for Gamecube. I would say a Conker show would be funny, but there'd be plenty of parents up in arms, even if the show very heavily leaned into the adult subject matter. My personal choice is always Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. A step up in every way from the first game. With the added fun of sailing the seas on a pirate ship. Sold extremely poorly and was soon eclipsed by The Outer Worlds, which I highly enjoyed. I'm thankful there was enough good reception for Psychonauts to warrant a sequel. Hopefully 2 sells better, which it honestly should, given the improvements and willingness to delve deep into certain subject matters.

[@retrovideogamejunkie]

With that thumbnail, I thought it was "Demos which Lied to us" ...

[@bensonsj98]

Vanquish is pretty rad. It's so fast.

[@slanderman3296]

I actully really liked "stick it to the man". Its visual art and sound and style really stuck with me. Idk,not great but I enjoyed it

[@calumsanderson6741]

"It's not entirely clear what stopped VANQUISH from reaching its sales potential..." Well the fact I'm literally just now hearing this game exists (because of this video) might be one reason

[@BigBossCQCLegend]

Eternal Darkness Sanity’s Requiem needs to come out on the Switch

[@Throbingkcoc]

I'm playing through Brutal Legends for the first time and what an awesome game. I paid $5 for it and it's so good I feel bad for getting it so dirt cheap.

[@GreyMatterShades]

I think Double Fine still sells Brutal Legend merch, so if you love it enough to wish you paid more, you could buy a Brutal Legend t-shirt from them.

[@mattalan6618]

@@GreyMatterShades i have a Brutal Legend shirt signed by both Tim Schaffer and Jack Black

[@GreyMatterShades]

​@@mattalan6618 Damn, man! I'm legit jealous! I've got my Grim Fandango manual (jewel case re-release unfortunately) and Psychonauts 1 box signed by Tim Schaffer, but a BL shirt signed by him and Jack Black would be epic!

[@xShamanx]

Brutal Legend was my favorite game as a young metal head!

[@Teeheehee093]

Making a good game is more important than money, that's what art is about

[@sugreev2001]

C’mon Cliffs of Moher are iconic. Never seen Father Ted, have you?

[@Rogerioapsandrade]

Trauma Team on the Wii ... the last game of the Trauma Center franchise from Atlus. That game is just fantastic, but Atlus handed the marketing of this franchise really badly. It's a shame that Trauma Center ender but that game is one of my all-time favorites. At least the franchise ended with a memorable title

[@jonnyDundead]

Omg I forgot about Folklore. Got it when it first came out and thought it had the best graphics for a console when it came out. Thank and heavenly sword (the precursor to Hellblade).

[@timothyoswald8618]

Can confirm, Grim Fandango is one of the great point and click games. Utterly hilarious, especially if you go waaaaaaaay overboard at the poetry slam.

[@mattalan6618]

i always do

[@JJJackson777]

i wonder if darksiders will pop up somewhere in here

[@tommydplayskeys]

Ahh yes pretty sure my dad made a tidy profit on our copy of Conker (ok HIS copy I guess). Still has it on an emulator... well played old man!

[@andyb1653]

Brutal Legend was also brutally short. I beat the story mode in less than 8 hours.

[@thebestcentaur]

I was really hoping they made a Vanquish sequel. Now I'm sad.

[@mr_indie_fan]

Sunset overdrive sold very poorly. And yet it's the best open world game ever made that barley any other open world game could even come close to. (Every minute, even travelling to the next mission are fun)

[@mattalan6618]

i got board of it after an hour

[@timothylewis2527]

I bought all of these except Grim Fandango and Folklore. And they're right. These games all deserved better. Especially Psi Ops. Anybody who gave it a shot loved it.

[@LoverOfBellies]

Whst about Second Sight by the same developers as Eternal Darkness?! It was some kind of psychic em up similar to the one on the list

[@andrewhurst1445]

Second sight was made by free radical, the guys who did timesplitters, it was such a good game, silicon knights made eternal darkness.

[@MelonCauli]

Rise of the Argonauts was astounding and sold poorly

[@goatbone]

11:50 That has to be first Nintendo published game to be rated M. Conker was rated M and came out earlier.

[@Syndur]

Well, I gave Vanquish a shot, but it didn't last long. Dropped it soon with a thumb-down; it was just a whole mess of confusion and I had no idea what to do and how anything worked. Psychonauts, however, did extremely well with me :-) (The others, I'm either not interested, don't have access, or both).

[@marukuanfuni]

i love vanquish, but yeah, i had to watch a play through cause a lot of crap was vague for a beginner, especially when not too long in i was stuck on the train that goes upside down and you had to defeat the robots on another train before your train crashed or some crap like that! dropped the game for like ten years cause of that damned part, picked back up on the ps4 re-release

[@abdelali9279]

Waiting for that Venn Diagram like game where is an adult orientated game released in a family friendly Nintendo console made by Tim Schaefer.

[@urk5204]

NGL I take exception to the idea that "Folklore" was a good game. It got EXTREMELY tedious maybe an hour in, and it had that janky shiny early PS3 look. I was extremely disappointed by it, and it was one of the only games available for the PS3 in early 2008

[@DonkThikkness]

Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2 are easily my favorite 3D platformers.

[@GnatWasJulian]

GTA Chinatown Wars was my only access to GTA games as a Nintendo kid

[@dr.decker3623]

I think i was the only kid that bought Grim Fandango when it released on PC :P

[@GnatWasJulian]

I've never played Jet Set Radio, but I'm going to cop it up on Steam for 7.99€

[@jamesb6117]

Honourable Mention: Dead Space 3

[@Phono_Wizard]

I want Brutal Legend 2 so badly.

[@mattalan6618]

wont happen

[@SamButler22]

Not really a killer app if it didn't sell well. Absolutely a classic though

[@geekafrique443]

I really enjoyed brutal legend got to play it at an old friend's house

[@khonsubast5056]

Speaking of great games that didn’t sell well, I’m having a blast playing Guardians of the Galaxy right now. The characters, dialogue and voice acting are even better then the movies imo. It’s on Gamepass now. Go play it!

[@MrOuest]

Great list

[@bloodywolf9317]

YES eternal darkness getting mentioned somewhere, fucking adore that game :D now just need Vagrant Story to get some love and ill be happy again.

[@Rodney17302]

How did Jetset Radio Future sell poorly? It was a pack-in game!! It literally came with my Xbox!

[@marukuanfuni]

im more confused about JSR for dreamcast and beyond, that damn thing was re-released even on IOS and android and other cell phones and everything after the dreamcast's generation! around its original DC release, i knew at least 20 people who had JSR.its probably a smash bros for Wii-U situation where its not a high seller due to console not doing very well to begin with!

[@Rodney17302]

@@marukuanfuni JSRF sold over 600,000 copies. For reference, Blinx sold just over 150,000 copies and earned "platinum" status and a sequel. Perhaps they were judging solely by European sales? Regardless, far from the first discrepancy I've found in a Triple Jump video.

[@sugreev2001]

Well, you’ll be pleased to know that I own most of the games on this list.

[@SamiAmYoutube]

Lollipop Chainsaw is a game I heard so much shit on that I finally played and LOVED.

[@colingznetworkplus4618]

Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil

[@billv1010]

Conker is why I bought my N64

[@julesdouglas2372]

Not gonna lie. I have never heard of Folklore and I had a PS3 day one. It sounds interesting.

[@daisukegori2112]

Hey bud I just played this awesome new game, so much fun. It's called ( insert name) Friend " I heard that game didn't sell well" ( doesn't play the game.

[@brandonsmith2798]

Vanquish deserved better! Loved that game!

[@sonicAI]

wow i legit played and owned 8 out the 10 games on here

[@FalloutJack]

As I said in the other video, if it achieved a high cult popularity later in life, it does not belong on this list, as the damage was undone. So, Psychonauts does not count. Eternal Darkness, meanwhile, was good in *concept,* but I've seen some of it played through. It has actual flaws in gameplay and storytelling that would bring it down, not simply whether the audience was 'ready' or not. Janky and a bit poorly acted, is what I mean.

[@douglasbriel6103]

Seems like GTA Chinatown needs to rereleased on Nintendo Switch.

[@RamadaArtist]

The thing about Vanquish is that it's not even that innovative. It's just a 3D Mega Man game with a more serious tone. Okay I guess a 3D Mega Man that's actually GOOD might be innovative conceptually, but it's not like they hadn't at least pretended to try and make one before.

[@Sleepysnorlax1]

Wow, I actually own all of these games! Psi-Ops, Conker, Brutal Legends…. Some of my favorite games there. Tim Schafer games are good but have very polarizing art styles. I think that’s often the biggest hurdle for his games. I loved Brutal, but really disliked the visual style of Psychonauts and Grim Fandango. It was enough to keep me from getting too far in either.