Why did Anniversary not sell well? - Page 4

CheshireBitch · 19-12-24, 14:35

I don’t remember the marketing being small, there was posters and PLV in stores for the release, there was multiples trailer, magazine articles all year, Karima Adebibe even did a TV commercial for the wii version. It also had the TR7 glow all over it since TR7 convinced everyone TR was cool again and the style of TRA was very close for the visuals.
I think they did things right to deliver and promote the game but as a lot of people Said I think its weakest point was to be released on PC/PS2 first…
I don’t know what stop them to release it on 360 and PS3 at the same time…

Leon_RPD · 24-12-24, 15:07

I never understood why the graphics were WORSE than Tomb Raider Legend which released a year prior...

Chamayoo · 25-12-24, 11:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leon_RPD

I never understood why the graphics were WORSE than Tomb Raider Legend which released a year prior...

I disagree, Anniversary has slightly better graphics. I can understand the lack of colors but it's more an artistic choice issue than a technical one.

Heckler · 02-01-25, 22:37

I wouldn't say the marketing was that bad, but Anniversary was definitely a "wrong place/wrong time" game.
Competition killed the hype. A PS1 remake with PS2 mechanics simple enough to have additional content for PSP, parading as an optional spin-off in 2007 and trying to compete with the likes of fresh faces like Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Portal and Uncharted is pretty self-explanatory.

Edit: Also, the fact that it was free on Xbox if you owned Legend made it feel more like a DLC than a standalone title.

CheshireBitch · 04-01-25, 10:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heckler

Edit: Also, the fact that it was free on Xbox if you owned Legend made it feel more like a DLC than a standalone title.

Do we know if these free download were add to sales numbers ?

larafan25 · 06-01-25, 23:50

I loved the game, it's my favorite out of the trilogy. Though I played it on PS2. I think it gets everything right out of that trilogy tbh. Not sure why the sales were poor, I'd buy it again.

a55 · 07-01-25, 22:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by larafan25

I loved the game, it's my favorite out of the trilogy. Though I played it on PS2. I think it gets everything right out of that trilogy tbh. Not sure why the sales were poor, I'd buy it again.

Me too, in fact, I replayed it many times. I wish I could play it again in 2026 with a LAU remaster.

Heckler · 09-01-25, 11:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by CheshireBitch

Do we know if these free download were add to sales numbers ?

Good question. AFAIK publishers, analysts and sales-tracking entities (NPD, GfK, etc.) generally exclude promotional stuff from sales data. It's a standard industry practice to separate sales and downloads and measure a game's success based on sold units (1.3 million in TRA's case).

They would however be included under a "distributed" statistic which is about 4 times as much on Steam alone.

perryloo · 10-01-25, 15:20

An interesting reason for more sales is a player buying the game again because of disc scratching due to overplaying.

For example my favorite TR game is TR2 and I have bought at least 5 discs of the game over the years due to damaged disks, but TR Anniversary is my least favorite and so I am still on the first disc as it is not damaged due to lack of playing.

My reason for not liking TR Anniversary that much was because I found the adrenaline dodge vey iffy on the PC, so difficult to get it right with the buttons. So I could not get by the T-rex in Lost Valley nor could I get by the two centaur fight, so I had to use saves to bypass those areas.

Never had a problem in any other TR game of not being able to finish the game.

02-01-25, 22:37	#34
Heckler Member Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 4,379	I wouldn't say the marketing was that bad, but Anniversary was definitely a "wrong place/wrong time" game. Competition killed the hype. A PS1 remake with PS2 mechanics simple enough to have additional content for PSP, parading as an optional spin-off in 2007 and trying to compete with the likes of fresh faces like Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Portal and Uncharted is pretty self-explanatory. Edit: Also, the fact that it was free on Xbox if you owned Legend made it feel more like a DLC than a standalone title. Last edited by Heckler; 02-01-25 at 22:40.

19-12-24, 14:35	#31
CheshireBitch Member Joined: Jan 2012 Posts: 2,546	I don’t remember the marketing being small, there was posters and PLV in stores for the release, there was multiples trailer, magazine articles all year, Karima Adebibe even did a TV commercial for the wii version. It also had the TR7 glow all over it since TR7 convinced everyone TR was cool again and the style of TRA was very close for the visuals. I think they did things right to deliver and promote the game but as a lot of people Said I think its weakest point was to be released on PC/PS2 first… I don’t know what stop them to release it on 360 and PS3 at the same time…

24-12-24, 15:07	#32
Leon_RPD Member Joined: Aug 2023 Posts: 112	I never understood why the graphics were WORSE than Tomb Raider Legend which released a year prior...

06-01-25, 23:50	#36
larafan25 Member Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 70,595	I loved the game, it's my favorite out of the trilogy. Though I played it on PS2. I think it gets everything right out of that trilogy tbh. Not sure why the sales were poor, I'd buy it again.

10-01-25, 15:20	#39
perryloo Member Joined: Jan 2021 Posts: 1,133	An interesting reason for more sales is a player buying the game again because of disc scratching due to overplaying. For example my favorite TR game is TR2 and I have bought at least 5 discs of the game over the years due to damaged disks, but TR Anniversary is my least favorite and so I am still on the first disc as it is not damaged due to lack of playing. My reason for not liking TR Anniversary that much was because I found the adrenaline dodge vey iffy on the PC, so difficult to get it right with the buttons. So I could not get by the T-rex in Lost Valley nor could I get by the two centaur fight, so I had to use saves to bypass those areas. Never had a problem in any other TR game of not being able to finish the game.