You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
When it comes to games that we love taking an absolute shitty nose-dive in the UK gaming charts, we've definitely been hurt before. But not like this. Not two weeks in a row. This is a sustained attack of spirit-crushing depression that has left us feeling like a sad balloon at an asthmatic's birthday party.
First up, Child of Eden. An intangibly creative and technically mind-blowing on-rails shooter that's infinitely more than an on-rails shooter and is made by genuine maker of awesome games, Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Rez). It completely fails to make the top 20 (it entered at 22 and has since dropped to 28).
Above: Shadows of the Damned anyone? Anyone? ANYONE?
That's two incredible games, created by legitimate industry legends, that have spectacularly tanked in consecutive weeks. These are games that have an abundance of the very things gamers routinely demand more of - imagination, fresh ideas and new experiences. And what twinkling gem currently sits at the top of the UK gaming charts? Zumba Fitness. God it's depressing.
But wait. That's not all. Today Activision has revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops is officially thebest selling game in the UK ever. EVAR! To date the game has sold over 3.7 million copies. I'm not brilliant with numbers, but by my calculations that's something like 4 million copies more than Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned COMBINED! Holy shit that *is* depressing.
Yes, the charts are a reflection of the main-stream focused purchases of the risk averse masses, but I feel genuinely glum that there apparently aren't enough gamers in the UK that actually give a shit to get either Child of Eden or Shadows of the Damned into the top 20. Very sad face.
Above: A dog dressed as the Easter Bunny. Just to break up the sadness
Admittedly, I'm part of the problem - I got sent both games for free, so haven't given any financial support to either game (although I would like to think my editorial contribution is worth *something*). So that's my excuse. But what about you? Have you bought either game? If so, well done. Feel smug. But if not, why not? I'm genuinely interested to know why barely any bugger has picked up either Child of Eden or Shadows of the Damned.
June 28, 2011
