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[TaloN]

i played the demo once and loved it.

[Stomrider]

Hi, what game do you mean with 1602 AD? The game called Anno 1602 (In Austria and Germany where it was produced) from Sunflowers? They always say that such kind of games (like Settlers) never go out to be sold much in other countries than German-Speaking ones.

I own it original in the Kings-Edition (with the Addon).

[Borodin]

Originally posted by Stomrider@Jan 7 2005, 02:23 AM
Hi, what game do you mean with 1602 AD? The game called Anno 1602 (In Austria and Germany where it was produced) from Sunflowers? They always say that such kind of games (like Settlers) never go out to be sold much in other countries than German-Speaking ones.

Settlers was actually a very popular series in the US. And while Anno 1602 didn't do well in the US, it was released here.

But the issue isn't whether the game was released in the US. It's a criminal offense to pirate software still under copyright, wherever you are.

[Stormrider]

And how successful was 1502 AD in US?

Yes, Settlers 1 and 2 (best ones) are very popular in US but the last 2 where not (BlueByte said that). I Don´t know how good the new Settler (is it called Legacy of Kings?) is... so I´m asking.

[Borodin]

Originally posted by Stormrider@Jan 7 2005, 04:08 PM
And how successful was 1502 AD in US?

Yes, Settlers 1 and 2 (best ones) are very popular in US but the last 2 where not (BlueByte said that). I Don´t know how good the new Settler (is it called Legacy of Kings?) is... so I´m asking.

1602 was considerably more popular than 1502, but I suspect that was a matter of good marketing.

As for the Settlers series: the problem was that American gamers expect upgrades when new titles in a series appear. If the upgrades aren't significant, the titles are ignored in favor of other games with more features. It's a features race, here. This is what KOEI found out when they tried issuing Romance of the Three Kingdoms I through IV on the PC in the US. Each title added something, but after the second the differences were small and incremental. The market dwindled. This is the opposite of what happens in Japan, where players accept the slight improvements eagerly, and stick closely with brands.

The same thing happened with Settlers. Essentially, the later titles are the same as the earlier ones: there's nothing big that's changed as far as features are concerned. Reviews pointed this out, and players stuck to what they'd purchased, before. There were even spinoffs that have appeared here in recent years, and they've sold poorly, too.

[Stormrider]

Some Magazines wrote that the reason is that american players prefer action games and do not pay much attention to build up games. And as you wrote there where no really new features in the later settler games. Interesting that japan gamers are pleased with them.

[Borodin]

Originally posted by Stormrider@Jan 8 2005, 02:55 PM
Some Magazines wrote that the reason is that american players prefer action games and do not pay much attention to build up games. And as you wrote there where no really new features in the later settler games. Interesting that japan gamers are pleased with them.

I suppose it's a bit of an exaggeration to say--

Americans only play action games;
Germans only play strategic titles;
the Japanese will buy any game in a series once they like the first...

But the tendency is there. Myself, though I'm an American, I don't like (and never have liked) action games. I prefer strategy titles, RPGs and non-tactical sims. Each to their own.