this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
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stop listening to retailers and listen to consumers... fuksakes...
Keep in mind, the time period he's talking about is the early '00s, before online distribution got big. Back then if GameStop (et al.) didn't believe your product would sell, they wouldn't stock it, and then nobody would be able to buy it.
The problem is, there's no real good way to "listen to consumers" other than to ask retailers what is actually selling.
Online chatter is notoriously unreliable, not just in games, but in a lot of sectors. Car enthusiasts go on and on about what nostalgic car they want, but when auto manufacturers try to sell some version of that, there's a million excuses why they bought Generic SUV #472B instead. Music artists have millions of followers on Twitter and Instagram, but can't sell albums and have to cancel tours due to lack of ticket sales.
Also, at one time, it might actually be true that very few people wanted that style of game. Trends and preferences are constantly changing.
In the beginning of PC games it was the nerds buying the computers and games so 90% of the customers were nerds and they dictated what sold. For example, many different takes on D&D. Now it's such a mixed bag of what is considered a "gamer" so they have to make a variety.