Prototype Trounces inFamous
- Scribbled on July 16th, 2009 by Jordan Lund
- Filed in Action, Microsoft Xbox 360, NPD, PC, Sony PlayStation 3
When the media zeitgeist kicks in, we start seeing different companies producing remarkably similar products. In the movie industry, we get Deep Impact vs. Armageddon, A Bugs Life vs. Antz, Dante’s Peak vs. Volcano, Wyatt Earp vs. Tombstone, Prefontaine vs. Without Limits – the list is endless, dating back to Gone With the Wind vs. Jezebel.
In the past two months, we’ve seen the same sort of thing happening in gaming with the release of inFamous and Prototype. Both open world games feature super-powered dudes tearing up their respective cities. Even gaming curmudgeon Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw declared the two titles too close to call – pending seeing each character done up in lingerie by the other games creative team. What made it even funnier was that the creative teams behind remarkably similar games submitted remarkably similar pictures involving unicorns and rainbows.
Metacritic has the PS3 exclusive inFamous scoring a respectable 84/100, while Prototype scored slightly less, 80 on the PS3, 79 on the PC, and 78 on the Xbox 360
Now, however, that the June NPD numbers are out we can finally declare a winner and put this to rest as early reports had inFamous selling around 190,000 copies for the first week, but the NPD numbers had a weaker showing of 175,900 in May. The June numbers show an additional 192,700 for inFamous, bringing it up to a total of 368,600 since launch while Prototype racked up 419,900 on the Xbox 360 alone. We don’t know the number of PS3 sales, as it apparently didn’t make the top 10 reported by NPD – and PC sales are currently unavailable.
But even without PS3 and PC sales it would seem that Prototype has come out as the fan favorite over inFamous.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Care to mention that because infamous is a PS3 exclusive it didn’t get nearly the exposure prototype did? If you really want to make a comparison, find out the NDP figures for prototype on PS3 and compare them to the figures of infamous. People who only own the 360 don’t have the ability to choose between both games. Its only natural that when you stack an exclusive up against a multiplat of the same genre (both in competition), you are going to see the multiplat come out on top.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
So because Prototype sold more on a console that didn’t have access to inFAMOUS that makes Prototype the fan favorite? What insane logic is that? Compare the PS3 sales of the two to find which is the fan favorite.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
This is a stupid article.
Hm… a game that was on 3 platforms outsold the one with the smallest installed base and it was only on that one console.
DUH it was gonna outsell InFamous, everyone knew that, especially when you combine platforms.
The PS3 version of Prototype got outsold, so that’s all that should matter.
I think everyone agrees inFamous is WAY better.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Mega fail motherfucker.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
inFAMOUS is exclusive on the PS3 while Prototype is a multiplatform game. June’s NPD sales number show inFAMOUS is far more popular than Prototype to PS3 owners. Logic screams that if inFAMOUS was possible on the 360 and was made multiplatform inFAMOUS would outsell Prototype on the 360 as well. Comparing Prototype’s 360 numbers with InFAMOUS’s total sales, if the PS3 and 360 had an equal install base, mathematically, inFAMOUS would outsell Prototype by a vast margin.
You fail.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Look at this way – if you adjust the numbers, inFamous has sold to 3.5% of it’s available userbase and Prototype has sold to 2.1%. Who has won now?
July 16th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Oh god, you have got to be an idiot. Prototype is a MULTIPLATFORM game thus has more userbase while inFAMOUS is a PS3 exclusive. OMG, it hurts me to think that we have people like you on this planet. Oh you know what? You are probably the reason why Bush got elected twice!
July 16th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Fanboy article for sure. Honestly man, there is like a 2-1 ratio of 360owners to ps3 owners in the US. If wouldn’t be surprised that Prototype sold more but look at the install base first.
July 16th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Fanbrat article FTW!
July 16th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
What an epic fail is this…
July 16th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Installed user base doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. If it did both games would be selling in the multiple millions instead of sub-500,000.
For the record, I’m the author of the article and I personally bought inFamous and passed on Prototype.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I think your reasoning for declaring Prototype as the “fan favorite” is ridiculous and wrong because you are comparing the wrong numbers. The Xbox 360 only has Prototype available. On the PS3 both Prototype and inFamous are available. If you used logic also known as common sense to decide what game is the “fan favorite” you would obviously look at the platform that has both games available to them and see which one was more successful. Since PS3 owners have two options to choose from, Prototype and inFamous, and looking at the fact that inFamous made the NPD’s top 10 software list and the PS3 version of Prototype did not it’s easily obvious that inFamous is the “fan favorite.” Now getting away from the article that has the obvious intent of igniting the hearts of fanboys, I’m sure Prototype and inFamous are both terrific games in their own unique ways stop judging and comparing them over every stupid thing.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
If Jordan were a fanboy, why would he mention the Metacritic scores at all (inFamous 84, while Proto PS3 80, Proto PC 79, Proto 360 78)?
Only rabid fanboys accuse others of bias. And the fact of the matter is this: both games were flops in the box office. Neither sold well at all.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
none of the commenters have even taken into account people who own both a 360 and a ps3. for all you know every single one of the 192,000 ps3 owners who got infamous could also be one of the 420,000 who got prototype, just on their 360. Its impossible to really compare a multiplat with an exclusive, but prototype did outsell infamous by a longshot.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Jordan owns both, picked up inFamous, passed on Prototype.
July 17th, 2009 at 12:31 am
After months of the media pitting the super hero action titles InFamous and Prototype against each other, we finally have an accurate bench mark to gauge their popularity, courtesy the NPD sales group – and it looks like the crown goes to the electric shooting Cole McGrath.
THIS IS THE REAL COMPARISON!!!
Infamous managed to once again sneak in on June’s top 10. The title sold an additional 192,000 copies, and in a rare showing, actually outsold it’s own launch debut. Prototype did manage to sell about 420,000 units on the 360 but Prototype PS3 failed to even make the cut. The NPD analysis indicates the title sold about 600,000 units combined, which would put Prototype PS3 at around 180K units sold. This shows that InFamous was clearly more popular amongst people who could pick up both games.
InFamous is an open world action game, developed by Sucker Punch Productions. The game was released on May 26, and is available exclusively on the PS3.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:04 am
The comments are absolutely correct, there’s no means for comparison here. Comparing two relatively different games on two consoles with very different install bases does not work.
Especially when you can even the playing field a bit, and simply compare the two relatively different games on the same console; which has the same install base.
Your trying to compare availability vs quantity: The amount of games sold per platform divided by the user base answers your question. It’s simple statistical math.
350,000 games sold against 8 million users = 4.37% (PS3)
400,000 games sold against 11 million users = 3.63% (360)
(This is a general comparison of 360 to PS3. These numbers are generalized, and meant for demonstrative purposes of basic math only. Don’t get up my @#$ about it)
And yeah, this doesn’t even take into account what everybody else saying: is that it’s much easier to compare both titles on one console – and inFamous trashed Prototype.
“Installed user base doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. If it did both games would be selling in the multiple millions instead of sub-500,000″
What a ridiculous retort, I’m not even going to comment.
User install base absolutely matters. If a game sells equal on both systems, it is regarded as selling better on the PS3 because more people who own the system bought one.
This article is garbage.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I agree with all of you PS3 fanboys saying that this article “didn’t take into account the fact that Infamous was a PS3 exclusive”, however, I can’t help but laugh because your dumb little friend Nick at PS3Center.net thought to mention InFAMOUS beat Prototype, and was declared the winner in general. Instead of stating that it “won in terms of PS3 sales” he misleads us by only stating that it sold better on the Xbox 360.
The truth is, InFAMOUS was more popular on the PS3 but as far as a fan favorite, despite the multiconsole launch, Prototype still won. It just proves that if InFAMOUS had been on the Xbox 360 as well, it would have sold at least twice as much.
Developers lose so much money making PS3 exclusives. No doubt Sony pays them behind the scenes. How else would they generate a descent amount of money? PS3 software brings in sh*t.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:59 am
F— ALL SONY FANBOYS!!! F— ALL OF YOU!! GO F— YOUR SHINY BLACK JUNKY!!!
July 17th, 2009 at 3:10 am
Did you just compare Prototypes sales on the 360 to inFAMOUS sales on the PS3? WTF!?!? But inFAMOUS isnt on 360…
July 17th, 2009 at 3:36 am
i wouldve nvr thought someone this retarded would exist….
go take some journalism classes dumbass
July 17th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Are you stupid? How can you compare sales of a platform exclusive to a multiplatform game? Of course the sales gap will be huge! I don’t think its any indication of which is the better game! To be honest I am a 360 owner so will not be experience infamous, but I think I am going to a get a PS3 as Infamous and a few other games look brilliant.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:59 am
hahaha. flawed methods of reasoning. take a logic class. we aren’t THAT stupid.
July 17th, 2009 at 7:54 am
You didn’t declarew te PS3 as the greatest ever and now look at what’s happened.
Sony Defence Force
ACTIVATE!!!
July 17th, 2009 at 8:15 am
lol they ‘did not know’ the ps3 prototype figures? well why not find out? My theory is they do know and they aren’t published because it would prove them wrong. You can’t compare them cross-platform because more people have xboxes. What a poor and mis-informing article
July 17th, 2009 at 8:53 am
This is so stupid and you have to be an imbecile to try and compare sold units of this two games. But if you insist, Infamous won clear, because was the game of choice if you had the option.
[Prove it. - Jonah Falcon]
July 17th, 2009 at 9:05 am
So wait, Prototype trounces inFamous when “Metacritic has the PS3 exclusive inFamous scoring a respectable 84/100, while Prototype scored slightly less, 80 on the PS3, 79 on the PC, and 78 on the Xbox 360″. Lol, I’m disappointed that sales decide which game trounces which game now days.
July 17th, 2009 at 9:15 am
It would suck to only be able to play Prototype. Real gamers have both a PS3 and 360.
This is just typical xbot tripe.
[Er, um, didn't Jordan Lund - the author - just say he owns BOTH a PS3 and 360, and chose to buy inFamous over Prototype?
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL! - Jonah Falcon]
July 17th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Sales doesn’t mean fan favorite. It’s hard to compare an exclusive to a multiplatform game.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Good old retarded articles. 360 has no exclusive good games so far this year so everyone flocks to the latest hyped multiplatform game. I like how you conveniently didn’t discuss how inFAMOUS curbstomped Prototype on PS3 even in it’s second month.
[Uh huh. You're not a fanboy, nosiree. What does it matter when Sony's games DON'T SELL? - Jonah Falcon]
July 17th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I bought Prototype for 360 and I only own the 360. I think inFamous looks like its fun too, but I prefer Prototype. I’m not sure if either game will have a lasting impact on the gaming industry though.
You can only hope for a sequel to whichever game you like better and for me it’s Prototype.
July 17th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I personally bought inFamous and Prototype (Xbox) when they both came out. I love inFamous… it is awesome. I got Prototype hoping it would be just as fun and I got it for Xbox instead of PS3 soley to get achievements but I ended up hating Prototype, I can’t stand playing it. I personally can’t see how anyone likes Prototype but thats all personal opinion…
July 17th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
If you don’t want to look like a fanboi, don’t write like a fanboi.
In the one area a comparison CAN be made, gamers chose inFamous – hands down.
You’re an uneducated idiot.
[Pot, kettle, black. Actually, you're the kettle calling the fine china black. - Jonah Falcon]
July 17th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
prototype would have sold more on the ps3 if infamous didnt exist use your heads not many people are going to buy both games.
SO! lets change things round a bit.
368,600(infFamous) 180,000(ps3 prototype)
which equals 548,600 approximately the total sold which i believe outways the 420,000 superhero sandbox games sold on the 360 this month >,<
July 17th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
inFamous is NOT better then Prototype. The only thing inFamous has on Prototype is the graphics, but everything else such as guns, perks, powers, upgrades, gameplay belong to Prototype… and even graphically, inFamous barely beats out Prototype.. prototype is a more fun game to play because you get more of everything… inFamous is fun too, but inFamous is simply not as good as Prototype..
July 17th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I love how people are arguing with FACT.
It is FACT that inFAMOUS didn’t sell as well, we’re not talking about critical reception, this is on the basis of SALES.
The Sony Defence Force are so funny.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Some stats for you:
In the last month, Prototype received 6,586 tweets, while inFamous received 2,305 tweets.
Prototype is more popular than inFamous, period.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Um. You Sony guys are kind of silly.
inFamous moved .61 million on the PS3. PROTOTYPE moved .41 on the PS3 AS WELL AS .61 million on the X360. So, basically, it trounced inFamous sales wise. There’s no way around that. It just made more money. That’s what selling more MEANS.
http://www.vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=prototype
http://www.vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=inFamous
Sorry PS3 guys, but PROTOTYPE managed to sell well on the PS3 AND the 360. Saying “but inFamous is only on one platform!” is not really an effective argument. Not breaking a million on the PS3 as an exclusive (especially with all the TV play for the title and none for PROTOTYPE) is just sad. It pretty much indicates the direction of the PS3 platform.
Note: I like inFamous as a game, but to say it’s the “winner” in sales here is just strange. It certainly won the hearts of the critics, but not the public.
July 31st, 2009 at 12:48 am
LETS MAKE IT SIMPLE, IF THERE WAS ONLY ONE CONSOLE IN DA WORLD (SONY) AND YOU COULD ONLY HAVE ONE GAME(PROTOTYPE OR INFAMOUS) WHICH ONE WOULD U CHOOSE?
December 9th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
it made more on the Xbox 360 ALONE!! nuff said