Why Calling All Cars Didn't Sell in the Playstation Store

Calling All Cars was released on the Playstation Store of the Playstation 3 on May 10, 2007. The Playstation Network exclusive game has plenty going for it. For one, Calling All Cars was designed by the world-renowned David Jaffe, who previous worked on God of War in addition to the Twisted Metal series. Calling All Cars also got a fair amount of hype due to it being one of the first Playstation Network games. So why didn't Calling All Cars end up selling? Let's take a look at several contributing factors.

Too Early
Calling All Cars came out just six months after the launch of the Playstation 3. This posed a great obstacle for the Playstation Network exclusive game. For one, the user base was quite small at that time. Moreover, there weren't any incentives to use the Playstation Network as there were few online games available. Finally, many early adaptors on the Playstation 3 found that the initial Playstation Store was too clunky and slow to use. Thanks to these combinations, Calling All Cars failed to sell well.

Lack of Features
The game itself isn't quite perfect either. The main criticism behind Calling All Cars is that it lacks depth. You can literally experience a majority of the game in just a few hours. Not to mention that it could easily be mastered at the same time frame. While the multiplayer is the meat of Calling All Cars, it can get old quickly due to the lack of maps in addition to differential vehicles. Since many consumers based their purchase on game reviews, Calling All Cars ended up selling badly.

Lack of Eye Candy
When consumers purchase a Playstation 3, they expect its games to blow them away graphically. The graphics in Calling All Cars, however, is so simple that it could easily be done on the Playstation 2. Furthermore, it didn't look distinctly unique enough to make up for its lack of visual fidelity. As a result, many consumers decided to skip out on Calling All Cars.

High Price Tag
Finally, the price tag lends a hand to the disappointing sales of Calling All Cars. While $9.99 isn't really a rip-off, many potential buyers simply felt that it is too much for a game that doesn't look too impressive in addition to lacking in depth and content. The fact is that Calling All Cars could have so many more copies at half the price.

Even with less than stellar sales, Calling All Cars still managed to become profitable. It just wasn't a breakout hit game on the Playstation Network as many expected it to be.