[3DS] Rhythm Thief - Sega's Latest Rhythm game

[Detective Shadzter]

£20 HMV voucher or a game for £17 cheaper in Argos...

I think you made the wrong decision there, if you're always gonna shop at HMV to get points.

I'm aware of the difference. My decision wasn't based on that, it was based on getting the game today, so I could play it on my day off. I don't have another day off now until Sunday and I really wanted to play it after the disappointment of not getting it on Thursday and the Argos order still not being sent out, let alone delivered.

I'm going to trade in the Argos copy when it finally arrives and see if I can make some of the money back. Getting it for the cheap price of £23.99, I might get more than that in trade-in credit. If not, I'll get a refund from Argos.

I know it's ultimately a crazy decision just to play it earlier, but I'm doing ok money-wise at the moment, so I'm not too fussed.

[-Mark-]

Well, thankfully it looks like the 'glitch' that myself and a few others have been encountering isn't actually a glitch, but rather just down to the rather odd way the game scores you.

Basically, due to various factors it's possible to get a higher rank yet a lower score than your previous attempts. Score has a greater weighting than rank, so even if you get a higher rank but have a lower score than your previous best effort, your new rank won't override your old one because your older rank still has a higher score attached to it.

At least I know it's not actually a glitch now.

[-Mark-]

Apologies for the double post, but I've noticed something rather dodgy here;

Even though I now understand how the scoring and ranking system in this game works, I've noticed one huge flaw in it. It's not game-breaking, but it does mean that it's possible for the player to unknowingly and unwillingly make the game much, much more difficult for themselves, almost to the point of the game literally demanding perfection from you before it'll fork over an A rank.

How, exactly? Well, bear in mind that there are two requirements for getting an A rank; Firstly, to actually get the A rank itself. Then, in order for that A rank to 'count', you also need to make sure that in getting that A rank, you also beat any previous high scores that you might have set for that challenge as well. This is where the problem lies.

Let's say for example that you've managed to get right near the end of a challenge and have done so flawlessly. Let's imagine you've got a Perfect on every part so far. You've got an A rank and have no doubt smashed your previous best score to pieces.

Suddenly, you screw up, right at the last second. You miss the last couple of notes and your rank drops to a B.

The problem now is that, due to your good performance throughout the majority of the challenge, your score will be exceptionally high. Except because you screwed up at the last minute, you got a B. See where I'm going with this? In other words, in this situation, the only way for you to now surpass your current score and get an A rank is to play as well as you did last time without screwing up at the end. You're basically backing yourself into a corner and making the game pretty much demand perfection from you.

I understand that your rank can't very well relate directly to your points; your points accumulate and stay throughout a challenge- they don't drop if you fail. Your rank on the other hand is flexible; it wouldn't make sense for you to get a guaranteed A rank by doing the first half of a challenge perfectly to match a preset rank score requirement and then be allowed to fail the second half miserably and still get an A. The problem here is that they force you to surpass you previous score in order for any new ranks to count, when rank and score shouldn't really be tied together like that.

As it stands, you're better off quitting before it saves your score if you do well and get anything less than an A, because otherwise you're just making things harder and harder for yourself. It's a bit frustrating, really.

[BlueTidalGamer]

Currently got up to Chapter 3 and i'm loving this game so far. Replaying Showtime is fun as hell. That song is my favorite in the game so far.

[Autosaver]

http://www.gamespot.com/rhythm-thief-and-the-emperors-treasure/reviews/rhythm-thief-and-the-emperors-treasure-review-6371015/

It got an 8/10 from Gamespot & IGN!

[BlueTidalGamer]

The Samba De Amigo rhythm game is brilliant! =D

[Detective Shadzter]

The order status of the copy I couldn't cancel with Argos has finally updated, though it's a bit off. "We've delivered your item." Erm... no, you haven't. If it's been sent out, then great, but no, you haven't delivered it yet.

It appears Argos has now sold out online, too.

[Bisylizzie]

^I'd assume by delivered, it means "sent out", which I am hoping for, as mine hasn't arrived yet either, so hopefully within the next couple of days?

BISYEDIT:

And it arrived today! Well, that's lucky I get to play over the weekend

Edited April 14, 2012 by Bisylizzie

[Detective Shadzter]

BISYEDIT:

And it arrived today! Well, that's lucky I get to play over the weekend

Finally received my other copy of Rhythm Thief from Argos today, too. Now my wife's interested in having the second copy. WHAT TO DO?!

[jondawg87]

Played the demo of this. Thought it was really good. I'll probably get this game soon. Glad it's had good reviews.

[Autosaver]

Ha, I knew it. I wasn't alone when people were speculating the game got cancelled (despite some BS statements of it being 100% safe with people not backing up their statements and not even bothering to reply cough) but anyways, some bad news.

SEGABits is reporting that the game bombed in the UK.

The good news? Rhythm Thief was not one of the cancellations reportedly occuring in the wake of SEGA’s recent financial woes; the game saw release in Europe earlier this month. The bad news? Nobody bought it. Though exact numbers are not currently known, SEGA’s forray back into Samba De Amigo-styled rhythm games failed to make the UK top 40 in its debut week, and its chart position remained missing in action in week 2.

Ugh, this will probably hint at SEGA not to risk a game like this again. Despite having hopes for it, they were disappointed in the end. What does this mean for the future of 3DS games from SEGA? We already have statements with SEGA saying they want to focus on their main franchises. I really don't want the 3DS to be avoided after a sales bomb.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Autosaver

[Conando]

The 3DS won't be avoided. They'll just pop out Sonic games on it, rather than anything else. Which seems to be the thing they're going to do anyway. As for the game bombing...did they once again totally forget to advertise?

[Autosaver]

I obviously meant other franchises other than Sonic. Ha ha!

Apparently, Nintendo was in charge of the advertising. I don't live in the UK but word says it wasn't advertised that much.

[Conando]

I suppose you could blame Nintendo for it but, I'd still be inclined to blame SEGA for being cheapskates and not wanting to pay to advertise their own darn game. I swear, they have to be one of the worst run companies in the industry, despite producing quality games.

[Detective Shadzter]

Ha, I knew it. I wasn't alone when people were speculating the game got cancelled (despite some BS statements of it being 100% safe with people not backing up their statements and not even bothering to reply cough) but anyways, some bad news.

SEGABits is reporting that the game bombed in the UK.

Ugh, this will probably hint at SEGA not to risk a game like this again. Despite having hopes for it, they were disappointed in the end. What does this mean for the future of 3DS games from SEGA? We already have statements with SEGA saying they want to focus on their main franchises. I really don't want the 3DS to be avoided after a sales bomb.

While it didn't make the UK Top 40 this week, it still at least made 9th in the 3DS top 10 with its first full week of sales.

http://www.chart-tra...t.jsp&ct=310019

[Jeffhog]

Out of curiosity, how much advertising was there for Rhythm Thief in Europe?

[Detective Shadzter]

Out of curiosity, how much advertising was there for Rhythm Thief in Europe?

Next to none. Nintendo made a website for the game...and that's it.

http://www.nintendo....sure_47206.html

Under the terms of the agreement Nintendo will be responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of the game throughout European territories, with SEGA remaining as publisher.

http://www.nintendo....rope_49060.html

That's some great marketing, Nintendo. Could have spent some money on advertising...

[Jeffhog]

That just about explains the crummy sales.

[Chocolate Cookie]

I only saw an advert 3 times on Disney XD and that is all the advertisement I seen or heard. Which I have to say is pretty bad considering that they could have done more to let people know the game is out and all.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Chocolate Cookie

[Detective Shadzter]

The game still hasn't made the UK Top 40 All Formats chart this week and has even dropped off the 3DS Top 10

[Cola]

Demo just came out in the US.

I just played it.

It's the first game in a while to put a genuine smile on my face, and give me quite a fun time. Games seem to have been loosing their magic for me, but Rhythm Thief brings it back in full force.

I NEED this game, NOW. No exceptions.

[Ekaje]

Yeah, the demo did a great job of selling this game to me. Really like the variety between stages.

[Salamander]

I kinda feel bad about not buying this now. I'm honestly not interested in rhythm games as a genre, but the plot, that's a different story...

[Detective Shadzter]

I kinda feel bad about not buying this now. I'm honestly not interested in rhythm games as a genre, but the plot, that's a different story...

That pun made me laugh more than it should have

I've not really been into rhythm games since I was hooked on DDR in my teens, but I love this game.

[PC the Hedgehog]

I haven't played a lot of rhythm games, but the demo was absolutely fantastic and fun as all get out. Shun Nakamura, if this level of fun and quality is indicative of the full game, I can forgive you for Sonic '06.