What I tend to do with single player only  games like AW, is wait for the price to drop.  I'm doing the same with Heavy Rain, the game isn't going to change at all and I don't have to worry about people moving on from the mp.

I don't buy games as often as I used to. I often lose interest very rapidly. But I bought Alan Wake the day it hit the shelves as I'd been seen the QL and knew I love the game and I did, I got exactly what I wanted. 
 
I knew nothing what-so-eve about RDR. My friends were talking about RDR, shortly after my purchase. All the things that intended to do and I got rather interested. The actually process of doing things such as: stalking and skinny a bear, sounded rather neat. I bought RDR (without actually having the money) and although I really, really enjoyed Alan Wake if knew about RDR before buying AW, I probably wouldn't have bought Alan Wake. The general impression I get is that people are waiting to pick it up on the cheap.

I think it boils down to the economy and wanting to get one's money's worth. Paying $60 for eight hours of entertainment is a pretty shitty deal, especially when you've got a game like RDR staring in your face which boasts an open world that you could get lost in doing random things for longer than the entire runtime of Alan Wake. Personally, since I can't afford to just throw $60 around like it's nothing I'm going to be looking for the product that gives me the highest return on my investment, and that isn't Alan Wake. I'm a PC gamer primarily, and as much as I'd like to be able to play Alan Wake on my preferred platform, it's a smart idea for them to keep this console-bound; a game with a high pricetag and low playtime is sure to get heavily pirated. Piracy exists on the consoles too, but if this thing hit PCs I'm sure it'd be a feeding frenzy of epic proportions on torrent sites.
 
Of course the problem could be entirely unrelated to monetary difficulties. Another possibility could be that it may be unclear to the general public what this game actually is. Shooter? Survival horror? Oh, look, a Rockstar game set in the Wild West.

" Oh hi I'm Alan Wake, you guys should buy me because I'm deep and have an involving storyliRDR SMASH PUNY ALAN WAKE RAR!!! "

I also fear for all of these racing games that have just come out. Not only are they still in the shadow of RDR, but they've probably split the market and forced many racing game fans to choose just one of them.
 
The number of people on GB that have played Split/Second and Blur is scary low. Not to mention the fact that I've generally only seen about 1500-2500 people online playing Blur at any one time. Those number seem pretty low for a brand new game.

" @FakePlasticTree: It says psychological action thriller which it is.  The story and themes half way through the game become a horror story, like the narrator says.  I guess its a mix or thriller/action/horror, but it is hardly a survival horror.  At least that's the vibe I got. "

I don't think it's because RDR.
 
I just think it's not a very mainstream game for the system. Games like Alan Wake are popular on the DS and PC, not on the Xbox 360.

I think we're forgetting that most consumers of videogames aren't the kinds of people who come on the internet to enthuse about and learn about videogames. Those people are going to walk into Best Buy or Gamestop or wherever and look at the shelf. On that shelf, hypothetically, they will see two games. One that they have seen on TV, billboards and know basically what it's about (they may even know the name Rockstar), and one with a title that makes reference to a person they've never heard of. They know nothing about the game itself. Which one does the average consumer pick up?

I bought both games cause Best Buy had a $20 discount deal but I haven't played Alan Wake yet since I wanna beat RDR first. I don't think it's gonna affect the developer that much since they've already stated that a sequel is in the works.

I would totally buy Alan Wake but it's $60 and I don't have a 360 :(.

" I think we're forgetting that most consumers of videogames aren't the kinds of people who come on the internet to enthuse about and learn about videogames. Those people are going to walk into Best Buy or Gamestop or wherever and look at the shelf. On that shelf, hypothetically, they will see two games. One that they have seen on TV, billboards and know basically what it's about (they may even know the name Rockstar), and one with a title that makes reference to a person they've never heard of. They know nothing about the game itself. Which one does the average consumer pick up? "

" @Undeadpool said:

" I think we're forgetting that most consumers of videogames aren't the kinds of people who come on the internet to enthuse about and learn about videogames. Those people are going to walk into Best Buy or Gamestop or wherever and look at the shelf. On that shelf, hypothetically, they will see two games. One that they have seen on TV, billboards and know basically what it's about (they may even know the name Rockstar), and one with a title that makes reference to a person they've never heard of. They know nothing about the game itself. Which one does the average consumer pick up? "

I think this applies moreso to parents. Kids definitely go online to discuss games, take a look at Gamespot. Place is infested with 13 year olds. "

Has anyone mentioned yet that the article is probably not trustworthy because they cite VGChartz?

Well, I was in the Alan Wake vs. RDR boat...I chose the game that would last a lot longer, RDR.

They should have known better than to challenge the King.

" @larryrules138 said:

" @Undeadpool said:

" I think we're forgetting that most consumers of videogames aren't the kinds of people who come on the internet to enthuse about and learn about videogames. Those people are going to walk into Best Buy or Gamestop or wherever and look at the shelf. On that shelf, hypothetically, they will see two games. One that they have seen on TV, billboards and know basically what it's about (they may even know the name Rockstar), and one with a title that makes reference to a person they've never heard of. They know nothing about the game itself. Which one does the average consumer pick up? "

I think this applies moreso to parents. Kids definitely go online to discuss games, take a look at Gamespot. Place is infested with 13 year olds. "

You, sir, are not wrong, but then let's boil down that argument further: A 13 year old is more likely to buy a game in which you ride around shooting people at random or going online and screaming racial slurs while shooting people at random (I don't mean to downplay the INCREDIBLE plot and characters of Red Dead, but I remember being 13 too...) or a nuanced horror/drama from a company they've probably never heard of and which is only single player? "

I think one of the main problems is that it's a hard sell. It's a relatively short game with no co-op or multiplayer and little re-playability. Full price is a little too much to ask for a game like that.

I for one have rented Alan Wake from Boomerang... I'm wondering if this is what allot have done?

That's sad. I think it came out at a bad time; RDR is waaaay more popular.

All I have to say is Microsoft droped the fucking ball on Alan Wake. Its an awesome game that should have gotten more attention. I'd rather play Alan Wake for a third time then play RDR to be honest. Not shitting on RDR or anything, Alan Wake is just that great.  
 
And you got to hand it to the guys at Remedy. You may bitch about them taking a long ass time whit the game but considering that they build everyting from skratch whit under 40ppl on staff and completly changed the game half way through development, I'd say that's really fucking impressive. Compare that to the 200+ppl on Assassing Creed 2, and that took 2 years to make on an exsisting game engine.