They're being awfully pessimistic about the game. I expect around 80k - 100k or so, depending on the hype variable. Respectable and certainly so for the PS3, but not going to do big-name DS game numbers.
Regardless of what happens though, I expect a certain amount of backpedalling, spinning of numbers and trolling when it
does release. You know, stuff like:
"
Of course it bombed! Did you see how much Sony ended up
spending promoting the game? They didn't even make an anime series!"
"Naturally, this is a game that starts slow out of the gate. Don't worry, thanks to word-of-mouth, it'll have killer legs. You'll see it hanging around the software charts for months to come. Spots 1 - 15 are for the flavour of the week. 15 - 30 are where the real money is made."
"Well, duh! The PS3 still costs about a million Yen. They need a price drop, fast."
"It's a western game in Japan.
Of course it isn't going to appeal to a Japanese audience. They have a separate section in game stores for foreign-published games, you know."
"Well, LBP might
look like a game that has mass casual appeal, but in reality, with its complicated level-design system it's
actually a hardcore game on a hardcore console. The Wii has the casual market locked up, so this is in line with expectations."
"Japan hates HD gaming am confirmed"
"It only had X number of days on sale. You'll see. Next week the number will add up to Y for the two weeks and we'll see the real effect of the launch."
"Don't worry. It'll be just another quality game in the PS3 backlog that will ensure that when FFXIII is released (it's still an exclusive in Japan), the casuals will sell their Wiis and their games and buy up PS3 hardware and software in droves. It'll help justify their purchase and keep them in next gen"
"Sure, LBP didn't do MGS4 numbers, but it's a new IP. Besides, did you see how much the PS3 hardware sales jumped by? I think we might see a resurgence in the PS3 with steady sales of the hardware from now on thanks to LBP."
"The year of the PS3 continues!"