Support NeoGAF

[Jaruru]

wow @ PS3 numbers. What in the world. Sony needs a redesign quick!

maybe they need a non-HD console. :lol
Wii sells this week is OK, not great, but PS3/Xbox360 are just lowwwwwww

 

[Luckyman]

I just dont get it. The 3rd party japanese devs jump the bandagon from ps360 to the wi because it has the biggest userbase, but then when they release a "hardcore" game it doesnt sell more than 15k the first week. ie Disaster (2nd party), sky crawlers, and now tenchu 4 to name a few. Is japan slowly turning into casual gamers??.... i hope not

Breaking news.. lulz

 

[TunaLover]

I just dont get it. The 3rd party japanese devs jump the bandagon from ps360 to the wi because it has the biggest userbase, but then when they release a "hardcore" game it doesnt sell more than 15k the first week. ie Disaster (2nd party), sky crawlers, and now tenchu 4 to name a few. Is japan slowly turning into casual gamers??.... i hope not

Casual gaming was stablished with a damn strong tittle called WiiSports, the whole Wii brand seems be associated at this kind of particular genre, it will be hard trying to change this consumer minds, wich is really sad, besaides mainstream anime serie, and big franchises niche games doesn't have much room.

 

[Gamecocks625]

DSL 26,004
PSP 66,837
PS3 4,107
PS2 7,467
360 6,858
Wii 25,459

I haven't visited a MC thread in a while so forgive me if I've been out of the loop. But what the heck?? When did the PS3 start sucking so bad in Japan? At one point everyone went nuts when it dropped below 10K, now it's below 5K? Oh, and no wonder Nintendo is bringing the DSi out so soon over in Japanland.

 

[Laguna]

Wiis userbase in Japan is even more family oriented and fans of more light-hearted games like Mario, Dragon Quest and not so much into games were you have to kill. This is why games with good marketing like Mario Kart, Brawl and Symphonia sold well and other games like One Piece did ok as well this year, while games like Tenchu are a bit out of place, that it´s the first entry on a Nintendo console isn´t helping either. But it´s still nice that Fatal Frame 4 managed to be the best selling one in Japan despite the odds.

 

[RJT]

I haven't visited a MC thread in a while so forgive me if I've been out of the loop. But what the heck?? When did the PS3 start sucking so bad in Japan? At one point everyone went nuts when it dropped below 10K, now it's below 5K? Oh, and no wonder Nintendo is bringing the DSi out so soon over in Japanland.

360 starting selling more due to RPG's being released/announced for the system and a price cut. That seemed to affect PS3 sales, which dropped from 8k-10k to 4-6k.

This is my interpretation, I'm sure MC vets will have more complete picture.

 

[schuelma]

I guess that Wiis userbase in Japan is even more family oriented and fans of more light-hearted games like Mario, Dragon Quest and not so much into games were you have to kill. This is why games with good marketing like Mario Kart, Brawl and Symphonia sold well and other games like One Piece did ok as well this year, while games like Tenchu are a bit out of place, that its the first entry on a Nintendo console isn´t helping either. But it´s still nice that Fatal Frame 4 managed to be the best selling one in Japan.

But then you also have the Resident Evil games succeeding, and as you mentioned, Fatal Frame.

Don't really see much of a pattern with what 3rd party games bomb and which ones do well, except that the really mainstream franchises have succeeded (Dragon Quest, Resident Evil, Tales of Symphonia). I don't think there is much risk for 3rd parties bringing over big franchises. The risk seems to be in new IP's or lesser known franchises.

 

[Sage00]

360 starting selling more due to RPG's being released/announced for the system and a price cut. That seemed to affect PS3 sales, which dropped from 8k-10k to 4-6k.

This is my interpretation, I'm sure MC vets will have more complete picture.

The announcement of a new bundle(with much better value than the current) shifted PS3's sales into an almost pre-new model drought, similar to what DS is currently going through. It should bounce back next week, but where it will stabilize is anyone's guess.

 

[Jonnyram]

The announcement of a new bundle(with much better value than the current) shifted PS3's sales into an almost pre-new model drought, similar to what DS is currently going through. It should bounce back next week, but where it will stabilize is anyone's guess.

So why has that not happened for 360? The new 360 bundles represent excellent value for money compared to the existing hardware SKUs.

 

[Spiegel]

What did PSP2000s second week look like?
PSP3000 doesn´t seem to share the same success.

To be fair PSP-2000 was launched close to Crisis Core.

http://garaph.info/weeklyoverview.php?week=2007-09-10

Famitsu:

Crisis Core week (limited bundle) - 99k
Launch week - 263k
Second week - 128k
Third week - 84k

Media Create:

Crisis Core week (limited bundle) - 95k
Launch week - 277k
Second week - 102k
Third week - 86k

But it seems like it's dropping a bit faster ( in %)

 

[RJT]

The announcement of a new bundle(with much better value than the current) shifted PS3's sales into an almost pre-new model drought, similar to what DS is currently going through. It should bounce back next week, but where it will stabilize is anyone's guess.

Forgot that one... I knew I missed something.

 

[Laguna]

But then you also have the Resident Evil games succeeding, and as you mentioned, Fatal Frame.

Don't really see much of a pattern with what 3rd party games bomb and which ones do well, except that the really mainstream franchises have succeeded (Dragon Quest, Resident Evil, Tales of Symphonia). I don't think there is much risk for 3rd parties bringing over big franchises. The risk seems to be in new IP's or lesser known franchises.

The difference is that while Resident Evil had a chance to built up a fanbase among Nintendofans game like Tenchu hadn´t. Fatal Frame caters a little into those Nintendo-ResidentEvil fans. It´s more of an exception than a rule imo.

 

[dabra]

Famitsu

1.Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode　86000
2.Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Abaddon Ou (PS2)　77000
3.Pokemon Platinum　48000　1793000
4.WiiMusic　42000　141000
5.Rhythm Tengoku Gold　37000　968000
6.Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaiki da or2　29000　91000
7.Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia　20000
8.Bleach: Soul Carniva　18000
9.Soul Eater DS　13000
10.Tenchu 4　13000

11 Culdcept DS 13000　63000
12 Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Special (PS2) 13000　195000
13 Galileo (DS) 13000
14 Saihai no Yukue (DS) 13000
15.WiiFit　12000　2666000
16 Mario Kart Wii　11000　1789000
17 Kidou Senshi Gundam 00: Gundam Meisters (PS2) 11000　51000
18 Macross Ace Frontier (PSP) 11000　134000
19
20 Inazuma Eleven (DS) 6700　126000
21 Garnet Chronicle: Kouki no Maseki (PSP) 6500
22 NBA live PS3　6100
23 Meccha Taiko Drum Master DS: Adventure in Seven Islands (DS) 6000　373000
24 Kimi no Yuusha (DS) 5900
25 Ketsui Death Label (DS) 5500
26 Super Robot Wars Z (PS2) 5500　457000
27 NBA live PS2　5400
28 Happy Dance Collection (Wii) 5000
29 Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (DS) 5000　381000
30 Wii Sports 4800　3162000

Sakura Taisen 3 (Sega the Best) 4300
NBA live PSP　4300
Hakugin no Soreiyu: Contract to Future (PS2) 2900
Moeru Mahjong: Moejong! 2700
Final Fantasy III (Ultimate Hits)　1800
Slime MoriMori: Dragon Quest 2 - Daisensha to Shippo Dan (Ultimate Hits)　1700
100 Kiri Golf DS 1700
Gundam Musou Special (PlayStation 2 the Best) 1700
SD Gundam G Generation Portable (PSP the Best) 1600
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (Ultimate Hits)　1600
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (Ultimate Hits) 970
Gundam Musou (PlayStation 3 the Best) 900
NBA live 360　730
Pro Golfer Monkey　720
SSX On Tour Portable (EA Best Hits) PSP 520

 

[Tenbatsu]

Where's Sky Crawler?

 

[TunaLover]

The difference is that while Resident Evil had a chance to built up a fanbase among Nintendofans game like Tenchu hadn´t. Fatal Frame caters a little into those Nintendo-ResidentEvil fans. It´s more of an exception than a rule imo.

confirms that every franchise needs to be seeded, Capcom was commited about built a Nintendo RE fanbase since Gamecube days.

 

[jj984jj]

Where's Sky Crawler?

The game that sold 6k last week? :lol

 

[Stumpokapow]

Where's Sky Crawler?

launched last week, tanked.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

Holy crap at the PS3 :lol

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Ketsui DS 5500
That's actually pretty damn good considering the genre(and the price).

 

[Laguna]

confirms that every franchise needs to be seeded, Capcom was commited about built a Nintendo RE fanbase since Gamecube days.

Yes, it´s never a bad thing to have good reputation among fans, especially for hardcoregames with little mass-market appeal from little publishers (rather low marketing budget) it´s vital. Capcom really did a very good job with Resident Evil and were rewarded with good RE4wii and UC sales.

 

[Sage00]

So why has that not happened for 360? The new 360 bundles represent excellent value for money compared to the existing hardware SKUs.

As far as I'm aware the 360 bundles don't offer double the storage the standard premium SKUs do. I think a more accurate comparison would be the weeks prior to the launch of the Elite, where 360 dropped consecutively until it hit 1,547 at the low end, 6,161 on launch of the Elite, dropped the next week due to an incoming Ace Combat bundle then hit around 16k. But even then, 360 Elite was more expensive than the Premium, whereas the 80GB PS3 SKU is not..

 

[Tenbatsu]

The series hasn't exactly been on the rise since Tenchu 3, but the Wii clearly doesn't have the Tenchu fanbase from the PS2 regardless.

http://garaph.info/softwaregroup.php?grid=133

Tenchu 4 will fit nicely in between the PSP and 360 games on this graph.

The series is going down. Guess its due to the fact that the game gets shittier with every release and the fans stay away from it, even Acquire can do nothing to save it

 

[C.T.]

I haven't visited a MC thread in a while so forgive me if I've been out of the loop. But what the heck?? When did the PS3 start sucking so bad in Japan? At one point everyone went nuts when it dropped below 10K, now it's below 5K? Oh, and no wonder Nintendo is bringing the DSi out so soon over in Japanland.

In recent weeks DS was ahead of the psp again till psp 3000 arrived (and people are waiting for the dsi.)

 

[lo zaffo]

I think Nintendo home consoles suffer PlayStation-like software underperformance since 1995.
Tales of Symphonia Wii is not that Wii success someone speaks well for.

 

[Tenbatsu]

I think Nintendo home consoles suffer PlayStation-like software underperformance since 1995.
Tales of Symphonia Wii is not that Wii success someone speaks well for.

Things will change after Monster Hunter 3 Tri is release I suppose.

 

[EDarkness]

I think Nintendo home consoles suffer PlayStation-like software underperformance since 1995.
Tales of Symphonia Wii is not that Wii success someone speaks well for.

I still think the Wii's problem is that none of these companies even tried to do anything on the system for a LONG time. All the people in Japan got were basically family games while these other games went to other systems. Now, some companies are trying to put these "core" games on the system and there simply isn't really a market for those kinds of games. I'm not singing doom and gloom or anything, but publishers here just didn't nurture that market in the beginning and it's going to be hard as hell trying to build it up now.

I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the Wii never really gets any real support by third parties in Japan at this point. Perhaps a few titles here and there (Monster Hunter 3), but overall it'll be pretty dry.

 

[lo zaffo]

If Monster Hunter 3-tri can't make it nothing can make it.
Wii Music will end under 300k in Japan I suppose, which is fine for Miyamoto's lost magic touch. I have cold feet for Animal Crossing Wii either.

 

[schuelma]

I still think the Wii's problem is that none of these companies even tried to do anything on the system for a LONG time. All the people in Japan got were basically family games while these other games went to other systems. Now, some companies are trying to put these "core" games on the system and there simply isn't really a market for those kinds of games. I'm not singing doom and gloom or anything, but publishers here just didn't nurture that market in the beginning and it's going to be hard as hell trying to build it up now.

I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the Wii never really gets any real support by third parties in Japan at this point. Perhaps a few titles here and there (Monster Hunter 3), but overall it'll be pretty dry.

1- Agree completely that 3rd parties dropped the ball (and probably Nintendo didn't do enough as well). The problem is there needs to be major major releases to bring core users...but 3rd parties by and large are skipping that step and going right to the mid-tier releases. The lack of major SE support is glaring- they really set the stage for the DS and other companies followed suit.

2- I think Wii is already seeing significant 3rd party support and I think it will continue to increase. In 09 you have Monster Hunter 3, Tales mainline game, and Samurai Warriors 3. That's a drastic improvement over 08.

 

[schuelma]

If Monster Hunter 3-tri can't make it nothing can make it.
Wii Music will end under 300k in Japan I suppose, .

Yeah I doubt that. I'm doubting its ability to make a million, but I think it will hit 500K fairly easily.

 

[evilromero]

What is the driving the PSP hardware numbers?

 

[Jaruru]

What is the driving the PSP hardware numbers?

PSP300000000000

by next week, we'll see the DSi effect

 

[Regulus Tera]

What is the driving the PSP hardware numbers?

Consistent software releases. While they don't sell hundreds of thousands, they are enough to take a spot in the top ten. New releases get out regularly, which keeps the PSP interesting for new consumers.

EDIT: And PSP 3000, I guess.

 

[RJT]

Famitsu
20 Inazuma Eleven (DS) 6700　126000

Great legs! Hopefully this is the start of a franchise. I love the concept.

 

[jj984jj]

Great legs! Hopefully this is the start of a franchise. I love the concept.

I think Level 5 is already 5 steps ahead of you there.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

What is the driving the PSP hardware numbers?

Well, we are sure this time it isn't piracy :lol

 

[enishi]

Great legs! Hopefully this is the start of a franchise. I love the concept.

I think the anime does help the leg of this game, even though neither is popular...

 

[Jokeropia]

I think people are counting out Wii Music too early. We're in the slowest period of the year now and I suspect this might be a game that will benefit from the holiday boost. Remember Mario Galaxy (released in a similar time last year) dropped from 256k first week to 78k second week but got a boost in December and sold quite well during the holidays.

Oh, and no wonder Nintendo is bringing the DSi out so soon over in Japanland.

DS is low because DSi releases next week, not the other way around.

 

[Regulus Tera]

I think people are counting out Wii Music too early. We're in the slowest period of the year now and I suspect this might be a game that will benefit from the holiday boost. Remember Mario Galaxy (released in a similar time last year) dropped from 256k first week to 78k second week but got a boost in December and sold quite well during the holidays.DS is low because DSi releases next week, not the other way around.

DS is low because DS has got to the saturation point in Japan. It's been like this even before the DSi announcement.

DSi, with its music playback and camera functionalities, is targeting to people who are not interested in any kind of gaming.

 

[SovanJedi]

But then you also have the Resident Evil games succeeding, and as you mentioned, Fatal Frame.

What was advertising like for Tenchu 4? Did it get any of the typical Wii adverts with gameplay features and/or people's reactions during play?

 

[schuelma]

What was advertising like for Tenchu 4? Did it get any of the typical Wii adverts with gameplay features and/or people's reactions during play?

Vinnk said he saw no advertising, but that's all I read on that front.

 

[Jokeropia]

DS is low because DS has got to the saturation point in Japan. It's been like this even before the DSi announcement.

You're wrong. In the last week before the DSi announcement, DS sold 60k.

DSi, with its music playback and camera functionalities, is targeting to people who are not interested in any kind of gaming.

It might be used to convert even more of these people to gamers, but as the evolution of the DSL it targets gamers just as much as before.

 

[cvxfreak]

I always considered the DSi a response to the iPhone/iPod touch (more towards the latter) and cellphones in general.

The new PS3 SKUs, as well as GTAIV and LBP are out in Japan now. We'll see if this is what Sony needed for the holidays.

 

[schuelma]

The new PS3 SKUs, as well as GTAIV and LBP are out in Japan now. We'll see if this is what Sony needed for the holidays.

No price drop and two Western-developed games.

I'm not in Japan but I vote No.

 

[donny2112]

Oh, and no wonder Nintendo is bringing the DSi out so soon over in Japanland.

It was 50-60K per week before the DSi announcement. Nintendo is trying to prevent a slowdown as opposed to trying to reverse one.

Yeah I doubt that. I'm doubting its ability to make a million, but I think it will hit 500K fairly easily.

This.

Consistent software releases. While they don't sell hundreds of thousands, they are enough to take a spot in the top ten. New releases get out regularly, which keeps the PSP interesting for new consumers.

EDIT: And PSP 3000, I guess.

You guess?!? Top 100 Media-Create PSP software went down for the week of the PSP-3000's release. The current sales spike is only because of the PSP-3000.

DS is low because DS has got to the saturation point in Japan.

You again.

If the DS was saturated in Japan, then PS2 was saturated its whole freakin' life in Japan. In other words, no, the DS was not saturated in Japan.

Edit: What Jokeropia said.

 

[Rocksteady33]

DS is low because DS has got to the saturation point in Japan. It's been like this even before the DSi announcement.

DSi, with its music playback and camera functionalities, is targeting to people who are not interested in any kind of gaming.

I feel like you don't often venture into Media Create threads...

 

[Regulus Tera]

You're wrong. In the last week before the DSi announcement, DS sold 60k.

Just checked; you're right. It still was getting beat consistently by the PSP almost every week, so I wonder if that had to do with something.

It might be used to convert even more of these people to gamers, but as the evolution of the DSL it targets gamers just as much as before.

That's to be expected, but I'm predicting the "new userbase" will be larger with the jump to DSi than the one to DSL.

You guess?!? Top 100 Media-Create PSP software went down for the week of the PSP-3000's release. The current sales spike is only because of the PSP-3000.

I was being facetious with the "I guess" line.

You again.

If the DS was saturated in Japan, then PS2 was saturated its whole freakin' life in Japan. In other words, no, the DS was not saturated in Japan.

The fact that the DS was starting to slowdown after reaching PS2 numbers convinces me that it was getting saturated. Isn't ~20 million the highest mark ever for Japan?

Not that I can really back up my claims.

I feel like you don't often venture into Media Create threads...

You're a meanie. ;__;

 

[ksamedi]

DS is low because DS has got to the saturation point in Japan. It's been like this even before the DSi announcement.

DSi, with its music playback and camera functionalities, is targeting to people who are not interested in any kind of gaming.

Actually, DSi is targeting everyone. The reason the DSiexists is because a lot of households already have a DS and do't buy another DS because of it. The DSi is designed to be a more personal gadget than something you share with other people. So now Nintendo wants to sell to every person in the household instead of only 1 DS per household.

 

[Gamecocks625]

It was 50-60K per week before the DSi announcement. Nintendo is trying to prevent a slowdown as opposed to trying to reverse one.

Ah, ok. Like I said, I haven't visited a MC thread in a while.

DSi, with its music playback and camera functionalities, is targeting to people who are not interested in any kind of gaming.

Not really

 

[Rocksteady33]

Just checked; you're right. It still was getting beat consistently by the PSP almost every week, so I wonder if that had to do with something.

Again, that's not really true. There was a period where PSP was, and was riding off of major software success, but it sure enough slowed down and DS began outpacing it again, and not due to PSP 3000 it's back, but will most certainly be dominated by the DSi.

That's to be expected, but I'm predicting the "new userbase" will be larger with the jump to DSi than the one to DSL.

I think it'll be too hard to judge really. The DS Lite was released at a time that even the original model was having incredible sales and shortages. The DS Lite launched in Japan in March of '05 and with the triple punch of Animal Crossing, Mario Kart and Brain Age 2 from the holiday season from before it was difficult to gauge just exactly what hardware sale spikes there were because the hardware was still in and out of supply.

For now, while the DS hardware is still doing well, the numbers pale in comparison to those of 2004/2005 so really it's difficult to compare the launches of the two.

The fact that the DS was starting to slowdown after reaching PS2 numbers convinces me that it was getting saturated. Isn't ~20 million the highest mark ever for Japan?

Pretty sure NES still holds that. A quick Google search says the population in Japan is 127,433,494. Even at 20 million+ (many of which are probably upgraders from the original model to the new model, or possibly upgrading even again to new colors/limited editions) so really it's far from hitting a saturation point per se. Software is still rolling in and people still haven't upgraded from the original model.

Not that I can really back up my claims.

You're a meanie. ;__;

I wasn't trying to be mean, but really if you can't back up claims why are you making them?

 

[markatisu]

Yeah I doubt that. I'm doubting its ability to make a million, but I think it will hit 500K fairly easily.

Agreed, depending on word of mouth it could easily keep going. Slow and steady is how this game will sell.

Are we estimating what would be a "success" for this? I mean would hitting 500k be considered good or not living up to potential?