Media Create Sales: April 20-26

[RpgN]

I don't think that is really Nintendo's fault. It's up to the third parties to quickly adapt to changes, not Nintendo.However what I do blame Nintendo for is not grasping the third parties immediately or very early in on the Wii's lif

Only the problem is, Microsoft and Sony have been supporting third parties so much, that the way the are is working and some companies don't feel the need to jump over. If marketshare can't convince them and there is no enthusiasm, it's Nintendo's fault for not supporting and explain their vision enough. Just like in internal companies, supporting the co-workers and make them feel what the vision exactly stands for, is half the job.

DQX and MH3 are games that should have been announced and released earlier.

[schuelma]

Are they going to wait until E3 to announce what they have planned for the rest of the year? Maybe Nintendo got confused and thought E3 was still in May. :(

Well they have to be announcing a release date for WSR like next week if they are still releasing it in June. I expect them to announce some software, at least vaguely, next week when the yearly results are announced.

[kswiston]

AndriaSang.com has an interesting writeup from Nintendo involving who uses the Wii in Japan from a video for the upcoming Wii-no-ma program. The data is based off of interviews in Osaka and Tokyo in January of 3,045 people. Average number of users per household DS - 2.9 PSP - 1.9 Wii - 3.4 PS3 - 2.1 Xbox360 - 1.5 PS2 - 2.3 Just my own interpretation, but I think the handheld numbers might also relate to the number of handhelds in the home. I don't see a situation where three people in the house share one DS. Gender/Age spread of Wii users http://www.andriasang.com/e/blogs/an...es/2132379981/ Also, 87% of Wii owners use the Wii on the biggest TV in the house.

Interesting stuff!

1) I agree that the DS number probably matches fairly closely to the number of DS's in the household. I know that, when I was still living at home back when pokemon made its big debut in North America, all 3 of my siblings had their own gameboys/gameboy colors. Even now me and my fiance have our own DS's.

2) I wonder if the low number of users per system for the 360 reflects its demographic. If the 360 mainly appeals to the 15-30 male crowd, most of those gamers would be too old to share their possessions with siblings, and too young to have children who are of the game playing age.

3) The 87% of of Wii users play on the biggest tv in the house bit doesn't suprise me. If it's a family machine, it makes sense to have the system in the family room. If you are single, you often only have one tv.

[JoshuaJSlone]

Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 51.6 / 48.4 bring total shares to 68.4 / 31.6. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 343.8 weeks (November 28, 2015).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 23.1 / 76.9 bring total shares to 24.6 / 75.4. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 297.3 weeks (January 7, 2015).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 55.9 / 44.1 bring total shares to 28.1 / 71.9. This is the first time PS3 has outsold Wii nine weeks in a row. At this week's rates PS3 catches up to Wii in 984.5 weeks (March 9, 2028). If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 207.1 weeks (April 15, 2013).

Week over week, PS3 comes back down to Earth, Wii has a mini monster bump, and everything else stays pretty flat.



Through the first sixteen weeks of the year, almost everything is down by some degree. Here's how the year-to-date year-over-year percents stand as of now.

Wii: -63.7%
DSL+DSi: -2.7%
PS2: -52.2%
PS3: +23.1%
PSP: -41.7%
X360: +242.6%

Home hardware: -36.2%
Portable hardware: -24.0%
Sum of all hardware: -29.0%

[ksamedi]

Going in to more detail, I would analyze the situation in this manner: in terms of sales, the Wii has extremely strong first party support but weak third party support; the 360 has extremely weak first party support (this is Japan, Halo and Gears are anathema) but quite disproportionately large third party support; and the PS3 has recieved mediocre first party support with some sporadic blockbuster exclusive third party support, but very little AA or A support to flesh out the library in between those releases. The result is a bizarrely fissured market where the only safe bet is the DS -- but I think some parties are very hesitant to put their important games on the DS because they're afraid of losing "mindshare," particularly amongst Western Gamers. Consider if Metal Gear Solid had been for the DS, for example. Dragon Quest is one of the few major games that can afford to be on the DS because it's already an ignored brand in the West. It's really a very dangerous market place, and I entirely blame third parties for creating it.

I'd argue that the PSP is the more safe bet for third parties. They know how to develop for it, they know what sells from past experiences. You can see that after the PSP started gaining speed (with one big hit software called Monster Hunter) the rest of the third parties jumped ship immediatly. You don't see that many DS projects announced the last couple of months. Much more PSP stuff. I think thats because third parties just know how to make a good selling game for that platform.

[BishopLamont]

This reminds me of a personal experience... Sometimes I have an argument with my girlfriend. She wants me to do some chore or another. I don't think the chore really needs to be done, and to be honest, I'm not in the mood to do it either. She asks me to do it, I sort of groan and then start doing it halfassedly. Then she gets mad at me because she did a bunch of other chores and what she's asking of me isn't a whole lot, and she's already taken care of everything else. She also says stuff like "I don't want you to do this, I want you to WANT to do this" Is she right? Is she wrong? Answer: It doesn't matter who is right or wrong. What matters is whether the chore gets done in the end and who suffers more if it doesn't get done. Secret Socially Inept Decoding Key: I'm a third party, my girlfriend is Nintendo, and the chore is a game for the Wii.

You're secretly wishing that your girlfriend will disappear one day because she's getting in the way of you making love with other girls.

[Spiegel]

Thought this was relevant, from another thread: "we at Nintendo have to reflect on domestic Wii software deployment in the former half of this year. Like what had been to be released in the former half of this year was postponed to the latter, we were not able to reach the original goal – to regularly make new proposals. As for our deployment during the latter half of this year, I would like to announce on the other day as it is not today’s main topic. I would like to address that Nintendo recognize that we have been short of new proposals during the former half of this year, so far." Iwata's comments this week.

I don't think that the postponed releases would have made a difference. The games announced in the october conference and yet to be released are small, new IPs which will have to be lucky to reach 50-100k LTD.

[kswiston]

I'd argue that the PSP is the more safe bet for third parties. They know how to develop for it, they know what sells from past experiences. You can see that after the PSP started gaining speed (with one big hit software called Monster Hunter) the rest of the third parties jumped ship immediatly. You don't see that many DS projects announced the last couple of months. Much more PSP stuff. I think thats because third parties just know how to make a good selling game for that platform.

I don't think the DS is losing any upcoming games to the PSP. Japanese developers are fully aware of DS's ability to sell software. However, the DS has fairly limited 3D capabilities, and depending on what type of game and what type of presentation you are going for, not every title is going to be well suited for the DS. I think that's why you see companies like Square Enix split their projects between the two systems. Both are getting significant releases.

[donny2112]

Secret Socially Inept Decoding Key: I'm a third party, my girlfriend is Nintendo, and the chore is a game for the Wii.

So ...

* Nintendo has a great deal of sway for their position.
* Third-party's better suck it up and make games or they'll be in trouble with Nintendo.
* The game better match up to Nintendo's standards.

[schuelma]

I don't think that the postponed releases would have made a difference. The games announced in the october conference and yet to be released are small, new IPs which will have to be lucky to reach 50-100k LTD.

We don't know that those games were the extent of Nintendo's plans.

[donny2112]

We don't know that those games were the extent of Nintendo's plans.

Exactly. :)

[Flying_Phoenix]

Only the problem is, Microsoft and Sony have been supporting third parties so much, that the way the are is working and some companies don't feel the need to jump over. If marketshare can't convince them and there is no enthusiasm, it's Nintendo's fault for not supporting and explain their vision enough. Just like in internal companies, supporting the co-workers and make them feel what the vision exactly stands for, is half the job.

Nintendo can still offer third parties anything Microsoft and SONY can. They just can't offer those things to as many third parties as Microsoft and SONY do. Well I guess they can, but why would they want to? Gaming is Nintendo's main source of income and focus so it would be best to play it safe.However they shouldn't play it so safe that they miss out on such major opportunities.

DQX and MH3 are games that should have been announced and released earlier.

This is true. I guess MH3 can't be helped because it did change development toward the Wii early in its life. As for Dragon Quest X, it depends when Nintendo asked Square-Enix to start developing it.

[d[-_-]b]

Secret Socially Inept Decoding Key: I'm a third party, my girlfriend is Nintendo, and the chore is a game for the Wii.

Fake Edit
So you're the guy we're suppose to take our anger out on?

[ksamedi]

I don't think that the postponed releases would have made a difference. The games announced in the october conference and yet to be released are small, new IPs which will have to be lucky to reach 50-100k LTD.

I think titles like Wii Sports Resort and Wiifit+ could have made the difference (altough the latter is not confirmed). I'm pretty sure Nintendo has a couple of huge unannounced titles for the latter half of the year as well.

Edit: Wii no ma is looking like a pretty big hit project as well. Pitty we can't see what kind of impact it will have directly.

[Spiegel]

We don't know that those games were the extent of Nintendo's plans.

So, they announce a key game/feature one year before the release (Wii Sports Resort + Motion Plus), then in October they announce 8-10 games to be released shortly and you still think that they had some situation-changing games yet to be announced and released within the first half of the year?

Uhm, to tell you the truth I think they thought that with Wii Music/Animal Crossing + Gc re-releases + small games it was enough until Wii Sports Resort/Motion Plus

[Zachack]

So ... * Nintendo has a great deal of sway for their position. * Third-party's better suck it up and make games or they'll be in trouble with Nintendo. * The game better match up to Nintendo's standards.

except:

*His girlfriend hasn't been keeping herself in shape and looks pretty dumpy. Also, her standards have been dropping so eh.
*Other girls (Stumpy is a playa hate the game not the playa) are more willing to help with the chores that Stumpy has to do.
*Even when Stumpy does put some effort into the work most people seem more interested in his girlfriend's purse than the clean sofa and oven.
*Stumpy's girlfriend makes him wear a thick rubber protective device when he's playing with her.

[schuelma]

So, they announce a key game/feature one year before the release (Wii Sports Resort + Motion Plus), then in October they announce 8-10 games to be released shortly and you still think that they had some situation-changing games yet to be announced and released within the first half of the year? Uhm, to tell you the truth I think they thought that with Wii Music/Animal Crossing + Gc re-releases + small games it was enough until Wii Sports Resort/Motion Plus

I'm just going off of what Iwata says. Taking him at his word, I doubt any of the projects announced in October is what he is talking about.

[Stumpokapow]

except: *His girlfriend hasn't been keeping herself in shape and looks pretty dumpy. Also, her standards have been dropping so eh. *Other girls (Stumpy is a playa hate the game not the playa) are more willing to help with the chores that Stumpy has to do. *Even when Stumpy does put some effort into the work most people seem more interested in his girlfriend's purse than the clean sofa and oven. *Stumpy's girlfriend makes him wear a thick rubber protective device when he's playing with her.

hahahahahaha

yikes, something tells me things in this thread aren't going to go the direction I want them to!

[ksamedi]

So, they announce a key game/feature one year before the release (Wii Sports Resort + Motion Plus), then in October they announce 8-10 games to be released shortly and you still think that they had some situation-changing games yet to be announced and released within the first half of the year? Uhm, to tell you the truth I think they thought that with Wii Music/Animal Crossing + Gc re-releases + small games it was enough until Wii Sports Resort/Motion Plus

Well, Iwata is specifically taling about new proposals. Wii Music fits the bill, Wiisports resort as well. Maybe the Wiinoma channel got delayed as well. Who knows. Nintendo is knows for announcing suprise projects and release them within 6 months.

[SecretBonusPoint]

except: *His girlfriend hasn't been keeping herself in shape and looks pretty dumpy. Also, her standards have been dropping so eh. *Other girls (Stumpy is a playa hate the game not the playa) are more willing to help with the chores that Stumpy has to do. *Even when Stumpy does put some effort into the work most people seem more interested in his girlfriend's purse than the clean sofa and oven. *Stumpy's girlfriend makes him wear a thick rubber protective device when he's playing with her.

Was perfect opportunity to create new meme: Girl-Friend Codes. You missed it. Its a good thing I exist!

[Psychotext]

So much for Monster Hunter saving the Wii... what's next?

[markatisu]

Just had a quick look and it seems I'm wrong. Apologies!

I was about to say, actually owning the game I think I would know what the control schemes were when the game comes up and says connect a classic controller to continue

Next week we will see how it holds up, I would not be surprised to see the standard edition of MHG get discounted because it really is the worse of the two sets

So much for Monster Hunter saving the Wii... what's next?

Did MH3 get released, all I got was a short 2 quest demo

[Psychotext]

Did MH3 get released, all I got was a short 2 quest demo

Hey, if it's good for the PS3...

[BishopLamont]

except: *His girlfriend hasn't been keeping herself in shape and looks pretty dumpy. Also, her standards have been dropping so eh.

His girlfriend is swimming in piles of cash, she doesn't need him, he needs her. He's abandoned her before and she's learnt not to rely on guys ever again, but together they can achieve alot if they would just learn to work with each other. Oh and her grandfather got assassinated for screwing up a chore I heard.

[donny2112]

*His girlfriend hasn't been keeping herself in shape and looks pretty dumpy.

That's the PS3.

*Other girls (Stumpy is a playa hate the game not the playa) are more willing to help with the chores that Stumpy has to do.

She's done all the chores but one. The other girls must do all the work for Stumpokapow, which would make Stumpokapow lazy and self-centered. I think Stumpokapow is better off with the girlfriend that wants him to help out, too, instead of doing it all herself.

*Even when Stumpy does put some effort into the work most people seem more interested in his girlfriend's purse than the clean sofa and oven.

Stumpokapow wouldn't have done the chores for others to look at, but rather to please his girlfriend. To make this more applicable to the Wii, Stumpokapow's girlfriend is the Queen Bee of her clique, so pleasing her helps out Stumpokapow more in the social circles.

*Stumpy's girlfriend makes him wear a thick rubber protective device when he's playing with her.

Which allows the playing to last longer. Marriages tend to have decreasing amounts of sex involved as more kids come along and priorities change.

[Regulus Tera]

Hey, if it's good for the PS3...

So Monster Hunter, a five-year old or so franchise, isn't as popular as the two decades old Final Fantasy?

ZOMG STOP THE PRESSES

[kswiston]

So much for Monster Hunter saving the Wii... what's next?

This question is to everyone. Ignoring the sales it is getting in Europe/NA (Wii will become Nintendo's best selling home console ever at some point this year), what LTD would Wii have to get to be considered a success in Japan? By the end of the year, they system should match/exceed the LTDs of the N64 and Gamecube combined. I don't see how Nintendo could be too sad about that.

I think the PS2 and DS launching in fairly quick succession has skewed people's perceptions of hardware sales in Japan. We just had the best selling home console of all time, and the soon to be best selling videogame platform of all time in Japan, and most people act as if anything that doesn't meet or exceed that is a failure.

[donny2112]

This question is to everyone. Ignoring the sales it is getting in Europe/NA (Wii will become Nintendo's best selling home console ever at some point this year), what LTD would Wii have to get to be considered a success in Japan?

I'd be disappointed in < 15 million. 20 million should be the expectation, I'd think.

[Psychotext]

This question is to everyone. Ignoring the sales it is getting in Europe/NA (Wii will become Nintendo's best selling home console ever at some point this year), what LTD would Wii have to get to be considered a success in Japan? By the end of the year, they system should match/exceed the LTDs of the N64 and Gamecube combined. I don't see how Nintendo could be too sad about that.

It's already a success. I'm more interested in its spectacular fall from grace this year compared to last... and what's going to be the game to get it started again.

[cvxfreak]

I wonder if capcom will be able to ship out any more of the bundles or if they already shipped all they manufactured

I don't expect the bundles to be around forever, but they should be around for Golden Week at least.

[AranhaHunter]

This reminds me of a personal experience... Sometimes I have an argument with my girlfriend. She wants me to do some chore or another. I don't think the chore really needs to be done, and to be honest, I'm not in the mood to do it either. She asks me to do it, I sort of groan and then start doing it halfassedly. Then she gets mad at me because she did a bunch of other chores and what she's asking of me isn't a whole lot, and she's already taken care of everything else. She also says stuff like "I don't want you to do this, I want you to WANT to do this" Is she right? Is she wrong? Answer: It doesn't matter who is right or wrong. What matters is whether the chore gets done in the end and who suffers more if it doesn't get done. Secret Socially Inept Decoding Key: I'm a third party, my girlfriend is Nintendo, and the chore is a game for the Wii.

This reminded me of the movie "The Breakup"

[ksamedi]

It's already a success. I'm more interested in its spectacular fall from grace this year compared to last... and what's going to be the game to get it started again.

What ever the game is, chances are high its going to come from Nintendo.

[Vinci]

Hey, if it's good for the PS3...

At some point, people who keep saying this are going to realize the vast differences, right?

RIGHT??

[kswiston]

I'd be disappointed in < 15 million. 20 million should be the expectation, I'd think.

Why should 20 million be the expectation if the PS2 was the only home system to hit that mark? I know that Wii sales outpaced early PS2 in Japan for the first two years or so, but sales for Nintendo consoles tend to be a little more frontloaded than sales for Sony consoles. Probably because Nintendo aggressively releases new AAA first party titles for the first couple of years after a console's launch and then slows down the frequency releases.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library...ales_e0806.pdf

Nintendo lists NES shipments in Japan at 19.35 million and SNES at 17.17 million.

I can't find any Japan only numbers for the PS1, but Sony lists shipments to Japan and Asia as 21.5M. Going by their 25.4M number as of mid 2007 for the PS2 in Asia, I'd guess that PS1 sales in Japan were 18M or so.

To me this suggests that the expectation for the Wii should have been 17-18M. I do agree that anything under 15M will be a little disappointing, but with handheld sales skyrocketing this gen, the home market was bound to take a hit.

[LiquidMetal14]

Thought this was relevant, from another thread: "we at Nintendo have to reflect on domestic Wii software deployment in the former half of this year. Like what had been to be released in the former half of this year was postponed to the latter, we were not able to reach the original goal – to regularly make new proposals. As for our deployment during the latter half of this year, I would like to announce on the other day as it is not today’s main topic. I would like to address that Nintendo recognize that we have been short of new proposals during the former half of this year, so far." Iwata's comments this week.

Damage controlling?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I suppose he's right. AND DQX is going to push some units for them. I hope that's no later than '10.

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

So in the thread about PSX million sellers I tried to show how the PSX database we have isn't totally complete and I just noticed another good example that fits perfectly before first day numbers arrive tomorrow (if they do...).

We have Atlus Persona PSX at 391,556, or specifically:
· Megami Ibunroku Persona: Be Your True Mind Atlus Co. SLPS-00500 09/20/96 JP
at just a little less than 400k. Highest selling title ever for Atlus (that we know of), one could say poor atlus never tasted going over 400k.

Well, that could very well be wrong, since while talking about Persona PSP launch, sinobi mentioned the original sales as a 500k seller, with 430k from the original release and 70k from the budget ones. We certainly lack 2 budget releases numbers, specifically these releases:
· Megami Ibunroku Persona (Playstation the Best) Atlus Co. SLPS-91029 06/27/97 JP
· Megami Ibunroku Persona (PSOne Books) Atlus Co. SLPM-87192 01/23/03 JP
and one could say the original could have made some more sales under the yearly radar we have.

Just like the PSX million sellers, there's no way to back up these claims, but its sounds nice to hear Atlus tasted a 500k milestone, doesn't it. Wonder how long it'll take for another one, if ever.

[donny2112]

Why should 20 million be the expectation if the PS2 was the only home system to hit that mark? ... I can't find any Japan only numbers for the PS1, but Sony lists shipments to Japan and Asia as 21.5M. Going by their 25.4M number as of mid 2007 for the PS2 in Asia, I'd guess that PS1 sales in Japan were 18M or so. To me this suggests that the expectation for the Wii should have been 17-18M. I do agree that anything under 15M will be a little disappointing, but with handheld sales skyrocketing this gen, the home market was bound to take a hit.

I thought PS1 was 20 million in Japan. In that case, yeah, hitting PS1-levels should be the expectation.

So in the thread about PSX million sellers I tried to show how the PSX database we have isn't totally complete and I just noticed another good example that fits perfectly before first day numbers arrive tomorrow (if they do...).

I'd love to be able to see the Top 500s for 1996-2003. Earlier would be great, too, but I wouldn't even know where to begin looking for them. Famitsu doesn't go that far back. Nintendo talked about million-selling Famicom games, though, so there must've been some kind of tracking system in place.

[Liabe Brave]

So Monster Hunter, a five-year old or so franchise, isn't as popular as the two decades old Final Fantasy? ZOMG STOP THE PRESSES

Actually, it's quite arguable that Monster Hunter is a bigger franchise right now than Final Fantasy. That's not a slam dunk conclusion, but it's very defensible. The reasons the FF XIII demo outdrew the MH 3 demo have more to do with the properties they're attached to, and the makeup of the respective audiences, than any inherent popularity of the franchises.

[Tom Penny]

Wii: -63.7% DSL+DSi: -2.7% PS2: -52.2% PS3: +23.1% PSP: -41.7% X360: +242.6%

Game over for Sony and Nintendo with those X360 gains in Japan.

[donny2112]

Actually, it's quite arguable that Monster Hunter is a bigger franchise right now than Final Fantasy.

Have there been any Monster Hunter spinoff games, yet? Maybe it's comparable to early Final Fantasy sales before all the spinoffs began.

[rostocker]

PS3 23,351

So, how do we call that last PS3-bump? The final-bump?
eh...

[bmf]

So, how do we call that last PS3-bump? The final-bump? eh...

Demonstration of the Final Bump.

[bcn-ron]

So, how do we call that last PS3-bump?

The beginning.

[Vinci]

Have there been any Monster Hunter spinoff games, yet? Maybe it's comparable to early Final Fantasy sales before all the spinoffs began.

Is it comparable to the FF VII fanbase?

I'm not suggesting that there isn't a great deal of demand for the FF XIII demo (hell, people have been waiting a long time for one), but anyone ignoring the appeal to many people of having Advent Children on Blu-Ray is ignoring a pretty major component, IMO.

[kswiston]

Is it comparable to the FF VII fanbase? I'm not suggesting that there isn't a great deal of demand for the FF XIII demo (hell, people have been waiting a long time for one), but anyone ignoring the appeal to many people of having Advent Children on Blu-Ray is ignoring a pretty major component, IMO.

Wasn't the Advent Children Complete Bluray also available without the FFXIII demo? What was the price difference?

[Spiegel]

Wasn't the Advent Children Complete Bluray also available without the FFXIII demo? What was the price difference?

Yeah

ACC+FFXIII demo 5900Y
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%95%E3...8&s=videogames
ACC 4900Y
http://www.amazon.co.jp/FANTASY-ADVE..._ob_vg_title_1

For comparison, Monster Hunter G+Monster Hunter 3 demo + Classic Controller is 5240Y
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%A2%E3...8&s=videogames

[bcn-ron]

Is it comparable to the FF VII fanbase? I'm not suggesting that there isn't a great deal of demand for the FF XIII demo (hell, people have been waiting a long time for one), but anyone ignoring the appeal to many people of having Advent Children on Blu-Ray is ignoring a pretty major component, IMO.

I was lamenting this for a while but I really don't think Advent Children has much of an audience besides gamers. If you've never played a JRPG, what are the odds you'd care about the film? It's almost purely fan service.

[donny2112]

The beginning.

of the end?

Seriously, what in the world would it be beginning? It finishes a string of very high profile Japanese titles with Street Fighter IV, Yakuza 3, RE5, and now the FFXIII demo. It had a monstrous drop from last week's total. (No, it's not normal to drop this heavily. The last one to do that much of a drop for the PS3 is MGS4. On the other hand, this is an indication of just how insanely front-loaded Final Fantasy has become.) What in the world would it be the beginning of?

[kswiston]

Yeah ACC+FFXIII demo 5900Y http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%95%E3...8&s=videogames ACC 4900Y http://www.amazon.co.jp/FANTASY-ADVE..._ob_vg_title_1

Hm. Hypothetically, if I really wanted Advent Children Complete and I was sort of interested in Final Fantasy XIII, I would probably spend an extra $10 on the version that includes the demo. I guess it's possible that a decent amount of the people who bought the movie+demo version were mainly interested in the movie, with the demo being a thrown in bonus (rather than the other way around). If the demo version was $20 more than I would have said that almost all of its buyers were really interested in trying FFXIII.

[bcn-ron]

of the end? Seriously, what in the world would it be beginning? It finishes a string of very high profile Japanese titles with Street Fighter IV, Yakuza 3, RE5, and now the FFXIII demo. It had a monstrous drop from last week's total. (No, it's not normal to drop this heavily. The last one to do that much of a drop for the PS3 is MGS4. On the other hand, this is an indication of just how insanely front-loaded Final Fantasy has become.) What in the world would it be the beginning of?

The resurgence of buttons.