[duckroll]

Even 2ch, even though it's purely text-based? :O

Well, its all Japanese, so I don't think it'll do anyone here any good except when they see a link from there that leads to.... I dunno...... some gross photo of a human roadkill maybe. :lol

[manzo]

Well, its all Japanese, so I don't think it'll do anyone here any good except when they see a link from there that leads to.... I dunno...... some gross photo of a human roadkill maybe. :lol

OK, understood. :D

[bttb]

.

[JoshuaJSlone]

JoshuaJSlone and anyone else who uses my translations, I incorrectly translated a PSP game from the week of April 6-12 as this game. It was #26 in Famitsu and #27 in Media-Create that week. The appropriate translation of that game is "Shinseiki Evangelion: Koutetsu no Girlfriend Special Edition Portable (Iron Girlfriend)." Just FYI. :)

Roger.

Refresh my memory; what is the number one 3rd party title across all platforms in Japan? Is it MGS4?

This has already been answered, but here's a page I set up long ago that lists the X360/PS3/Wii third party games in order.

[Nirolak]

This has already been answered, but here's a page I set up long ago that lists the X360/PS3/Wii third party games in order.

You know, I noticed something here:

1.) Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3): 686,254
3.) Resident Evil 5 (PS3/360): 547,018

It'll be interesting to see how the PSP versions of these games do next year compared to the mainline HD console entries, especially since both portable titles are supposedly to be quite serious entries in the series.

In a Japanese market sense that is.

[farnham]

Roger. This has already been answered, but here's a page I set up long ago that lists the X360/PS3/Wii third party games in order.

great list and rather stunning how taiko sold that much (and its still on the list)

same with DQS

i wonder why they dont make a wii motion plus sequel.. (i am in the minority that thinks that they game was actually good)

[Ruud_Luiten]

So there are only 44 games which sold more than 100.000 in Japan over wii, xbox360 and PS3 combined in 3 years? And none has sold more than 1 million?

wow....

Wii: 17 titles > 100.000 sales
Xbox360 : 5 titles > 100.000 sales
Ps3: 22 titles > 100.000 sales

[thestopsign]

Anyone know the planned release date for Little King's Story in Japan?

[swerve]

So there are only 44 third party games which sold more than 100.000 in Japan over wii, xbox360 and PS3 combined in 3 years? And none has sold more than 1 million?

Sadly, yes.

[Eteric Rice]

Whelp, consoles look fucked to me.

Handhelds ftw I guess. Lol

[jj984jj]

So is Sega the only one responsible for undershipping and not being able to restock Infinite Space, anyone know?

And getting the restocks in before used copies hit.

Honestly, that's what I'm afraid of.

[Magicpaint]

Honestly, that's what I'm afraid of.

If it happens, well then that would be too bad, but SEGA will have to shoulder the blame :/

[the thoroughbred]

Good thing Wii Sports Resort and DQIX are about to hit, and not a moment too soon. Wouldn't want Japan's first million seller of 2009 to be a lower priced re-release of a 2008 title that was an expansion of a 2007 title that was derived from a 2006 title on the PS2.

Why not, it might be good game.

[dolemite]

So there are only 44 games which sold more than 100.000 in Japan over wii, xbox360 and PS3 combined in 3 years? And none has sold more than 1 million? wow.... Wii: 17 titles > 100.000 sales Xbox360 : 5 titles > 100.000 sales Ps3: 22 titles > 100.000 sales

Every single one is a JRPG, I assume.

[Magicpaint]

Why not, it might be good game.

Eh wut?

I believe he's referring to MHP2G :P

[schuelma]

Anyone know the planned release date for Little King's Story in Japan?

9/3 I believe

[Eteric Rice]

It seems that there's a cycle in Japan thats just fucking everyone over. A retailer only buys enough to satisfy pre-orders (or only buys small amounts because of store sizes), people buy this small amount, and before anyone notices that the game may be a success, used copies are already around.

What can a company do?

It sucks. Hopefully Wii Sports Resort and New Super Mario Bros. Wii can give the Wii and third party games the kick in the pants they need. But it seems the problem is far deeper than that. The only thing I can see is have stores have a default no-buyback time.

That, or have companies buy up the used copies.

[schuelma]

Another boring week.

[duckroll]

A retailer only buys enough to satisfy pre-orders (or only buys small amounts because of store sizes), people buy this small amount, and before anyone notices that the game may be a success, used copies are already around.

This only applies to games which don't particularly have great word of mouth or marketing power, and have either low or no hype prior to and after release. The real question should be, why should these games be expected to be successful and why is it a "pity" that these games are not successful?

You basically get what you put in as far as retail goes. If you decide to spend nothing to create or generate awareness for a game, and as a result very few people are interested in the game to begin with, well then you failed as a publisher. Cheapening out and hoping word of mouth sells your game only works if your game really catches on with fans, and people convince their friends it's such an awesome game they have to buy it. In these cases, used copies don't make a huge difference.

Even then, in these cases there is substantial viral marketing done with the online fanbase, in terms of very frequent blog updates, podcasts, directly communicating with fans, and providing easy to use blog-kits etc for fans to attach to their blogs, etc.

You don't magically publish a game and expect it to sell xx based on the perception that people should be interested in any game developers have put effort into and that games are entitled to sales. That's bull. In retail the consumer is king, so unless you know how to make the consumer care about your game, there's no point blaming any retailer or any "problem" since the only problem is the publisher's failure in selling a game successfully.

[gkryhewy]

It seems that there's a cycle in Japan thats just fucking everyone over. A retailer only buys enough to satisfy pre-orders (or only buys small amounts because of store sizes), people buy this small amount, and before anyone notices that the game may be a success, used copies are already around.

Why do used copies not appear to have the same depressing effect on North American sales?

[duckroll]

Why do used copies not appear to have the same depressing effect on North American sales?

Because we no longer get complete NPD numbers. :)

[Askia47]

It seems that there's a cycle in Japan thats just fucking everyone over. A retailer only buys enough to satisfy pre-orders (or only buys small amounts because of store sizes), people buy this small amount, and before anyone notices that the game may be a success, used copies are already around. What can a company do? It sucks. Hopefully Wii Sports Resort and New Super Mario Bros. Wii can give the Wii and third party games the kick in the pants they need. But it seems the problem is far deeper than that. The only thing I can see is have stores have a default no-buyback time. That, or have companies buy up the used copies.

I do have to admit, used games are pretty awesome in Japan, all my games I bought there were used . Even Kenzan which was only $5-7 less used, I bought . They look just like new too. :D

Infinite Space looks good, I was considering getting it, but it looks difficulty to navigate through if you don’t know enough Japanese. I’ll still probably get it further down the line.

[Eteric Rice]

Why do used copies not appear to have the same depressing effect on North American sales?

I'd guess because we don't sell our games like two days later. Maybe, I dunno.

[JoshuaJSlone]

Every single one is a JRPG, I assume.

Star Ocean 4
Tales of Vesperia
The Last Remnant
Infinite Undiscovery
Dead or Alive 4

Close.

[Stumpokapow]

Why do used copies not appear to have the same depressing effect on North American sales?

North America:
- Legal rentals
- Relatively low "trade in credit"
- GameStop gives same trade-in credit whether game is barely played, complete, near-mint or no case, marker on disc, played for years, in a house full of smokers.
- Used means $new - $5
- "Rewards" programs generally consist of 10-15% discount if that
- Standard game price $59/$49/$29 depending on console, budget games priced lower.

Japan:
- No rentals
- Relatively high trade in credit
- Trade-in credit is very highly sensitive to game condition. Resale price is also highly sensitive to game condition.
- Used games can go a good deal below new price.
- Many stores have excellent rewards programs.
- Prices vary wildly from ~3000 yen for a budget handheld title to 9000+ yen for high end console titles.

Buying used is a better deal in Japan than it is here. Trading in is a better deal in Japan than it is here. And there's fewer options to play games for cheap than in Japan. Plus we have more data on Japan so the depth of our look into a given game's performance is deeper and we're more likely to look into this sort of stuff.

[Hammer24]

Star Ocean 4 Tales of Vesperia The Last Remnant Infinite Undiscovery Dead or Alive 4 Close.

What did Gears do in the end, any idea?

[swerve]

Japan has some stores which advertise ( cost of a game ) - ( that store's buyback price ) as the main figure on a game's price tag.

New Game Taro Y1200
(price Y5800, buyback Y4600)

Which goes some way to encouraging the culture of play-quick-then-sell (but also arguably drives up the number of initial buyers, who are attracted by the small overall cost).

The sort of games affected the most are linear narrative games with no replay value, obviously. There was a very long time when Animal Crossing and Nintendogs (with their highly personalised save data) were never seen used.

[TheKingsCrown]

Japan has some stores which advertise ( cost of a game ) - ( that store's buyback price ) as the main figure on a game's price tag. New Game Taro Y1200 (price Y5800, buyback Y4600) Which goes some way to encouraging the culture of play-quick-then-sell (but also arguably drives up the number of initial buyers, who are attracted by the small overall cost). The sort of games affected the most are linear narrative games with no replay value, obviously. There was a very long time when Animal Crossing and Nintendogs (with their highly personalised save data) were never seen used.

This is very interesting information.

Otherwise, I have a feeling sales in Japan will become interesting again on July 7th and whenever MH3 hits on Wii.

[toypop]

Japan has some stores which advertise ( cost of a game ) - ( that store's buyback price ) as the main figure on a game's price tag. New Game Taro Y1200 (price Y5800, buyback Y4600)

Hmm may I ask what kind of shops do this?

[Eteric Rice]

Man, it seems the whole country is working against them there.

It's to bad companies can't set up deals with retailers. Like, "don't buy back until so and so date, and we'll give you a discount" or something.

The reseller market seems to be their biggest problem right there.

[duckroll]

Or they could, you know, make games that people don't want to sell after playing for 5 hours. :P

If you wanna release a game that most people will want to sell back after a day, and sell it for over 50 bucks, I would say the market is actually in the right position. It should always favor the consumers. :P

[Durante]

Or they could, you know, make games that people don't want to sell after playing for 5 hours. :P

This is really not such a good thing for the quality of games. It's what gives us 60 hour games with 15 hours worth of content (and in the west and now sometimes even in Japan it gives us tacked-on multiplayer modes in singleplayer games). And this generation it can also result in complete content being removed from the disc and trickled out via "free" DD over the course of months.

I'd rather lose the resale option.

[MoogPaul]

isn't 34k right where Marvelous expected ARF?

[swerve]

Hmm may I ask what kind of shops do this?

Some small independent game stores in kansai.

[Vinci]

This is really not such a good thing for the quality of games. It's what gives us 60 hour games with 15 hours worth of content (and in the west and now sometimes even in Japan it gives us tacked-on multiplayer modes in singleplayer games).

This depends heavily on the content though, doesn't it? Some games are worth the money even after you beat them. Shadow of the Colossus was by no means a long game, but I've never seen too many used copies of it floating around.

[duckroll]

This is really not such a good thing for the quality of games. It's what gives us 60 hour games with 15 hours worth of content (and in the west and now sometimes even in Japan it gives us tacked-on multiplayer modes in singleplayer games). And this generation it can also result in complete content being removed from the disc and trickled out via "free" DD over the course of months.

You realize lots of those games are ALSO being resold after 5 hours of play right? :lol

[lancubap]

Chibi Robo did better then expected.

[cvxfreak]

Selling your games back to stores in Japan is such a pleasant experience, and you actually get the cash you're entitled to for it. Beats using auctions when taking convenience into account.

Can't wait to go to the US next month and retrieve all those Japanese games I never play anymore. I might get decent bucks for them. ¥3000 for Kirby Air Ride. :D

[Eteric Rice]

Selling your games back to stores in Japan is such a pleasant experience, and you actually get the cash you're entitled to for it. Beats using auctions when taking convenience into account. Can't wait to go to the US next month and retrieve all those Japanese games I never play anymore. I might get decent bucks for them. ¥3000 for Kirby Air Ride. :D

It seems to me that American companies have a lot less room to bitch now (about used game sales).

I mean it could be worse, you could live in Japan.

[Vinci]

It seems to me that American companies have a lot less room to bitch now (about used game sales). I mean it could be worse, you could live in Japan.

Well, you're not allowed to rent games in Japan last I was there. It's no wonder the used game market is so fantastic.

[Captain Smoker]

So there are only 44 games which sold more than 100.000 in Japan over wii, xbox360 and PS3 combined in 3 years? And none has sold more than 1 million? wow.... Wii: 17 titles > 100.000 sales Xbox360 : 5 titles > 100.000 sales Ps3: 22 titles > 100.000 sales

There are a few more. :P


X360 - Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope 207.920
X360 - Blue Dragon (incl. Best Version) 204.449
X360 - Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (incl. Platinum Coll.) 200.785
X360 - Tales of Vesperia 184.322
X360 - The Last Remnant 151.181
X360 - Forza Motor Sports 2 (incl. Platinum Coll.) 131.846
X360 - Beautiful Katamari (incl. Platinum Coll.) 122.887
X360 - Viva Pinata (incl. Platinum Coll.) 113.736
X360 - Resident Evil 5 113.460
X360 - Infinite Undiscovery 113.195
X360 - Lost Odyssey (incl. Platinum Coll.) 110.257
X360 - Dead or Alive 4 (incl. Platinum Coll.) 109.518

[Datschge]

There are a few more. :P

That was about 3rd party only though (and not including budget versions).

[Arpharmd B]

That was about 3rd party only though (and not including budget versions).

?

8 of them are 3rd Party.

6 of them are over w/o best of versions.

[JoshuaJSlone]

Chibi Robo did better then expected.

Comparing first weeks to the original versions, this seems right in the middle of the New Play Control releases. Pikmin, Jungle Beat, and Mario Tennis did better. Pikmin 2, Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime 2 did worse. However, the three that did better were the first three such releases, so I guess this is a reversal of the overall down trend.

9/3 I believe

(Little King's Story) Heh, damn those long localization times. Though showing up after WSR and MH3 might be a Good Thing.

[schuelma]

DSi 36,872
PSP 26,904
Wii 18,442
PS3 10,009
Xbox 360 8,015
DS Lite 5,408
PS2 3,498


xbox creeping closer to ps3....

[donny2112]

Wii = PS3 + 360

and they're all really bad.

[Dalthien]

Wii = PS3 + 360

Interestingly, it's pretty much the same ratio as the rest of the world.

[jakncoke]

DSi 36,872 PSP 26,904 Wii 18,442 PS3 10,009 Xbox 360 8,015 DS Lite 5,408 PS2 3,498 xbox creeping closer to ps3....

Any reason why?

[bttb]

.

[Eteric Rice]

Whats that Level 5 game about?