[michaelius]

6k weeks won't happen again - release schedule isn't as barren as march/april in Japan.

Next week should be 20k+ then 7-8 weeks of slower sales before Miku bump - so around 900k at end of August imho.

[olimpia84]

Remember when they called Pokemon ' just a fad' back in the Red/Blue days?

[grimshawish]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capcom_Five

Sad story in the end :(

[electroplankton]

Remember when they called Pokemon ' just a fad' back in the Red/Blue days?

No because I was 9.

[Takao]

Sad story in the end :(

Not really, Capcom continues to bet on Nintendo hardware more so than Sony ones. The PS3 and Vita are the only platforms that Capcom has never made an exclusive for.

[test_account]

I know at least one person said it. Don't feel like going through more posts. But yeah, all according to keikaku or something. :P

Well, maybe someone didnt think the drop would be that big, but i dont think that anyone thought that the sales wouldnt drop :)

But the big difference here is that Sony might decide to not pursue competing in the dedicated handheld market anymore. They could cut the Vita short in it's early years. In contrast, the 360 did well outside of Japan, which allowed it to maintain a presence there no matter how badly it sold in Japan.

360 does have support though - provided by success outside of Japan (more or less); my thinking with the Vita wasn't along the lines of Sony dropping it but consumers. Not saying it will happen, just its within the realm of possibility.

The main thing i'm commenting on in this discussion is the "before one million" part. I'd say that it is in the same realm of possibility that the 3DS will sell 200k units from now on and to the end of 2012.

Yep, i was also thinking about the consumers dropping it when i mentioned the Xbox 360. The weekly sales are so low because the consumers in general arent very interested in the system, yet it is on the shelfs.

[schuelma]

Not really, Capcom continues to bet on Nintendo hardware more so than Sony ones. .

Come on.

[bigtroyjon]

Nintendo knew the gamecube was dead sometime between its first and second year and what did they do? let the dead corpse float around with current of the river until it's time to get rid of it and start a new with a new product, which was the Wii. Sony will do exactly the same. there is no " If these things don't happen, I bail out and tell everyone to **** off". That doesn't happen, people.

It does happen when the company is going through major financial issues and doesn't really have the ability to just waste resources on a product that is doing nothing for them.

There is a major disconnect on GAF between reality(Sony execs won't have their jobs in a year if they don't figure out how to actually make money) and fantasy(Sony's financial issues won't affect gaming at all)

Reality is dictating that Sony in it's current state needs to only be in investing resources in products that will actually show a return worthy of what they are investing in that product.

Yep, i was also thinking about the consumers dropping it when i mentioned the Xbox 360. The weekly sales are so low because the consumers in general arent very interested in the system, yet it is on the shelfs.

The 360 is on shelves because Microsoft has a vested interest in having whatever presence in Japan that they can get due to the games that are created in the region that sell in other regions where the 360 is strong.

There are no strong regions for Vita and no reason for Sony to keep it on the shelves if it's not selling.

[mugurumakensei]

Not really, Capcom continues to bet on Nintendo hardware more so than Sony ones. The PS3 and Vita are the only platforms that Capcom has never made an exclusive for.

The only one of those where you can make the case truly is Vita, but Vita is a platform that isn't selling great so what's capcom's incentive?

[Takao]

Come on.

Are you going to argue that them making their largest Japanese franchise Nintendo exclusive, as well as making a 3DS exclusive Resident Evil when Sony hardware gets neither isn't a sign of showing more support? Wii U probably will get a port of whatever fighting game Capcom's hawking then, as well as a port of RE6.

The only one of those where you can make the case truly is Vita, but Vita is a platform that isn't selling great so what's capcom's incentive?

Name an exclusive Capcom PS3 game. HD ports don't count.

[sphinx]

Come on.

considering capcom's output in the last generation of handhelds (DS vs. PSP), I don't think takao's comment can be taken seriously, unless he means home consoles only, and even then...

[ffdgh]

it'll be fun to see how much a 3ds pokemon would sell in about 2-3 years

[Lord_Byron28]

Are you going to argue that them making their largest Japanese franchise Nintendo exclusive, as well as making a 3DS exclusive Resident Evil when Sony hardware gets neither isn't a sign of showing more support?

Capcom also pretty much ignored the DS and gave the PSP good support. They also gave Wii the short end of the stick(yes they got MH3 but got gipped on every other major Capcom release).

[test_account]

Sad story in the end :(

The last part is only about a rumor (at least that is what the Wikipedia source links to, an article from Kotaku). It could be true, but it wasnt anything that was confirmed.

The 360 is on shelves because Microsoft has a vested interest in having whatever presence in Japan that they can get due to the games that are created in the region that sell in other regions where the 360 is strong. There are no strong regions for Vita and no reason for Sony to keep it on the shelves if it's not selling.

Do you think that there is a likely senario that the Vita is pulled from the shelfs in Japan before it has reached one million units? That is the main reason why i'm commenting in this discussion. If someone had said "in 2 years" or "before 5 million units", it would be something different :)

I just mention the Xbox 360 to show that even if the consumers interest is low, there can be still a reason to keep the system on the market. The same goes for Vita. Dropping it completely means zero sales. I dont know what makes most sense financially, if dropping it completely is more profitable that having low sales.

[cw_sasuke]

Are you going to argue that them making their largest Japanese franchise Nintendo exclusive, as well as making a 3DS exclusive Resident Evil when Sony hardware gets neither isn't a sign of showing more support? Wii U probably will get a port of whatever fighting game Capcom's hawking then, as well as a port of RE6. Name an exclusive Capcom PS3 game. HD ports don't count.

You really think they acre if the games are exclusive or not ? Capcom biggest and most expensive titles are all on Ps3, except of MH. This is "support" - maybe not support for exclusive fanboy wars list but saying Capcom support for PS hardware is weak couldnt be further from the truth.

They dont support the Vita with strong titles, but this isnt surprising since its selling like crap compared to the 3DS while probably having higher development costs.

[sphinx]

The last part is only about a rumor (at least that is what the Wikipedia source links to, an article from Kotaku). It could be true, but it wasnt anything that was confirmed.

you mean the "no capcom characters in the smash bros. game" portion? I raised my eyebrows as well, haha.

as I read that part I thought " No way that's 100% confirmed, surely a BS rumor".. and yeah Kotaku (a site with otherwise good intentions and nice features) was the "source"..

[Takao]

considering capcom's output in the last generation of handhelds (DS vs. PSP), I don't think takao's comment can be taken seriously, unless he means home consoles only, and even then...

Capcom also pretty much ignored the DS and gave the PSP good support. They also gave Wii the short end of the stick.

I actually had this discussion with someone a year or so ago, and I tallied it up. PSP's Capcom support was largely ports. Granted, so were the majority of Ace Attorneys on DS but hey. The only reason the PSP even got that push from them was because Inafune believed in the platform, and from that Monster Hunter (which is a huge chunk of Capcom's PSP library) became a gigantic hit.

As for the Wii, Capcom's one of the better supporters of that platform. They made some very stupid decisions (there should have been a new proper Resident Evil on that platform) but the only reason things like Resident Evil 5, and Street Fighter never made it over was due to concessions needing to be made to make them run not being worth Capcom's time.

[grimshawish]

After Nintendo refused to carry Capcom franchises in Smash Bros.
Thats mainly what I found sad, Capcom did try; but it didn't work out. Mind you isn't the Wii version of RE4 still the best selling version?

Capcom/Nintendo obviously rekindled for the 3DS. This is probably mostly down to the hardware though.

EDIT: Didn't see the replies - If its a rumour then fair enough.

[test_account]

you mean the "no capcom characters in the smash bros. game" portion? I raised my eyebrows as well, haha. as I read that part I thought " No way that's 100% confirmed, surely a BS rumor".. and yeah Kotaku (a site with otherwise good intentions and nice features) was the "source"..

Yep, that part :) I have to admit that i didnt read that carefully through the whole last part of the Wikipedia article, but i assumed that this is the sad part he is referring too (the relationship between Capcom and Nintendo after RE4 also was released on PS2). It could be true, but i just wanted to point out that it is only a rumor.

[lunchwithyuzo]

I actually had this discussion with someone a year or so ago, and I tallied it up. PSP's Capcom support was largely ports. Granted, so were the majority of Ace Attorneys on DS but hey. The only reason the PSP even got that push from them was because Inafune believed in the platform, and from that Monster Hunter (which is a huge chunk of Capcom's PSP library) became a gigantic hit. As for the Wii, Capcom's one of the better supporters of that platform. They made some very stupid decisions (there should have been a new proper Resident Evil on that platform) but the only reason things like Resident Evil 5, and Street Fighter never made it over was due to concessions needing to be made to make them run not being worth Capcom's time.

No, the big Capcom push on PSP happened before MHP took off. Then when everything but MHP bombed, Capcom just stuck to that with the odd side project here and there (Basara spinoffs, Last Ranker).

Capcom's DS support however was a step down from GBA even. Most of the ports/remakes (fighters, Megaman) went to PSP instead, Starforce was late in coming to the system (and never managed the success of Battle Network), same for ZX (versus Zero) and really only the Phoenix Wright ports did too well it seemed. Capcom did give the system a nice last push with stuff like Ghost Trick, Okamiden and Ace Attorney Investigations, but that was well after they'd missed the boat. Capcom's reluctance to really back DS with support was bizarre.

[test_account]

Mind you isn't the Wii version of RE4 still the best selling version?

The PS2 version sold the most, but the Wii version is relatively close behind (which is very good concidering that it is a years old port). The PS2 version sold 2.2 million copies. The Wii version sold 1.9 million copies.

http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/b...s/million.html (RE4 PS2 is on 14th place, the Wii version is on 21th place).

[Takao]

You really think they acre if the games are exclusive or not ? Capcom biggest and most expensive titles are all on Ps3, except of MH. This is "support" - maybe not support for exclusive fanboy wars list but saying Capcom support for PS hardware is weak couldnt be further from the truth. They dont support the Vita with strong titles, but this isnt surprising since its selling like crap compared to the 3DS while probably having higher development costs.

I never said that Capcom's PS3 support was weak. I said they'd rather back Nintendo platforms that Sony ones. Things like Sengoku Basara 3 even being on Wii, and the randomly exclusive DLC/RE6 demo for Dragon's Dogma tells me that Capcom's not a huge friend of Sony's. The fact that MH isn't on PS3 in any meaningful way is also a sign of that too. It's the current most successful home console in Japan, and MH is their largest Japanese market IP.

No, the big Capcom push on PSP happened before MHP took off. Then when everything but MHP bombed, Capcom just stuck to that with the odd side project here and there (Basara spinoffs, Last Ranker).

I said that Capcom's big PSP push was because Inafune believed in the platform, and that Monster Hunter was the one that worked out amazingly well. The first MHP was definitely part of Capcom's initial support for the platform.

[Sammy Samusu]

Name an exclusive Capcom PS3 game. HD ports don't count.

Maybe you should ask yourself, "why make a PS3 exclusive game?", before anything else.

[Takao]

Maybe you should ask yourself, "why make a PS3 exclusive game?", before anything else.

It's the only viable Japanese home console. If you're making a console game targeting the Japanese audience what other platform would you release it on?

[Sammy Samusu]

It's the only viable Japanese home console. If you're making a console game targeting the Japanese audience what other platform would you release it on?

I forgot we are in a japanese sales thread, lol. Excuse me.

[lunchwithyuzo]

I said that Capcom's big PSP push was because Inafune believed in the platform, and that Monster Hunter was the one that worked out amazingly well. The first MHP was definitely part of Capcom's initial support for the platform.

Yeah, sorry, I misread. :/

It's the only viable Japanese home console. If you're making a console game targeting the Japanese audience what other platform would you release it on?

For the Industry. For the Future. For Wii U. :3

[AniHawk]

No, the big Capcom push on PSP happened before MHP took off. Then when everything but MHP bombed, Capcom just stuck to that with the odd side project here and there (Basara spinoffs, Last Ranker). Capcom's DS support however was a step down from GBA even. Most of the ports/remakes (fighters, Megaman) went to PSP instead, Starforce was late in coming to the system (and never managed the success of Battle Network), same for ZX (versus Zero) and really only the Phoenix Wright ports did too well it seemed. Capcom did give the system a nice last push with stuff like Ghost Trick, Okamiden and Ace Attorney Investigations, but that was well after they'd missed the boat. Capcom's reluctance to really back DS with support was bizarre.

capcom always backs the underdogs, like sega with the saturn/dreamcast, nintendo with the gamecube, and sony with the psp

it's probably not intentional

[beril]

It's the only viable Japanese home console. If you're making a console game targeting the Japanese audience what other platform would you release it on?

Still not much point in making it exclusive. If you can get an additional 10% sales on the 360 it should probably more than cover the costs of the additional SKUs as all the engines and tools are crossplatform. Also when was the last time Capcom made a console game targetting just the japanese audience?

[Takao]

Still not much point in making it exclusive. If you can get an additional 10% sales on the 360 it should probably more than cover the costs of the additional SKUs as all the engines and tools are crossplatform. Also when was the last time Capcom made a console game targetting just the japanese audience?

Well, based on the sales so far, Dragon's Dogma.

[lunchwithyuzo]

capcom always backs the underdogs, like sega with the saturn/dreamcast, nintendo with the gamecube, and sony with the psp it's probably not intentional

Counterpoint: Vita

Also when was the last time Capcom made a console game targetting just the japanese audience?

Sengoku Basara 3, which was multiplatform and did much better than 10% on the "other" system.

[Chris1964]

3DS XL was announced on the 22nd. That's just 2 of the days in this tracking period. As well, the kids who buy Pokemon games aren't going to be watching Nintendo Direct and know to wait it out for 3DS XL.

Being a kid buing Pokemon doesn't mean being stupid. The news were all over the internet.

[clemenx]

Yeah, it didn't bump the 3DS but those versions will still give basically free money to Nintendo you can't call it a mistake.

They could release a new Pokemon for the Game Boy tomorrow and it wouldn't be a mistake.

[saichi]

I dont think that the white Vita will do wonders, so i agree to that. But there is also an white Hatsune Miku bundle coming up. Then there is also a new Vita Heaven coming, and TGS. This is not a "wait for" comment, but these two events is something to concider even if the expectations are low.

isn't it supposed to come some time in June?

Being a kid buing Pokemon doesn't mean being stupid. The news were all over the internet.

lol

[test_account]

isn't it supposed to come some time in June?

Yeah, i think that was the initial plan, but it seems that it is delayed or something.

[schuelma]

Are you going to argue that them making their largest Japanese franchise Nintendo exclusive, as well as making a 3DS exclusive Resident Evil when Sony hardware gets neither isn't a sign of showing more support? Wii U probably will get a port of whatever fighting game Capcom's hawking then, as well as a port of RE6. Name an exclusive Capcom PS3 game. HD ports don't count.

Calling stuff like Resident Evil, DMC, and Dragon's Dogma multi platform for purposes of Japan is disingenuous.

Make a list of Capcom's PS2, PSP, and PS3 support and then compare that to GameCube, DS, and Wii.

There is a 0 percent chance the Nintendo ledger looks better.

I think in the end you're just thinking of Monster Hunter and calling it a day.

[Spiegel]

Capcom likes to support consoles early. They did it with DC, PS2, 3DS, PSP and X360. All of them got exclusives because of that reason. It's not Capcom's fault that for some reason Sony loves to release consoles late now.

And yes, Capcom's 5 is the only weird thing but these plans were abandoned fast and had a logical conclusion due to the performance of PS2 and GC.

Well, their lack of Vita support is also a bit confusing but we can't blame them for not being too suportive because they have already decided where MH is going to launch.

[JJConrad]

I never said that Capcom's PS3 support was weak. I said they'd rather back Nintendo platforms that Sony ones. Things like Sengoku Basara 3 even being on Wii, and the randomly exclusive DLC/RE6 demo for Dragon's Dogma tells me that Capcom's not a huge friend of Sony's. The fact that MH isn't on PS3 in any meaningful way is also a sign of that too. It's the current most successful home console in Japan, and MH is their largest Japanese market IP.

The PS3 didn't begin looking viable itself until mid-2009. That's the reason it lost MH3 to Wii and most of its early exclusives to multiplatform. The Wii still outsold it on the year through 2010. The idea that the PS3 is the "only viable Japanese home console" is a very recent one. And since the beginning of 2011, they've released 12 PS3 titles to just 1 Wii title. Who are the betting on there?

[donny2112]

Vita's at 779k LTD. It will hit 1 million before September, I'm betting.

That would require it selling > 200K in two months. Seems quite unlikely.

Edit:
1m by pre-December seems really likely, though.

[ShockingAlberto]

capcom always backs the underdogs, like sega with the saturn/dreamcast, nintendo with the gamecube, and sony with the psp it's probably not intentional

I feel like it is kind of intentional.

They like being a big fish in a small pond, but they'll get the hell out of it turns out that it's not working for them.

[donny2112]

The PS3 and Vita are the only platforms that Capcom has never made an exclusive for.

What exclusive did Capcom make for 360? (Unless you're counting timed exclusives due to PS3 not being on the market, yet, or excluding Dead Rising Wii from counting.)

[Erethian]

Well, their lack of Vita support is also a bit confusing but we can't blame them for not being too suportive because they have already decided where MH is going to launch.

It's not so confusing when you consider what their internal sales projections would have been for both systems.

Betting on the successor to the best-selling handheld of all time isn't exactly going out on a limb.

[ShockingAlberto]

Their Vita support was early and honestly kind of annoying, because the concessions they made for Vita "improvements" really sort of fucked over the other versions of games.

UMvC3 had its entire UI redesigned to work with the Vita and there wasn't even any crossplay to rationalize it. They held back the replay mode to only work on the Vita. They refused to release on-disc SFxT DLC, letting hackers have free reign of it, until the Vita version comes out. Ono was on stage at Vita events pushing that version.

They put what made sense for a system's first year on that system.

[Nirolak]

What exclusive did Capcom make for 360? (Unless you're counting timed exclusives due to PS3 not being on the market, yet, or excluding Dead Rising Wii from counting.)

I would say Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor and Dead Rising (because it is so different than the Wii version) at retail and both Dead Rising 2: Case Zero and Dead Rising 2: Case West on XBLA.

[Spiegel]

It's not so confusing when you consider what their internal sales projections would have been for both systems. Betting on the successor to the best-selling handheld of all time isn't exactly going out on a limb.

The lack of announced support is a bit weird because Capcom loves to release multiplatform games and there are many ports that could've had a vita version with minimal effort (say RE4/CV, RE:R or Okami). And the only things that Vita is going to get from Capcom in the first year are two late fighting game ports.

I mean, there are going to be like 20 RE games getting released in one year and for every console and Vita isn't getting any of them.

But in retrospect and looking at Capcom's typical handheld support in the first year, 3DS is the exception.

[Ratrat]

I know at least one person said it. Don't feel like going through more posts. But yeah, all according to keikaku or something. :P

The person who replied said 90% drop. I thought at most 70% so...

[9thwonder]

Is their any other games for vita after miku? Miku comes in August and YS comes out September right. Then soul sacrifice comes out October right? (Expecting a pretty large boost from that game. Monster hunter clones have been doing well and judging from the gameplay I've seen it shits on monster Huber in every conceivable way. If if Sony markets that I expect great things from that game.) Oh and the rumor about god eater 2 coming to vita I think that would do great things too. Top it off with a price drop during the holidays and we are good to go.

[perfectchaos007]

Pokemon on DS was a miscalculation, IMO. Look at the GIANT numbers it did, with a minimal 3DS hardware boost. Everyone in Japan already has a DS (probably 3 of them). No one is going to buy a 3DS for B/W 2, they're just playing it on their DS. What kind of bump would 3DS have gotten if it had a system exclusive Pokemon game.

I think the goal was to move software rather than hardware. The 3DS install base is progressing along fine, but the current DS install base is still 5 times that of the 3DS. Gamefreak wanted to move software, and 1.5million in week 1 probably wouldn't have been achieved on 3DS. Not to mention the development cost that was saved by keeping the same game engine from B&W

[Man God]

I think the goal was to move software rather than hardware. The 3DS install base is progressing along fine, but the current DS install base is still 5 times that of the 3DS. Gamefreak wanted to move software, and 1.5million in week 1 probably wouldn't have been achieved on 3DS. Not to mention the development cost that was saved by keeping the same game engine from B&W

Plus it's been a fairly well known secret that Gamefreak has two pokémon teams. One works on main games while the other one does expansions and remakes.

[watershed]

Will DQM be able to cross a million at this point? It looks like the early stock issues and running into BW2 may have hurt its sales potential.

[mugurumakensei]

Will DQM be able to cross a million at this point? It looks like the early stock issues and running into BW2 may have hurt its sales potential.

It's on track to hit a million. It might take a while though. I expect it to hit around 850k before it does a slow crawl.