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Media Create Sales: Week 19, 2012 (May 07 - May 13)

I think claiming that there's a big proven audience for MH on Sony hardware and using Tri as an example of an MH title "underperforming" on Nintendo hardware to demonstrate that, but *not* taking into account that the series only became a phenomenon when it hit a portable that offered local multi... well, it seems a slightly wobbly analysis. I don't think it's unfair to point that out.
If we're going to divorce all context, then Tri also significantly outperformed every PS2/PS3 Monhun as well. Gee, I guess MH just does better on Nintendo hardware? :)
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
If we're going to divorce all context, then Tri also significantly outperformed every PS2/PS3 Monhun as well. Gee, I guess MH just does better on Nintendo hardware? :)

It's also the highest selling MH internationally I believe, though I might be wrong.
 
I was told it does, especially if you have big hands.

I've also been told it's actually unnecessary for Tri G due to the lock on and touchscreen controls.

It makes the system significantly more comfortable to me, and the triggers are actually awesome. Love RE Rev with it because of the triggers.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ

And really, isn't that why Capcom went to Nintendo in the first place? Aside from the rumored moneyhates of course. After Nintendo's partnership with Square-Enix over Dragon Quest and attempting to make DQ9 into more of an international presence than prior DQ games, Capcom probably wanted the same deal for MH, and it seems to have worked. Nintendo's 2/2 on getting better exposure for previously-Japanese audience-centric games.
 

saichi

Member
TBF assassin's creed Vita still isn't exactly confirmed, since what you posted stated a launch line up and an undefined Assassin's creed game, that we've heard absolutely nothing about and could have been cancelled between now and then.

While we are at it, Bioshock Infinite is coming on VITA too!

A Vita MonHun title is inevitable imho. Its simply unthinkable that CapCom wouldn't at least try to reconnect with that audience.

Guys if they put a version of MH on 360 in Japan... Vita's install-base isn't going to worry them!

Monster Hunter Frontier game actually makes sense for VITA since it's like PSO2.

EDIT: beaten by lunchwithyuzo ;_;
 
And really, isn't that why Capcom went to Nintendo in the first place? Aside from the rumored moneyhates of course. After Nintendo's partnership with Square-Enix over Dragon Quest and attempting to make DQ9 into more of an international presence than prior DQ games, Capcom probably wanted the same deal for MH, and it seems to have worked. Nintendo's 2/2 on getting better exposure for previously-Japanese audience-centric games.

Which is why I'm surprised we haven't seen/heard much regarding tri g in the west yet, I would've expected an e3 blow out but Sven's recent comments don't fill me with much hope
 
There is a very good reason why Capcom would not want to give the Vita any significant MonHun games for the foreseeable future and it ties directly into how and why the franchise became such a massive hit.

Local co-op play is the main reason why Portable MonHun exploded in popularity. Because of co-op Capcom wants to ensure the largest number of people are playing the new MonHun, and because it's local co-op having everyone playing the same game is an important factor that would not matter if the draw was online play.

Which means that it's in Capcom's best interests to ensure that the MonHun fanbase stays in one spot at any given time. And that 'one place' will, by default, be the system where the next big MonHun game was announced: the 3DS, with MonHun4. Diluting this with MonHun games for the Vita would just be a poor business decision.

Now, after MonHun4 has released and been given its time in the sun, Capcom could theoretically find the next place to tell the fanbase to move to. But why would they do that when it would be so much easier to keep cultivating the already existing fanbase on a particular system, at least until that system's time in the sun is definitely fading?
 

Vinnk

Member
8-4 crew said in a recent podcast it barely had a profile at all in Japan, no real store presence. Don't know how extensive that is, maybe someone like Vinnk can provide more anecdotal evidence.

Game stores in my town pushed it hard at first (posters, kiosks) and it had some commonly running (though not great) ads on popular primetime TV shows. But after the first few weeks stores scaled back the vita sections and stopped putting it right by the doors (though Vita new releases are still there). Yeah, I would say it has store presence similar to the Wii. It's not front and center like PS3, PSP and 3DS but it's not in the 360 ghetto either. A few gaming stores like Wanpaku are keeping hope alive and still have the Vita in good locations but I am not sure how long that will last.

At standard department stores it's worse for the Vita. At, for example, the local Jusco it's basically 3DS and "other". 3DS is out front and you have to move behind that section to even find the other systems and games. Vita games are shoved in next to the PSP stuff, and I am sure more than one confused parent has bought the wrong game for the wrong system because of it.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
Game stores in my town pushed it hard at first (posters, kiosks) and it had some commonly running (though not great) ads on popular primetime TV shows. But after the first few weeks stores scaled back the vita sections and stopped putting it right by the doors (though Vita new releases are still there). Yeah, I would say it has store presence similar to the Wii. It's not front and center like PS3, PSP and 3DS but it's not in the 360 ghetto either. A few gaming stores like Wanpaku are keeping hope alive and still have the Vita in good locations but I am not sure how long that will last.

At standard department stores it's worse for the Vita. At, for example, the local Jusco it's basically 3DS and "other". 3DS is out front and you have to move behind that section to even find the other systems and games. Vita games are shoved in next to the PSP stuff, and I am sure more than one confused parent has bought the wrong game for the wrong system because of it.

I'm imagining waves of Japanese parents buying a PSP game for their kid's Vita and then doing this.
 
Game stores in my town pushed it hard at first (posters, kiosks) and it had some commonly running (though not great) ads on popular primetime TV shows. But after the first few weeks stores scaled back the vita sections and stopped putting it right by the doors (though Vita new releases are still there). Yeah, I would say it has store presence similar to the Wii. It's not front and center like PS3, PSP and 3DS but it's not in the 360 ghetto either. A few gaming stores like Wanpaku are keeping hope alive and still have the Vita in good locations but I am not sure how long that will last.

At standard department stores it's worse for the Vita. At, for example, the local Jusco it's basically 3DS and "other". 3DS is out front and you have to move behind that section to even find the other systems and games. Vita games are shoved in next to the PSP stuff, and I am sure more than one confused parent has bought the wrong game for the wrong system because of it.

Thanks for the report.
This seems pretty reasonable given the fact that Vita has no presence in the chart outside the few games that are occasionally released (which disappear one-two weeks after the launch).
 

test_account

XP-39C²
3DS at least.

NSMB2
Luigi's Mansion 2
Animal Crossing
Paper Mario
Fire Emblem

All already announced. Not difficult to imagine 5 more. And that's only from Nintendo themselves.
From the announced Vita games, i can easily imagine around 10 games as well.
 

wrowa

Member
Which is why I'm surprised we haven't seen/heard much regarding tri g in the west yet, I would've expected an e3 blow out but Sven's recent comments don't fill me with much hope

It doesn't make sense to release MH3G in the US/Europe without an online mode. If the game isn't seeing a release over here, the explanation is a simple one: They didn't deem it profitable to add online for a western release.
 

Dalthien

Member
8-4 crew said in a recent podcast it barely had a profile at all in Japan, no real store presence. Don't know how extensive that is, maybe someone like Vinnk can provide more anecdotal evidence.

Yeah, that's another reason why Sony will have to do something soon about Vita.

When Iwata was explaining the 3DS price cut, he said that part of it was due to 3rd-party partners starting to reevaluate their commitment to the platform. But the other part of that comment was that Nintendo's retail partners were also starting to get cold feet about their support for their platform.

So yeah, there's no doubt that 3rd-parties are seriously reevaluating their commitment to Vita as we speak, but the same would be true for retailers as well. There's just no reason to use up prime storefront space for a platform that is routinely sub-10k per week in Japan (and probably approaching something in the neighbourhood of 15k per week in the US).

I could be completely wrong in this but I think that if Sony can, in the next few months, 1) drop the price to no more than $250 for the 3G/ $200 for the wifi out the door (meaning with a decent sized memory card), 2) get PS1 support locked in and 3) actually get their product some visibility in the form of advertising then the sales needle will move in a positive direction.

Dropping the price and advertising would certainly help move things in a positive direction, but honestly, the PS1 support isn't going to do anything. No one (speaking of the general marketplace, not some nerd on gaming sites) is going to buy Vita because of PS1 support. They can already play PS1 games on the PSP, or PS1, or PS2, or PS3, or emulated on a whole host of other devices. PS1 support would make for a nice little addition for those who own the system, but it's presence (or lack thereof) isn't going to move the needle one way or the other.
 

muu

Member
It doesn't make sense to release MH3G in the US/Europe without an online mode. If the game isn't seeing a release over here, the explanation is a simple one: They didn't deem it profitable to add online for a western release.

Fee-based online for the console MH's is what really made those releases profitable. US MH3 had free online but it was comparably gimped. MHP never had official online capabilities, and if you look at their officlal FAQ their answer to "can you play w/ other players over the internet" is that you cannot. Obviously you really CAN, 1) unofficially using X-LINK Kai or 2) w/ Ad Hoc Party. Seems that Capcom's stance is that those methods of online play are tolerated but not officially recognized. After all, having a free service does no good when you're trying to push the pay model. One rumor that's routinely passed around, is that this was the reason MH made the move to the 3DS -- an environment where they could later set up a fee-based online service if they wished. After all, MHP exploded in popularity before Ad Hoc Party came into existence, and the folks that really reaped the benefits of that service was Sony, who sold a number of PS3's as a multi-function wireless router for the PSP.

So in that sense, the western release is in a bind. They have to add online support for it to make even a dent in the US, but it's certainly not even close to popular enough to where people would pay for essentially a monthly MO service. Making it free online may attract some customers, but you could imagine the bad impression it may leave on Japanese customers who didn't have an online component to begin with. And likely will have a fee-based online portion on MH4. It's unfortunate for Capcom but I don't think there's an easy answer to their woes here.
 

matmanx1

Member
Dropping the price and advertising would certainly help move things in a positive direction, but honestly, the PS1 support isn't going to do anything. No one (speaking of the general marketplace, not some nerd on gaming sites) is going to buy Vita because of PS1 support. They can already play PS1 games on the PSP, or PS1, or PS2, or PS3, or emulated on a whole host of other devices. PS1 support would make for a nice little addition for those who own the system, but it's presence (or lack thereof) isn't going to move the needle one way or the other.

I think PS1 support is probably important to the Sony customer who probably already has a PS3, might have had a PSP in the past and has bought FFVII or other PS1 classic over PSN and may still be on the fence about the Vita. I think any amount of "proven" low cost software that you can add to a system's library is only going to help things and that's exactly what the PS1 PSN collection is, for the most part. It could very well be the final nudge that some folks need to make their purchase.

By itself I think it's fairly unimportant and in that I agree with you. But in the large scheme of things I think it's one more thing that needs to be there for the Vita to get healthy.

And thanks to you all who talked about the Vita's visibility in regards to Japan and elsewhere. Perhaps the biggest mistake of all in regards to Sony's handling of the Vita launch wasn't price, memory card or games but the absolute lack of any kind of enduring "push" for the product to advertise it and keep it visible outside of folks who regularly go into a video games retailer. People won't buy what they don't know exists, plain and simple.
 
Do we have overseas shipments for previous Monster Hunter titles, or is this something that Capcom have said?
We have western shipments for all the PSP games by going through Capcom's old IR docs. I looked them up previously:

Freedom: 230k
Freedom 2: 260k
Freedom Unite: 450k

Unite had a big western advertising push with TV ads, but Capcom mentioned it failed to hit their targets.
 

BKK

Member
We have western shipments for all the PSP games by going through Capcom's old IR docs. I looked them up previously:

Freedom: 230k
Freedom 2: 260k
Freedom Unite: 450k

Unite had a big western advertising push with TV ads, but Capcom mentioned it failed to hit their targets.

Thanks, what's the figure for Tri?
 

saichi

Member
By itself I think it's fairly unimportant and in that I agree with you. But in the large scheme of things I think it's one more thing that needs to be there for the Vita to get healthy.

Would be a nice to have feature but not a must. If consumers have enough new games that interest them on the platform, they wouldn't care much if they can play PS1 games or not.

And thanks to you all who talked about the Vita's visibility in regards to Japan and elsewhere. Perhaps the biggest mistake of all in regards to Sony's handling of the Vita launch wasn't price, memory card or games but the absolute lack of any kind of enduring "push" for the product to advertise it and keep it visible outside of folks who regularly go into a video games retailer. People won't buy what they don't know exists, plain and simple.

To make the matter worse, it looks like VITA is slowly losing visibility even at the retail locations based on the feedback we got from 8-4 crew and Vinnk.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
I think they've blown Vita's marketing worldwide which is how you know it is indeed the true successor to the PSP.
 
We have western shipments for all the PSP games by going through Capcom's old IR docs. I looked them up previously:

Freedom: 230k
Freedom 2: 260k
Freedom Unite: 450k

Unite had a big western advertising push with TV ads, but Capcom mentioned it failed to hit their targets.

I remember loads of ads for unite here in the UK (seemed as big a push as tri got) the PSP was pretty much dead by then anyway though
 
To make the matter worse, it looks like VITA is slowly losing visibility even at the retail locations based on the feedback we got from 8-4 crew and Vinnk.

Question: did the PSP face a similar loss of shelf space and store positioning before the Monster Hunter fueled revival?

The PSP never dropped as low as the Vita did, did it?
 
Question: did the PSP face a similar loss of shelf space and store positioning before the Monster Hunter fueled revival?

The PSP never dropped as low as the Vita did, did it?

On this week in 2005 (the Vita and the PSP have been out for about the same period of time), the PSP sold 24,000 units. The Vita sold 6,000 the same week in 2012.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
The PSP never dropped as low as the Vita did, did it?

Well, to answer that question, I'll give you the five worst PSP hardware weeks excluding 2012 on the basis that the point of your question is "during its lifetime":

Code:
2005-07-18	19,043
2009-09-07	18,375
2009-09-21	17,334
2006-11-13	16,690
2007-09-03	15,564
(All figures Media Create)

Vita has only had 7 weeks better than the PSP's worst week, versus 15 weeks worse than the PSP's worst week.

The DS's worst weeks, excluding 2011/2012 as per above:
Code:
2005-03-14	22,446
2005-02-14	22,363
2005-04-11	21,698
2010-05-31	20,699
2006-02-06	10,223

I can't remember if the DS's worst week was a supply constraint thing or just a week or two before the DS Lite launch and sales getting diverted for that. If you exclude that week, the Vita has only had 4 weeks better than the DS's worst week ever.
 
Well, to answer that question, I'll give you the five worst PSP hardware weeks excluding 2012 on the basis that the point of your question is "during its lifetime":

Code:
2005-07-18	19,043
2009-09-07	18,375
2009-09-21	17,334
2006-11-13	16,690
2007-09-03	15,564
(All figures Media Create)

Vita has only had 7 weeks better than the PSP's worst week, versus 15 weeks worse than the PSP's worst week.

Ouch. Road to Wonderswan-ville. Hope Sony has a goddam good plan.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
very interesting.

what about launch window hardware prices? I mean, were DS and PSP more or less expensive than a Vita in their first couple of months in Japan?

Looks like DS launched at 15,000 yen and PSP at 19,800 yen or 24,800 yen for the pack with the memory card. Not sure what the Vita's launch price was, I thought around 25,000 yen for the WiFi model and around 30,000 yen for the 3G model, but I might be wrong. 3DS Launch price was around 25,000 yen as well if I remember correctly.
 

Chris1964

Sales-Age Genius
I can't remember if the DS's worst week was a supply constraint thing or just a week or two before the DS Lite launch and sales getting diverted for that. If you exclude that week, the Vita has only had 4 weeks better than the DS's worst week ever.

Supply problems. You can see that yourself with how much Phat kept selling after Lite launch until Nintendo discontinued it.

My Little Sister 2 and Persona 2 had slow starts today.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Supply problems. You can see that yourself with how much Phat kept selling after Lite launch until Nintendo discontinued it.

My Little Sister 2 and Persona 2 had slow starts today.

How much the first "My Little Sister" did? I'm not recalling it right now XD
 
Japan's economy starting to pick up
Nothing about gaming in the article but an improving economy will help to improve video game sales and would be beneficial to all game companies doing domestic business.
data showed Japan's economy grew faster than the United States, Germany and Britain in the first quarter
The government upgraded its assessment of the labor market, saying things are picking up in areas not affected by the earthquake as companies are increasing overtime pay and youth unemployment is falling.
The world's third-largest economy grew 1.0 percent in the January-March quarter, just above a median forecast of 0.9 percent, data showed on Thursday. Japan's gross domestic product will expand by 2.0 percent in the fiscal year to March 2013 as government spending on reconstruction gathers momentum, according to a Reuters poll.
 
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