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Bayonetta 2 off to a slow start in Japan [Update: Week 2 sales]

Damn, and we thought the Pikmin 3 numbers were bad.

Typically how well do Platinum games do in Japan? I know MGR was a great success but obviously due to the IP. Oh well I'll be doing my job and getting it when it comes out here just to support for a non-Nintendo developed Wii U exclusive.

Here's the full chart.


Outside of Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising, Platinum titles don't tend to do very well in Japan.

AKA "The Platinum Curse"



Platinum Games, First Week Japanese Sales (individual SKUs):


1) Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013, PS3) - 335,791 copies

2) Bayonetta (2009, PS3) - 138,430 copies

3) Bayonetta (2009, 360) - 66,211 copies

4) Vanquish (2010, PS3) - 51,705 copies

5) Infinite Space (2009, DS) - 40,266 copies

6) Bayonetta 1 + 2 (2014, Wii U) - 33,114 copies

7) Anarchy Reigns (2012, PS3) - 21,199 copies

8) Vanquish (2010, 360) - 11,798 copies

9) The Wonderful 101 (2013, Wii U) - 6,663 copies

10) Madworld (2009, Wii) - 4,651 copies

11) Anarchy Reigns (2012, 360) - 4,170 copies


Platinum Games, First Week Japanese Sales (combined SKUs):

1) Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013, PS3) - 335,791 copies

2) Bayonetta (2009, PS3 + 360) - 204,641 copies

3) Vanquish, 2010, PS3 + 360) - 63,503 copies

4) Infinite Space (2009, DS) - 40,266 copies

5) Bayonetta 1 + 2 (2014, Wii U) - 33,114 copies

6) Anarchy Reigns (2012, PS3 + 360) - 25,369 copies

7) The Wonderful 101 (2013, Wii U) - 6,663 copies

8) Madworld (2009, Wii) - 4,651 copies



First week sales could be a lot worse (like The Wonderful 101 or Madworld)...as the game was somewhat carried on the strength of the Bayonetta IP. However, it's still incredibly disappointing considering the relative success of the original release.
 

Foffy

Banned
Depends on your definition of hot. It did pretty good for a new IP.

Internationally, yes. In Japan, those just look like raw, awful numbers, especially considering Bayonetta was made during a period where such a game would not make any money back based on just the sales in Japan.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
It is not surprising given the base.

Is this published by Nintendo? Which means no chance to appear on Xb1 or PS4.

I wonder what is Itagaki thinking now.
ic2WcvHkOocdE.jpg


As long as there's beer money.
 

Skyzard

Banned
There is like barely anything coming out for the thing though, you'd expect it to be a bit more popular, especially with the costumes.

It's a good deal too :/
 
No idea why people keep paying these mothafuckas to make this big ass spectacles with equally spectacular bomba sales...
but I thank them for it and I hope Microsoft has prepared themselves for the colossal hole in their wallet Scalebound is gonna be
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I guess this is going to continue to be ignored and not discussed.

You think its going to do any better after a week? Unfortunately sales are dimishing and at the same time becoming more and more frontloaded. A deadly combination.

It has to do with the Wii U, but it also has more to do with the fact that nobody in Japan gives a shit about console or core games anymore outside of 3DS, and even that isn't forever
 
Here is the comparison using Famitsu data (the better tracker):



First week sales (Famitsu data):


Bayonetta (PS3) - 138,430 copies

Bayonetta (360) - 66,211 copies

Bayonetta 1 + 2 (Wii U) - 33,114 copies



It's striking that Bayonetta 2 is underperforming the 360 version of the original Bayonetta, considering how poorly the 360 has performed in Japan.

I am legit shook that it's not only less than the 360 figures for Bayo 1, but by half?
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
It is not surprising given the base.

Is this published by Nintendo? Which means no chance to appear on Xb1 or PS4.

I wonder what is Itagaki thinking now.

Nintendo is publishing

And Itagaki doesn't care as long as Nintendo's funding keeps the lights going at his studio at this point.
 
0sv3yc4.png

From Kellams on twitter. The game got a 10/10 on EDGE today calling it "Wii U's 'first true classic'", so it's great. If it doesn't sell too well, well Nintendo losses a couple of bucks, no huge loss for them with games like smash out. Enjoy the game like PG would want you guys to instead of worrying too much about the sales.
and maybe wait till it launches everywhere or we have more than 2 days worth of date in japan? 3D World was also off to a slow start before selling better for several weeks afterwards.
I guess this is going to continue to be ignored and not discussed.
How many days did the 360 version have?
 
Thing that's troubling is that it's such a low percentage of the install base.

I mean I could see if the argument was that it's on WiiU

But it's not even selling for a WiiU game. Hope they got a good money hat or a timed exclusive deal on this one...
 

Dahbomb

Member
No idea why people keep paying these mothafuckas to make this big ass spectacles with equally spectacular bomba sales...
but I thank them for it and I hope Microsoft has prepared themselves for the colossal hole in their wallet Scalebound is gonna be
So that gamers get good games out of good developers?
 

prwxv3

Member
Honestly Platinum's future is probably going to consist of making games of existing IPs (like metal gear or korra)
 
And the original was released almost 5 years ago. Current japanese home console gaming is nowhere near as ok as it was then.

Metal Gear Rising was just released last year. It's not like the market just fell off since then. I mean, while it's a completely different game, Destiny on the PS4 sold 91k units in its first week in Japan.
 

Village

Member
No, but I don't think Sega singled them out because of how their games performed.

Everything Sega was producing was under performing, so now Sega is ultra-conservative on video game development period.

I don't think sega singled them out rather was just looking through stuff saw it didn't do as much as they wanted and didn't deem it worthy of funding. I'm not saying that 1 game got that specific treatment because sega loathes them or something, but i believe it still happened.

And to the bolded

( unless its sonic, then they will spend frivolous amounts of money on unneeded western expansions to franchise that already has western things that they could have expanded upon. On their ever failing quest to make sonic a dreamworks/pixar character. But for that's another conversation for another time )
 

PetrCobra

Member
I'm going to repeat myself here but the number probably doesn't include digital sales, right? Was the first Bayonetta on 360/PS3 sold digitally?

The situation might not be as bad as it looks.
 
From Kellams on twitter. The game got a 10/10 on EDGE today, so it's great. If it doesn't sell too well, well Nintendo losses a couple of bucks, no huge loss for them with games like smash out. Enjoy the game like PG would want you guys to instead of worrying too much about the sales.

Tens of millions of potential loss is not really a small loss though. Granted the actual budget is anyones guess

and maybe wait till it launches everywhere or we have more than 2 days worth of date in japan? 3D World was also off to a slow start before selling better for several weeks afterwards.

If the results elsewhere change the trend, sure. But based on Bayonetta 1's historic precedence, one would expect the game to perform worse, not better in the rest of the world compared to Japan

How many days did the 360 version have?

4 compared to Bayonetta 2's 2 days of tracking. I can assure you though it will not make much of a difference due to how niche such a title is, it being highly frontloaded is almost assured
 

SerTapTap

Member
It's going to do better than Bayonetta Wii U in Japan due to the concept, audience, and Microsoft marketing.

You're talking about a console that may well have less than 100k units in Japan by Scalebound's launch. It would have to sell to like half of the Xbox One's jp install base to do better than Bayo.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
From Kellams on twitter. The game got a 10/10 on EDGE today, so it's great. If it doesn't sell too well, well Nintendo losses a couple of bucks, no huge loss for them with games like smash out. Enjoy the game like PG would want you guys to instead of worrying too much about the sales.

that's really the most important thing to keep in mind, frankly. The game apparently kicks total ass. If people aren't buying it, it's their own damn loss. Nintendo's wallet isn't what's important.
 

vinnygambini

Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
Though it may be a controversial opinion, Nintendo only have themselves to blame as they have personified the idea that only Nintendo franchises are worth owning, and nothing else.
 

AniHawk

Member
I'm going to repeat myself here but the number probably doesn't include digital sales, right? Was the first Bayonetta on 360/PS3 sold digitally?

The situation might not be as bad as it looks.

no it's pretty much as bad as it looks.

also, people don't seem to be aware of the 360's standing in japan. it wasn't as bad as people might think given the xbox one and the original xbox. there were a few games that even sold in excess of 100,000 units. it even spawned a successful franchise, the science adventure games by 5pb.
 
that's really the most important thing to keep in mind, frankly. The game apparently kicks total ass. If people aren't buying it, it's their own damn loss. Nintendo's wallet isn't what's important.

Yep, Game sales do not denote the quality of a title. Honestly they probably denote the quality of the marketing more than anything

Consoles weren't dead back then

The 360 in 2009 had 40% less of an install base [~750k units less] than the Wii U in 2014 during Bayonetta 2's launch and still managed to near enough double Bayonetta 2's first week of sales. I really can't see how we can blame it on the contracting console market in this case. 2% of Wii U owners in Japan bought the game versus 5.5% of 360 owners for the original
 
You're talking about a console that may well have less than 100k units in Japan by Scalebound's launch. It would have to sell to like half of the Xbox One's jp install base to do better than Bayo.

I really hope Platinum doesn't go under because of this. Solid games that don't sell aren't enough to keep a developer afloat.
 
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