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Disgaea 5 Complete (Switch) hits 110K pre-orders in the West versus 20K sold in Japan

Fiendcode

Member
Err, I don't know what you were trying to say and how it relates to what I said? As for some relatively recent JRPS that sold well in Japan initally, both Bravely Default and Fire Emblem Awakening sold more in the west.
Bravely's no surprise, FF also sells more in the west. FE has always sold more in the west since it started coming over iirc, Wars did too.

This isn't really limited to Nintendo though, you can name a bunch on PS/XB/Steam too (FFXIII-XV, Nier Automata, Persona 4G/5, Dark Souls series, Ninokuni, Bloodborne, Type 0 HD, Disgaea series, Ys series).
 

Draxal

Member
The vast majority of the DS and 3DS jrpg library never made it outside of Japan.

Again your comment makes little sense. Outside of the N64 and the Wii every Nintendo system has had a flood of high quality jRPGs

/shrug, translating these games takes time, effort, limited amount of translators (8-4 can't do everything) licensing fees and risk management. But most of the times when they reach out to those western fanbases on Nintendo Systems they have been rewarded, from Tales of Symphonia back in the GC days to the more modern models I've posted now.

Bravely's no surprise, FF also sells more in the west. FE has always sold more in the west since it started coming over iirc, Wars did too.

This isn't really limited to Nintendo though, you can name a bunch on PS/XB/Steam too (FFXIII-XV, Nier Automata, Persona 4G/5, Dark Souls 1-3, Ninokuni, Bloodborne, Disgaea 3-5).

Ayup, the sales for Disgaea Five then they mentioned for the PS4 earlier, showed the same disparity as well. Its just for example in the case of Awakening, the America's (canada has always been very strong for as small as population they have) alone beat Japanese sales. While if you were to look at the sales of Fire Emblem heroes on mobile, it's heavily dominated by the Japanese IIRC.

As posted earlier, Dragon Quest is obviously the big big big outlier.
 
1. If your name is DQ.
2. If you are the most niche of niche games, some of which don't even come out in the US.

If neither 1 or 2 is the case then the game is going to sell better in the west.

You can't sell better in the west if you don't release it in the west
nxMxYOF.png
 

andthebeatgoeson

Junior Member
I suspect a lot of developers are probably thinking they missed a trick with the Switch launch, I don't mean this as any kind of wind up but it looks like Switch owners will buy up any game in large numbers at the moment
It's a nice system and the whole package encourages me to buy more.
 

Yagami_Sama

Member
That's pretty good news.

I pre-ordered in the very same day that they announce the game for Switch and since them I am looking forward to play it.

I hope that this means that more stuff from Nippon Ichi will be released for Switch
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
You can't sell better in the west if you don't release it in the west
nxMxYOF.png

That's the point I was making. Japan is a small market these days. Bigger than a lot of individual countries to be sure but small in the grand scheme of things and shrinking.

RPGs that aren't Dragon Quest do better in the west if they get released there, and they usually only get released there if they are going to do better than they did in Japan.

This of course wasn't always the case! RPGs used to be a costly risk. Square didn't bring over FF 2,3,5. Dragon Quest skipped 5,6 (and a bunch of remakes and ports)
 

Draxal

Member
That's the point I was making. Japan is a small market these days. Bigger than a lot of individual countries to be sure but small in the grand scheme of things and shrinking.

RPGs that aren't Dragon Quest do better in the west if they get released there, and they usually only get released there if they are going to do better than they did in Japan.

This of course wasn't always the case! RPGs used to be a costly risk. Square didn't bring over FF 2,3,5. Dragon Quest skipped 5,6 (and a bunch of remakes and ports)

Yeah, obviously Dragon Quest is the big big outlier, there's no nostalgia bug hitting the west like it does in Japan. I also think Zelda is the other big outlier, as while it's not a traditional rpg, the fantasy motif just leads a person into trying other fantasy based games (which usually ends up being rpgs western or Japanese).
 

AniHawk

Member
I hope that this means that more stuff from Nippon Ichi will be released for Switch

these things take time, but it'll happen. if you see stuff coming out to the west within the year, it was probably thanks to disgaea 5. if you see stuff coming out of japan within the year, it was because nis had faith in the platform before they ever saw sales.
 

True Fire

Member
Jesus. This game bombed hard on PS4.

The numbers are very telling for Switch sales. Third parties better be gearing their games up now before they get lost in the wave.
 
Jesus. This game bombed hard on PS4.

The numbers are very telling for Switch sales. Third parties better be gearing their games up now before they get lost in the wave.

Disgaea is always better on portable. I don't even know why they try with main releases on the PS4.
 

True Fire

Member
Disgaea is always better on portable. I don't even know why they try with main releases on the PS4.

The big thing here is that the "Switch is the new Vita" plug (in terms of Japanese support) might actually be coming true.

Though Disgaea's Japanese launch was pitiful, so who knows?
 

noshten

Member
Curently 10th best selling video game (hourly ranking) on Amazon.fr
It's in the top 10 since the price dropped to 34€
I get the feeling it'll surprise many.

Same here, for me the main reasons is nostalgia and familiarity - in Japan where everyone has a handheld another version of USF2 isn't going to be something ground breaking - possibly Bomberman R numbers.While in the West the situation is a little different, people really haven't owned a handheld in mass since the DS. 3DS is a system that in the West I would guess is owned by a lot more kids than adults - so for a lot of adults this might be their first handheld experience of USF2. You can share the fun with their friends while drinking a beer in a park. And majority of my 30 year old friends have played SF2 so it's something you can easily jump into. That's one of the reasons I will probably buy it at some point - same with Bomberman just waiting for the price to drop a bit.
 

Kneefoil

Member
I'm still playing Disgaea PC, so I haven't helped with the western sales of this game. I'm glad to see it's doing great here, though - I'm really enjoying the first Disgaea and wouldn't want the series to die, even though there's still plenty of Disgaea games for me to play.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
tbf that's what happened with Tales games on Nintendo systems lol

I mean, they gave us a really bad game, Dawn of the New World. It was low-budget and not even considered by Namco or Tales team to be a mothership title. And it was a sequel to a beloved game and among the highest selling Tales games in the west, Symphonia on the Gamecube.

So what no one bought the bad game. Namco was really dumb for abandoning the west and Nintendo for that. Graces on Wii would have been localized in a time where the Wii was at the height of popularity worldwide, same for Tales of Hearts on DS. Both good games.
 

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
That's fantastic news. I still wonder what happen to this series in Japan though. It's weird that this now one of the series that now do so much better in the west.

It's good that more Japanese developers acknowledge the importance of the international market.
But also sad how dead game sales are in Japan these days.

You can't reach the same heights in software sales with hardware sales being the way they are. Although FFXV really did have to rely on the west to make up the difference this time. Luckily Switch seems to be appealing even in Japan so far, even if Disgaea couldn't do well on it due to the series losing popularity there.
 
i would buy it if i didn't have the ps4 with all dlc..
this game deserve it..

frankly i can't understand why it sold so poorly in jp :X
 

Oregano

Member
I mean, they gave us a really bad game, Dawn of the New World. It was low-budget and not even considered by Namco or Tales team to be a mothership title. And it was a sequel to a beloved game and among the highest selling Tales games in the west, Symphonia on the Gamecube.

So what no one bought the bad game. Namco was really dumb for abandoning the west and Nintendo for that. Graces on Wii would have been localized in a time where the Wii was at the height of popularity worldwide, same for Tales of Hearts on DS. Both good games.

I think Dawn of the New World is still one of the better selling Tales games in the US. It didn't do badly at all.
 

tbm24

Member
I have it pre-ordered for Switch and honestly I wouldn't play it otherwise. It's a tall ask for me to sit in front of my PS4 to play a game that I assume is significantly lengthy and slow paced these days especially with a child almost here. With the Switch it's a lot easier for me to play in small bursts. Looking forward to it.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
I think Dawn of the New World is still one of the better selling Tales games in the US. It didn't do badly at all.

Well see, that just doesn't make much sense then and how they began talking about how PlayStation was the home for Tales around Xillia. The only way I can see it being the home for Tales is if they remained Japan exclusive series since Tales tend to sell a just a bit better on PlayStation. But really, there are successes on both Nintendo and Sony systems.
 

Oregano

Member
And there's the problem.

Tales of the Abyss 3D is also one of the better performing Tales games in the west.

Well see, that just doesn't make much sense then and how they began talking about how PlayStation was the home for Tales around Xillia. The only way I can see it being the home for Tales is if they remained Japan exclusive series since Tales tend to sell a just a bit better on PlayStation. But really, there are successes on both Nintendo and Sony systems.

It was always bullshit because when that statement was made the first Vita game had already bombed.
 

Nairume

Banned
Well see, that just doesn't make much sense then and how they began talking about how PlayStation was the home for Tales around Xillia. The only way I can see it being the home for Tales is if they remained Japan exclusive series since Tales tend to sell a just a bit better on PlayStation. But really, there are successes on both Nintendo and Sony systems.
I went back and checked the first week sales for mothership titles (plus DotNW) that we still have media create records for. Symphonia GC and the earlier PS2 stuff seems to all be before this point.

Nintendo Platforms:
Wii
Dawn of the New World- 137k
Graces- 143k

DS
Innocence- 104k
Hearts- 140k (123k anime version, 17k cg version)

3DS
Abyss- 74k (late port)


Sony Platforms:
PS2
Symphonia- 265k (late port)
Rebirth- 335k
Legendia- 242k
Abyss- 405k
Destiny R- 270k (remake)
Destiny R DC- 117k (updated remake)

PS3
Vesperia 217k (late but expanded port)
Graces F- 215k (late but expanded port)
Symphonia Chronicles- 77k (remaster compilation)
Xillia- 525k
Xillia 2- 364k
Zesteria- 340k
Berseria- 76k (multiplat)

PS4
Zesteria- 5k (late port)
Berseria- 173k (multiplat)

PSP
Eternia- 81k (late port)
Destiny 2- 73k (late port)
Phantasia Full Voice Edition- 66k (late port)

Vita:
Innocence R- 55k (remake)
Hearts R- 55k (remake)

360
Vesperia 108k

Playstation home platforms have definitely been healthier for the series in Japan, but first week sales also look like they've been on a downswing since Xilia. Maybe there are other reasons for this of course, but they could end up reaching the same conclusion that NIS reached and realize that the console market is shrinking up enough to where one popular platform alone can't sustain them.
 
Bamco poisoned the Tales well on non-Sony platforms and they only have themselves to blame. It's well accepted that any notable Tales release on a non-Sony platform is going to get an updated release on a Sony platform somewhere down the line even if no one asked for it. They were even thinking of remaking Tales of the Tempest on Vita until the consecutive bombing of the previous games scared them off.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Not releasing any of the DS Tales games nor Tales of Graces on Wii in the west was just a baffling decision.

ToS and Dawn of the New World did quite well on the GCN and Wii.
 
Maybe now that Hideo Baba isn't directing the Tales series they will start showing up on Switch.

Maybe he was the one making the baffling decisions lol.
 

gtj1092

Member
Congrats and well done.

Does this mean the Disgaea discussion in media create threads about it's bombing mean the end of switch 3rd party support from smaller japanese publishers can end? I hope so.

Well according to the laws in media create a game is a bomb if it bombs in Japan no matter how much it sells overseas. Also Western sells are a figment of Sony fanboy imaginations. So we expect it to continue.
 

Sandfox

Member
I went back and checked the first week sales for mothership titles (plus DotNW) that we still have media create records for. Symphonia GC and the earlier PS2 stuff seems to all be before this point.

Nintendo Platforms:
Wii
Dawn of the New World- 137k
Graces- 143k

DS
Innocence- 104k
Hearts- 140k (123k anime version, 17k cg version)

3DS
Abyss- 74k (late port)


Sony Platforms:
PS2
Symphonia- 265k (late port)
Rebirth- 335k
Legendia- 242k
Abyss- 405k
Destiny R- 270k (remake)
Destiny R DC- 117k (updated remake)

PS3
Vesperia 217k (late but expanded port)
Graces F- 215k (late but expanded port)
Symphonia Chronicles- 77k (remaster compilation)
Xillia- 525k
Xillia 2- 364k
Zesteria- 340k
Berseria- 76k (multiplat)

PS4
Zesteria- 5k (late port)
Berseria- 173k (multiplat)

PSP
Eternia- 81k (late port)
Destiny 2- 73k (late port)
Phantasia Full Voice Edition- 66k (late port)

Vita:
Innocence R- 55k (remake)
Hearts R- 55k (remake)

360
Vesperia 108k

Playstation home platforms have definitely been healthier for the series in Japan, but first week sales also look like they've been on a downswing since Xilia. Maybe there are other reasons for this of course, but they could end up reaching the same conclusion that NIS reached and realize that the console market is shrinking up enough to where one popular platform alone can't sustain them.
Sales dropped because the quality of the series decreased when it went HD and it got worse with each game. Even Graces Wii shipped with game breaking bugs.
 

Ridley327

Member
Bamco poisoned the Tales well on non-Sony platforms and they only have themselves to blame. It's well accepted that any notable Tales release on a non-Sony platform is going to get an updated release on a Sony platform somewhere down the line even if no one asked for it. They were even thinking of remaking Tales of the Tempest on Vita until the consecutive bombing of the previous games scared them off.

Namco that generation was really, really, really reluctant to let western sales dictate trends. Tales being a somewhat "one and done" franchise on Nintendo hardware, seemingly in spite of Symphonia reigniting the visibility of the series in a massive way and having far fiercer competition to contend with on the PS2, was trumped by the great success of the multiplatform release of Soul Calibur 2 leading to... a PS2 exclusive Soul Calibur 3, which I don't even think came close to matching the sales of just the PS2 version of Soul Calibur 2.
 
Maybe now that Hideo Baba isn't directing the Tales series they will start showing up on Switch.

Maybe he was the one making the baffling decisions lol.

He was only the producer IIRC, he never directed a game I think. Still, I think he more or less did call the shots, since he always seemed like the leader of the franchise.

I agree as I said in the other thread, I have little doubt that he was a very large influence on the series shift towards PlayStation exclusively.
 

-Horizon-

Member
I would buy the game to support it too if I could find a switch >.<
Nintendo pls

I know its available on gamestop but I don't want a bundle.
 
Maybe now that Hideo Baba isn't directing the Tales series they will start showing up on Switch.

Maybe he was the one making the baffling decisions lol.
I do remember Hideo Baba saying something like the Tales of fans were on Vita/PS3 so they were going to stick with that despite Tales of the Abyss 3D's success.
 
I do remember Hideo Baba saying something like the Tales of fans were on Vita/PS3 so they were going to stick with that despite Tales of the Abyss 3D's success.

It really did show he was full of shit especially when the Vita games bombed.

I hope he doesn't do the same shit at Square Enix.
 
It really did show he was full of shit especially when the Vita games bombed.

I hope he doesn't do the same shit at Square Enix.

Pretty sure he's at his own small company. He can't tell SE what to do or not do. He's only in control of what his company puts out I think.

If he wants to go Sony-exclusive with his new company, by all means, he can do what he wants. It just never felt right with Tales since the series was already on Nintendo systems and history showed that the series was successful on them.
 

FStubbs

Member
I do remember Hideo Baba saying something like the Tales of fans were on Vita/PS3 so they were going to stick with that despite Tales of the Abyss 3D's success.

So he was just a Sony fanboy in the end. He did everything he could to make Tales fans on Vita/PS3.

Tales originated on Nintendo hardware ...

They should definitely consider PS4/Switch for these games from here out.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Vita developers jumping on board Switch would great, though I'd rather have bigger console japanese games like Nier or Ace Combat on it. Still whatever happens it'll be a huge improvement over what we got on 3DS. That system's third party library was just a garbage dump outside of MH and SMT, one of which is already announced .

Sorry the 3DS isnt flooded with anime visual novels

So he was just a Sony fanboy in the end. He did everything he could to make Tales fans on Vita/PS3.

Tales originated on Nintendo hardware ...

They should definitely consider PS4/Switch for these games from here out.

That goes for many 3rd parties. Tales of Abyss is a success yet Vita first remake is a bomb? Release yet another Vita remake (which bombed too lol)
 

Terrell

Member
To be honest, I always thought the western Nintendo fanbase was much bigger into jrpgs then the Japanese Nintendo fanbase.

It's tough to make that conclusion. I think the sheer volume and variety on PS platforms for many years caused a migration of Nintendo fans in Japan. Meanwhile, Sony's westernization of their platform in the west after PS2 created the opposite effect...?

It's tough to say.

This is how NIS works? They announce the first version for PS then the port. Usually was PSP and Vita. Switch will probably be no different. Dont expect NIS to up and not release for PS first.

Just like we shouldn't expect de-facto Sony exclusive developer Nippon Ichi to ever:

- make a Disgaea game for Switch
- champion a non-Sony platform
- support Switch in any meaningful way beyond a single "pity release"

These arguments have all been made in the past when discussing NIS publishing games for Switch at some point in the console's history.

GAF's more cynical expectations on this topic haven't lined up with reality for a little bit now, so I don't expect your cynical expectation to fair much better.

I hope other publishers are paying attention.

History tells me that they're not.

Capcom
Atlus
Level 5
Marvelous
Namco

Post if you are ok.

They think they are. And they're wrong to think that, no surprise there.

yo, gaming company president. let me tell you a little something about France and Nintendo and then you'll maybe understand why the weight shifted for your game there ... (why do I need to tell you this, though?)
This was actually my first thought. France has always been big on Nintendo compared to the rest of Europe, so of course D5C did better there.
 
Capcom
Atlus
Level 5
Marvelous
Namco

Post if you are ok.
Level 5 has nothing for Switch, right? I imagine Namco has something planned but they've been a bit stingy as well.
Atlus has pledged support so they're doing pretty well on that front.
The most baffling one is Capcom. Hope that changes in e3...for the better
 
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