a Master Ninja
Member
It was reported that in Japan, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword sold a measly 6,100 units its first day, and it failed to get in the Top 30 sales charts for the week it was released. That's pathetic.
In America, I only have anecdotal evidence at this point. My Best Buy store got 72 copies when the game launched. Since that time we have only sold 2, meaning that we have a whopping 70 copies collecting dust on the sales floor. Out of 10 Best Buy stores in my district, only one other location has sold a copy at all.
If you have any evidence that supports or goes against NG on the DS bombing, please post it.
What I'm trying to wrap my head around is: Why did it flop? Even our official GAF topic is pretty meager.
I don't think we can blame it on reviews, they put the game at a respectable 85%.
Does the DS just not have the demographic that could support this title? The PSP is the portable targeted at males ages 10 and up, and Chains of Olympus is doing quite well, was the decision to put Ninja Gaiden on the DS a death sentence? If people who enjoyed the Mature rated Ninja Gaiden on a console own a portable, are the odds overwhelmingly in favor of that portable being a PSP?
Was it not properly advertised? Did anyone actually see any of these commercials on TV? Best Buy had it in the national Sunday flier this week and we have to keep large poster for the game in the video game section from the middle of March to the middle of April.
Is it the $35 price point, typical reserved only for Nintendo first party titles? The Teen rating? The stigma of Ninja Gaiden games being hard (even though this one is not)? Word spreading that it was "too short"? Help me out here, GAF.
In America, I only have anecdotal evidence at this point. My Best Buy store got 72 copies when the game launched. Since that time we have only sold 2, meaning that we have a whopping 70 copies collecting dust on the sales floor. Out of 10 Best Buy stores in my district, only one other location has sold a copy at all.
If you have any evidence that supports or goes against NG on the DS bombing, please post it.
What I'm trying to wrap my head around is: Why did it flop? Even our official GAF topic is pretty meager.
I don't think we can blame it on reviews, they put the game at a respectable 85%.
Does the DS just not have the demographic that could support this title? The PSP is the portable targeted at males ages 10 and up, and Chains of Olympus is doing quite well, was the decision to put Ninja Gaiden on the DS a death sentence? If people who enjoyed the Mature rated Ninja Gaiden on a console own a portable, are the odds overwhelmingly in favor of that portable being a PSP?
Was it not properly advertised? Did anyone actually see any of these commercials on TV? Best Buy had it in the national Sunday flier this week and we have to keep large poster for the game in the video game section from the middle of March to the middle of April.
Is it the $35 price point, typical reserved only for Nintendo first party titles? The Teen rating? The stigma of Ninja Gaiden games being hard (even though this one is not)? Word spreading that it was "too short"? Help me out here, GAF.