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Media Create Sales: Week 35, 2013 (Aug 26 - Sep 01)

Tripon

Member
True, the PS3 is still supported and will continue to be supported (Nintendo really dropped the ball on continuing Wii support; come to think of it, have they ever provided significant support after a console's final year?). In fact, the top games this week were PS3 games.

The NES got games like Star Tropics 2 in 94, when the SNES was winding down, and in Japan, the SNES was supported for years with Fire Emblem games like Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu in 1996, and Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 in 2000. The very last Super FamiCon game released ever.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Ah, so like the "uprezzed" PS2 game moniker (or maybe even like a "Dolphinized" game, I've played Dolphinized games and they look nice). Or I seem to remember a comment about Yakuza for PS4 being an example of what can be expected from a more "niche" game that doesn't have a AAA budget. They'll look "nice enough."

But for a handheld, things such as "sprites", fixed-camera views, icons, chibi styles, etc. are acceptable, that's what I'm curious about: will the increase in hardware power and resolution affect the "handheld" style/nature of games, or will it pressure developers to present more games in a "console" style. (Crap, I've gone way off topic. Back on topic.)

How much clout does the Final Fantasy series, and JRPGs in general, have in Japan, are they the kinds of games analogous to COD/FPS's where people may buy a console to keep up with those series/types of games? Are there certain types of games analogous to how FPS's/sports games are in America where casual gamers would buy a console and keep up with those kinds of games? They're guaranteed Square's big JRPGs on the PS4 (unlike with the WiiU). But even then, I may be stereotyping Japanese tastes again. Also, there's the case of the PS3 being supported into the future, I wonder how that would affect PS4 sales.

When Nirolak talks about upressed PS2 games he's talking about the Drakengard 3, Kamen Rider: Battle Ride Wars, and Shin Gundam Muso's of the world. Yakuza looks next gen compared to that stuff.

Yeah I mean this is Tales of Xillia, a game that sold over 600K copies and is one of the top 5 or 6 selling games on PS3:

talesx401jpg-0815c0.jpg


For Japanese PS3 game performance, look at this slightly outdated list: http://garaph.info/gamesearch.php?t...meid=&orderby=SalesLTD+DESC&res1=&res2=&opt=1

I suspect the styles we see on PSP/3DS will be what we will continue to see on Nintendo's next handheld.

The biggest struggle the PS4 is going to have is taking away smaller games from the 3DS, Vita, mobile, and PS3 and that's probably not going to happen any time soon.
Right, their best chance is to go after the niche games that are on PS3 and Vita, though that obviously has a negative impact on their other system.
 

Takao

Banned
It is impressive how previous entries in these franchises on PS3 looked better. Tales of Vesperia is a much better looking game. Same goes for the earlier Gundam Musos.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
It is impressive how previous entries in these franchises on PS3 looked better. Tales of Vesperia is a much better looking game. Same goes for the earlier Gundam Musos.

Budget decreases as they stopped being viewed as internationally viable series and the sales volume in Japan dropped.
 

Takao

Banned
Budget decreases as they stopped being viewed as internationally viable series and the sales volume in Japan dropped.

C'mon now. No one thought Gundam Muso was going to sell outside of Japan, and on PS3 each successive game sold better than the last! That's just Namco Bandai being cheap.

MS money probably explains Tales of Vesperia though.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
C'mon now. No one thought Gundam Muso was going to sell outside of Japan, and on PS3 each successive game sold better than the last! That's just Namco Bandai being cheap.

MS money probably explains Tales of Vesperia though.

Do they sell enough to justify the cost though or were expectations higher once upon a time?

I see something about huge expectations (that I assume were vastly overstated, but probably still spoke to large expectations) here: http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/02/23/two-million-for-gundam-musou

IGN said:
That answer could be ours next week when Gundam Musou sees Japanese release. Bandai Namco and Koei held an insiders-only (that's the industry kind of insider, not the IGN kind) event in Tokyo today to mark the completion of this unlikely combination of Gundam and Dynasty Warriors. At the event, Koei cofounder Keiko Erikawa had this to say about the upcoming title: "We've made a fantastic game. Gundam Musou is the most ordered PlayStation 3 game, but it's just one tenth of the sales we're thinking of. For us, Bandai's Gundam is one million , and the Musou series is one million. We'd like to sell a total of two million copies."

A Bandai Namco rep later lowered that forecast to one million worldwide sales.
 
I think at the very least games will start moving to the ps4/vita route over the current ps3/v. Vita is starting to hold up a decent enough share of multiplats that it might not be too crazy an idea to drop ps3 earlier than expected.
There will also more likely be more western games releasing than what the vita and wiiu received combined. The call of duty's, assasins creeds, uncharteds etc have worked into this low/mid teir sellers.
 

DaBoss

Member
I think at the very least games will start moving to the ps4/vita route over the current ps3/v. Vita is starting to hold up a decent enough share of multiplats that it might not be too crazy an idea to drop ps3 earlier than expected.
There will also more likely be more western games releasing than what the vita and wiiu received combined. The call of duty's, assasins creeds, uncharteds etc have worked into this low/mid teir sellers.

I highly find it unlikely they will drop the PS3 earlier than expected. Only 2 (I remember that there are 2!) PS3/Vita games have sold better on the Vita. Once the Vita versions outsell the PS3 versions consistently and by a large difference, then the PS3 will be dropped. The PS3 has software selling for the most part.
 

Lumyst

Member
Didn't know the SNES was supported until 2000. With the Wii having such a huge install base though, I wonder why Nintendo hasn't continued supporting it with new games.

Yeah I mean this is Tales of Xillia, a game that sold over 600K copies and is one of the top 5 or 6 selling games on PS3:

Oh, that's more like what we can expect :p I've been playing ToV on the 360 recently, and it has such a beautiful cell-shaded style, I wonder why they ditched that. What I meant about Yakuza was that, can it be expected for smaller devs to accomplish improved visuals on the PS4 by virtue of the increased hardware power, but it seems I was just dreaming. Which would mean that the "smaller" devs are able to accomplish what they want/are able to on the devices already available. With the PS3, they have the install base already available. So what incentive do they have to provide their games to the PS4 closer to launch, that leaves the "bigger" publishers like Capcom and Square, as well as the first party, to be the drivers of the PS4's install base. (That's why I wonder how much clout the likes of Final Fantasy have as system sellers.) I guess the question is how long will people continue to be playing games on their PS3's, maybe they'll be vocal about wishing for games to be on PS4 instead as time goes on. I'm very curious about the launch lineup too and if it will feature smaller devs or not, that is what I'll be hoping to see on 9/9 (perhaps on one of those "3rd party support slides" console manufacturer's love to flash when giving presentations).

edit: (Oh, so it took more money and not just effects/hardware power to make ToV look the way it did.)
 

Busaiku

Member
Didn't know the SNES was supported until 2000. With the Wii having such a huge install base though, I wonder why Nintendo hasn't continued supporting it with new games.

Cause it takes a lot longer and is a lot more costly to make games nowadays.
 
I highly find it unlikely they will drop the PS3 earlier than expected. Only 2 (I remember that there are 2!) PS3/Vita games have sold better on the Vita. Once the Vita versions outsell the PS3 versions consistently and by a large difference, then the PS3 will be dropped. The PS3 has software selling for the most part.

I wasn't trying to suggest that the vita versions were doing better than ps3, but they are for the most part doing a not insignificant amount.
I don't think it's a home run idea for third parties either, but for sony i think a good number would be enticed into buying a ps4 if there was no ps3 version.
 

Sandfox

Member
Didn't know the SNES was supported until 2000. With the Wii having such a huge install base though, I wonder why Nintendo hasn't continued supporting it with new games.



Oh, that's more like what we can expect :p I've been playing ToV on the 360 recently, and it has such a beautiful cell-shaded style, I wonder why they ditched that. What I meant about Yakuza was that, can it be expected for smaller devs to accomplish improved visuals on the PS4 by virtue of the increased hardware power, but it seems I was just dreaming. Which would mean that the "smaller" devs are able to accomplish what they want/are able to on the devices already available. With the PS3, they have the install base already available. So what incentive do they have to provide their games to the PS4 closer to launch, that leaves the "bigger" publishers like Capcom and Square, as well as the first party, to be the drivers of the PS4's install base. (That's why I wonder how much clout the likes of Final Fantasy have as system sellers.) I guess the question is how long will people continue to be playing games on their PS3's, maybe they'll be vocal about wishing for games to be on PS4 instead as time goes on. I'm very curious about the launch lineup too and if it will feature smaller devs or not, that is what I'll be hoping to see on 9/9 (perhaps on one of those "3rd party support slides" console manufacturer's love to flash when giving presentations).

The only really big franchises Sony has up their sleeves in Japan ATM are:
MGS(with V being crossgen)
FF
Tales(next entry is more than likely going to be PS3)
KH
Off the top of my head HSG would probably be their best selling first party game but that series have declined hard.

FF and to KH could be system sellers but for all we know they won't release until 2014. Also, given how Japan is pretty much handheld and mobile land now I don't think we'll see a vocal outcry for more PS4 titles unless something crazy happens.

As for the Wii thing that's problaby when they wanted all their devs to start working on 3DS games or something.
 
Didn't know the SNES was supported until 2000. With the Wii having such a huge install base though, I wonder why Nintendo hasn't continued supporting it with new games.

Neither the N64 or the GCN had a good late life support either.

GCN especially had a very short life in Japan. By 2005 (less than 4 years after launch) it was pretty much completely dead in Japan.

The only really big franchises Sony has up their sleeves in Japan ATM are:
MGS(with V being crossgen)
FF
Tales(next entry is more than likely going to be PS3)
KH
Off the top of my head HSG would probably be their best selling first party game but that series have declined hard.

FF and to KH could be system sellers but for all we know they won't release until 2014. Also, given how Japan is pretty much handheld and mobile land now I don't think we'll see a vocal outcry for more PS4 titles unless something crazy happens.

As for the Wii thing that's problaby when they wanted all their devs to start working on 3DS games or something.

Cod is big in Japan atm too. BO2 sold 500k+ apparently in Japan.
 

Lumyst

Member
Cause it takes a lot longer and is a lot more costly to make games nowadays.

I suppose it's also because their future is with the 3DS (that they devoted resources to save) and WiiU too, and unlike the PS3/Xbox 360, the Wii didn't have a vibrant last year. In fact, the 3rd parties are providing the 360/PS3 with a vibrant last year, the Wii did not enjoy that. (But they did make the Wii Mini and recently dropped a couple game prices down, what they hope to accomplish with that is up in the air, what good the Wii Mini accomplished is already evident.)

But I took this topic wayyyyyy off with my comments about 3rd parties, Harvest Moon, visuals due to hardware power...so I'll just leave it at this, I hope to see one of those slides that shows 3rd party support for the PS4, and I want to see those smaller publishers and devs on it.
 

Sandfox

Member
Now that I think about it, one of the biggest PS3 problems this gen is that JP devs failed to make any truly successful new IPs for the system over the course of this entire generation.

Almost all the PS3 big sellers are old IPs or licensed crap.
 

zroid

Banned
Speaking of which, how was the reception of RE6 among Japanese consumers? I wonder if it will hurt the sales potential of RE7 to any degree.
 

Mario007

Member
Now that I think about it, one of the biggest PS3 problems this gen is that JP devs failed to make any truly successful new IPs for the system over the course of this entire generation.

Almost all the PS3 big sellers are old IPs or licensed crap.
Yeah ironically, Dragon's Dogma is the only new IP that did very well in Japan from Japanese developers if memory serves me right.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
So the Sony event starts in 12 hours.

Any last statements for what they should show to be successful and/or what you expect to show up?

As a helping note, both Sega and Namco are unveiling new games in Famitsu this week, so that may or may not be related.
 

Tizoc

Member
So the Sony event starts in 12 hours.

Any last statements for what they should show to be successful and/or what you expect to show up?

As a helping note, both Sega and Namco are unveiling new games in Famitsu this week, so that may or may not be related.

64 GB card for Vita....and prob. a Sonic game for PS4 (and Vita!)
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I'll take the far out long shot and say Demon's Souls 2 on the basis that the same people who were chattering about FFXV and KH3 on the forum at E3 were going on about that.

For more measured predictions I expect a Musou game and for at least one of Namco's f2p games to show up on PS4.

I think a PS4 port of PSO2 is not unlikely as well.

I suspect they won't show a sufficient number of smaller games.
 
64 GB card for Vita....and prob. a Sonic game for PS4 (and Vita!)

Sonic's not going to have a new game announced when Lost World isn't even out yet. And for Lost World, Nintendo probably wouldn't be too eager to publish the PS4/Vita versions of the game for PAL territories.

More importantly, Sonic is a franchise that actually does best on Nintendo platforms, and I doubt that there is any strong incentive for it being on PS4/Vita. Sega has other franchises that could work just as well.
 

Pooya

Member
I suspect they won't show a sufficient number of smaller games.

Nippon Ichi and GUST will probably cover that, whether that's enough though it's another matter.

There is supposed to be a new Atelier game next year going by what the director has said it could be new world and not in an existing series. Sounds like something they can start on a new platform. They are one of the main early supporters of Vita and not so early with PS3.

NIS has said the PS3 will still be their main platform but they'll be looking at PS4, we will see. http://www.siliconera.com/2013/08/2...f-sequels-and-new-games-still-focusing-on-ps3
 

BlackJace

Member
I'm not expecting much from TGS or this event, tbh.

It's going to take a while for many JP parties to get up to full speed with next gen development, methinks.
 

Takao

Banned
A Sonic game isn't going to be announced at TGS because Sonic sells like poop in Japan.

Also, Tokyo Jungle is the surprise PS3 new IP this gen:

[PS3] Tokyo Jungle - 110.309 / 215.677
 

Busaiku

Member
I'm still baffled how some expect PS4 to do better than PS3.
Maybe the conference tonight will change that, but it just seems so unlikely to me.
 
I'm not expecting much from TGS or this event, tbh.

It's going to take a while for many JP parties to get up to full speed with next gen development, methinks.

Not much?
This will be record setting TGS with highest number of
smartphone
games annouced :(
 

Mr Swine

Banned
At the rate we're going the PS4, Vita, and Wii U will sell a combined 20K a week in 2014.

That is if Sony announces a lot of big IP's for PS4 release day. Otherwise I have a really hard time seeing it sell more than 20-30k a week the first 6 months of its life. That is if it avoids the same fate Vita and Wii U had at launch
 
I'm still baffled how some expect PS4 to do better than PS3.
Maybe the conference tonight will change that, but it just seems so unlikely to me.

Well its going to get all the games the ps3 would get, its at a lower price point and it no longer has stiff competition like the Wii instead its only competition is the faltering WiiU.
 

Busaiku

Member
I'm just not expecting many of the franchises that pushed PS3 to push PS4 nearly as much.
I don't think Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Kingdom Hearts, and so on will have the strength it did going from PS2 to PS3.

I think stuff Yakuza and Dynasty Warriors will be fine, but I don't think it can push the system quite as much.
 

Pooya

Member
If PS4 is coming this December, I think launch lineup gonna be pretty crap for Japan. Maybe if they can get that Yakuza game for launch otherwise there will largely be ports or cheap shovel ware games the like of Bandai mostly make. PS3/Vita launch line up were terrible too, so not that unexpected.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
That is if Sony announces a lot of big IP's for PS4 release day. Otherwise I have a really hard time seeing it sell more than 20-30k a week the first 6 months of its life. That is if it avoids the same fate Vita and Wii U had at launch

Combined as in PS4 + Vita + Wii U = 20K.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
That would be straight jokes.
The industry is cyclical though, so who knows how long it will take for consoles to return to form.

I might be a bit hyperbolic, but I'm not sure how much higher than number would actually be.

40K wouldn't surprise me even remotely, while 30K seems quite feasible as well, especially given that each platform will be going up and down depending on what is happening.
 

Coxy

Member
I'll take the far out long shot and say Demon's Souls 2 on the basis that the same people who were chattering about FFXV and KH3 on the forum at E3 were going on about that.

For more measured predictions I expect a Musou game and for at least one of Namco's f2p games to show up on PS4.

I think a PS4 port of PSO2 is not unlikely as well.

I suspect they won't show a sufficient number of smaller games.

namco trademarked Kamen Rider Musou a while back (see japanese trademark thread) seems like a likely candidate and a relatively big game

GUST actually said they want to do another game in the Dusk series so expect that on ps3
 

Takao

Banned
Well if PS4 will sale like WiiU for example such ventrues like FF XV won't make sense anymore lol. Unless there going to try to appeal more to western tastes.

Presumably people would buy a PlayStation 4 when big name software like FFXV comes out.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Well if PS4 will sale like WiiU for example such ventrues like FF XV won't make sense anymore lol. Unless there going to try to appeal more to western tastes.

Well the game is an open world action RPG in a realistic-ish setting that contains third person shooting, a drivable car, and Uncharted-esque set pieces, so I kind of assume they're going for the Western audience for most of the sales.

But yeah, as Takao noted, they should still be able to get a fair amount of sales when FFXV lands.
 

BlackJace

Member
I might be a bit hyperbolic, but I'm not sure how much higher than number would actually be.

40K wouldn't surprise me even remotely, while 30K seems quite feasible as well, especially given that each platform will be going up and down depending on what is happening.

Eh, who knows. It's just crazy with how apathetic the JP public is to consoles at the moment.
 

Busaiku

Member
Vita will have Sen no Kiseki, God Eater 2, Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends, and some other stuff, as well as whatever gets announced in the next few months.
If it really settles that low, then I don't think it can recover.
 

Asd202

Member
Well the game is an open world action RPG in a realistic-ish setting that contains third person shooting, a drivable car, and Uncharted-esque set pieces, so I kind of assume they're going for the Western audience for most of the sales.

But yeah, as Takao noted, they should still be able to get a fair amount of sales when FFXV lands.

Still thoes sales would not be as strong as overall FF XIII numbers.
 

Pooya

Member
I can see a scenario where PS4 is very successful :p In that publishers realize if this one fails too then there is only 3DS left which obviously can't support everything we make. So we 'must' make it successful by green lighting lots of titles as early as possible otherwise gotta layoff most of our consumer products segment, lol. Maybe we see signs of them trying in these weeks but so far there is nothing of that sort :p
 

Takao

Banned
Vita will have Sen no Kiseki, God Eater 2, Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends, and some other stuff, as well as whatever gets announced in the next few months.
If it really settles that low, then I don't think it can recover.

The issue is that all of that software is shared with other platforms. It's a better position to be in than Wii U, but that's not saying much.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Still thoes sales would not be as strong as overall FF XIII numbers.

Right, that's why I feel they were okay with turning an action rpg into a mainline game, since it would go over better where their main potential sales base is going to be by far.

I can see a scenario where PS4 is very successful :p In that publishers realize if this one fails too then there is only 3DS left which obviously can't support everything we make. So we 'must' make it successful by green lighting lots of titles as early as possible otherwise gotta layoff most of out consumer products segment, lol. Maybe we see signs of them trying in these weeks but so far there is nothing of that sort :p

I think anything that's going to the West in a big way will obviously be on PS4 (and presumably Xbox One), though if Japanese developers decide they want another platform that isn't mobile is an interesting question.
 

zroid

Banned
Well the game is an open world action RPG in a realistic-ish setting that contains third person shooting, a drivable car, and Uncharted-esque set pieces, so I kind of assume they're going for the Western audience for most of the sales.

wait, what

I apparently haven't been paying as much attention as I thought

what are they doing to my FF?! D:
 

Into

Member
There are 2 factors that will play heavily into how well the PS4 does:

- No red hot Wii this time around

- PS4 will cost far less than the PS3 initially did


Those are pretty major factors, it will also be the only truly viable tech pushing console in Japan as the Xbox One is a non factor. Its not really competing with smartphones, 3DS or anything of the like.

Then you have ponder just how the masses in Japan will respond to the console, Sony is heavily into making this device social, making it play with smartphones, focusing on interaction and some services. What kind of effect are indies going to have here? Japanese indies? Is this going to be come a thing?

The twist might be that the PS4 lands it self in a blue ocean type strategy that Nintendo enjoyed so much with the Wii, where it is the only gaming device that is relevant in Japan that pushes technology and delivers big games, while everyone else is fighting over the smartphone/handheld market.


All this focus on individual games got Wii U nowhere, it has NSMB, Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest out now and its flaundering. The PS2 launched with Kessen, Street Fighter EX and Ridge Racer 5 and still did gangbuster from day 1, original Wii biggest game was basically a tech demo for the Wii in Wii Sports and that did great business. The notorious thread "Any reason why the Wii U *wont* dominate Japan" was purely based on a few select games and people deriding that ofcourse the console was going to do great, it has X, Y and Z = success. Its not that simple, as its clearly evident by now.

Yeah games sell systems but that is obviously not the only factor that makes people purchase them, it took the PS2 several months to get its big title in GT3, remember all the shoddy Dreamcast ports in Code Veronica and DoA? Yet the console was doing massive numbers, as was the original Wii.

There more to it than just games, will be interesting to see what the reaction is to the system as a whole.
 
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