Support NeoGAF

[Relaxed Muscle]

Uhh, all of these games are very possible on the Wii. In fact, there are already games on the Wii that look better than those.

Maybe is the case of 2spicy,but there's no way that Wii could handle an exact port of HOTD4,not even close...,there's no way Wii can handle that game with all those detailed zombies in screen,and with that heavy use of shaders.....

 

[DanielJohnson]

star ocean

A port, but yeah, thats exciting nonetheless.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

A port, but yeah, thats exciting nonetheless.

I think he's referring to the remake of the SNES one....

 

[Pureauthor]

You think Wii games will become Wii/PSP titles? Interesting. I don't see it happening though.

Well, it's happened already on several instances...

 

[wsippel]

System 246 is a PS2. System 256 is an upgrade on System 246. Super 256 is an upgrade on System 256.

They are all PS2-variations with various upgrades.

The only game on Super 256 is Time Crisis 4, which was ported to PS3 and features slowdown. Yes, undoubtedly that's partially the fault of a shoddy port, but I expect that the Super 256 is pretty beefy inside. Admittedly I've never seen exact tech specs, but it seems to fit.

TC4 also looks like ass. The poly count is laughable for example. I'm sure the only reason for the slowdown is the quality of the port...

 

[Grecco]

Well, it's happened already on several instances...

Manhunt and Medal of Honor, and neither sold well on any console (PS2,PSP,Wii). I dont think it will be in the majoriity in the future.

 

[MrSardonic]

Next week:

DS LTD (week 159, ~ 3 years) will exceed the PS2 LTD (week 406, ~7.8 years).

At the end of its 3rd year, DSL median weekly sales will be ~130k while PS2 median weekly sales were ~64k.

Essentially, the DSL has exceeded the PS2 LTD in two-fifths of the time and at this point in the life-cycle it is selling roughly twice as many units per week as the PS2 was. However, the DSL YTD for 2007 is going to be ~ 1.25m - 1.5m down on last year...but perhaps the huge sales in the US/EU will result in a net increase in worldwide DSL sales compared to 2006.

 

[jarrod]

System 246 is a PS2. System 256 is an upgrade on System 246. Super 256 is an upgrade on System 256.

From what I understand, it's mainly a RAM upgrade in each case. S246 to S256 might've had some chips sped up as well (a la S11 to S12) but not having exact specs, we really don't know. :/

 

[Stumpokapow]

From what I understand, it's mainly a RAM upgrade in each case. S246 to S256 might've had some chips sped up as well (a la S11 to S12) but not having exact specs, we really don't know. :/

Well, even assuming that every chip was kept exactly equal and the RAM just doubled from each iteration (S246-S256-Super256), you'd still end up with a machine that has 50% more RAM than the Wii (given the leaked IGN 88 meg spec).

I think the debate is sort of moot anyway, since the only game on Super 256 is Time Crisis 4 and Namco has already made it clear that it's staying on the PS3.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Well, even assuming that every chip was kept exactly equal and the RAM just doubled from each iteration (S246-S256-Super256), you'd still end up with a machine that has 50% more RAM than the Wii (given the leaked IGN 88 meg spec).

I think the debate is sort of moot anyway, since the only game on Super 256 is Time Crisis 4 and Namco has already made it clear that it's staying on the PS3.

Just one last point,...there are versions of Chihiro with 512Meg RAM (I think it's Out Run 2)

Well,obviously TC 4 could be done on Wii,just seeing how the game looks....

Essentially, the DSL has exceeded the PS2 LTD in two-fifths of the time and at this point in the life-cycle it is selling roughly twice as many units per week as the PS2 was. However, the DSL YTD for 2007 is going to be ~ 1.25m - 1.5m down on last year...but perhaps the huge sales in the US/EU will result in a net increase in worldwide DSL sales compared to 2006.

Awesome...

 

[Phife Dawg]

Is Patapon the insane looking 2D sidescroller/ RTS game on the PSP that looks like Gish and LocoRoco mixed together?

If yes then @ 5K sales.

I thought it was a rythm game? If that is an RTS I may have to borrow my friend's PSP.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Maybe is the case of 2spicy,but there's no way that Wii could handle an exact port of HOTD4,not even close...,there's no way Wii can handle that game with all those detailed zombies in screen,and with that heavy use of shaders.....

Probably not an exact port, but HotD4 is a Chihiro port-up, so I think they could get pretty close. At the very least, even if it doesn't look the same, I'm sure it will play just fine. SEGA's got a good history of porting their graphically intensive arcade titles to inferior specs. VF2 was one of the best-looking games of the 32bit gen.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Probably not an exact port, but HotD4 is a Chihiro port-up, so I think they could get pretty close. At the very least, even if it doesn't look the same, I'm sure it will play just fine. SEGA's got a good history of porting their graphically intensive arcade titles to inferior specs. VF2 was one of the best-looking games of the 32bit gen.

Segata, I agree with you that modern SEGA is really making a comeback from the darker years, but I think you're giving them too much credit to appeal to the olden days when talking about their porting potential now.

Yeah, SEGA did some great arcade conversions for the Saturn and Dreamcast. I don't think there's any reason to believe that this necessarily still holds true. Look at their output since then: OutRun 2 was outsourced to Sumo Digital for the XBOX port. Ghost Squad is dithered as fuck and has a lower framerate despite being ported to a superior system hardware-wise. Crazy Taxi 3 has a garbage framerate. Virtua Fighter 5, though, is obviously a gem for both platforms. Kudos to SEGA on that.

I'm not saying that they wouldn't be able to effectively tighten up HotD4 and release it on the Wii, but I don't think skepticism is unwarranted. Their current record of side-ports is mixed, so I'm not sure why a down-port would definitely be handled with the utmost care.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Probably not an exact port, but HotD4 is a Chihiro port-up, so I think they could get pretty close. At the very least, even if it doesn't look the same, I'm sure it will play just fine. SEGA's got a good history of porting their graphically intensive arcade titles to inferior specs. VF2 was one of the best-looking games of the 32bit gen.

I remember playing HOTD4 time ago,and even being a port-up,it's a pretty nice looking game in some areas and points,and gorgeous 60fps....,and I can't think on a Wii port without losing a lot of detail,effects and being 30fps...,probabily it will play fine,there's no doubt about that,but it will play as good on a XTS/PS3 and without downgrade

2spicy fits better on Wii...

Ghost Squad is dithered as fuck and has a lower framerate despite being ported to a superior system hardware-wise

Wii is not so superior to chihiro...,chihiro is a upgraded Xbox,so I'd say chihiro and Wii are pretty close to each other...,yeah Ghost Squad is fucked up in some points,but is still pretty close to the arcade.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Wii is not so superior to chihiro...,chihiro is a upgraded Xbox,so I'd say chihiro and Wii are pretty close to each other...,yeah Ghost Squad is fucked up in some points,but is still pretty close to the arcade.

Ghost Squad arcade is the base-model Chihiro.

Base Chihiro: 733 MHz P3, 64 MB RAM, Nvidia GeForce-3 equiv @ 200MHz
Wii: 729 MHz Broadway, 88 MB (64 MB GDDR3, 24 MB 1T-SRAM), Hollywood @ 243MHz

The only thing the Chihiro base model has on the Wii based on public information is shader support, which can be done on the Wii via TEV (I know that's not the same, but it's an "equivalent")

So they're roughly equivalent with a memory edge to the Wii and likely a slight processor edge (we don't have hard numbers, but if I were a betting man I'd wager that Broadway is probably a more efficient architecture than the P3)

 

[Luckyman]

Lost Odyssey went from 7 to 50 :lol

Blue Dragon didn't fall that hard. Its unfortunate nobody is buying the game.

Microsoft didn't seem to push it all. No demo? They just crapped it out.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Segata, I agree with you that modern SEGA is really making a comeback from the darker years, but I think you're giving them too much credit to appeal to the olden days when talking about their porting potential now.

Yeah, SEGA did some great arcade conversions for the Saturn and Dreamcast. I don't think there's any reason to believe that this necessarily still holds true. Look at their output since then: OutRun 2 was outsourced to Sumo Digital for the XBOX port. Ghost Squad is dithered as fuck and has a lower framerate despite being ported to a superior system hardware-wise. Crazy Taxi 3 has a garbage framerate. Virtua Fighter 5, though, is obviously a gem for both platforms. Kudos to SEGA on that.

I'm not saying that they wouldn't be able to effectively tighten up HotD4 and release it on the Wii, but I don't think skepticism is unwarranted. Their current record of side-ports is mixed, so I'm not sure why a down-port would definitely be handled with the utmost care.

Crazy Taxi 3 isn't an arcade port, so you can blame only Hitmaker for that game's deficiencies.

Honestly, I don't think Ghost Squad looks that bad at all. It's obviously a quick and dirty port that is far outselling what it was budgeted for.

At any rate, there's nothing stopping SEGA from outsourcing other ports to Sumo, especially once there's a proven market for this type of game to justify the budget involved in doing so.

Relaxed_Muscle, these games can obviously look better on the HD consoles, but the Wii seems to be the first system in a long time where any lightgun game not called "Time Crisis" is selling. Wii owners seem to have taken to these titles, while I'm sure they would sell in the teens of thousands on the other two systems.

 

[Jammy]

I kind of wondered why Namco put Time Crisis on PS3 to begin with. The gameplay fits the Wii perfectly and that's where all the other light-gun games are going right now. The audience and userbase just clearly isn't there at this point.

 

[Pureauthor]

I think it fits the trend of 'really freaking obvious application of the Wiimote' selling pretty well (obviously on a much smaller scale).

The purists may decry that the Wiimote doesn't actually allow for 1:1 aiming, but to most it's 'point and shoot', and that's good enough for them.

 

[jett]

Patapowned. Maybe the locoroco team should focus to making PSN-only games.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

Next week:

DS LTD (week 159, ~ 3 years) will exceed the PS2 LTD (week 406, ~7.8 years).

At the end of its 3rd year, DSL median weekly sales will be ~130k while PS2 median weekly sales were ~64k.

Essentially, the DSL has exceeded the PS2 LTD in two-fifths of the time and at this point in the life-cycle it is selling roughly twice as many units per week as the PS2 was. However, the DSL YTD for 2007 is going to be ~ 1.25m - 1.5m down on last year...but perhaps the huge sales in the US/EU will result in a net increase in worldwide DSL sales compared to 2006.

Holy Moly, DS fastest selling console ever CONFIRMED!!!

 

[AnimeTheme]

Why do awesome, quirky games like Patapon not sell? It's like people see it, notice how quirky and unique it looks and then decide to not buy it. Do people specifically avoid originality or something?

I am mad >:[

勇者のくせになまいきだ stole the thunder.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

1. SSBB
2. Grand Theft Auto IV
3. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
4. God of War: Chains of Olympus
5. Halo Wars

NDS
Harvest Moon 2: 5
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword: 3
Advance Wars Days of Ruin: 2
Apollo Justice Ace Attorney: 2

PSP
God of War: Chains of Olympus: 25
Gran Turismo: 8
FFVIICC: 2

360
Halo Wars: 25
Ninja Gaiden 2: 9
Left 4 Dead: 5
Too Human: 4

Wii
SSBB: 190
DQS: 2
Endless Ocean: 2
No More Heroes: 1

PS3
Haze: 9
Killzone 2: 8
LittleBigPlanet:2

PC
WoW Wrath of the Lich King That's Amazing: 11
Starcraft 2: 10
Spore: 3

GTA IV: 82 (64 360, 18 PS3)
Star Wars: Force Unleashed: 39 (26 360, 13 PS3)
Turok: 22 (20 360, 2 PS3)
Devil May Cry 4: 21 (11 PS3, 10 360)
Ghostbusters: 5 (2 Wii, 2 360, 1 PS3)

America Fails

 

[Eteric Rice]

Crazy Taxi 3 isn't an arcade port, so you can blame only Hitmaker for that game's deficiencies.

Honestly, I don't think Ghost Squad looks that bad at all. It's obviously a quick and dirty port that is far outselling what it was budgeted for.

At any rate, there's nothing stopping SEGA from outsourcing other ports to Sumo, especially once there's a proven market for this type of game to justify the budget involved in doing so.

Relaxed_Muscle, these games can obviously look better on the HD consoles, but the Wii seems to be the first system in a long time where any lightgun game not called "Time Crisis" is selling. Wii owners seem to have taken to these titles, while I'm sure they would sell in the teens of thousands on the other two systems.

I still think it's because they're more mature games. Also, being simple to play helps as well.

So far it seems one viable market as been found for the Wii. Now I just have to pray for RPGs, SRPGs, and stuff to be viable. >_>

 

[Deku]

I think it fits the trend of 'really freaking obvious application of the Wiimote' selling pretty well (obviously on a much smaller scale).

The purists may decry that the Wiimote doesn't actually allow for 1:1 aiming, but to most it's 'point and shoot', and that's good enough for them.

Not just point and shoot, but a general application of 'i see, i point, i click' very mouse like which even most luddites have some experience with.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

Not just point and shoot, but a general application of 'i see, i point, i click' very mouse like which even most luddites have some experience with.

It also goes with the "instant gratification" mindset that made First Person Shooters so popular this generation and Free Roaming games so popular last generation.

When you shoot something it dies, you don't need to spend 10 hours leveling up only to get a randomly generated number.

 

[Grampasso]

So next week DS LTD > PS2 LTD?
:O

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

So next week DS LTD > PS2 LTD?
:O

Sure looks that way.

 

[Eteric Rice]

When Nintendo makes a come back, they make a comback of monster proportions...

 

[Grampasso]

Sure looks that way.

Yeah, I think DS will need something like 250-260k, but most probably it will do 300k+, more than enough to establish leadership... is there any other console (home or portable) which did better in Japan alone? NES? GB?

 

[Stumpokapow]

So next week DS LTD > PS2 LTD?
:O

Already passed by Famitsu standards, and those are just as valid as Media Create standards are.

 

[Deku]

It also goes with the "instant gratification" mindset that made First Person Shooters so popular this generation and Free Roaming games so popular last generation.

When you shoot something it dies, you don't need to spend 10 hours leveling up only to get a randomly generated number.

That's probably reaching, the FPS crowd are on the 360 and not the Wii.

I do think though the Wii remote represents what many want or envisage themselves using as an interface device with a set-top box.

 

[donny2112]

Not translated by me: (shipment within parentheses)

FF4 DS (DS) : about 180k (about 400k)
Naruto: Shippuuden N-Ultimate Accelerator 2 (PS2) : about 45k
Card Hero DS (DS) : about 30k (about 50~60k?)
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri: Kakera Asobi (PS2) : about 23k
Dora Base (DS) : about 20k (about 40k)
Powerful Pro Baseball 14 Final Edition (PS2) : about 17k
Time Crisis 4 (PS3) : about 10k
Myself;Yourself (PS2) : about 6k (about 10k)
Hajime no Ippo (PSP) : about 6k
The Prince of Tennis (DS) : about 6k
Patapon (PSP) : about 5k
Powerful Baseball Wii Final Edition (Wii) : about 4k
Survival Kids (DS) : about 3k
Medal of Honour: Airborne (PS3) : about 2.5k
The Legend of Heroes: Sora no Kiseki Complete Edition (PSP) : about 1k (about 3k)

There's also

PS3 FIFA08 - 1700
360 FIFA08 - 1200

 

[Pureauthor]

There's also

PS3 Medal of Honor: Airborne - 2500
PS3 FIFA08 - 1700
360 FIFA08 - 1200

Yay! Bombs all around! Good times for everyone!

 

[jeremy_ricci]

I'm confused.

How is PS3 doubling it's sales from what, 30K to nearly 60K (a little under?) bad?

Sure, it's not hundreds of thousands of units, but it's Japan, and right now, they are playing mostly handhelds.

Seriously, as long as it can hold onto a nice second place, everything is fine. Once it falls below the 360, then things are 'bad'.

 

[Pureauthor]

It needs to go below 360 to be considered bad? That's... wow. That's actually a pretty tall order, you know.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Seriously, as long as it can hold onto a nice second place, everything is fine. Once it falls below the 360, then things are 'bad'.

TRACKING BEHIND GAMECUBE
MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR GAME BUDGETS

It needs to go below 360 to be considered bad? That's... wow. That's actually a pretty tall order, you know.

Apparantly the Saturn and Neo-Geo Pocket Color were massive sales successes.

 

[JaY P.]

Overall analysis for the end of the week (since I have tomorrow off thank god).

360: Sold out of the Arcade and the Elite. Two premiums left (and their boxes are sorta beat up, but otherwise they're in good shape). Eight Halo 360s left and they've been here for months. So they're going to stick around until the price drops. Pretty much everything: Halo 3, Mass Effect, GH III, Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, Orange Box, Bioshock, and COD4 have been selling well to varying degrees.

PS3: We had a big push for this thing in November and early December, but recently sales have died. Still, Assassin's Creed and COD4 are popular, although Uncharted and Ratchet rarely sell. I haven't seen a copy of Lair, Folklore, or Heavenly Sword leave the store in months.

PSP: Pretty popular. Still too many Star Wars bundles, but they're slowly moving. The best selling titles are to the kids that buy Transformers and Cars, or to the more hardcore crowd with games like FFT. The biggest question is "how can I put movies on it," and few people really care about the games for the thing.

NDS: Extremely popular. Especially now that we're "sold out" (corporate's making stores hold them until the day after Christmas). Popular games are pretty much anything these days. We've been restocked on Contra 4 constantly at this point. The only big hardcore game that hasn't sold lots is FFXIIRW, and we have a huge overstock of Phantom Hourglass.

Wii: Holy shit WTF. A lot of people don't even know this thing has been hard to find for the last year. I told one guy about the reservation thing since it could be a good last resort sort of thing, and he sorta laughed it off and said "what's the point?" since, you know, they're going to be pretty easy to find in January. ...Anyway, we sold a shitload of Mario and Sonic today, and we won't have any left at the end of the weekend. Super Mario Galaxy is close behind, but I think we should have copies left until Christmas Eve and maybe even the day after Christmas. DBZ is sorta popular. NiGHTS only sold to two guys (myself and a former coworker).

PS2: Yeah... not too many systems sold anymore. The big thing seems to be getting DBZBT3, Tony Hawk, Need for Speed, and sports games. It's pretty much becoming the cheap casual console like its father before it.

Pretty much the same in my store except...

360: We get shipments in everyday of 2 - 4 various units. We have around 4 of the halo editions, 8 pros, 4 arcades and 2 elites. It seems that 360 sales have fizzled out as I only sold 1 yesterday. I'm sure they'll pick up on Friday and the weekend as Christmas approaches. COD4 seems to be the top seller, I sell roughly 7-10 copies per day, followed by Halo 3 and stand alone copies of GHIII.

PS3: I actually sold 2 80GB's yesterday one with no game and one with COD4. I have 8 40GB's in the display case and I had no 80's out but I'm sure we have some in the back room. R&C and Uncharted are ignored for more well-known titles like COD4 and FIFA 08, and of course Madden (I think my store is more mainstream).

PSP: Selling quite well. When I left work last night I only had 2 Star Sars and 2 Daxter bundles left from a hefty shipment of 20 units each on Sunday. Software sales are quite poor but Memory Sticks sell constantly, mostly the 2GB sticks.

NDS: I have witnessed this thing print money before my eyes. We had a shipment of 15 pinks and 30 blacks on Wednesday and by the time I left work on Thursday night I had 2 blacks left. Biggest software sales are Mario Party DS (sold out), NSMB, Pokemon (all versions including rescue team and ranger), and all the various ubisoft games (ie: fashion designer, petz, dogz, dolphinz, etc. etc.).

Wii: On Sunday we had 74 units on hand... all of them were accounted for before the store opened at 8am in the morning. Wednesday we received 12... sold out in 15 minutes. Thursday I had 3, sold out as soon as I took em out. Mario and Sonic, Galaxy (woot!) and Wii play seem to be our top sellers. Accessories-wise, out of stock on remotes and nun-chucks and items like charge stations sell quite well, but we have around 12 zappers sitting in the display case. Ditto on the consumer sentiment that the little white box will be easily available after the holidays, but in fairness I don't think anyone, even enthusiasts, imagined the Wii being this popular.

PS2: It is the enegizer bunny of the video game world. Although it does not sell amazingly nowadays, we move around 5 units a day. I would say half are replacing their old broken PS2 units (yes I do ask). And the game sales are impressive on the system. Madden, FIFA, pro street, and GH (all versions) sell nicely.

GHIII: Sold out of bundles on all platforms but the game itself has been selling quite well on the PS2 and 360.

Rock Band: We have more 360 versions in stock. I would say that the 360 version moves at a slightly higher rate than the PS3 version. Maybe 1.5 360 versions for every 1 PS3 version.

Off topic: We are getting ready to begin our GTA IV preorder system. We have received the preorder cards and I'm thinking we'll have them up after the holidays.

 

[jeremy_ricci]

TRACKING BEHIND GAMECUBE
MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR GAME BUDGETS



Apparantly the Saturn and Neo-Geo Pocket Color were massive sales successes.

Sooo....Japan is the only territory confirmed?

If HS sold 100K in Japan, and around 500K in the EU and NA regions...at around $60 a pop over a 3 month period...that's about $66,000,000 in revenue.

So, let's say Sony see's roughly...30% of that? That's something like 19, 20 million? Seems to cover the budget, somewhat.

These are all guess work figures, completely fictional, but I'm just saying...it's not as bad as it seems, at least if Sony is making SOME money.

We all know the bigger picture here right?

 

[Pureauthor]

Sooo....Japan is the only territory confirmed?

If HS sold 100K in Japan, and around 500K in the EU and NA regions...at around $60 a pop over a 3 month period...that's about $66,000,000 in revenue.

So, let's say Sony see's roughly...30% of that? That's something like 19, 20 million? Seems to cover the budget, somewhat.

These are all guess work figures, completely fictional, but I'm just saying...it's not as bad as it seems, at least if Sony is making SOME money.

We all know the bigger picture here right?

A-HEM

I'm confused.

How is PS3 doubling it's sales from what, 30K to nearly 60K (a little under?) bad?

Sure, it's not hundreds of thousands of units, but it's Japan, and right now, they are playing mostly handhelds.

Seriously, as long as it can hold onto a nice second place, everything is fine. Once it falls below the 360, then things are 'bad'.

Nowhere in your initital post do you make any indication that we're talking about anything outside of Japan. In fact, WW, the PS3 is probably selling worse than the X360, given we don't get steady European numbers. So I guess things are bad, then.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

A-HEM



Nowhere in your initital post do you make any indication that we're talking about anything outside of Japan. In fact, WW, the PS3 is probably selling worse than the X360, given we don't get steady European numbers. So I guess things are bad, then.

It shouldn't be too hard to look for NPD data to see how PS3 is tracking compared to GC in NA, no?

 

[Stumpokapow]

Sooo....Japan is the only territory confirmed?

Japan is the only territory that is part of a discussion of Japanese sales, yes.

If HS sold 100K in Japan, and around 500K in the EU and NA regions...at around $60 a pop over a 3 month period...that's about $66,000,000 in revenue.

So, let's say Sony see's roughly...30% of that? That's something like 19, 20 million? Seems to cover the budget, somewhat.

Sony sees less than 30% of that, the game sold less than what you suspect it sold (25k in Japan care of Moor Angol, ~220k in US care of jvm's monthly NPD analysis) with marketing the budget is probably not covered even with those hypotheticals.

We all know the bigger picture here right?

You want to talk about the bigger picture, and yet this discussion started with your comment, "I'm confused. How is PS3 doubling it's sales from what, 30K to nearly 60K (a little under?) bad?", which essentially consists of "If you ignore the bigger picture and look at this particular week's numbers, things look good".

If you want to talk about the bigger picture, talk about how Sony has:
a) Already spent literally 100% of its PS2 profits and is now digging into its PS1 profits in terms of monetary losses. (Ouch!)
b) Has made massive worldwide price cuts and seen only marginal improvements.
c) Has failed to have any convincing system sellers in its first year in any territory, with the possible exception of the MotorStorm bundle in Europe.
d) Is tracking behind the GameCube in the two territories we have numbers for
e) Has engendered substantial ill will with developers who have consistently struggled with getting multi-platform games running and have been rewarded with poor sales
f) Despite the truth of the matter, cultivated an awful image of their product and lost a ton of mind-share.

We can talk about how on January 1st, 2007, everyone was saying "Wait for VF5, HSG5, Lair, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Motorstorm, Folklore, Ratchet and Clank..." and on January 1st, 2008, all of those games will no longer be brought up in terms of system sellers and people will be stuck saying: "Wait for DMC4, MGS4, GOW3, FFXIII..."

The truth of the matter is that Sony is not in a good position. They're in a better position than they were last year, but they're not in a good one. No amount of "Microsoft is doing worse in Japan" or "10 year console lifespan" will change that.

 

[papelnabangka]

Anecdotal but Wii prices crashed on ebay on Sunday, when there was a glut of stock. Prices fell by a good $100 and hasn't recovered yet 4 days in. Bomba.

 

[donny2112]

Anecdotal but Wii prices crashed on ebay on Sunday, when there was a glut of stock. Prices fell by a good $100 and hasn't recovered yet 4 days in. Bomba.

So it's bomba because Wii prices fell from $450 to $350? (Just guessing at the pricing, as I haven't looked at eBay Wii prices since early December.)

 

[papelnabangka]

So it's bomba because Wii prices fell from $450 to $350? (Just guessing at the pricing, as I haven't looked at eBay Wii prices since early December.)

Bomba for me since I am holding 6 Wiis and have $1500 in cash tied up right now

 

[Stumpokapow]

Anecdotal but Wii prices crashed on ebay on Sunday, when there was a glut of stock. Prices fell by a good $100 and hasn't recovered yet 4 days in. Bomba.

That's generally the way scalping prices work, especially for time-critical things like concerts or Christmas gifts:
- Start at MSRP
- Rapidly ascend to stratospheric heights
- Hit a point where supply exceeds demand as "casual scalpers" begin to sell
- Prices crash until they get slightly sub-MSRP (people sell to cover their losses rather than profit)
- Rapid normalization to MSRP as new sellers think twice about it and scalpers clear up.

 

[sphinx]

Wow, soft opening for FFIV. I hope it has a better trajectory than FFIII or I doubt we'll see FFV and FFVI.

I think we have the wrong idea of Square-enix. We all, myself included, seem to think that SE will consider anything below 500k a disastrous failure and that the men in suit will instantly cancel future related products if such goal is not achieved.

SE will not leave money on the table and my guess is that those 180k sales of FFIV are already generating profit for the company, they love to have those million sellers on PS2 and DS but that's not all there is as a business company.

We tend to think that SE will be pissed off if the 100% of the shipment is not sold out on 1st week, if the game doesn't show months long legs, if people didn't line up for release, etc. and the truth is they want money back, that is all. If a DS game needs around 100k sales to bring profit, then they have already made a lot with the extra 80k, they don't need the " OMGWTF 500k first week numbers!! "

FF and DQ ports are coming, this is as sure as it can be.

The thing is that SE many want to make more space between the releases perhaps.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

I don't know, it just seems to me that they spent more money on FFIV than FFIII (but maybe not because the engine was already developed), so if it sells less, I don't think they'll be entirely happy with that. At the very least things like VAs would be at risk of not being included next time.

Nevertheless, this is only day one, and I have a feeling this game won't suffer quite so much from the Nancy Kerrigan-esque kneecapping that FFIII got from its stock troubles. I'm hopeful it can beat FFIII.

 

[toxk_02]

Is there any data/charts on total PSP software YTD or LTD compared to any other systems? I recall a tremendously long annual wrap-up of software sales from Famitsu or some similar source.

 

[Neo C.]

We tend to think that SE will be pissed off if the 100% of the shipment is not sold out on 1st week, if the game doesn't show months long legs, if people didn't line up for release, etc. and the truth is they want money back, that is all. If a DS game needs around 100k sales to bring profit, then they have already made a lot with the extra 80k, they don't need the " OMGWTF 500k first week numbers!! "

You know, FFIV might be more costly than the average DS game.

Still, SE will make a good profit, that's for sure.