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[test_account]

Let's put it this way guys. If GT Portable has SIGNIFICANT sales via PSN in any region of the world, you can bet your ass that Sony will issue a Press Release asap. I would expect that if they sell 100k of the game on PSN, they'll be shouting about it at the top of the world. If we hear nothing about DD sales over PSN, it is because there's nothing worth mentioning that is of benefit to Sony. I think that's a very logical way of looking at it, don't you guys agree?

Ye, i think that this is a good point. But i dont know if Sony always, or often announce DD sales that might be concidered as good. Please correct me if i am wrong, but for example, i cant recall to have seen any press release from Sony how much Super Stardust HD has sold, but judging by the leaderboards for Super Stardust HD, there are over 330k usernames (worldwide usernames, not just japanese usernames). This is perhaps the PSN game that has the leaderboards with most entries.

I know that going by leaderboard entries isnt exactly the best way to know how much a game has sold though, since some usernames might be from the same persons (it is no problem to create more than just one PSN username) and some people might have gotten the game for free through game sharing, but seeing that there are over 330k usernames in the Super Stardust HD leaderboard, i would guess that it is rather safe to assume that Super Stardust HD has sold somewhere around 300k copies. The game has been out for about 2 years though, but 300k (if this is how much the game has sold) is still a rather solid number for a DD game, at least in my opinion.

I think that Sony (and perhaps Microsoft and Nintendo as well?) mostly does a press release if something sold rather quickly, like for example when 1 million PS3 consoles were sold in 3 weeks after the release of the PS3 Slim and that Killzone 2 was the fastest PS3 game (or maybe it was Sony published game instead?) that sold 500k copies. And/or when something hits a high number of sales, like when something has sold 1 million copies just to take one example. I guess that it depends on what game it is though, maybe it is worth to do a press release of some games that sells some hundreds of thousands of copies as well and not just those games who sell at least a million copies. But if Sony doesnt do a press release, i still think that there might be a chance that a DD game can sell relatively well when it is all said and done, even if it takes several of months, or perhaps even years. But i dont know for sure though, this is just my guess


Speaking about DD sales, when Sony does a press release with sales numbers, i think that they usually take worldwide numbers, so it is almost impossible to know how how the split is between the regions :\ I think that it is a safe bet to say that the majority of DD sales happends in the US and in Europe though, but i thin that it would be nice to know a more exact breakdown of the sales throughout each region

EDIT: I added some text.

 

[DMeisterJ]

Let's put it this way guys. If GT Portable has SIGNIFICANT sales via PSN in any region of the world, you can bet your ass that Sony will issue a Press Release asap. I would expect that if they sell 100k of the game on PSN, they'll be shouting about it at the top of the world. If we hear nothing about DD sales over PSN, it is because there's nothing worth mentioning that is of benefit to Sony. I think that's a very logical way of looking at it, don't you guys agree?

Nah, not really. There have been tons of games that have gone without press releases that have realistically sold over 100k units easily. A easy one is Mortal Kombat II which has been in the top downloads for PSN basically since it's inception, and while that is no hard data, I think we can safely assume that the game has done quite well for itself.

For games that do get press releases, then it's all good, but for games that don't, we can't assume they haven't reached a certain threshold.

 

[jrricky]

What's the difference between Inazuma Fire and Inazuma Blizzard. Is there a clear superior version like in Pokemon HG/SS?

wat? :lol

 

[Mrbob]

Seems like Dynasty Warriors StrikeForce did pretty poorly compared to regular DW entries. Is there a reason for this?

Also, Sigma 2 had a decent first day. Not great, but not horrible either.

 

[distantmantra]

Seems like Dynasty Warriors StrikeForce did pretty poorly compared to regular DW entries. Is there a reason for this?

Most people already bought the PSP version?

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Seems like Dynasty Warriors StrikeForce did pretty poorly compared to regular DW entries. Is there a reason for this?

Also, Sigma 2 had a decent first day. Not great, but not horrible either.

It's not like regular DW games. It's Dynasty Monster Hunter.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Nah, not really. There have been tons of games that have gone without press releases that have realistically sold over 100k units easily. A easy one is Mortal Kombat II which has been in the top downloads for PSN basically since it's inception, and while that is no hard data, I think we can safely assume that the game has done quite well for itself.

For games that do get press releases, then it's all good, but for games that don't, we can't assume they haven't reached a certain threshold.

Gentlemen, I present to you the Walmart Argument 2.0, available today for the low, low price of twenty-nine ninety-nine United States Dollars. Hurry and order now and we will include the perennially popular Amazon Chart Collection absolutely free!

This offer is limited time only, and. Will. Not. Last!

 

[cvxfreak]

It's not like regular DW games. It's Dynasty Monster Hunter.

With this information on hand, I love how Koei didn't port the game to the system:

1. with an actual MH game (two actually, one proving that ports can sell well)
2. that's in the same technology generation as the original system
3. that's getting the latest installment of the sister series in a few months

Not sure why Dynasty Warriors still hasn't hit the Wii myself if they're going all out with Samurai. That said, I think the PS360 ports are doing well for what they are.

 

[gkryhewy]

Nah, not really. There have been tons of games that have gone without press releases that have realistically sold over 100k units easily. A easy one is Mortal Kombat II which has been in the top downloads for PSN basically since it's inception, and while that is no hard data, I think we can safely assume that the game has done quite well for itself.

And of those "realistically over 100k units easily" of a $5 PSN game (great number there, btw), how many would you say were DLed in Japan? Four?

GTPSP is a major release, not a 15-20 year old arcade game at an impulse buy price. If DD sales were significant for GTPSP, as has been said over and over, they would announce this very loudly.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Gotta keep those DD sales ambiguous gents. Wouldn't want the game looking bad now.

 

[Hero of Legend]

With this information on hand, I love how Koei didn't port the game to the system:

1. with an actual MH game (two actually, one proving that ports can sell well)
2. that's in the same technology generation as the original system
3. that's getting the latest installment of the sister series in a few months

Not sure why Dynasty Warriors still hasn't hit the Wii myself if they're going all out with Samurai. That said, I think the PS360 ports are doing well for what they are.

God Eater could follow suit.

Wonder if we'll see Monster Hunter 2G as well?

MHG Wii sold 250,000 didn't it? How did both PS2 versions fare again?

 

[C.T.]

What's the difference between Inazuma Fire and Inazuma Blizzard. Is there a clear superior version like in Pokemon HG/SS?

There are two different teams in both versions. Inazuma Fire has a team called flame prominence and blizzard a team called cold diamand dust as an enemy.

 

[duckroll]

We're getting really close to the release of Strange Journey now, do you guys think it can do well?

For comparison with the first week of other Atlus R&D1 games (Famitsu numbers):

SMT3 (PS2) = 151k
SMT3 Maniax (PS2) - 40k

DDS (PS2) = 93k
DDS2 (PS2) = 55k

Raidou (PS2) = 56k
Raidou 2 (PS2) = 76k

Devil Survivor (DS) = 56k

Persona 3 (PS2) = 127k
Persona 3 Fes (PS2) = 105k
Persona 4 (PS2) = 212k
Persona (PSP) = 95k

Etrian Odyssey (DS) = 31k
Etrian Odyssey 2 (DS) = 85k

 

[Stumpokapow]

more than eo2 less than smt3

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

We're getting really close to the release of Strange Journey now, do you guys think it can do well?

For comparison with the first week of other Atlus R&D1 games (Famitsu numbers):
...

I was browsing yso guys predictions yesterday for this too but since they do a top3, most of them had Wii Fit Plus, Pokemon and Inazuma on them, so you couldn't see their predictions for SMT SJ (other than their 75k to 125k cutoff for top3).

Those few that had them put them from 75k to 95k. I thought it'd have a good chance to do >100k (specially after GT was moved up), not so sure now.

 

[Orgen]

I'm expecting 90K-100k first week and 150K LTD (just like SaGa 2 is doing)

 

[test_account]

And of those "realistically over 100k units easily" of a $5 PSN game (great number there, btw), how many would you say were DLed in Japan? Four?

GTPSP is a major release, not a 15-20 year old arcade game at an impulse buy price. If DD sales were significant for GTPSP, as has been said over and over, they would announce this very loudly.

When i wrote my previous post in this thread, i first thought that there was talk about DD in general, but after reading a bit more in this thread, i see that it was most likely talk about DD PSP games and not just any DD game, i am sorry about this mistake :\

If the PSP Go does ok/well, i think that Sony will do a press release some time in the not too distant future and say something like "X million downloads done since the launch of the PSP Go". But that will probably be worldwide numbers, so we probably wont know a more exact breakdown of how much that is sold/downloaded in each region, unfortunately :\ And unless one particular game does really well, like GTPSP as mentioned as an example earlier in this thread, i think that we will only get a total number of download for all games in general and not just for one or several of particular games, at least i dont think that Sony will announce this, maybe the developers/publishers of the game(s) might say something if their game(s) sells well through digital download. But i think that it shall be interesting to see how the DD does now that the PSP Go has been released (at least in the US)

By the way, wasnt there some coupon that were included with the PSP Go that let people download GTPSP for free? If there were many of these coupons available, and if the PSP Go sells ok/well, i wonder how many people that will get to download GTPSP for free.

 

[DMeisterJ]

Gentlemen, I present to you the Walmart Argument 2.0, available today for the low, low price of twenty-nine ninety-nine United States Dollars. Hurry and order now and we will include the perennially popular Amazon Chart Collection absolutely free!

This offer is limited time only, and. Will. Not. Last!

:lol :lol

Hilarious. :|

But somehow the opposite argument that every game that crosses 100k units will get a press release doesn't deserve the same response is truly hilarious. There is no way to know sales of DD games aside from a press release. If there is one, then we know what it crossed, and if there isn't one, then we don't know what it crossed. I'm not sure why duckroll's post didn't illicit the same response, but the same exact thing applies. No one outside of SCE and it's publishing partners know what the games sell.

GTPSP is a major release, not a 15-20 year old arcade game at an impulse buy price. If DD sales were significant for GTPSP, as has been said over and over, they would announce this very loudly.

You don't know that. They don't have to issue any press release for anything. They could, but it does not have to happen. So sitting around waiting for press releases for each game to cross a certain threshold is going to be fruitless because it could happen or it could never happen. The truth is we don't know how many game(s) have crossed over 100k on the PSN, and we don't know what they cross over after that point. Do they keep on sending out press releases when they cross another 100k? Or do they only send out one? (Answer: You don't know)

So, we're back to square one, of no one knowing DD numbers outside of SCE and the publishers.

 

[Pachael]

Yeah, DD is the bane for sales-agers world wide who would like to know how a title is going and retail v DD. Too bad.

And it's not like anyone's going to post PR if it's not good enough right? If Gran Turismo DD had blitzed the charts at 1 million games bought through PSN then I can see Sony trumpeting it from the rooftops. But if it struggles to 200k in a month would they say anything?

 

[Dragona Akehi]

:lol :lol

Hilarious. :|

But somehow the opposite argument that every game that crosses 100k units will get a press release doesn't deserve the same response is truly hilarious. There is no way to know sales of DD games aside from a press release. If there is one, then we know what it crossed, and if there isn't one, then we don't know what it crossed. I'm not sure why duckroll's post didn't illicit the same response, but the same exact thing applies. No one outside of SCE and it's publishing partners know what the games sell.



You don't know that. They don't have to issue any press release for anything. They could, but it does not have to happen. So sitting around waiting for press releases for each game to cross a certain threshold is going to be fruitless because it could happen or it could never happen. The truth is we don't know how many game(s) have crossed over 100k on the PSN, and we don't know what they cross over after that point. Do they keep on sending out press releases when they cross another 100k? Or do they only send out one? (Answer: You don't know)

So, we're back to square one, of no one knowing DD numbers outside of SCE and the publishers.

And because of the murkiness of DD we cannot use them as an argument either way: the only thing we can do is work with the numbers we have. So if certain factions decide to spin spin spin because of "well it sold on DD", it's going to get shut down, just like any other imaginary number source.

 

[gkryhewy]

And because of the murkiness of DD we cannot use them as an argument either way: the only thing we can do is work with the numbers we have. So if certain factions decide to spin spin spin because of "well it sold on DD", it's going to get shut down, just like any other imaginary number source.

Good to hear.

 

[DMeisterJ]

And because of the murkiness of DD we cannot use them as an argument either way: the only thing we can do is work with the numbers we have. So if certain factions decide to spin spin spin because of "well it sold on DD", it's going to get shut down, just like any other imaginary number source.

So good then.

We don't know what anything sells unless it's spoken about by the company in a press release. Sounds great to me.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

If DD is so insignificant in Japan, then we should expect the Go to be a flop there, right? Do we know if it will be tracked separately?

I expect it will be, considering the separate tracking of DS/DS Lite/DSi and GBA/GBA SP/GB micro. PSP-2000 and -3000 were relatively minor changes and not something designed to be sold alongside a previous model.

MHG Wii sold 250,000 didn't it? How did both PS2 versions fare again?

Not quite that high when it was last in the Top 30, but probably there by now--or at least by the time we get an update.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

I would think that the DD on the PSP Go would be entirely written off in japan if you couldn't tether your mobile to it and use the mobile network to use the PSN Store. But since you can, I think that it has some chance of doing decent business. I absolutely agree that it's almost worthless to speculate as to how sales will be effected by DD, although I imagine that you can make some sort of estimate based on expected sales growth relative to the PSP units sold, but it's barely worth the effort.

 

[Kenka]

Sweet Gosh ! VGChartzzzzzzz has some "Famitsu early leaks" data uploaded on their front page !

Top 10 for software is available with numbers. Top 30 and hardware are missing. LTD Sell-through are mentioned for all games including Inazuma.

I *very* cautiously paste the chart here. May someone with some knowledge in Japanese check the usual websites to see if this leak is legit ? Thanks :


1 NEW DS Inazuma Eleven 2 Kyoui no Shinryakusha Fire/Blizzard 314,453 314,453 82.9％
2 NEW Wii Wii Fit Plus 294,597 294,597 73.0%
3 4 DS Pocket Monster Heart Gold/Soul Silver 226,924 2,294,533 99.5%
4 NEW PSP Gran Turismo 107,984 107,984 57.1%
5 NEW PSP Macross Ultimate Frontier 88,924 88,924 68.7％
6 16 DS Tomodachi Collection 67,516 1,223,619 95.8%
7 NEW PS3 NINJA GAIDEN Sigma 2 44,791 44,791 70.2％
8 NEW PS3 Shin Sangoku Musou MULTI RAID Special 36,117 36,117 42.2%
9 15 Wii Wii Sports Resort 25,975 1,220,466 97.3％
10 13 DS Dragon Quest IX Hoshizora no Mamoribito 23,392 3,948,677 99.6％

 

[Chris1964]

The numbers seem legit but I can't find the source of them. I'll keep searching.

 

[apotema]

Sweet Gosh ! VGChartzzzzzzz has some "Famitsu early leaks" data uploaded on their front page !

Top 10 for software is available with numbers. Top 30 and hardware are missing. LTD Sell-through are mentioned for all games including Inazuma.

I *very* cautiously paste the chart here. May someone with some knowledge in Japanese check the usual websites to see if this leak is legit ? Thanks :


1 NEW DS Inazuma Eleven 2 Kyoui no Shinryakusha Fire/Blizzard 314,453 314,453 82.9％
2 NEW Wii Wii Fit Plus 294,597 294,597 73.0%
3 4 DS Pocket Monster Heart Gold/Soul Silver 226,924 2,294,533 99.5%
4 NEW PSP Gran Turismo 107,984 107,984 57.1%
5 NEW PSP Macross Ultimate Frontier 88,924 88,924 68.7％
6 16 DS Tomodachi Collection 67,516 1,223,619 95.8%
7 NEW PS3 NINJA GAIDEN Sigma 2 44,791 44,791 70.2％
8 NEW PS3 Shin Sangoku Musou MULTI RAID Special 36,117 36,117 42.2%
9 15 Wii Wii Sports Resort 25,975 1,220,466 97.3％
10 13 DS Dragon Quest IX Hoshizora no Mamoribito 23,392 3,948,677 99.6％

Incredible numbers for Inazuma and Pokemon and good numbers for Wii Fit... if true

Tomodatchi fell though

 

[schuelma]

That would be the earliest Famitsu leak I can ever remember, so I'm a bit skeptical.

 

[Chris1964]

The LTDs agree with the previous week and if we assume there was some restock over the weekend the shipments seem right. I think they are legit. The only question is where ioi found them...

 

[slaughterking]

I wouldn't trust any numbers from the Magic Number Farm ™ even when they apparently publish the most legit numbers ever. And I would definitely not post them here.

 

[cvxfreak]

Pro tip: Google the actual numbers, and you shall find them!

http://anchorage.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/gamenews/1254548003/667

 

[Chris1964]

So they are legit after all.

 

[gkryhewy]

On one hand, I would have expected more WSR sales by new console buyers post-price drop. On the other hand, many may have bought WF+ first. Based on these numbers, I'd expect middling HW numbers for Wii -- say 30-35k.

 

[slaughterking]

So, uhm, yay for DQIX beating FFVII, I guess.

 

[cvxfreak]

This is the week when the DQIX vs HGSS battle for top selling game of 2009 begins.

HGSS finally achieves higher sales than DQIX in the equivalent week, 226,924 vs. 172,728 for their fourth weeks. Pokemon HGSS are still supply-constrained. I don't think Japan has seen anything like this since Wii Fit first came out, or when the DS and Wii were regularly nowhere to be found on store shelves.

 

[Captain Smoker]

Wow, lol. xD.


There are also some percentages @ 2chan, are these sell-through-rates?

If so, LTD or weekly sell-through-rates?


01. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryakusha - Fire/Blizzard [Level 5] - 314.453 [NEW] (82.9%)
02. [WII] Wii Fit Plus [Nintendo] - 294.597 [NEW] (73.0%)
03. [NDS] Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver [Nintendo] - 226.924 [2.294.533] (99.5%)
04. [PSP] Gran Turismo [Sony] - 107.984 [NEW] (57.1%)
05. [PSP] Macross Ultimate Frontier [Bandai Namco] - 88.924 [NEW] (68.7%)
06. [NDS] Tomodachi Collection [Nintendo] - 67.516 [1.223.619] (95.8%)
07. [PS3] Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 [Tecmo] - 44.791 [NEW] (70.2%)
08. [PS3] Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid Special [Koei] - 36.117 [NEW] (42.2%)
09. [WII] Wii Sports Resort [Nintendo] - 25.975 [1.220.466] (97.3%)
10. [NDS] Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito [Square Enix] - 23.392 [3.948.677] (99.6%)

 

[Road]

If these numbers are true, there was an unusual amount of games that showed "weekend legs" better than the usual first week ~ 1.5 first day. Some expected, others not so much.

Wii Fit Plus - 2.51
Dinasty Warriors: Strikeforce - 2.26
Gran Turismo - 1.97
Inazuma Eleven 2 - 1.82

 

[Kenka]

If these numbers are true, there was an unusual amount of games that showed "weekend legs" better than the usual first week ~ 1.5 first day. Some expected, others not so much.

Wii Fit Plus - 2.51
Dinasty Warriors: Strikeforce - 2.26
Gran Turismo - 1.97
Inazuma Eleven 2 - 1.82

Wii Fit + is gonna be one hell of a monster through the end of the year...

Slaughterking, do you think we should simply remove those charts ? Such early leaks could potentially cause trouble to both us and VGChartzz if their newsmakers took risks in showing them.

 

[Chris1964]

DEL.

 

[Kenka]

Chris, this is sexy. This is so sexy.

 

[spidye]

if I am correct first week of inazuma 2 is as big as inazuma 1 lifetime. is this true?

 

[Kenka]

if I am correct first week of inazuma 2 is as big as inazuma 1 lifetime. is this true?

...which, in addition, showed very uncommon legs. This new one might reach an unofficial non-game status when all is said and done.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

Full top10 leak with sell through on Monday? Daaamn, I could get used to this.

If these numbers are true, there was an unusual amount of games that showed "weekend legs" better than the usual first week ~ 1.5 first day. Some expected, others not so much.

Wii Fit Plus - 2.51
Dinasty Warriors: Strikeforce - 2.26
Gran Turismo - 1.97
Inazuma Eleven 2 - 1.82

Yep, on the other hand Macross has a rather poor 1,39. Looking at the first day data, it seems Bandai undershipped the LE version and overshipped the normal one. Would explain the shitty weekend growth too.

[PSP] Macross Ultimate Frontier (Bandai Namco Games)
SE 36,000 (42%) - 86k shipment
LE 28,000 (83%) - 34k shipment
120k shipped overall

5 NEW PSP Macross Ultimate Frontier 88,924 88,924 68.7％
130k shipped overall

Also, its first day was better than last year Macross PSP, but its first week is below it. Still #3rd Macross from all data from the series I found that I posted last year.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13163513&postcount=131
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13253383&postcount=55

PSP Macross Ace Frontier - 55.000 (over 60% sell through)

(PSX, 1997/02/28) Macross Digital Mission VF-X   100,978 / 255,185　
(PSP, 2008/10/09) Macross Ace Frontier            97,465 / 149,131
[B](PSP, 2009/10/01) Macross Ultimate Frontier       88,924 / NEW [/B]
(PS2, 2003/10/23) Choujikuu Yousai Macross        70,572 / 116,906
(SS,  1997/06/06) Macross: Do You Remember Love   53,889 / ...
(PSX, 1999/09/02) Macross VF-X2                   44,415 / 83,410
(PSX, 1999/05/27) Macross: Do You Remember Love   16,661 / ...
(PSX, 2000/06/29) Macross Plus Game Edition       10,742 / ...

PD: Btw, Famitsu DQIX sell through puts it below 4m (Square-Enix claimed to have shipped that a while ago iirc) and actually its just ~25k available...

 

[Chris1964]

I hope enterbrain isn't very upset with this early leak at 2ch. Full top 10 with sellthrough from Monday is just too much. Inazuma Eleven last known LTD is 365.674 as of July 12.

 

[Road]

if I am correct first week of inazuma 2 is as big as inazuma 1 lifetime. is this true?

365,674 units as of 07/12/2009

In fact, Famitsu estimated shipment for the week is 379,000. IE2 must be approaching IE1 as we speak, shipment wise.

Edit: beaten.

 

[spidye]

I hope enterbrain isn't very upset with this early leak at 2ch. Full top 10 with sellthrough from Monday is just too much. Inazuma Eleven last known LTD is 365.674 as of July 12.

then we can officialy say holy shit. if only this game gets a release here in europe/usa.

 

[test_account]

Yeah, DD is the bane for sales-agers world wide who would like to know how a title is going and retail v DD. Too bad.

And it's not like anyone's going to post PR if it's not good enough right? If Gran Turismo DD had blitzed the charts at 1 million games bought through PSN then I can see Sony trumpeting it from the rooftops. But if it struggles to 200k in a month would they say anything?

Ye, that is a good question i think. I wonder if/when Sony wants to announce sales numbers for a DD PSP game.


And just to underline, what i wrote earlier regarding digital downloads/DD was not to say that games necessarily sells well even if we dont get any press releases from Sony. I was more questioning if a DD game might have a chance to sell a decent number (at least worldwide, unfortunately i am not sure about in Japan only though) even if Sony (or any other publisher for that matter) doesnt do a press release and say how much a DD PSP game has sold. Maybe it takes weeks, months or even years for a DD PSP game to sell decent, but unfortunately i have no idea :\

And i also fully agree that using an arguement something like "it sold bad at retail because many people bought the digital download version instead" without having any proof of this isnt an arguement that should be used, i fully agree to that. I just wanted to mentions this



Cool with early Famitsu leaks by the way And wow at Inazuma 2 selling more in 1 week than what Inazuma 1 has sold in several of months. Granted, Inazuma 2 got 2 versions while Inazuma is only 1 version if i am not mistaken, but still, this is a very great improvement for a sequel i must say!

EDIT: I added some text.

 

[ethelred]

01. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryakusha - Fire/Blizzard [Level 5] - 314.453 [NEW] (82.9%)

Damn. That's a pretty incredible launch. Nearly topping the lifetime sales of the original in its launch week, and almost a complete sellthrough. Actually, I'd say something like 80% is the perfect sellthrough amount, as there's absolutely zero incentive for a retailer to slash prices or reconsider a second order, but there's still enough product in the retail channel that consumers don't get cockblocked and lose interest in buying new.

...which, in addition, showed very uncommon legs. This new one might reach an unofficial non-game status when all is said and done.

Well, as to its legs, it was a new franchise and people were a bit slow to take to it, but my assumption is that positive word-of-mouth and consistent advertising (along with the anime exposure, when it got a bit of a sales spike later on) helped it to continue selling. As was mentioned earlier in the thread, it's to be expected that a sequel would be more front-loaded than the first one, because now there's an established base of players and any fans would be quicker to go out and buy a sequel.

Still, this is quite impressive. They've managed to launch a second highly successful new franchise -- there's never any guarantee with the sequel to a new IP game that it'll sell as well as the original; there's always the chance that the userbase will deteriorate due to lack of interest in a follow up, but clearly that hasn't happened here. It won't have legs as long as the original... but then, the original didn't have a launch like this, so it doesn't have to.

Of course, it's worth keeping in mind that Level-5 had pretty lofty expectations for the sequel. They wanted 800,000 in sales for Inazuma 2. They very well may get it, or damned close to it.

 

[Cipherr]

This week Dragon Quest IX takes the crown from the combined versions of Final Fantasy VII and becomes the best selling non-Nintendo game in Japan.

Man, I knew it would get big, but I didnt realize it would truck that far. Crazy. The holiday bumps and the residuals throughout the year of 2010 should put it in a nice cozy spot among the top selling non-nintendo titles as well. Grats to them.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

Damn, level 5 is on a roll.



Inazuma Eleven 2 is proving that Layton's insane success is not "lightning in a bottle," that they could develop and turn games into massive franchises. If anything, this makes the possibilities even more endless since they have shown the willingness to take risks that most Japanese publishers are not willing to do.