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[Waji]

What exactly were your expectations of a late port of a game that was released about a year ago?

It's still on a fairly different platform, doesn't seem to bring a lot of new people and I was mostly thinking Falcom could need the help of another handheld since it worked well on PSP and Vita.
I personaly prefer to play their games on handheld too. And the Switch can do both so it's even better.

But first and foremost I'd like them to get back to their previous glory.

 

[Kresnik258]

It's still on a fairly different platform, doesn't seem to bring a lot of new people and I was mostly thinking Falcom could need the help of another handheld since it worked well on PSP and Vita.

Ys VIII on Vita sold slightly more than Memories of Celceta and a lot more than Ys Seven.

The PS4 version added another 28k (and counting) sales to that.

Sure, there's probably a portion of double-dippers, but they've grown the IP in sales substantially with this entry. It's clearly brought more people in.

(As a side note, you're saying "it worked well on PSP & Vita, but realistically Ys has remained a < 100k while being handheld-only despite Kiseki growing to a > 200k franchise in the same timeframe).

Of all the franchises to call "QUICK NEEDS TO BE ON SWITCH" for, this is the most bizarre choice.

 

[jnWake]

1 year old port sells 27k => Awesome performance.
25+ year old port sells 16k => Awful performance.

neogaf.gif

 

[cheesekao]

It's still on a fairly different platform, doesn't seem to bring a lot of new people and I was mostly thinking Falcom could need the help of another handheld since it worked well on PSP and Vita.
I personaly prefer to play their games on handheld too. And the Switch can do both so it's even better.

But first and foremost I'd like them to get back to their previous glory.

What numbers are you comparing it to then?

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Street Fighter V sold less than 50k on the first week no?
So 16k for this expensive and bad remake of II don't look so bad

Street Fighter 5 being a complete flop doesn't make the SF2 port less of a flop, that's not how that works.

Capcom can't be happy with consistently missing projections, just because it's consistent.

 

[Datschge]

Sure, there's probably a portion of double-dippers, but they've grown the IP in sales substantially with this entry. It's clearly brought more people in.

If you combine both Vita and PS4 sales, sure. But it's still to be seen whether Falcom's long time portable audience moves to home console or the new home console audience is comparably big. And to increase the risk factor some more the new exclusive PS4 titles appear to have a higher budget, making retaining or increasing the audience after losing the portable outlet even more crucial.

 

[mao2]

It's still on a fairly different platform, doesn't seem to bring a lot of new people and I was mostly thinking Falcom could need the help of another handheld since it worked well on PSP and Vita.
I personaly prefer to play their games on handheld too. And the Switch can do both so it's even better.

But first and foremost I'd like them to get back to their previous glory.

I've got bad news for you. Disgaea 5 I am Setsuna and Dragon Quest Heroes I & II late ports for Switch didn't seem to bring a lot of new people either. ((

 

[Vena]

I've got bad news for you. Disgaea 5 and Dragon Quest Heroes I & II late ports for Switch didn't seem to bring a lot of new people either. ((

I mean, this is probably not the example to use. The franchise has floundered in Japan in general and in the west its just a terrible example for the opposite reason.

 

[thestopsign]

Ultra Street Fighter 2 did fine. It'll do better in the west and I bet it has already made back whatever Capcom put into it and more.

 

[Passose]

During the first months of any console people always buy anything


Just look at Bomberman. The game was good, but it sold way more than everyone could expect for a full priced Bomberman

tell that to Disgaea 5 and I am Setsuna

 

[goldage]

I keep seeing "NSW" as "NSFW"

It drives me crazy.

i read it as "new south wales"

still not use to it

 

[mao2]

I mean, this is probably not the example to use. The franchise has floundered in Japan in general and in the west its just a terrible example for the opposite reason.

Well, we're discussing about Japanese sales aren't we? I'm just saying it's normal for late ports to sell less than the original, even on Switch.

 

[NightwingRebirth]

I don't really post in this thread much because I never have anything interesting to say, but as boring as this month seemingly is, I'm glad good games like Zelda and Nier are still selling so well. If only Echoes had legs like that.

Boy, that made me chuckle a couple of times already.

*chuckle*

Damn it, again. That makes 6 chuckles.

Not sure if I should go for the Knuckles joke or bring up the definition of couple.

 

[Vena]

Well, we're discussing about Japanese sales aren't we? I'm just saying it's normal for late ports to sell less than the original, even on Switch.

Well it's also complicated by the detail that D5 and the heroes pack were never announced at reveal. Ys was so the comparison is just not quite 1:1.

But D5 over performed for a port in the west as per the initial news on it so that was why I said it was a bit of a weird title to use for this specific case.

 

[Mpl90]

Famitsu numbers

https://www.famitsu.com/biz/ranking/

 

[mao2]

Well it's also complicated by the detail that D5 and the heroes pack were never announced at reveal. Ys was so the comparison is just not quite 1:1.

But D5 over performed for a port in the west as per the initial news on it so that was why I said it was a bit of a weird title to use for this specific case.

OK if you insist, I'll replace Disgaea 5 with I am Setsuna then.

 

[Vena]

OK if you insist, I'll replace Disgaea 5 with I am Setsuna then.

Completely sold out, no digital numbers.

 

[mao2]

Completely sold out, no digital numbers.

Excuses.

 

[Jarod McChicken]

30K for Ys VIII on Famitsu, with stock mostly sold.

Looking at the archives here, isn't Ys VIII the most successful entry in the franchise ? Not to mention the additional sales in the west on PS4/Vita/Steam.

 

[Mory Dunz]

Street Fighter V sold less than 50k on the first week no?
So 16k for this expensive and bad remake of II don't look so bad

but i thought USFII was going to outsell SFV....?

we had a whole dumb thread on it.

 

[thestopsign]

Famitsu numbers

https://www.famitsu.com/biz/ranking/

Switch software is doing consistently lower numbers in Famitsu for whatever reason.

 

[Interfectum]

but i thought USFII was going to outsell SFV....?

we had a whole dumb thread on it.

I don't think a dumb thread on NeoGAF makes a difference in reality. USF2 sold fine for what it is.

 

[Mory Dunz]

I don't think a dumb thread on NeoGAF makes a difference in reality. USF2 sold fine for what it is.

But even this thread:

"USFII didn't sell, but at least it didn't bomb as bad as SFV!!"

ok

 

[Mory Dunz]

Already 150k, 200k in a couple of weeks. Guess it'll end up between 250-300k LTD, depending on how strong sales are during holidays.

how's it gonna sell 50k in a couple of-
I see what you did there. >_>

 

[Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule]

The switch will probably reach 1 million the week ARMS is released.

 

[Nirolak]

Today on "Why do traditional game companies make mobile games?"

According to the disclosure, net profit reached a staggering US$143.3 million in the fiscal year that ended on February 28, 2017 (there are no sales figures given).

That year was the Pokemon Company’s 19th fiscal in its history.

In comparison to the previous fiscal, net profit jumped by a factor of 26.

Here is The Pokemon Company’s net profit for the last five years (all past fiscals ended on the last day of February):

15th fiscal (for the year that ended on February 28, 2013): US$16.6 million [Black & White 2]
16th fiscal: US$10.6 million [X & Y]
17th fiscal: US$18.4 million [Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby]
18th fiscal: US$5.6 million
19th fiscal: US$143.3 million [Pokemon Go, Sun & Moon]

Source: http://www.serkantoto.com/2017/06/01/pokemon-company-japan-profit/

 

[ksamedi]

Today on "Why do traditional game companies make mobile games?"


Source: http://www.serkantoto.com/2017/06/01/pokemon-company-japan-profit/

It was a really huge hit, and still going strong, but Its not something they can repeat easily I presume.

 

[OfficerRaichu15]

Pokémon is a fad guys the media told me
Anyway that's amazing for the PC. Congrats to them.
And now for charts Switch is consistent with shipments which is good. MK8D and BOTW got legs. Nier got legs.I though SF2 had a chance of doing 20k+ but I'm optimistic plus it's overpriced so it sold well enough it looks like. PS4 doing consistent numbers. Hopefully switch supply increases as we get to Arms and later Splatoon 2.

 

[Nirolak]

It was a really huge hit, and still going strong, but Its not something they can repeat easily I presume.

I feel the biggest takeaway is how little profit they were making with their astronomically successful handheld games in comparison.

 

[Fularu]

Usf2 outsold GG...

I'm part of the problem but at least I purchased both

 

[ksamedi]

I feel the biggest takeaway is how little profit they were making with their astronomically successful handheld games in comparison.

Yeah that did surprise me. Selling 15 million copies makes them over 500 million in revenue. How they manage to only make a small fraction of that in profits baffles me.

Edit: i suspect the lions share of the profits go to Nintendo since they publish the games. Still, if I was a small time investor and my income suddenly multiplied by a factor of 26, I would throw a huge party.

 

[Kandinsky]

What are the chances of MHXX 3DS crossing, say, 1.7 million (or ~2x launch week) in physical sales before a budget re-release?

Game will probably get a bump now in preparation for the Switch version.

 

[Zedark]

I feel the biggest takeaway is how little profit they were making with their astronomically successful handheld games in comparison.

I found the following article, and wondered if this is related:

Nintendo has a couple of roles in the handling of Pokémon. The most obvious thing besides providing the consoles is the publisher outside of Japan (Pokémon Company is the publisher in Japan) and handling distribution of the titles.

This would suggest that Nintendo takes most of the income from overseas sales, and The Pokémon Company only takes the domestic sales' profit, which is obviously quite a bit less than the total sales (although Japan is a signifciant market obviously). It may not explain how they get only $10M net profit, but it could be a significant reason the way I can see it atm. Nintendo may take other profit from the pokémon sales as well (from trademark ownership or something else? I don't know how that works in detail).

Edit: The article goes on to mention Nintendo also owns all separate pokémon and arranges the online infrastructure, so that would suggest they take a large share of the revenue of console pokémon games - something that they do to a much lesser degree for pokémon GO.

 

[Vena]

I would actually propose that they're quite healthy when they don't look like games that could have been on the PS2 (sans graphics).

1.) For Honor is the year's second best selling game, topping titles like Zelda, Horizon, and Resident Evil 7.
2.) Mortal Kombat X moved over 5 million copies very quickly. We'll see with Injustice 2, but I'm bullish.
3.) Smash Wii U/3DS is the best selling entry when combined.
4.) And then we have ARMS coming up, which will be interesting to see, but could prove help prove out this theory.

Like, the genre largely evolved the same way most other genres have. You need to make a really impressive package, or have something that feels very fresh.

If your game isn't oozing money or looking like a unique experience, it's going to be a harder sell.

From last week, I totally forgot this!

So, I hadn't actually been considering For Honor as a fighting game but in reality I probably should have considered it, which definitely makes the pool look a lot more diverse than the image I had painted before.

 

[Nirolak]

Yes, I suspect Nintendo is suctioning up a lot of the Pokemon profits on the handheld games.

From last week, I totally forgot this!

So, I hadn't actually been considering For Honor as a fighting game but in reality I probably should have considered it, which definitely makes the pool look a lot more diverse than the image I had painted before.

Ubisoft never really marketed it as one despite it containing pretty much all the gameplay staples of the genre, which was probably a good idea to avoid turning off players who would like the new implementation of the idea.

 

[Wagram]

Ys did alright, but it deserves so much more. I wish it would find a newfound success like Nier did.

 

[Passose]

not related though, If Level-5 and Nintendo joined force to make a company out of Yokai Watch like Pokemon, would the IP be successful like Pokemon right now,you know, instead of losing steam and lost the appeal of it?

 

[AdventureRacing]

not related though, If Level-5 and Nintendo joined force to make a company out of Yokai Watch like Pokemon, would the IP be successful like Pokemon right now,you know, instead of losing steam and lost the appeal of it?

Pokemons success was due to a lot more than just creating a new company.

 

[Passose]

Pokemons success was due to a lot more than just creating a new company.

Idk, but the original Yokai actually had a lot of potential in the west, hadn't it? It didn't become a success right away like Red/Blue, but it actually had potentials in it

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I came in for the graphs update. Where is our graphs guy?

 

[Zedark]

I came in for the graphs update. Where is our graphs guy?

His PC died. You will have to do without (or make them yourself).

 

[whyamihere]

BOTW got legs. 600k. That's higher than Majora's Mask now, right?

 

[antibolo]

Next week Capcpom will announce that they are cancelling Monster Hunter XX Switch due to the poor performance of USF2.

 

[Busaiku]

not related though, If Level-5 and Nintendo joined force to make a company out of Yokai Watch like Pokemon, would the IP be successful like Pokemon right now,you know, instead of losing steam and lost the appeal of it?

No, cause Mr. Hino doesn't know how to savor his food.

 

[Snakeyes]

Ys did alright, but it deserves so much more.

If they were building upon the Napishtim/Oath/Origin style of gameplay, sure, but not in its current form.

 

[Eolz]

#Teamcouplemeanstwo


The PS3 retail version of Revelator sold like 9K copies. And Revelator sold less than Sign which was released a year before. Surely you can't expect Rev2 to do nearly as well as its base game, especially since you already know that an affordable digital upgrade option is available?

The PS4 userbase is bigger, I expected some people to transition from PS3 to PS4, and I also expected people to not have upgraded from Sign to Revelator already.
Since those releases have small legs...

 

[Terrell]

It's kinda sad that USFII outsold the better fighting game released the same week.

 

[Lostconfused]

It's kinda sad that USFII outsold the better fighting game released the same week.

The audience for that game is entirely different.

One game is selling on nostalgia to people who probably don't care about fighting games at all.

The other is selling to a much more niche group of people that is interested in playing much more difficult fighting games.

 

[antibolo]

It's kinda sad that USFII outsold the better fighting game released the same week.

Nobody in Japan plays the late-ass console port of a current arcade fighting game.

P4A did well because it attracted the Persona userbase but apart from that all ASW games have done pretty badly even though they're fairly successful in Japanese arcades.

 

[Terrell]

I didn't say it wasn't understandable why it happened. But that doesn't make it any less sad.