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[Chris1964]

Also factoring in that Vita was released during the holidays and PSP/3DS wasn't.

Really?

 

[Salvadora]

Sony has to be worried. I don't see anything substantial that will increase sales. Any third party given the choice will decide to develop for 3DS.

 

[Magicpaint]

Also factoring in that Vita was released during the holidays and PSP/3DS wasn't.

PSP was.

 

[Father_Brain]

PSP was.

Yes, though it was severely supply-constrained initially (explaining the low first week).

 

[Celine]

We'll see, of course. I do think we may see some weeks of Vita below 10k, I just don't think it's going to be consistent or immediate.

Depend on what you consider immediate and consistent.
I expect Vita to dip below 10K in the next 3 months.

 

[duckroll]

Sony has to be worried. I don't see anything substantial that will increase sales. Any third party given the choice will decide to develop for 3DS.

Are you saying that developers like Falcom don't have a choice? I mean, I agree with the larger overall point, but there are certainly smaller developers in Japan who seem to be happy supporting the Vita like they supported the PSP.

 

[Busaiku]

Good to see Rhythm Thief doing decently.

 

[eBay Huckster]

Also factoring in that Vita was released during the holidays and PSP/3DS wasn't.

The PSP launched during week 49 of 2004 but was rather severely supply constrained.

 

[Salvadora]

Are you saying that developers like Falcom don't have a choice? I mean, I agree with the larger overall point, but there are certainly smaller developers in Japan who seem to be happy supporting the Vita like they supported the PSP.

The 3DS seems unstoppable. I agree some developers could find a market on Vita, But it just seems like Nintendo has really targeted the PSP consumer with the future line up of games.

 

[Hero]

Slow week all around. When does RE:R launch in Japan? Or did it already?

How is there any relation at all? In fact, tri-Ace new IPs with other non-S-E publishers being successful would actually more likely lead to a lower probability of VP3, since it means tri-Ace can work on new things with new partners instead of crawling back to S-E to beg them to greenlight a sequel for a relatively successful existing franchise.

If what you say is true then I kind of hope all tri-Ace games bomb until we get a VP3.

 

[Z3M0G]

Has there been a 2nd Vita shipment in Japan yet? If not, when is it scheduled?

Do we know concretely how many units were in shipment 1?

 

[Mpl90]

Has there been a 2nd Vita shipment in Japan yet? If not, when is it scheduled?

Do we know concretely how many units were in shipment 1?

The first shipment was of 500k. It finished last week. We're already with the new shipment.

 

[Takao]

Has there been a 2nd Vita shipment in Japan yet? If not, when is it scheduled?

Do we know concretely how many units were in shipment 1?

Shipment #1 was 500k.

According to Media Create 516k Vita units have been sold thus far.

What do you think that means?

 

[frankie_baby]

I wonder if they are still on the first shipment of the 3g model

They probably are

 

[JJConrad]

Not compared to its launch sales:

　　　　3DS　  　　　PSP　  　　PSVita
1　　374,764　　166,074　 　321,407
2　　209,623　 81,355　   72,479
3　　96,463　　　92,515 　  42,648
4　　61,394　　　111,194   42,915
5　　50,710　　　55,358    18,361
6　　42,979　　　57,383    15,219
7　　32,910　　　66,601
8　　28,252　　　71,200

To Vita's credit (not really), the PSP was supply constrained the first few weeks (like others have already said) and that caused higher than normal sales through Week 8. The PSP peaked on Week 8, fell sharply in Week 9, and was in a slow, rolling decline until September. Still, the PSP lowest selling week in its first year was >19k, Vita has already broken that.

 

[Takao]

I wonder if they are still on the first shipment of the 3g model

They probably are

They need Monster Hunter Portable 3G.

 

[muu]

biggest problem with Vita is that the PSP is still alive and kicking, and that UMD games can't be played on the system. If they're not going to make a UMD to Vita MC kind of transport possible w/o extra online fees, they could have taken steps to make all PSP games download code only or something similar (no UMD pack-in, use Download code in box to get game after retail purchase). I know what I'm saying is impractical, but without something being done this trend of PSP > Vita sales is going to continue into springtime.

 

[Forever]

Investors meeting + financial results

Isn't that where the rumor claimed either Dragon Quest VII or Final Fantasy VII would be announced for 3DS?

 

[cw_sasuke]

biggest problem with Vita is that the PSP is still alive and kicking, and that UMD games can't be played on the system. If they're not going to make a UMD to Vita MC kind of transport possible w/o extra online fees, they could have taken steps to make all PSP games download code only or something similar (no UMD pack-in, use Download code in box to get game after retail purchase). I know what I'm saying is impractical, but without something being done this trend of PSP > Vita sales is going to continue into springtime.

Alive ? Yes. Kicking ? I dont know, 3 games in the Top 20 and selling between Ps3 and Wii for a handheld is considered pretty low by Japanese standards now. There are still some medium heavy PSP games to be released, most IPs will have made the transition to the next-gen this year.

 

[NateDrake]

Isn't that where the rumor claimed either Dragon Quest VII or Final Fantasy VII would be announced for 3DS?

Yes with signs pointing to DQ7 being the game in question. Though it is FF 25th Anniv this year but chances are slim that 3DS is gonna get FFVII.

 

[Forever]

Yes with signs pointing to DQ7 being the game in question. Though it is FF 25th Anniv this year but chances are slim that 3DS is gonna get FFVII.

If it is DQ7 I hope they get Level 5 to do the grunt work.

Hoping for FF7 though.

 

[Truth101]

Yes with signs pointing to DQ7 being the game in question. Though it is FF 25th Anniv this year but chances are slim that 3DS is gonna get FFVII.

I wouldn't say the chances are slim for a FFVIIr on the 3DS, at least if you look at last gen most FF remakes tended to be on the DS.

Though a DQVIIr is much more likely.

 

[RPGamer92]

Yes with signs pointing to DQ7 being the game in question. Though it is FF 25th Anniv this year but chances are slim that 3DS is gonna get FFVII.

FFVII 3DS would be the ultimate megaton

 

[NateDrake]

I wouldn't say the chances are slim for a FFVIIr on the 3DS, at least if you look at last gen most FF remakes tended to be on the DS.

Though a DQVIIr is much more likely.

True. If the rumor is true of such a game happening then it'll be announced by Nintendo this week, right?

 

[Anth0ny]

FFVII 3DS would be the ultimate megaton

Exactly. I can't imagine they'd quietly announce it at some investors meeting.

Then again... maybe they don't want to take any steam away from WiiU at E3. Who knows.

Either way, that would be huge news.

 

[Rated-Rsuperstar]

Vita sales aren't really surprising when you consider Wipeout is the first game released post launch. One game in an entire month. Yippee.

 

[slaughterking]

If it is DQ7 I hope they get Level 5 to do the grunt work.

Hoping for FF7 though.

I doubt they would put so much effort into a VII remake that it would require Level 5 to make it. It would probably be just an enhanced port of the PSone original and Arte Piazza can do that just fine.

Even though it wouldn't be the worst idea to give the DQ fanbase a new big something to look forward to. The fact that DQX looks so miserable and there's nothing else coming in terms of announced mainline games sucks.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Is it the genre or the game? How does F-Zero perform?

GBA launch game got the magic 300K. F-Zero GX reached 100K. The later GBA games didn't do squat.

I think these numbers are relatively similar to previous years, we're in the boring part of the year.

Pretty much. Top 5 software numbers from Famitsu:
Week of 2011-01-17: 79K, 56, 21, 15, 15
Week of 2010-01-18: 116, 101, 77, 57, 54
Week of 2009-01-19: 31, 29, 27, 25, 23
Week of 2008-01-14: 108, 91, 38, 31, 19

I doubt they would put so much effort into a VII remake that it would require Level 5 to make it. It would probably be just an enhanced port of the PSone original and Arte Piazza can do that just fine.

That worked well enough for DS, but it would be pretty disappointing to have something so close to that yet again on 3DS.

 

[Magicpaint]

I doubt they would put so much effort into a VII remake that it would require Level 5 to make it. It would probably be just an enhanced port of the PSone original and Arte Piazza can do that just fine.

Even though it wouldn't be the worst idea to give the DQ fanbase a new big something to look forward to. The fact that DQX looks so miserable and there's nothing else coming in terms of announced mainline games sucks.

I'd be extremely disappointed if it's just an enhanced port.

 

[Einhander]

Beyond the Labyrinth didn't do well. More people need to buy it.

 

[muu]

Alive ? Yes. Kicking ? I dont know, 3 games in the Top 20 and selling between Ps3 and Wii for a handheld is considered pretty low by Japanese standards now. There are still some medium heavy PSP games to be released, most IPs will have made the transition to the next-gen this year.

I suppose so. It'll be interesting to see how many devs choose Vita at this point to be their next platform though; I can't see very many of the minor franchises thriving on the PSP draw crowds on their own.

 

[Truth101]

Did Kikitrick actually release last week?

 

[slaughterking]

I'd be extremely disappointed if it's just an enhanced port.

I think you will be disappointed then. Seeing how they don't seem to put any considerable effort into most of the DQ games despite (or because of?) their immense popularity, it just seems very unlike SE to go all out with a huge game like VII.

Did Kikitrick actually release last week?

Yes.

 

[Bebpo]

Is ToI a Tales of game made for the Vita, or is it a port from something else, like how Abyss released for the 3DS, but was a PS2 port.

It's a port/remake (remake but using DS assets so it looks like shit) of one of the most low-rated and disliked games in the series (better than Tempest, probably behind everything else in Tales popularity) that has already been available on a portable system and can be had for $5 now a days.

So it basically has the potential to be a Ni no Kuni PS3.



At least Abyss was a slightly improved port of a non-portable Tales game that is one of the 3 most popular titles in the Franchise.

 

[Forever]

I feel that if an FF7 remake ever happens, it would have to be on a handheld since Square is still apparently struggling with the concept of HD cities. That is the reason I have my fingers crossed for the conference tomorrow.

However, knowing how these things usually go, the rumor is false and we'll get nothing.

So it basically has the potential to be a Ni no Kuni PS3.

They're shipping a half million copies?

 

[Truth101]

I think you will be disappointed then. Seeing how they don't seem to put any considerable effort into most of the DQ games despite (or because of?) their immense popularity, it just seems very unlike SE to go all out with a huge game like VII.



Yes.

Oh, alright.

I didn't expect it to be a 200k seller or anything, but I thought it would at least pull of 50-60k. Very disappointing.

 

[wrowa]

Are you refering to MinGol and GT? Really? I know their last portable entries didn't sell well but the console versions are still good sellers (MinGol more in Japan than WW and GT more WW than Japan). Maybe SCEI ends up killing Team ICO but I don't see them killing their 2 big franchises in Japan (I could be wrong though).

Now, if Yamauchi spends another 5-6 years making the next GT... then he could be Ueda-ed.

I think he meant that Sony is killing those franchises in terms of marketing appeal. He isn't implying that Sony would actually stop developing GT and MNG.

Even though it wouldn't be the worst idea to give the DQ fanbase a new big something to look forward to. The fact that DQX looks so miserable and there's nothing else coming in terms of announced mainline games sucks.

To make matters worse, everything regarding DQ looks pretty bad right now. The recent Slime game looked hardly better than a DS game, the Monsters remake isn't much better looking either and visually it suffers from the same emptiness problem as DQX and DQX is probably one of the most unappealing MMOs in existence.

A DQVII remake with hardly any new content (similar to DQVI's remake) and with graphics that are yet again based on the PSX engine wouldn't be a surprise at all. What is quite sad, considering that DQ games have been quite good looking since DQVIII.

 

[Bebpo]

They're shipping a half million copies?

They're likely shipping enough copies that it will end up in the bomba bin if things go bad, yes.

 

[DragonSworne]

On average, what does PSV need to do weekly to become a viable second handheld platform?

Given more time, I'll gather averages of Gamecube, N64, and Genesis and how they compared to their respective leaders in their generations, unless someone already has that information.

I'd hate to see 3DS being the only handheld. The GBA and GB period were rather weak compared to the DS.

 

[Forever]

I'd hate to see 3DS being the only handheld. The GBA and GB period were rather weak compared to the DS.

The DS had the greatest game library in history so just about anything except PS2 will pale in comparison, but let's not talk shit about the GBA.

 

[Truth101]

I think he meant that Sony is killing those franchises in terms of marketing appeal. He isn't implying that Sony would actually stop developing GT and MNG.


To make matters worse, everything regarding DQ looks pretty bad right now. The recent Slime game looked hardly better than a DS game, the Monsters remake isn't much better looking either and visually it suffers from the same emptiness problem as DQX and DQX is probably one of the most unappealing MMOs in existence.

A DQVII remake with hardly any new content (similar to DQVI's remake) and with graphics that are yet again based on the PSX engine wouldn't be a surprise at all. What is quite sad, considering that DQ games have been quite good looking since DQVIII.

You seem to be misunderstanding something about DQ games, especially spin-offs/remakes. I dubt a DQVIIr would use the same engine as DQVII, as hat engine was re-purposed for the DS games.

Slime Mori Mori 3 was originally a DS game.

Graphics aren't important as long as they are decent looking.

Also, we really haven't seen enough of Terry's Wonderland to judge it.

 

[Bebpo]

On average, what does PSV need to do weekly to become a viable second handheld platform?

Given more time, I'll gather averages of Gamecube, N64, and Genesis and how they compared to their respective leaders in their generations, unless someone already has that information.

I'd hate to see 3DS being the only handheld. The GBA and GB period were rather weak compared to the DS.

If we go by PS3 and consider that it became viable, then probably a 30k average would be healthy.

 

[slaughterking]

If we go by PS3 and consider that it became viable, then probably a 30k average would be healthy.

That's what the PSP did in its first few years. Was it a viable platform at that point?

 

[Busaiku]

Oh just noticed the huge drop for Super Robot Wars.
The DS game also had a huge drop as well, more pronounced even.

What's up with these games.
The original game is included in it as well right? Thought that could help it some.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I think you will be disappointed then. Seeing how they don't seem to put any considerable effort into most of the DQ games despite (or because of?) their immense popularity, it just seems very unlike SE to go all out with a huge game like VII.

How do you figure? It's not like IV PS1 and IV-VI DS were out of place on those systems. But when they last remade a game on hardware beyond that level it was a fully 3D Dragon Quest V for PS2.

 

[Brazil]

Exactly. I can't imagine they'd quietly announce it at some investors meeting.

Then again... maybe they don't want to take any steam away from WiiU at E3. Who knows.

Either way, that would be huge news.

They could announce it by whispering during a Kotaku interview and it'd still be the biggest megaton in the history of this industry.

 

[Yoshi]

On average, what does PSV need to do weekly to become a viable second handheld platform?

Given more time, I'll gather averages of Gamecube, N64, and Genesis and how they compared to their respective leaders in their generations, unless someone already has that information.

I'd hate to see 3DS being the only handheld. The GBA and GB period were rather weak compared to the DS.

As much as I love GameCube, I wouldn't say selling as well as GameCube would be all that great for PS Vita, considering GameCube's library consisted of a huge amount of awesome 1st party games, a lot of ports and then nothing else, just 2-3 years after launch.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

On average, what does PSV need to do weekly to become a viable second handheld platform?

Given more time, I'll gather averages of Gamecube, N64, and Genesis and how they compared to their respective leaders in their generations, unless someone already has that information.

Well, PSP is about the only real instance of a decently successful second place system. In short, previous second-place systems were lucky to end up with a fourth the hardware out there as the #1.

EDIT: Haha, and of course PS3 compared to Wii must've been so obvious I didn't think about it.

 

[Forever]

the biggest megaton in the history of this industry.

Eh, no. Even in recent times DQIX probably eclipses it.

 

[Mpl90]

Exactly. I can't imagine they'd quietly announce it at some investors meeting.

Then again... maybe they don't want to take any steam away from WiiU at E3. Who knows.

Either way, that would be huge news.

Announcing it wouldn't be a so quiet way to announce it. Absolutely, since you would drop a megaton with all the investors present.