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Media Create Sales: Week 7, 2015 (Feb 09 - Feb 15)

sphinx

the piano man
The Xbox brand is worthless in Japan. It's pretty much a done thing and I don't think it would be worth anyone's effort to do anything more for it. There simply isn't a market for it. It's been 13 years since the Xbox first launched in Japan, and there hasn't been a single piece of software which could sell more than ~200k. At the same time, the brand is successful enough worldwide that Japan literally no longer matters. Even if they sell 0 hardware and 0 software total moving forward in Japan, the system will still have no trouble at all securing big Japanese titles like FF, KH, RE, MGS, etc as long as publishers have any interest at all in the international market. And if publishers don't have international plans for a title, then it would be pointless to MS anyway.

what I wonder is when will retailers tell micrsoft "we are officially discontinuing your product, we do not want to carry a single xbox related product in our stores".

some UK retailers are ridicuously fast to put nintendo products on clearance and give nintendo the middle finger thereafter.

I wonder if that will ever happen in Japan with microsoft.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
what I wonder is when will retailers tell micrsoft "we are officially discontinuing your product, we do not want to carry a single xbox related product in our stores".

some UK retailers are ridicuously fast to put nintendo products on clearance and give nintendo the middle finger thereafter.

I wonder if that will ever happen in Japan with microsoft.

I don't think you get to this sales level without having already been discontinued at a large number of stores.
 

duckroll

Member
Who qualify as "core gamers" in Japan? Is that mostly otaku? Is that a different demographic?

In terms of demographic, I would view core gamers as those who consistently support franchises or developers they are interested in, and make a strong showing of it by pre-ordering early, and would at least potentially buy a new system just for a game they are interested in. I would say otaku definitely fall under the definition of core gamers, but they're not the only ones.

Like, games from Idea Factory, NIS, Atlus, and Bandai Namco certainly target otaku more, and in those cases the core gamers would be largely made up of otaku audiences. But for stuff like FF, DQ, MGS, Yakuza, even western games like CoD and GTA, the core gamer audience there is probably more of older working adults who are interested in more "serious" settings, or just long time fans of the franchise. By core gamer I don't mean the majority of the audience for these games either, but mainly the ones who look forward to each entry, follow the news more, and those who pre-order.

Pre-ordering is a major factor here especially if we're talking about stuff like COMG charts which are basically pre-order tracking for a single chain of stores in Japan. Those who pre-order early are generally representative more of the dedicated core than the average consumer.
 

Sakura

Member
I don't think you get to this sales level without having already been discontinued at a large number of stores.

Most stores probably wouldn't even carry it in the first place if they were smart right? I mean, it's not like the Xbox or Xbox 360 were big sellers, so why stock up on Xbox Ones when you can get PS4s instead.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
both of those games will sell the majority of their units in the west
i can't even remember the last console/handheld dragon quest game that left japan

But they sell significant amount of units in Japan (about one third of the units).

In fact, FFXV would have sold better on PS3 or Vita in Japan alone than it would have on Xbone worldwide easily. People aren't calling that decision dumb, & for good reason, the game will be bought mainly on PS4, & Square benefits from that by consolidating their userbase, Square has more at stake on PS4's success in Japan than even Sony themselves.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
The Xbox brand is worthless in Japan. It's pretty much a done thing and I don't think it would be worth anyone's effort to do anything more for it. There simply isn't a market for it. It's been 13 years since the Xbox first launched in Japan, and there hasn't been a single piece of software which could sell more than ~200k. At the same time, the brand is successful enough worldwide that Japan literally no longer matters. Even if they sell 0 hardware and 0 software total moving forward in Japan, the system will still have no trouble at all securing big Japanese titles like FF, KH, RE, MGS, etc as long as publishers have any interest at all in the international market. And if publishers don't have international plans for a title, then it would be pointless to MS anyway.

Out of the Japanese titles you mentioned, only Resident Evil was successful on Xbox, everything else either bombed or under-performed. So I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna keep getting Japanese ports, it's already missing out on Persona & Guilty Gear, & those titles are pretty significant internationally.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post.
 

duckroll

Member
In fact, FFXV would have sold better on PS3 or Vita in Japan alone than it would have on Xbone worldwide easily.

FFXIII sold (shipped probably) 1.95 million worldwide on the 360, and sold 1.9 million on PS3 in Japan. So if FFXV was on PS3 and Vita, it would certainly also be a 360 game internationally. No reason to throw that money away.

But that scenario doesn't even matter, because S-E definitely had issues with making Versus the game they wanted. It was originally on the PS3. It's now not on the PS3? Why would they throw that money away? It has to be because they couldn't make the game they wanted on the platform.

Out of the Japanese titles you mentioned, only Resident Evil was successful on Xbox, everything else either bombed or under-performed. So I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna keep getting Japanese ports, it's already missing out on Persona & Guilty Gear, & those titles are pretty significant internationally.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post.

What am I reading? Lol.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Some really weird comments being made. DQ/FF MMOs bombing, Guilty Gear being a significant global IP... what. lol
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
In fact, FFXV would have sold better on PS3 or Vita in Japan alone than it would have on Xbone worldwide easily.

While this is possible, it would be a pretty poor showing for the game.

If they can't get a million copies out the door on the Xbox One on the size of audience it has, especially given how open world action RPGs did on the 360, it'd be quite dire and they should probably re-evaluate how they're making games for a global audience.
 
PS4 moving the triple of WIIU units and DQH isn't out yet, and still it looks like it won't pass WIIU's LTD by the end of the year.

PS4 needs to sell 33391 more units than WIIU on average each week until week 40 (end of September) to Overcome WIIU's LTD.

It needs 24487 more units each week to do it before the year ends.

It won't pass the Wii U's LTD by then. But why is this even a thing? It will pass the Wii U at some point, you'd imagine.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
What am I reading? Lol.

We know from Konami's financials that Metal Gear bombed on Xbox. We also know that FF underperformed on Xbox since it was doubled up by PS3 on NPD despite the heavy userbase bias to X360 & the marketing deal, & that 1.95 million comes from vgsales, which is as reliable as chartzzz, & even if we assume that number is true, with the Xbone being a no-show in Europe & getting schooled in NA, I'm not sure if it can even reach half that number. Resident Evil was pretty sucessful on X360 though.

Kingdom Hearts never showed up there, so you never know.
 
What an awesome week for Zelda. Hope it reaches 500K just in Japan alone. :')

Haven't looked at Media Create pages in months, but it looks like PS4 is selling 2-3X more than it used half a year ago on a weekly basis. Am I off here or is it true?
 
Square Enix is obviously trying to build up its install base for future games. I feel like DQXI PS4 will happen.

If DQXI is coming it won't be for home consoles, the userbase for both PS4 and Wii U aren't big enough for the series's sales, outside of X, which was a MMO, go >3M units sold, neither one of them have already reached such numbers.
 
I'm gonna wait for the resident Musou sales expert to come in but dunno, it seems that SW4-II sold more than I expect it would?

Kinda nice to see the PS4 and PSV versions selling about the same and I think the PS4 version sold more than the the PS4 releases of DW8 and SW4 so that's a plus.

Then again, when you compare how barebones in terms of added content this game is compared to previous expansion packs, I expected it to sell a lot less.

But, please Koei, don't try and release 3 musou games within a 6 month period anymore.
 

duckroll

Member
Honestly, not sure why ms is still in Japan. I mean, what's keeping them there? Honestly. Pride? Bullet points?

Are they really "in" Japan though? During the 360 era, they had actual development interests and lots of management/production staff in Japan exclusively for the 360, and they would attend trade shows and so on. Today they hardly have a real presence anymore, minimal marketing, they haven't spent on TGS for years now, etc. They're a multinational company and they have businesses beyond the Xbox, so they'll still be physically in Japan and offer their products there like they do in many smaller markets all over the world, but I would say they've pretty much pulled out as it is.
 

Takao

Banned
But they sell significant amount of units in Japan (about one third of the units).

In fact, FFXV would have sold better on PS3 or Vita in Japan alone than it would have on Xbone worldwide easily. People aren't calling that decision dumb, & for good reason, the game will be bought mainly on PS4, & Square benefits from that by consolidating their userbase, Square has more at stake on PS4's success in Japan than even Sony themselves.

Final Fantasy is about one third. I believe home console KH has a greater emphasis on western markets.

Isn't Dragon Quest Heroes a solid indicator that said property is being treated with different gloves than everything else? It's cross-gen on home consoles. Other than Rise of the Tomb Raider (whose 360 version vanishing prior to launch wouldn't surprise me) none of their recent announcements have been.

Oh, and while no one's questioning why FFXV isn't on Vita (spoiler: it couldn't run on it) there's certainly an audience that questions why XB1 is getting Type-0 HD when it would sell better on that handheld. I question why they even bother with XB1 when they're catering to PS4 so heavily that the audience interested in their games are going to end up there.
 

duckroll

Member
Oh, and while no one's questioning why FFXV isn't on Vita (spoiler: it couldn't run on it) there's certainly an audience that questions why XB1 is getting Type-0 HD when it would sell better on that handheld. I question why they even bother with XB1 when they're catering to PS4 so heavily that the audience interested in their games are going to end up there.

I think Tabata did address that. It seems like the answer is the same as FFXV. Now that's not to say that Type-0 could not have been ported to Vita, obviously it could since the original was on PSP, but I think this is really a matter of technical efficiency. If their development process for a game allows it to be on both PS4 and XB1 easily, then there's little reason not to release it on both in markets where it would sell anyway.

Even if it does like 500k on PS4 and 100k on XB1 for example, the minimal effort makes it a net benefit for them. On the other hand, if they wanted it on Vita, there would be more specific effort put into developing that, and even if a Vita version sells more in Japan, it might not be worth that extra effort. That's how I see it from S-E's perspective. The development process they are using for Type-0 HD is clearly not easily compatible with the Vita or it would have happened.
 

RPGamer92

Banned
I think Tabata did address that. It seems like the answer is the same as FFXV. Now that's not to say that Type-0 could not have been ported to Vita, obviously it could since the original was on PSP, but I think this is really a matter of technical efficiency. If their development process for a game allows it to be on both PS4 and XB1 easily, then there's little reason not to release it on both in markets where it would sell anyway.

Even if it does like 500k on PS4 and 100k on XB1 for example, the minimal effort makes it a net benefit for them. On the other hand, if they wanted it on Vita, there would be more specific effort put into developing that, and even if a Vita version sells more in Japan, it might not be worth that extra effort. That's how I see it from S-E's perspective. The development process they are using for Type-0 HD is clearly not easily compatible with the Vita or it would have happened.
I think with TYpe-0 HD, Square is focusing more on the international market. If TYpe-0 was only released on Vita it would do alright in Japan but flop worldwide whereas releasing it for consoles will ensure much more success internationally and should do ok in Japan and be able to increase the PS4 userbase there.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
Final Fantasy is about one third. I believe home console KH has a greater emphasis on western markets.

Isn't Dragon Quest Heroes a solid indicator that said property is being treated with different gloves than everything else? It's cross-gen on home consoles. Other than Rise of the Tomb Raider (whose 360 version vanishing prior to launch wouldn't surprise me) none of their recent announcements have been.

Oh, and while no one's questioning why FFXV isn't on Vita (spoiler: it couldn't run on it) there's certainly an audience that questions why XB1 is getting Type-0 HD when it would sell better on that handheld. I question why they even bother with XB1 when they're catering to PS4 so heavily that the audience interested in their games are going to end up there.

Over/under on how much Type-0 will even sell on Xbox in Japan. I'm guessing less than 2K units.
 

FTF

Member
Great start for Zelda! I wonder if it'll reach 500k (ALBW failed to do that).

The Legend of Zelda series in Japan

Code:
[NFC] The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo) {1986.02.21} - ? / 1.690.000
[NFC] Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Nintendo) {1987.01.14} - ? / 1.610.000
[SFC] The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo) {1991.11.21} - ? / 1.160.000
[NGB] The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo) {1993.06.06} - ? / 540.000
[N64] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo) {1998.11.21} - 386.234 / 1.147.068
[NGB] The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Nintendo) {1998.12.12} - 49.513 / 314.224
[N64] The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo) {2000.04.27} - 314.044 / 601.539
[NGB] The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (Nintendo) {2001.02.27} - 191.802 / 373.361
[NGB] The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (Nintendo) {2001.02.27} - 190.029 / 372.693
[GCN] The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo) {2002.12.13} - 287.346 / 742.609
[GBA] The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past + Four Swords (Nintendo) {2003.03.14} - 84.107 / 293.989
[GBA] Famicom Mini: The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo) {2004.02.14} - 36.861 / 217.901
[GCN] The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Nintendo) {2004.03.18} - 54.782 / 127.399
[GBA] Famicom Mini: Zelda II - The Adventure of Link (Nintendo) {2004.08.10} - 35.335 / 141.826
[GBA] The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (Nintendo) {2004.11.04} - 92.882 / 235.400
[WII] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo) {2006.12.02} - 145.068 / 554.109
[NDS] The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo) {2007.06.23} - 288.282 / 902.386
[NDS] The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo) {2009.12.23} - 320.940 / 740.109
[3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo) {2011.06.16} - 182.998 / 600.839
[WII] The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo) {2011.11.23} - 194.894 / 346.802
[WIU] The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Nintendo) {2013.09.26} - 31.154 / 45.741	
[3DS] The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo) {2013.12.26} - 225.418 / 417.874
[3DS] The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds [Nintendo eShop] {DL} (Nintendo) {2013.12.26} - 28.577 
[B][3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (Nintendo) {2015.02.14} - 236.536 / 236.536   [/B]     

Source: Famitsu and [url=http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/dkbkq103/yso/million.htm]YSO[/url]

Very surprised at ALBW poor legs not getting to 500k. And is that lifetime total for Skyward Sword correct? 350k seems shockingly low.
 

Guamu

Member
It won't pass the Wii U's LTD by then. But why is this even a thing? It will pass the Wii U at some point, you'd imagine.

Oh, I don't know.

On several media create threads last year there were posts predicting how PS4 would pass easily WIIUs LTD by september 2015. I though it would be cool to keep track of the real difference.
 
Oh, I don't know.

On several media create threads last year there were posts predicting how PS4 would pass easily WIIUs LTD by september 2015. I though it would be cool to keep track of the real difference.
What does it need to do to pass the LTD by the end of the year?
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Final Fantasy is about one third. I believe home console KH has a greater emphasis on western markets.

Isn't Dragon Quest Heroes a solid indicator that said property is being treated with different gloves than everything else? It's cross-gen on home consoles. Other than Rise of the Tomb Raider (whose 360 version vanishing prior to launch wouldn't surprise me) none of their recent announcements have been.

Oh, and while no one's questioning why FFXV isn't on Vita (spoiler: it couldn't run on it) there's certainly an audience that questions why XB1 is getting Type-0 HD when it would sell better on that handheld. I question why they even bother with XB1 when they're catering to PS4 so heavily that the audience interested in their games are going to end up there.

Square wants the Japanese core audience to migrate to PS4.

Their strategy is pretty much this:

Build up the DQ audience on PS4 with DQH (cross-gen) > build up the FF audience on PS4 with Type-o, FFVII, & FFX (ports) > release FF on PS4 to build up the core Japanese audience on PS4 (next-gen only) > release KHIII for additional effects (next-gen only) > the PS4 is ready for DQXI.

That's how I see it at least.
 

Takao

Banned
I think Tabata did address that. It seems like the answer is the same as FFXV. Now that's not to say that Type-0 could not have been ported to Vita, obviously it could since the original was on PSP, but I think this is really a matter of technical efficiency. If their development process for a game allows it to be on both PS4 and XB1 easily, then there's little reason not to release it on both in markets where it would sell anyway.

Even if it does like 500k on PS4 and 100k on XB1 for example, the minimal effort makes it a net benefit for them. On the other hand, if they wanted it on Vita, there would be more specific effort put into developing that, and even if a Vita version sells more in Japan, it might not be worth that extra effort. That's how I see it from S-E's perspective. The development process they are using for Type-0 HD is clearly not easily compatible with the Vita or it would have happened.

You're going to have to forgive me for being skeptical about statements regarding Type-0 from Tabata. He's claimed that his poor eyesight was one of the reasons it's not on that platform, you know, despite the fact that he's involved with Agito and has expressed interest in mobile/Vita companion experiences to XV. I will agree that it's probably related to technical reasons.

I brought that up because there is a group of people that have asked that question. You see it on the PlayStation Blog and Reddit almost every time Type-0 HD is brought up. I wouldn't say I'm one of them anymore. I think the window of opportunity where Type-0 on Vita could have been a decent seller has long since closed. I get the sense that Type-0 HD isn't going to rock Japan on PS4 and that offers a much larger visual upgrade to the original game than a Vita port would. Type-0 was originally a single-player focused handheld game, and a fairly recent one at that. Would a Vita port really do much (100k+) in Japan? I don't think so. Vita's non-presence in western markets is well known, so it wouldn't move a lot here. Though, had Type-0 been a 2012/2013 release on Vita, I do think it may have pushed a few hundred thousand in the west.

Square Enix's Vita support is just perplexing. They were there at launch with a cross-gen Lord of Arcana sequel and a low budget original game. I feel Lord of Apocalypse did as well a sequel to Lord of Arcana could, but Army Corps bombed. Then they tried to ignore that Final Fantasy X HD was a thing they announced. Then that came out and sold well. Then Vita became the phone port factory. I guess Million Arthur is doing okay, Chaos Rings flopped and TBA on the other things. Then they announced SaGa is happening. It's such a weird lineup of content that's all over the place in origin, and stuff you'd think would make sense to release (DQH, DQ phone ports, FFDim, FF phone "remakes", etc. + prediction: Dissidia and FF XII HD) isn't being released.

PS4 YTD > PSV YTD

2015 - Year of the PS4

No, it'll be Year of the 3DS like every recent year.

Right now it looks like Sony has buried Vita in Japan, too. I was actually surprised Persona 4 DAN is getting a wide-release LE handheld since the last game that got one of those was FF X|X-2 HD in 2013.

Square wants the Japanese core audience to migrate to PS4.

Their strategy is pretty much this:

Build up the DQ audience on PS4 with DQH (cross-gen) > build up the FF audience on PS4 with Type-o, FFVII, & FFX (ports) > release FF on PS4 to build up the core Japanese audience on PS4 (next-gen only) > release KHIII for additional effects (next-gen only) > the PS4 is ready for DQXI.

That's how I see it at least.

Do you think DQXI is a 2017+ release? That's the only way that timeline really makes sense, and I doubt XI is that far off.

My gut instinct on that game has always been 3DS with console ports, though maybe it's GAF, but I do think PS3/PS4 exclusive isn't impossible.
 

Vena

Member
This is what I have in as of so far for the 3DS trends, I can keep track of this going forward if Nirolak doesn't want to since the flatness is rather apparent:

vG4o3Zd.jpg
 

Road

Member
And the brand new "big" Famitsu - Media Create saga, regarding PS4 (always, and I mean ALWAYS, lower on the former compared to the latter) continues. IIRC, the difference is always 3-4k as well.

It's funny how their PS4 absolute difference of 69k is already bigger than their 3DS difference 62k; and their Wii U numbers are only 4k apart!

The way it is going, it could end up like the huge PSP difference, MC x Famitsu:
20,166,131 x 19,692,136.

Speaking about hardware sales...

Code:
First 52 Week Sales:

3DS	5,075,956
GBA	4,916,845
PS2	4,242,257
Wii	3,844,356
DS	3,651,082
PSP	2,220,528
GC	1,545,681
PS3	1,273,555
Wii U	1,200,339
DC	1,104,177
PS4	1,049,426
Vita	1,026,491

Famitsu
 
The goal with Type 0 HD is to move the fanbase to PS4/XBO, to get people ready for FFXV.

If they were to release Type 0 HD for PSV/3, a lot of people in Japan would pay dust to the PS4 version, and get the PSV/3 version instead.
 

Takao

Banned
The goal with Type 0 HD is to move the fanbase to PS4/XBO, to get people ready for FFXV.

If they were to release Type 0 HD for PSV/3, a lot of people in Japan would pay dust to the PS4 version, and get the PSV/3 version instead.

Tabata has said that too, but Type-0 HD took its time to be announced for a Japanese release. I also suspect the game won't succeed with that task.
 

duckroll

Member
The funniest thing about Type-0 HD and Vita is still the way it was announced during E3. Sony was so sure it was a Vita game! Square Enix had other plans! Roflmao. :(
 

Kyoufu

Member
The funniest thing about Type-0 HD and Vita is still the way it was announced during E3. Sony was so sure it was a Vita game! Square Enix had other plans! Roflmao. :(

By Sony you mean Shahid? Lol, that was pretty amusing if I'm honest.

If they had any intention on releasing it for Vita then it would have happened years ago anyway, so the exclusion was not surprising.
 

Chris1964

Sales-Age Genius
It's a great start for MM3D, but the important thing will be the legs. OoT3D started much lower, but ended up with over 500k. ALBW had a similar opening to MM3D but only ended up with over 400k.

There wasn't any hype for ALBW. When holidays rush died it died too.

MM 3D was a Saturday release by the way, OOT 3D and ALBW released on Thursday.
 

Madao

Member
MM3D debuting higher than ALBW (which was released during holidays) is something quite unexpected, also considering the fact that: a. it's supply constrained; b. it's one of the less successful mainline Zelda games in Japan.

people realized they fucked up the first time and now want to fix that mistake.
 
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