• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

NPD Sales Results for February 2009

beef3483

Member
Segata Sanshiro said:
At the end of the day, HotD is still a lightgun game. Like shmups, there seems to be a ceiling price that most people will pay for this genre, and I'm pretty sure said ceiling is under $50 somewhere. I certainly hope the producers of other rail shooters aren't expecting that to change just because Wii owners have shown a healthy interest in smartly-priced lightgun games.

You just nailed why I haven't purchased yet. Lightgun games and railshooters just aren't worth $50 to me. I'll wait till they are budget priced.
 

markatisu

Member
beef3483 said:
You just nailed why I haven't purchased yet. Lightgun games and railshooters just aren't worth $50 to me. I'll wait till they are budget priced.

And there is where the game will most likely sell well after a few months (just as every Sega game does when it drops $10-20). We will see it hit $39 soon and if not then its because its selling well (Sega knows when to subsidize the price to get it moving)

People here whine and cry about it but that is how Sega does business, nobody cared that Sonic and the Secret Rings sold most of its product when it dropped to $29 or when Mario and Sonic Olympics moved up the charts when Target and Best Buy initiated a $39 special promotion

NASCAR Kart Racers is in the Top 10 because its a excellent Mario Kart clone and retails for $39, Lego Star Wars Wii is in the Top 20 because its $19.99, Jillian Fitness is $39.99 as is My Fitness Coach

Shaun White shot up the charts when Target ran their special edition at $39.99 and then it sold so well they price dropped the PS3 and 360 versions to a similar price point to get them moving

GAffers need to learn the difference between a price drop to get stock moving in a bad economy and a price collapse to get rid of excess stock for a bomba
 

RBH

Member
So what do you guys think is the main reason for the spike in 360 HW sales?

I actually think the 360 HW number may be the biggest surprise for this month.
 

Grecco

Member
markatisu said:
And there is where the game will most likely sell well after a few months (just as every Sega game does when it drops $10-20). We will see it hit $39 soon and if not then its because its selling well (Sega knows when to subsidize the price to get it moving)

People here whine and cry about it but that is how Sega does business, nobody cared that Sonic and the Secret Rings sold most of its product when it dropped to $29 or when Mario and Sonic Olympics moved up the charts when Target and Best Buy initiated a $39 special promotion

NASCAR Kart Racers is in the Top 10 because its a excellent Mario Kart clone and retails for $39, Lego Star Wars Wii is in the Top 20 because its $19.99, Jillian Fitness is $39.99 as is My Fitness Coach

Shaun White shot up the charts when Target ran their special edition at $39.99 and then it sold so well they price dropped the PS3 and 360 versions to a similar price point to get them moving

GAffers need to learn the difference between a price drop to get stock moving in a bad economy and a price collapse to get rid of excess stock for a bomba

Well Lego Star Wars wii was in the top 20 when it was 49.99 too. Its on the top 20 because its Lego Star Wars not because of the price imo.
 

markatisu

Member
Grecco said:
Well Lego Star Wars wii was in the top 20 when it was 49.99 too. Its on the top 20 because its Lego Star Wars not because of the price imo.

Well Lego Batman and Lego Indy were also charters for Wii but they do not show up in the Top 20 or the Top 10 Wii

So yes the $19.99 is a factor, otherwise it would reason that the other two Lego entries on Wii would be at least somewhere near since they sell on the PSP
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
markatisu said:
I am glad nobody here cares to read the fucking thread at all

The bar for lightgun games on Wii in the US is

REUC 455k and NERF ~500k

REUC took over a year to get to that point (and launched during the holidays) as did NERF

There was no reason to expect more than say 75k from HoTD Overkill at all, its just never happened for a light gun game in a non holiday push (REUC opened at 121k back in Nov of 2007, a time which everything sells inflated)

From the charting position of HoTD Overkill in the UK alone you are going to be proved wrong, the game is well on its way to blowing past the previous iterations and becoming the best selling light gun genre game on the Wii (outside of Links Crossbow Training).

And we will have to wait 4-6 months for see how it does in America but HoTD 2/3 Returns and Ghost Squad never ever made it into the Top 10 of Wii games nor as far as we know into the Top 50 (HoTD Overkill resides in spot #50 of the NPD).

No I think it's that nobody bothers to really read when you chime in. Your effort is there, but it's more of a struggle to try really hard to be right. It's admirable, I suppose, but a bit tiring.

I'm glad Overkill is selling well overseas, but the fact reminds that 45k isn't even going to cover the marketing expenses Sega has spent on the title prelaunch. This title was meant to be more frontloaded, it's the way the publisher choose to take it to market. To say 'wait for a price drop' is a bit of a stretch, do you really think the accounting and finance team at Sega is going to create different success metrics just for their M rated Wii titles? Their ROI must have been pretty bad the first month. And the constant comparisons so their non-marketing ports is quite far from an apples to apples comparison: Overkill is meant to capitalize on that foundation and grow the segment, not repeat its trends.

Hopefully it will have long legs, but it's still a poor start and certainly the inserts for Conduit and MadWorld aren't getting the initial impression levels they had hoped. I'd be real curious to see what their shipment numbers are, but it's sad they werent able to excite the userbase like they intended
 
ChrisGoldstein said:
Awesome commercials?

Have the commercial been pretty sweet? I dont have cable so I haven't seen anything. Wouldn't surprise me though the marketing department MS uses has been phenomenal for them this gen.
 

Grecco

Member
markatisu said:
Well Lego Batman and Lego Indy were also charters for Wii but they do not show up in the Top 20 or the Top 10 Wii

So yes the $19.99 is a factor, otherwise it would reason that the other two Lego entries on Wii would be at least somewhere near since they sell on the PSP


Lego Indy did actually. Top 10 if im not mistaken.
 

markatisu

Member
Grecco said:
Lego Indy did actually. Top 10 if im not mistaken.

I am talking about charting the last two months, Lego Indy did not chart Top 10 Wii or Top 20 anything (lately). Lego Batman also charted for Wii like Indy did when it came out

But there is no specific reason why Lego Star Wars Wii would continue to chart and the other two do not outside of price (which is why it has constant raincheks and ad space in Target and being pushed in the R Zone at Toys R Us at the checkout counter)

Lego Batman charted on the PSP and PS2 this month

http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/03/february-2009s.html
Wii Top 10

1. WII WII FIT NINTENDO OF AMERICA
2. WII WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA
3. WII MARIO KART W/WHEEL NINTENDO OF AMERICA
4. WII GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
5. WII LEGO STAR WARS: COMPLETE SAGA LUCASARTS
6. WII MY FITNESS COACH UBISOFT
7. WII JILLIAN MICHAELS FITNESS ULTIMATUM 2009 MAJESCO
8. WII NASCAR KART RACING ELECTRONIC ARTS
9. WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL NINTENDO OF AMERICA
10. WII TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS
 

Spiegel

Member
markatisu said:
Lego Batman charted on the PSP and PS2 this month

Lego Batman could have (and I wouldn't be surprised if it did) sold more on Wii even without it charting on the Wii Top 10.

The number one in the PSP Top 10 is a 3+ year old game (GTA: LCS)
 

markatisu

Member
Spiegel said:
Lego Batman could have (and I wouldn't be surprised if it did) sold more on Wii even without it charting on the Wii Top 10.

The number one in the PSP Top 10 is a 3+ year old game (GTA: LCS)

I understand this and was not implying the PS2 or PSP version of Lego Batman outsold the Wii (because I dont think they have), I am saying the reason that Lego Star Wars Wii is selling more than the other two versions of Lego Wii games is because of its price

Someone asked a few pages back why Lego Star Wars Wii was still in the Top 20 of all NPD even though its so old, I was answering that with the fact its priced at $19.99.

I was using the PSP and PS2 as an example of how popular Lego Batman is (because both systems also have Lego Star Wars) but its price tag on Wii is keeping it behind Lego Star Wars Wii in charting position and sales
 

AndresON777

shooting blanks
BruceLeeRoy said:
Have the commercial been pretty sweet? I dont have cable so I haven't seen anything. Wouldn't surprise me though the marketing department MS uses has been phenomenal for them this gen.


They're good at reaching their target demographic. I watch a lot of sports and comedy central on directv and that is when I usually see the commercials. Many of the commercials are for multiplatform games but they only have the xbox logo at the end.

The new RE5 commercial is probably the best video game commercial I've ever seen. The red elite 360 is pimped out at the end too.
 

Spiegel

Member
markatisu said:
I understand this and was not implying the PS2 or PSP version of Lego Batman outsold the Wii, I am saying the reason that Lego Star Wars Wii is selling more than the other two versions of Lego Wii games is because of its price

Someone asked a few pages back why Lego Star Wars Wii was still in the Top 20 of all NPD even though its so old, I was answering that with the fact its priced at $19.99.

I was using the PSP and PS2 as an example of how popular Lego Batman is to show that Lego Batman is still popular (because both systems also have Lego Star Wars) but its price tag on Wii is keeping it behind Lego Star Wars Wii in charting

Ah, I agree.

Low price is surely helping Lego Star Wars
 

Balb

Member
Spiegel said:
Lego Batman could have (and I wouldn't be surprised if it did) sold more on Wii even without it charting on the Wii Top 10.

The number one in the PSP Top 10 is a 3+ year old game (GTA: LCS)

In all fairness, the number one game on the DS top 10 is also a 3 year old game.
 

Alcibiades

Member
John Harker said:
Hopefully it will have long legs, but it's still a poor start and certainly the inserts for Conduit and MadWorld aren't getting the initial impression levels they had hoped. I'd be real curious to see what their shipment numbers are, but it's sad they werent able to excite the userbase like they intended
A lot of people are excited, but not enough to shell out $50 for a light-gun game. The gameplay is too simple and just doesn't fit the full-price bill for many. As awesome and refreshing as the presentation is, the game is still just a casual game (in terms of gameplay not in terms of grindhouse atmosphere which is definitely hardcore) that didn't take the budget, time and manpower of something like MadWorld to develop.

I definitely want to buy the game, but $50 (and even $40) is a bit much to pay for light-gun game. I really hope the game sells well, but it's understandable that $50 is a bit much for a game releasing right alongside Tenchu, Deadly Creatures, and just weeks before MadWorld and Rune Factory - all well-received "core" games released close together. If a Wii-only hardcore gamer had enough money for only one or two, something is gonna need to get sacrificed.

I can afford one or two right now (I just don't have time) - but if I had to choose I'd go with Deadly Creatures first, and MadWorld second.

People point to the success of Umbrella Chronicles and Nerf N-Strike, but those are special cases. Many people didn't even know Umbrella Chronicles was a rail-game, it was a "test" game, and it came after the well-received RE4: Wii Edition. The game had a lot of things going for it, so people shouldn't confuse solid sales for this as love for light-gun anything (and even then at least in the US it never matched the sales of RE4).

N-Strike came with an Nerf-toy accessory and is really a major non-gaming brand name for kids that just fit the bill as a Christmas present during the holiday season.

The best HOTD: Overkill had was a legacy of solid sales with 2 other Sega light-gun games released as budget prices - which isn't really much to sell on with a full-priced game. It wasn't necessarily a mistake to release it at $50 because sales should be OK as the game drops in price, but it's going to have to be a long-term seller.

Expect better things for MadWorld which seems to have had a bit more marketing and is getting even better reviews. Although they are both very short games, the fact that MadWorld is a 3rd-person beat-em-up gives it more complexity and depth than HOTD:Overkill and for a comparatively larger portion of the "core" gaming segment on Wii probably justifies a $50 entry.
 

Alcibiades

Member
Spiegel said:
Ah, I agree.

Low price is surely helping Lego Star Wars
Low price is helping as you said, but even if all 3 of them were at $20 right now, Star Wars in general is just a bigger name than Batman and Indiana Jones, especially in the gaming world. Star Wars games have always been well-received on Nintendo consoles and this is no exception.
 

donny2112

Member
AnnSwag said:
About 396,046 units sold first week. about 1.4 million in total with a US release date of 08/31/04.

VGC numbers are not allowed here. It did nowhere close to that in U.S. or combined with Japan.

Segata Sanshiro said:
Balance Board of the Dead sounds like such a good idea. I'd get a balance board for that.

I got a Typing of the Dead vibe from the description.
 

Zachack

Member
Alcibiades said:
A lot of people are excited, but not enough to shell out $50 for a light-gun game. The gameplay is too simple and just doesn't fit the full-price bill for many. As awesome and refreshing as the presentation is, the game is still just a casual game (in terms of gameplay not in terms of grindhouse atmosphere which is definitely hardcore) that didn't take the budget, time and manpower of something like MadWorld to develop.
You have the budgets (don't forget advertising) of Madworld and HOTD? Please share.

I really hope the game sells well, but it's understandable that $50 is a bit much for a game releasing right alongside Tenchu, Deadly Creatures, and just weeks before MadWorld and Rune Factory - all well-received "core" games released close together. If a Wii-only hardcore gamer had enough money for only one or two, something is gonna need to get sacrificed.
I don't see Tenchu or Deadly Creatures lighting up the charts, either. Not that I would really expect them to, given the lack of advertising, but that just highlights that all the advertising spent on HOTD was for nothing.
 

Smokey

Member
Rlan said:
Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? didn't even get a mention. Did I also note that not a single PSP title beat the DS top 10 in sales? What the hell man.

Look at the title of the game man. It is silly.

No matter how good it is/could be somebody browsing the PSP section isn't going to gravitate toward a came called "Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?". It's very cheesey and plus it's a niche game to begin with on a platform where people don't really buy games.
 

MoogPaul

Member
I'm not sure why people are confused about SO4 sales. It's definitely one of the most J of JRPGs out this generation and the follow up to SO3, which was universally shat on most people who played it. Obviously, some people liked 3, but wayyyyy more hated it.
 

Cipherr

Member
John Harker said:
No I think it's that nobody bothers to really read when you chime in. Your effort is there, but it's more of a struggle to try really hard to be right. It's admirable, I suppose, but a bit tiring.

I'm glad Overkill is selling well overseas, but the fact reminds that 45k isn't even going to cover the marketing expenses Sega has spent on the title prelaunch. This title was meant to be more frontloaded, it's the way the publisher choose to take it to market. To say 'wait for a price drop' is a bit of a stretch, do you really think the accounting and finance team at Sega is going to create different success metrics just for their M rated Wii titles? Their ROI must have been pretty bad the first month.


I think your pushing it buddy. Lets keep our feet on the ground here. Overkill isnt a fucking Mario/God of War/Halo Wars esque release, its not going to cost anywhere near as much, and we arent talking some 20m dollar ad campaign like Lost planet had either. Your seriously bloating this waaaay out of proportion. In month 1 no less.
 

Link

The Autumn Wind
BrodiemanTTR said:
Gotta give it to Sega, they tried. Wii owners just didn't answer the call. So long third-party efforts, we hardly knew ye.
I think third parties just waited too long. After 2+ years of releasing nothing but minigames and kiddie crap, do they really think now they can just start putting out some "core" games and they'll just sell? Most of the audience for these games moved on a long time ago. Expect similarly disappointing results for Madworld and The Conduit. The real loser in all this is Sega, because they have put genuine effort into their Wii games. Unfortunately, as we've all learned, Sega alone cannot keep a console afloat.

GreyMatter said:
I'm actually curious as to why DQX is the only big name that they've had enough sense to put on the Wii. You'd think that as the "secondary" system for most, there would be more support for upgraded ps2 quality JRPG's. Lost Odyssey aside, I'd probably say most JRPG's this gen should be Wii titles instead.

All the lemmings could bide their time and not lose tons of money while they wait to ape whatever FFXIII brings to the table.
Japanese publishers all talk about how they want to appeal to a "Western audience," which really means the HD consoles (ironically, since the Wii does better than either in the west, too). I'm not sure if it's just brain damage or a flimsy excuse to brush off Wii development. I'd assume the latter.
 

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
MoogPaul said:
I'm not sure why people are confused about SO4 sales. It's definitely one of the most J of JRPGs out this generation and the follow up to SO3, which was universally shat on most people who played it. Obviously, some people liked 3, but wayyyyy more hated it.

SO3 became a greatest hit in about a years time, but its sales weren't frontloaded either. I find SO4 to be a better game than SO3 overall (despite catgirls and terrible VA, SO3 had that too). I think it will sell okay over time and I think it came out the last week in November. Some people here put waaaay to much stock in the NPD top 10 and really don't consider how some games sell fairly well over a given period of time. I bet SO4 hits 1 million sold by this time next year if not less.
 

MoogPaul

Member
truly101 said:
SO3 became a greatest hit in about a years time, but its sales weren't frontloaded either. I find SO4 to be a better game than SO3 overall (despite catgirls and terrible VA, SO3 had that too). I think it will sell okay over time and I think it came out the last week in November. Some people here put waaaay to much stock in the NPD top 10 and really don't consider how some games sell fairly well over a given period of time. I bet SO4 hits 1 million sold by this time next year if not less.

Yeah, but SO3 was building on the success of SO2, which was awesome. I know that's why I bought it. SO4 had to follow up on SO3, which was pretty terrible. I waited for reviews to buy 4, instead of blindly buying it like I did with 3.
 

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
MoogPaul said:
Yeah, but SO3 was building on the success of SO2, which was awesome. I know that's why I bought it. SO4 had to follow up on SO3, which was pretty terrible. I waited for reviews to buy 4, instead of blindly buying it like I did with 3.
Only you forget that SO2 was distributed by Enix and sold pretty much like shit. I don't think the game ever got a second printing, whereas SO3 did, GH version.
 

donny2112

Member
SEGA is releasing a 1) light-gun game, 2) third-person action-adventure, and 3) FPS on the Wii over a 5-month span. Hopefully, they'll each receive comparable levels of advertising (personally, I wouldn't mind if the FPS got a little more :D ), but it'll be an interesting experiment for the types of games that sell on Wii. (We already know light-gun games sell well, but this is an attempt to sell a full-priced light-gun game.)
 

Alcibiades

Member
Zachack said:
You have the budgets (don't forget advertising) of Madworld and HOTD? Please share.
heh, obviously not, but just looking at the games, one seems more polished and by the nature of the gameplay (3rd-person beat-em-up vs. on-rails light-gun) I assume one took more resources to create...

I don't see Tenchu or Deadly Creatures lighting up the charts, either. Not that I would really expect them to, given the lack of advertising, but that just highlights that all the advertising spent on HOTD was for nothing.
no "core" games are lighting up the charts, but it certainly didn't help that in a such a short span, 5 well-received "core" games have been released at full price... They could have been spaced out a little better (for example December and January were pretty empty for Wii unless you count the panned Castlevania Judgement) and maybe even come out at $40 considering that normally the only games that do really well at $50 are big-budget blockbusters (even Namco, which releases Tales of Symphonia for $50 on GCN, released the followup on Wii for $40 - although that may have been because they knew it wouldn't be as well-received as the first)...
 

MechaX

Member
farnham said:
yeah square enix totally failed this gen in terms of platform strategy.. the only platform they choose right was the DS...

If Crisis Core's debut sales are any indication, SE might show a significant amount of success on the PSP as well with their future releases (Dissidia, Birth by Sleep, Agito, 3rd Birthday). Of course, whether or not it was just Crisis Core riding on the coat-tails of FFVII or if there really is a dedicated SE market for PSP owners, we'll see later this year.

Cheebs said:
Worldwide maybe. In usa it probably won't sell 100k.

That really depends on if SO4 can garner a decent length of legs (which I'm highly doubtful of) and exactly how much it sold Feb. If it approached 80k or something, I could see it barely squeezing by or near 100k. If it sold like sub 60k or something, then yeah.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
truly101 said:
You're probably right on that, I don't think 500K is unreasonable.
It's already at something like 300k and has yet to be released in Europe. But 500k represents a huge decline (50%+) from SO3. It's tough for a lot of Japanese series to show positive growth game over game, but it does happen (DMC3 to 4, MGS3 to 4, RE5's initial release (not considering RE4's later Wii version)...and few show the kind of decay that Star Ocean is showing (50% is absolutely huge).

I'd be extremely unhappy with these sales. I'm sure Square managed to stuff some copies, but retailers are probably recoiling a bit after TLR and IU. Director's Cut is probably coming.
 

raYne

Member
Son of Godzilla said:
Probably just people thinking it's an RTS like Halo Wars.
Heh.

Nocebo said:
I can't imagine L4D being fun on 360, especially multiplayer versus mode.
PCGodsvsConsolePeasants.gif

edit:
consolesareruininggaming-1.gif

That's better..
 

markatisu

Member
No I think it's that nobody bothers to really read when you chime in. Your effort is there, but it's more of a struggle to try really hard to be right. It's admirable, I suppose, but a bit tiring.

I'm glad Overkill is selling well overseas, but the fact reminds that 45k isn't even going to cover the marketing expenses Sega has spent on the title prelaunch. This title was meant to be more frontloaded, it's the way the publisher choose to take it to market. To say 'wait for a price drop' is a bit of a stretch, do you really think the accounting and finance team at Sega is going to create different success metrics just for their M rated Wii titles? Their ROI must have been pretty bad the first month.

Not my fault people have short attention spans and can't stay with a topic.

No Wii title has ever been designed to be front loaded except for SSBB and Mario Galaxy, the system does not work that way and you should know that. Every single Wii title that has ever sold a decent amount has done it over time, you don't like that fact then do not develop for the platform.

DS is the EXACT same way, nothing will ever change that because the audience is more expanded and relies on a month over month.
 

Scrubking

Member
John Harker said:
No I think it's that nobody bothers to really read when you chime in. Your effort is there, but it's more of a struggle to try really hard to be right. It's admirable, I suppose, but a bit tiring.

I'm glad Overkill is selling well overseas, but the fact reminds that 45k isn't even going to cover the marketing expenses Sega has spent on the title prelaunch. This title was meant to be more frontloaded, it's the way the publisher choose to take it to market. To say 'wait for a price drop' is a bit of a stretch, do you really think the accounting and finance team at Sega is going to create different success metrics just for their M rated Wii titles? Their ROI must have been pretty bad the first month. And the constant comparisons so their non-marketing ports is quite far from an apples to apples comparison: Overkill is meant to capitalize on that foundation and grow the segment, not repeat its trends.

Hopefully it will have long legs, but it's still a poor start and certainly the inserts for Conduit and MadWorld aren't getting the initial impression levels they had hoped. I'd be real curious to see what their shipment numbers are, but it's sad they werent able to excite the userbase like they intended

You're way too eager to see gloom and doom where there is none. Yeah the game didn't have a great opening, but a game's success isn't determined by one month of sales. You also seem to be ignoring the fact that the game is selling very well in the UK and who knows where else.

I'm sure Sega is quite happy and will be very happy when it's all said and done.

You also seem to be trying to make some sort of connection with Sega's other games because they had an insert in Overkill. Sorry, but Madworld's and The Conduit's success don't hang on Overkill or a little ad insert.
 

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
Y2Kev said:
It's already at something like 300k and has yet to be released in Europe. But 500k represents a huge decline (50%+) from SO3. It's tough for a lot of Japanese series to show positive growth game over game, but it does happen (DMC3 to 4, MGS3 to 4, RE5's initial release (not considering RE4's later Wii version)...and few show the kind of decay that Star Ocean is showing (50% is absolutely huge).

I'd be extremely unhappy with these sales. I'm sure Square managed to stuff some copies, but retailers are probably recoiling a bit after TLR and IU. Director's Cut is probably coming.

Are you talking about percentage of decay from the previous title's initial release to the current title's initial release? In that case SO4 had no hope of ever matching that seeing as how SO3 was released on a system that everyone has versus a system that few people have in the country that would drive the most sales. S-E pretty much has to do a PS3 version, at least in Japan, though maybe not NA.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
truly101 said:
Are you talking about percentage of decay from the previous title's initial release to the current title's initial release? In that case SO4 had no hope of ever matching that seeing as how SO3 was released on a system that everyone has versus a system that few people have in the country that would drive the most sales. S-E pretty much has to do a PS3 version, at least in Japan, though maybe not NA.
No, it's extremely rough SO4 estimated LTD vs. SO3 LTD. You're saying you think it could hit 500k worldwide. Depending on how low the American sales were and the European launch, it could happen-- so I used that figure. I don't think it will sell a ton beyond that, do you? So SO3 is over a million and SO4 we're saying could top out at 500k. I included a hypothetical Japanese director's cut rerelease.

And if Square was going to do a JP PS3 version, I would guess they'd bring it out here too. I can't really think of a lot of instances where that doesn't happen-- maybe the Tales of Symphonia PS2 port.
 

postaboy

Member
SO4 will probably get a huge major price cut after 4-5 months of it's released like SO3 did. I remembered buying a load of SO3 copies for $20 each (2 week ahead notice) and quickly, listed them on eBay for $35-$40. A profit of $300 for 10 hours of work.
 

Hunahan

Banned
Star Ocean 4 had absolutely nothing going for it. No word of mouth whatsoever, no marketing, no press coverage, no buzz, a fatigued, overserved market who had just received a flood of RPGs only a few months prior, a heavily competitive release month with several high-profile, eclipsing titles....literally nothing going for it.

Beyond that, you have the fact that Tri-Ace's recent track record is anything but impressive. Star Ocean 3 left a bad taste in many peoples' mouths, the PSP remakes gathered next to no attention, and Infinite Undiscovery released as an extremely poor game that shied a lot of people away from Tri-Ace in general. As a developer brand, Tri-Ace is certainly not going to carry a product anymore.

So what does that leave? The game would have to stand on it's own merits. And, frankly, nothing about Star Ocean 4 really stood out in any meaningful way. It had absolutely no hook that was going to draw attention to itself from what I could tell, and without favorable market circumstances or developer brand power, it desperately needed one.

Of all the things that happened in the February charts, Star Ocean 4 doing poorly is really not surprising at all.

The more interesting topic of discussion, imo, is whether the announcement of PS3 being the official Evolution/tournament version of Street Fighter was the catalyst for higher proportional sales for that version of SF4. If true, it could indicate a much higher interest-level and sales presence of the "SRK crowd" than I would have personally thought to exist....
 

Lebron

Member
Oh SO4 had marketing, I saw the commercial numerous times on TV around release. Especially during WWE events, since they sponsored a couple.
 

JJConrad

Sucks at viral marketing
John Harker said:
No I think it's that nobody bothers to really read when you chime in. Your effort is there, but it's more of a struggle to try really hard to be right. It's admirable, I suppose, but a bit tiring.

I'm glad Overkill is selling well overseas, but the fact reminds that 45k isn't even going to cover the marketing expenses Sega has spent on the title prelaunch. This title was meant to be more frontloaded, it's the way the publisher choose to take it to market. To say 'wait for a price drop' is a bit of a stretch, do you really think the accounting and finance team at Sega is going to create different success metrics just for their M rated Wii titles? Their ROI must have been pretty bad the first month. And the constant comparisons so their non-marketing ports is quite far from an apples to apples comparison: Overkill is meant to capitalize on that foundation and grow the segment, not repeat its trends.

Hopefully it will have long legs, but it's still a poor start and certainly the inserts for Conduit and MadWorld aren't getting the initial impression levels they had hoped. I'd be real curious to see what their shipment numbers are, but it's sad they werent able to excite the userbase like they intended
John, you're just full of it. You're cherry-picking whatever argument is the most pessimistic.

These sales don't support either part of your argument. You're already making baseless assumptions about Sega's expectation, as if they have no idea how other light-gun games have performed in the past. But then this talk about 'first month ROI' is utter nonsense. That 'first month ROI' is completely dependant on their initial shipment, which is in no way influenced by these sales. Sega made their money before NPD ever counted one sale. Poor sales only effect later shipments. You also claim that Sega had expected this game to be 'more front loaded,' but if that were true their accountants would actually then be less worried about later shipments.
 

donny2112

Member
postaboy said:
I remembered buying a load of SO3 copies for $20 each (2 week ahead notice) and quickly, listed them on eBay for $35-$40. A profit of $300 for 10 hours of work.

With eBay's current regulations and fees, you might be able to break even on that deal nowadays. Maybe.
 
Top Bottom