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[PantherLotus]

Jesus vinnk did you just accuse Namco of sabotaging Fragile so it would sell poorly?

 

[Rolf NB]

Going with the hardcore versus casual dilemma, entertain me, how does this explain DSi's sales?

Poor people can't pay the rent, are forced to move out of their homes, switch to portable gaming?

Spoiler

This message is intended for entertainment purposes only, as requested. Please don't form your business plan around it.

 

[Vinnk]

Jesus vinnk did you just accuse Namco of sabotaging Fragile so it would sell poorly?

Not seriously.

I mean there is no (good) reason why they would do that. Which makes it all the more odd.

I can (sort of) understand them being cautious before it can out. Not advertising it, not spending any real money on the launch. But they when it actually did nearly sell out I though they would take it as a good sign and do.. Well I don't know.. but something.

Who knows, maybe if they did send a second shipment and advertise it they would still sell no more than the initial 35k. But by not doing those things they assure it.

Can any big city jgaffers tell me if there are any signs of a second shipment anywhere. There is none here. Also, how is supply on the title? (Sold out, still lots of copies?)

 

[Jonnyram]

For second shipments, don't blame Namco - it's more likely Nintendo slowing things down. Also, this is the tri-Crescendo game, right? That probably explains the lack of marketing, retailer orders, sales, etc.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Bundle? Possibly with Wii Sports Resort. Japan's never had a bundle, remember. Games would be the biggest spurring influence, though (see 360 last year). For that, I'm hoping/expecting something to be done (at least announcements) with whenever the Motion+ conference is.

I hadn't even considered this suggestion. Maybe the reason the demand for Wii is so high outside Japan is the bundle with Wii Sports?

 

[markatisu]

Bundle? Possibly with Wii Sports Resort. Japan's never had a bundle, remember. Games would be the biggest spurring influence, though (see 360 last year). For that, I'm hoping/expecting something to be done (at least announcements) with whenever the Motion+ conference is.

But thats what I mean, Wii Sports Resort is their next big game and people are acting like things are so bad we will see something big to spur sales before that.

If they do not do anything before Wii Sports Resort then what difference does it make as sales were going to be spurred anyway given the success of Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Fit.

 

[perfectchaos007]

I hadn't even considered this suggestion. Maybe the reason the demand for Wii is so high outside Japan is the bundle with Wii Sports?

Wii Sports is more of a killer Ap then people give it credit for. But it seems like in Japan the tie ratio with Wii Sports is the highest of any other game so most get it anyway.

 

[Busaiku]

Totally explains U.S. sales. Thanks for clearing it up for us!

I'd say the Wii audience in the US consists a lot more of hardcore gamers than its Japanese owners.
All sorts of games are selling well in the west, but only the select casual games can really be considered hits in Japan, with a few exceptions.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Wii Sports is more of a killer Ap then people give it credit for. But it seems like in Japan the tie ratio with Wii Sports is the highest of any other game so most get it anyway.

My hypothesis is that, if Nintendo decided to drop Wii Sports from the package while also lowering the price in accordance to it in the USA, sales would start to slow-down and maybe level like they have in Japan. It does seem like that software is the initial driving-force to buy the console for so many people. Bundling the console with Wii Sports Resort could be the killer ap NCL needs to elevate hype to USA-like heights.

I doubt the Wii Sports bundle will be dropped any time soon, but somehow I'm starting to see this as the most logical explanation for such a disparity in the deflation of demand.

 

[BishopLamont]

This.

It seems Namco wants to forget they had anything to do with this game. After not compleatly tanking its first week Namco seemed to get frightened that they might have a tiny bit of sucess on Wii and set out to make sure that didn't happen. They sent no second shipment (or if they did it was not enough to make it out of the big cities). And took out no ads that could have possibly given it legs (or at least let people know it was out).

There is no price collapse on this title and I don't expect one because there is no surplus of copies. If Namco never ship any more copies of this game I wouldn't be shocked if 5 years from now it will be one of those hard to get games that people pay high prices for on ebay.

The weird thing is that for an RPG (a very front-loaded genre we all know), no used copies have turned up in my town yet (or if they have they were rebought before I saw them).

Fragile is weird. I mean can you have a (nearly) "sold-out flop"?

I think you're overestimating the sales potential of Fragile, it's an RPG. Ads, marketing, more shipments won't matter much if there's no more customers. They sold what they expected, don't think you can ask for more.

 

[justchris]

But do you honestly believe it will lead to a new color, bundle or price drop? None of those seem like a viable option

A new color is an outside possibility, but no chance of a price drop. I could see a special edition bundle though, maybe even a limited edition Wii Sports Resort bundle.

Edit: Wow, beaten by donny.

 

[donny2112]

But thats what I mean, Wii Sports Resort is their next big game and people are acting like things are so bad we will see something big to spur sales before that.

I was just following the logic that if A) Nintendo won't do anything significant to spur sales as long as they have a comfortable lead on the PS3, then B) Nintendo must be about to do something significant, because the PS3 is about to cross streams with it again.

If Nintendo had to do something right now in Japan, color Wiimotes would be about the only option. They still can't put out enough systems to fully satisfy U.S. demand, so I'm skeptical of a new colored system. New colored Wiimote might be doable, but that'd probably still make more sense to do with a built-in Motion+, if the Motion+ is going to start being built into the Wiimotes. Price drop is out. Bundle before Wii Sports Resort is unlikely.

That basically leaves "wait it out until Wii Sports Resort" as the only option left. :lol

 

[Vinnk]

I think you're overestimating the sales potential of Fragile, it's an RPG. Ads, marketing, more shipments won't matter much if there's no more customers. They sold what they expected, don't think you can ask for more.

There is a lot of truth to this and I think you are right.

But I can't help but wonder a few things. From most accounts WKC is only a so-so game but it sold very well. I would say a lot of the reason is because it was advertised/hyped like crazy. I am not saying the same would have happened for Fragile (in fact I very much doubt that it would) but it would have been interesting to see both and I personally think the sales potentail is more then 35k (I would say it could have gone to around the 65k that Fatal Frame IV did). But that is of course all speculation.

Also most games that sell out in their first week (not months later) get a restock. Then again most games that sell out in their first week were expected to do so. Fragile is a kind of odd case. I personally was expecting much lower sales and a lowering of price later on to clear inventory.

But yeah, there are finite number of customers for a game like this. All the advertising in the world wouldn't bring this game to the Lance Stern 300k where it would be successful. And maybe the few thousand extra sales wouldn't be worth the time/money for Namco.

 

[donny2112]

Famitsu Jan 19-25

01./02. [WII] Play on Wii: Mario Tennis GC (Nintendo) - 30,833 / 86,224
02./00. [PSP] Zill O'll Infinite Plus (Koei) - 29,079 / NEW
03./10. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii (Namco Bandai Games) - 27,118 / 343,535
04./07. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (BEST) (Capcom) - 25,033 / 342,899
05./00. [WII] Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Namco Bandai Games) - 22,640 / NEW
06./06. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode (Nintendo) - 20,193 / 707,451
07./08. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) - 19,996 / 1,520,238
08./00. [WII] Haruhi Suzumiya no Gekidou (The Excitement of Haruhi Suzumiya) (Kadokawa Shoten) - 19,426 / NEW
09./09. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 17,187 / 3,109,199
10./00. [360] Left 4 Dead (Electronic Arts Victor) - 17,088 / NEW
11./04. [PSP] Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Square Enix) - 16,940 / 846,614
12./01. [NDS] Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor (Atlus Co.) - 16,243 / 72,932
13./03. [PS3] Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (Namco Bandai Games) - 14,929 / 60,888
14./13. [NDS] Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo/Pokemon Co.) - 12,579 / 2,306,819
15./15. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 11,036 / 2,122,755
16./14. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 10,855 / 3,410,973
17./12. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) - 10,809 / 1,044,004
18./24. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (A Penguin's Troubles: Strongest Penguin Legend) (Konami) - 10,315 / 197,360
19./11. [NDS] DS Uranai Seikatsu (DS Fortune Telling) (Nintendo) - 10,300 / 29,018
20./05. [PS3] Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks) - 10,262 / 38,761
21./16. [NDS] Kirby Super Star Ultra Deluxe (Nintendo) - 9,786 / 1,002,127
22./00. [PS3] Prince of Persia (Ubisoft) - 9,494 / NEW
23./23. [NDS] Tongari Boushi to Mahou no 365 Nichi (Little Magician's Magic Adventure) (Konami) - 9,068 / 276,106
24./18. [NDS] Prof. Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) - 8,347 / 705,141
25./17. [NDS] Momotarou Dentetsu 20th Anniversary (Hudson) - 7,872 / 204,519
26./26. [NDS] Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo) - 6,246 / 4,908,180
27./29. [PSP] Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (Koei) - 6,154 / 156,113
28./22. [PS2] Gundam Musou 2 (Namco Bandai Games) - 5,802 / 194,884
29./00. [WII] Karaoke Joysound Wii (Hudson) - 5,770 / 183,757
30./19. [NDS] Phantasy Star Zero (SEGA) - 5,722 / 175,947

*. [NDS] Monster * Racers (Koei) - 5,400 / NEW
*. [PS3] WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2009 (THQ) - 4,200 / NEW
*. [PS2] Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! G.P. Gakuen Princess (GN Software) - 3,900 / NEW
*. [PSP] Hokuto no Ken: Raoh Gaiden - Ten no Haoh (Fist of the North Star: Raoh's Story) (Interchannel) - 2,800 / NEW
*. [NDS] Inugamike no Ichizoku (Murder of the Inugami Clan) (From Software) - 2,700 / NEW
*. [NDS] Tetsudou Seminar: Oote Shitetsuhen (Rail Seminar: Major Private Rail Line Chapter) (Taito) - 1,800 / NEW
*. [PSP] Ratchet & Clank 5: Gekitotsu! Dodeka Ginga no MiriMiri Gundan (BEST) (SCEI) - 920 / NEW
*. [NDS] Mirakuru! Mimika DS (Miracle! Mimika) (Culture Brain) - 510 / NEW


Bar Chart Jan 19-25 (thanks to JoshuaJSlone/garaph.info)

Note: Image may be delayed from the time of this post, but will automatically show once the data is ready.


Recent Famitsu Top 30s

Dec 22, 2008-Jan 4, 2009
Jan 5-11, 2009
Jan 12-18, 2009

 

[markatisu]

I was just following the logic that if A) Nintendo won't do anything significant to spur sales as long as they have a comfortable lead on the PS3, then B) Nintendo must be about to do something significant, because the PS3 is about to cross streams with it again.

If Nintendo had to do something right now in Japan, color Wiimotes would be about the only option. They still can't put out enough systems to fully satisfy U.S. demand, so I'm skeptical of a new colored system. New colored Wiimote might be doable, but that'd probably still make more sense to do with a built-in Motion+, if the Motion+ is going to start being built into the Wiimotes. Price drop is out. Bundle before Wii Sports Resort is unlikely.

That basically leaves "wait it out until Wii Sports Resort" as the only option left. :lol

I do not think one month of having PS3 eek out a win would be enough to justify anything drastic or even a rethinking of things. I mean to me its similar to when the 360 topped the Wii when Halo 3 came out in the US NPD (but a much more extreme measure given the Wii's enormous US sales and the million dollar launch of Halo 3)

Now if you have 2 straight months of the PS3 topping the Wii (even by the smallest of margins) I would say that would be something of worry. The Wii is going to get hit by some very high profile PS3 games in the near future, but will the PS3 sustain those bumps or just fall flat once again after the games hit

You never want to do the "wait for XXXX" but I think seriously that Nintendo is adopting that idea to weather the storm. Unlike the PS3 wait for it games though I think Motion + and Wii Sports Resort will pay off big time.

 

[jesusraz]

Since everyone's talking about Fragile...it seems it will be getting some sort of push. I've not fully translated the answers from my recent interview yet, but one of the responses says there's an anime cartoon coming soon and the soundtrack. Also, a potential sequel/prequel and/or DS version is being considered.

Perhaps more stock will be released in the near future and BanNam was simply caught off-guard by the strong(ish) start. We shall see!

 

[Link]

This.

It seems Namco wants to forget they had anything to do with this game. After not compleatly tanking its first week Namco seemed to get frightened that they might have a tiny bit of sucess on Wii and set out to make sure that didn't happen. They sent no second shipment (or if they did it was not enough to make it out of the big cities). And took out no ads that could have possibly given it legs (or at least let people know it was out).

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that's this bitter about things. Seriously.

 

[t3nmilez]

There ain't no lack of Fragile in Fukuoka, the stores I went to had plenty of copies for sale.

 

[Vinnk]

Since everyone's talking about Fragile...it seems it will be getting some sort of push. I've not fully translated the answers from my recent interview yet, but one of the responses says there's an anime cartoon coming soon and the soundtrack. Also, a potential sequel/prequel and/or DS version is being considered.

Perhaps more stock will be released in the near future and BanNam was simply caught off-guard by the strong(ish) start. We shall see!

I look forward to hearing more about this. Who did you interview?

There ain't no lack of Fragile in Fukuoka, the stores I went to had plenty of copies for sale.

I don't know if you have been following it, but does it show signs of being a restock, or did they never sell through the first shipment there?

 

[bttb]

.

 

[donny2112]

New to me, but from Iwata's Investor Relations Briefing, it looks like the 1 million downgrade in Wii shipments for the current fiscal year is totally due to slackened demand in Japan.

This is an estimate made at this moment of Wii consoles to be shipped out of Nintendo by the period ending in March, according to our adjustment on production amount within the monthly limitation. In retrospect, we could have sold more units if we had adjusted to send over more Wii consoles allocated for Japan to other markets.

The domestic demand for the period ending in March lowered from our estimate made on October 2008. On the other hand, overseas markets performed just as we expected. At the end of October 2008, we made a fairly bullish estimate for overseas markets, and it is moving along according to our estimates.

 

[jesusraz]

I look forward to hearing more about this. Who did you interview?

Kawashima-san, the producer. I should also add that he states Sword of Legendia is a completely different project...so hope that it's still alive!

I don't know if you have been following it, but does it show signs of being a restock, or did they never sell through the first shipment there?

Surely has to be a re-stock, even if it's a minor one. We'll see next week if the game manages to cling on to a Top 50 position, or even rise slightly.

Do we have some sales numbers for My Life as a King (or for any other WiiWare games)? Or did Square Enix say that My Life as a King is preforming strongly?

...

And what is with the sky is falling attitude around Crystal Chronicles? From all interviews FFCC MLAAK sold well, FFCC ROF sold well enough to get a sequel.

From memory as well, I'm sure I recall being told by S-E Europe it was one of the highest selling Japanese WiiWare games of last year.

 

[FINALFANTASYDOG]

Famitsu Sales: 01/26 - 02/01
__. [NDS] Hirameki Action: Chibikko Wagyan no Daiki na Bouken (Bandai Namco) - 4,600 / NEW

So Fragile did somewhere in the range of around 5,000 copies we can assume?

And I'm sure someone can find better results, but from what I've found, first days sales were weak for everything this week, And while demon's souls did better then expected the shipment was poor anyway, so not a big seller.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

So Fragile did somewhere in the range of around 5,000 copies we can assume?

That would be mixing Famitsu and MC data but I see your point. What's sure is that its at 6400 for the week in the best case, being generous.

I also don't see where the 'sold-out', '2nd shipment' discussion comes from.

First day - 16,000 (45% - ~35,000)
First week - 22,640 (65% of the first day figure - Surely on the 50-75% sell through going by Famitsu running guy icon)
Second week - Best case 6400 -> 29040 (83%)

Thats a sold out? Really? What are we looking at for a 2nd shipment? 2,000 units for all Japan? And you expect it to notice it in shops? Or worse, you expect Namco to advertise it? :lol

 

[°°ToMmY°°]

can someone post me a link to sinobi's blog? thanks

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

can someone post me a link to sinobi's blog? thanks

http://ameblo.jp/sinobi

 

[bttb]

.

 

[Dascu]

Horrible sales for Another Code R. Goddammit Japan.

 

[FINALFANTASYDOG]

First Day Sales (02/05)

[PS3] Demon's Souls (SCE) - 23,000 (80%)
[NDS] Meitantei Conan & Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (Bandai Namco) - 9,000 (35%)
[WII] Another Code:R - Kioku no Tobira (Nintendo) - 6,000 (20%)
[PS3] Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Spike) - 5,000 (34%)
[NDS] Destiny Links (Bandai Namco) - 5,000 (37%)
[PSP] Enkaku Sousa: Sana e no 23 Hiai (SCE) - 3,400 (30%)
[360] Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Spike) - 3,000 (37%)

http://dubai.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1233830038/95

Wow, surprised that Demons soul's shipment was that small.

Any idea what the guy is talking about when he brings up the stupid situation that happened with Left 4 dead?

 

[goompapa]

First Day Sales (02/05)

[PS3] Demon's Souls (SCE) - 23,000 (80%)
[NDS] Meitantei Conan & Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (Bandai Namco) - 9,000 (35%)
[WII] Another Code:R - Kioku no Tobira (Nintendo) - 6,000 (20%)
[PS3] Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Spike) - 5,000 (34%)
[NDS] Destiny Links (Bandai Namco) - 5,000 (37%)
[PSP] Enkaku Sousa: Sana e no 23 Hiai (SCE) - 3,400 (30%)
[360] Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Spike) - 3,000 (37%)

http://dubai.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1233830038/95

OMFG. Midtier Wii games are bombing like there's no tomorrow.
Reaaally interested to hear Iwata's strategy concerning their homemarket.

 

[Oldschool]

No gundam psp/ps2 first day sales?

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

No gundam psp/ps2 first day sales?

I had the same reaction, looks like it was delayed one week. Gundam + Street Fighter + Mario & Luigi, should be miles better than this week numbers.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Wii 23,278
PS3 17,405

:lol

Not sure if the PS3 can outsell the Wii the week Yakuza 3 hits, but I've got a fantastic feeling the week of March 5. Biohazard 5 will be a huge boost to the PS3, as Biohazard games tend to be for second place consoles.

I know it's a different situation since by the time RE4 was released on GCN it was already known a PS2 version was around the corner, but I'm curious to look at what it did for that system. I'll arbitrarily use Media Create's version of numbers.

Week of 2005-01-17
PS2: 56,374
GCN: 5,359

Week of 2005-01-24, RE4 launch week
PS2: 58,673
GCN: 8,214

Though that wasn't the first (or second) major RE release on the system. REmake did cause a significant bump, from 13K to 34K.

I would guess Wii sales are down and PS3 sales steady because of the recession.

They're both way down, just Wii is wayer down. Compared to the first five weeks of last year PS3 is down slightly more than a third, Wii more than half. They both took a hefty drop (relative to last year) this week, since it's the fifth week of last year that both SSBB and DMC4 released.


Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 216 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 168.9 weeks (May 19, 2003), where DS was at 96.3 weeks (October 3, 2006), and where GBA was at 146.0 weeks (January 4, 2004).

X360 comparisons: After 164 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.8 weeks (December 29, 2001), where PS3 was at 26.8 weeks (May 11, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.6 weeks (December 28, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 116 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 31.4 weeks (October 4, 2000), where PSP was at 57.0 weeks (January 8, 2006), where GCN was at 118.6 weeks (December 19, 2003), and where Wii was at 30.4 weeks (June 27, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 113 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 93.6 weeks (January 2, 2003), where DS was at 74.9 weeks (May 6, 2006), where PS2 was at 111.0 weeks (April 14, 2002), and where PSP was at 161.5 weeks (January 10, 2008).

DSi comparisons: After 13 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 30.0 weeks (September 7, 2003), and where DSL was at 11.6 weeks (May 18, 2006).


Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 61.6 / 38.4 bring total shares to 68.8 / 31.2. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 317.9 weeks (March 8, 2015).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 31.8 / 68.2 bring total shares to 24.2 / 75.8. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 232.2 weeks (July 16, 2013).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 42.8 / 57.2 bring total shares to 26.4 / 73.6. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 284.7 weeks (July 19, 2014).


Week over week, portables are slightly up and consoles are pretty flat, with Wii's 3.5K drop being the biggest console change.

 

[EDarkness]

OMFG. Midtier Wii games are bombing like there's no tomorrow.
Reaaally interested to hear Iwata's strategy concerning their homemarket.

I'm seriously starting to believe that there are a lot of people involved in why the Wii is failing. From what I can tell, there just isn't really a "core" market on the Wii here. I blame this on Nintendo and third parties. If you're a Wii owner in Japan and a "core" gamer, what have you really had to look forward to since Dragon Quest Swords came out? Where are all the high profile games or even announcements. I have a Japanese Wii and luckily I have Play Asia and a U.S. Wii otherwise I'd be hurtin'. Nothing but family games, and craptons of shovelware here. New games are announced all the time for other systems, yet how often are we seeing real substantial Wii games getting announced. Wii gets a hand-me-down Tales game, a few sports games (Power Pro games) that are just PS2 ports, a Basara game that is a PS2 game that costs more than the PS2 version, Dragon Ball Z games that aren't engaging enough to move people from the PS2 version. There aren't any real anime games. No etchi games. Lots and lots of family games. Bad or poorly realized games done on shoestring budgets such as Castlevania Judgement, Soul Calibur Legends, Rygar. No high profile games to speak of (no Ace Combats, Blue Dragons, Star Oceans, etc.). No traditional RPGs (except Baroque...if you want to call it one). Not to mention games like Winning Eleven that are released many months after the other versions. If you're a Wii only gamer in Japan, you're in trouble.

I think a lot of Japanese folks are starting to see the writing on the wall. Especially if you're looking for the traditional game experience.

Companies throwing games around to every system out there to see what sticks or being afraid to commit to one system are really dragging the system down. It's sad when the 360 is getting more love here than the Wii is and it's the damn market leader. None of the big game companies want to throw their hat in with the Wii. Hell, it just freaks me out that the 360 got the main Tales game in Japan.

Now we're seeing some changes, but I think it's gonna take a lot of work to convince people to go to the Wii for their "core" gaming needs. I've talked to my friends here and students about it, but they're gonna be a tough crowd to jump on board the Wii train right now. The PS3 is picking up it's image around here. Not sure about where other people are, but seems a lot of my friends are thinking that going with the PS3 these days is the way to go. That's a huge change from where they were a year ago.

Anyway, this is all my opinion about it, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

 

[Jonnyram]

Damn, seems over for Wii as a serious games machine. Those are some dreadful sales for Another Code. Perhaps people didn't realise it was a sequel or something?

 

[Delio]

If the Wii really is failing with the midtier games i wonder if square will reconsider DQ being on it. Or Namco not going thru with Tales of Ten. That concerns me as those two really interest me and darn it i hope that doesnt spell doom for Muramasa too. :/

 

[frankie_baby]

i'm gonna say it straight, nintendo need to give the wii a big push/relaunch in japan with big games for both core and casuals and a price cut, theres still millions of gamers in japan that havent even thought about jumping into this gen yet, the best time to do this would probably be april which would be just into the next financial year so wont effect their projections and be just in time for golden week for maximum sales effect and the release of monster hunter 3 demo (with bonus game: monster hunter g) for the core gamers and if nintendo get their fingers out they could get wii sports resort out for the casuals, also supposed to hit around then is the sd card fridge solution which i'm starting to think may be a much more major update (simply saving direct to sd wouldn't be that difficult and surely could've been done by now)

having said all that it's still doing better than either of the competition so who knows

 

[Kenka]

I'm seriously starting to believe that there are a lot of people involved in why the Wii is failing. From what I can tell, there just isn't really a "core" market on the Wii here. I blame this on Nintendo and third parties. If you're a Wii owner in Japan and a "core" gamer, what have you really had to look forward to since Dragon Quest Swords came out? Where are all the high profile games or even announcements. I have a Japanese Wii and luckily I have Play Asia and a U.S. Wii otherwise I'd be hurtin'. Nothing but family games, and craptons of shovelware here. New games are announced all the time for other systems, yet how often are we seeing real substantial Wii games getting announced. Wii gets a hand-me-down Tales game, a few sports games (Power Pro games) that are just PS2 ports, a Basara game that is a PS2 game that costs more than the PS2 version, Dragon Ball Z games that aren't engaging enough to move people from the PS2 version. There aren't any real anime games. No etchi games. Lots and lots of family games. Bad or poorly realized games done on shoestring budgets such as Castlevania Judgement, Soul Calibur Legends, Rygar. No high profile games to speak of (no Ace Combats, Blue Dragons, Star Oceans, etc.). No traditional RPGs (except Baroque...if you want to call it one). Not to mention games like Winning Eleven that are released many months after the other versions. If you're a Wii only gamer in Japan, you're in trouble.

I think a lot of Japanese folks are starting to see the writing on the wall. Especially if you're looking for the traditional game experience.

Companies throwing games around to every system out there to see what sticks or being afraid to commit to one system are really dragging the system down. It's sad when the 360 is getting more love here than the Wii is and it's the damn market leader. None of the big game companies want to throw their hat in with the Wii. Hell, it just freaks me out that the 360 got the main Tales game in Japan.

Now we're seeing some changes, but I think it's gonna take a lot of work to convince people to go to the Wii for their "core" gaming needs. I've talked to my friends here and students about it, but they're gonna be a tough crowd to jump on board the Wii train right now. The PS3 is picking up it's image around here. Not sure about where other people are, but seems a lot of my friends are thinking that going with the PS3 these days is the way to go. That's a huge change from where they were a year ago.

Anyway, this is all my opinion about it, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

I could have gone Bale if I had said that. Bravo, you managed your anger pretty well.

 

[frankie_baby]

If the Wii really is failing with the midtier games i wonder if square will reconsider DQ being on it. Or Namco not going thru with Tales of Ten. That concerns me as those two really interest me and darn it i hope that doesnt spell doom for Muramasa too. :/

well what are they gonna do with them? spend 3 or 4 times as much money to put them on ps360 with half the userbase?

 

[near]

I wouldn't exactly call Another Code: R a serious game, and personally wouldn't buy it until several price drops. It's not like the DS version did well enough to expect great numbers here.

 

[Durante]

If the Wii really is failing with the midtier games i wonder if square will reconsider DQ being on it.

This makes no sense at all. A main DQ series entry is not a mid-end game, it's about as far from that as you can get. In fact I'd argue DQ is one of the very few RPG series where installed base beyond the first few millions has a significant impact.

What would make sense is smaller developers like Atlus/N1/Gust etc. reconsidering putting titles on the Wii and going either DS, PSP or the low-budget PS3 game route (think Disgaea 3, X Edge).

 

[Delio]

well what are they gonna do with them? spend 3 or 4 times as much money to put them on ps360 with half the userbase?

Well Vesperia did ok and being mutiplat would help. But you know maybe i am just letting the doom posts get to me. Wii is getting some interesting games and japanese gamers just arent picking them up. It's confusing.

Edit - Yeah i'm sorry Durante. I forgot DQS did well and it wasent a acutal main DQ game. Just saddening to see the midtier games crashing.

 

[frankie_baby]

I wouldn't exactly call Another Code: R a serious game, and personally wouldn't buy it until several price drops. It's not like the DS version did well enough to expect great numbers here.

i'd agree it'll probably sell it's shipment (eventually) and sell a probably slightly larger one in europe and (assuming it gets released) a similar one in the US and make a small profit, its as bottom tier to nintendo as it could be

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Ugh, not nice first-day sales for Another Code.

Comparable titles on the DS - Another Code, Hotel Dusk and Project Hacker - managed between 35k and 65k opening weeks, and I'd be astonished if Another Code Wii managed even a 15k opening week.

I'm not as pessimistic as Jonnyram, but I'm getting more gloomy about the prospects of the system with each new release.

 

[Dascu]

If the Wii really is failing with the midtier games i wonder if square will reconsider DQ being on it. Or Namco not going thru with Tales of Ten. That concerns me as those two really interest me and darn it i hope that doesnt spell doom for Muramasa too. :/

The big franchise games will sell. It's the little games that are in trouble. The Wii doesn't have a large enough core userbase that will buy these games.

 

[EDarkness]

What would make sense is smaller developers like Atlus/N1/Gust etc. reconsidering putting titles on the Wii and going either DS, PSP or the low-budget PS3 game route (think Disgaea 3, X Edge).

Well, they aren't really doing that now (putting their games on the Wii), so no real change.

Heh, not to be all doom and gloom, but the situation here isn't that great for the Wii. From reading what Iwata has been saying, I gather he understands that, too.

 

[Dascu]

Monster Hunter 3 is arriving far too late. I really hope the MHG+MH3 demo can improve the situation.

 

[RpgN]

If the Wii really is failing with the midtier games i wonder if square will reconsider DQ being on it. Or Namco not going thru with Tales of Ten. That concerns me as those two really interest me and darn it i hope that doesnt spell doom for Muramasa too. :/

That won't happen. A game like DQX will sell regardless on which console, Tales will surely get a 200k minimum. Since Bamco has been screwing with the franchise for a while, they can try on the wii. Muramasa is the only problem here, I can see it bombing too.

I'm surprised how Demon's Souls has a small shipment. At least it's pretty much sold out day one, that's performing better than From Software's other game released last week.

 

[Delio]

The big franchise games will sell. It's the little games that are in trouble. The Wii doesn't have a large enough core userbase that will buy these games.

What would be a effective way to fix that though? Did Another code have a good ad campaign in japan? I'd really like to know that .

 

[goompapa]

I'm seriously starting to believe that there are a lot of people involved in why the Wii is failing. From what I can tell, there just isn't really a "core" market on the Wii here. I blame this on Nintendo and third parties. If you're a Wii owner in Japan and a "core" gamer, what have you really had to look forward to since Dragon Quest Swords came out? Where are all the high profile games or even announcements. I have a Japanese Wii and luckily I have Play Asia and a U.S. Wii otherwise I'd be hurtin'. Nothing but family games, and craptons of shovelware here. New games are announced all the time for other systems, yet how often are we seeing real substantial Wii games getting announced. Wii gets a hand-me-down Tales game, a few sports games (Power Pro games) that are just PS2 ports, a Basara game that is a PS2 game that costs more than the PS2 version, Dragon Ball Z games that aren't engaging enough to move people from the PS2 version. There aren't any real anime games. No etchi games. Lots and lots of family games. Bad or poorly realized games done on shoestring budgets such as Castlevania Judgement, Soul Calibur Legends, Rygar. No high profile games to speak of (no Ace Combats, Blue Dragons, Star Oceans, etc.). No traditional RPGs (except Baroque...if you want to call it one). Not to mention games like Winning Eleven that are released many months after the other versions. If you're a Wii only gamer in Japan, you're in trouble.

I think a lot of Japanese folks are starting to see the writing on the wall. Especially if you're looking for the traditional game experience.

Companies throwing games around to every system out there to see what sticks or being afraid to commit to one system are really dragging the system down. It's sad when the 360 is getting more love here than the Wii is and it's the damn market leader. None of the big game companies want to throw their hat in with the Wii. Hell, it just freaks me out that the 360 got the main Tales game in Japan.

Now we're seeing some changes, but I think it's gonna take a lot of work to convince people to go to the Wii for their "core" gaming needs. I've talked to my friends here and students about it, but they're gonna be a tough crowd to jump on board the Wii train right now. The PS3 is picking up it's image around here. Not sure about where other people are, but seems a lot of my friends are thinking that going with the PS3 these days is the way to go. That's a huge change from where they were a year ago.

Anyway, this is all my opinion about it, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

Well said. One year ago it may have seen unthinkable, but it really wouldn't surprise me if a few months from now, the PS3 start to take over......unless Nintendo really has something up their sleave.

At the moment right now, and from the future release list. The Wii just doesn't have enough attractive games to lure the core gamer. One midtier game every once in a while just won't cut it.